I remember the day when Queen Elizabeth visited Canada. All the school children trooped to the football stadium to greet her. There were thousands of us sitting in the grandstand, practicing our songs and watching our cheerleader for the signal to cheer.
The queen arrived almost on time. She was not dressed in her royal robe and royal crown, but in street clothes. Sitting on a decorated platform, she smiled at us as we sang our song of welcome. When she thanked us, we got the signal from our leader and we really let go and cheered ourselves hoarse. She was our queen and our hearts were loyal!
It made me think of another royal visit. The King of kings once stood before a great crowd, and the governor announced, “Behold your King!” They saw Him standing there wearing a royal purple robe, but on His head, instead of wearing a crown of jewels, He wore a crown of thorns! He had fed thousands when they were hungry, and He had healed many sick ones by His holy hands. And yet this crowd didn’t love and cheer for Him as we did for our queen. They cried out, “Away with Him, crucify Him!” It was a mighty roar as they shouted for His death!
What had He done to make them so angry?
Nothing. The leaders were jealous of Him and afraid of losing their own power. Crowds are easily swayed by their leaders, so they persuaded the people that He was a deceiver. They were tools in Satan’s hand to try to destroy the Son of God, whom the Father had sent to be the Saviour of the world. The voices of that shouting crowd won out, and the Lord Jesus was crucified.
I thought of this that day as I heard the shouting crowd of school children. When our leader ordered a pause in our cheering, the queen told us how she enjoyed our beautiful country, and she praised our city and added some good advice. She also brought us greetings from her children who were still in school.
Then she made a final statement which lifted us right out of our seats. “And now,” she added, “I declare that you may have the rest of the day as a HOLIDAY!”
How we roared, stamped, clapped, and cheered! A holiday! It was hard for our leader to quiet us so that we could be dismissed in an orderly manner.
What happened next?
Our teachers and some of our parents were very upset. No preparation, broken plans, no one to take care of us. Who could handle such a jumble? Some of us got into trouble, and some had a boring afternoon because they were locked out at home and had no place to go. Even when given a happy surprise, nothing in this world works out perfectly.
But what happened after Jesus was crucified?
He rose from the dead! His precious blood, shed on the cross for sinners, is still worth more than gold. Because He died for our sins, God offers you everlasting life, and He has everything planned according to His perfect wisdom. Satan is defeated. There is no disappointment in the hearts of those who accept His gift of everlasting life and say, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” 2 Corinthians 9:1515Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15).
Which crowd do you join? With those who do not want Him, or with those who receive Him? If you receive Him now you may not find yourself one of a crowd. But wait until the day when Jesus is crowned as Lord of all, and then you’ll sing His praise with over 10,000 times 10,000, and not one voice will be against Him. God’s most costly gift is the only one that works perfectly, right now and forever.
ML-01/02/1994