A Case of Mistaken Identity
I recently saw a wonderful interview with a man called Richard Griffin on a clip from Sky News. It was around the time of the Jubilee.
Dick Griffin is now retired but
used to be one of the Queen’s royal protection officers (ie bodyguards). One time
he was up with her near the Balmoral Estate. There were a couple of American hikers
who got into conversation with the Queen and her bodyguard at a picnic spot,
but who didn’t realise who they were talking to.
After a bit of a conversation, they
asked the Queen (just thinking she was a member of the public) “So where do you
live?” She replied, “I live in London but I have a holiday home just the other
side of the hills”. The tourist without realising who he was talking to asked
whether she’d ever met the Queen!
As quick as a flash the Queen
replied “I’ve never met her, but Dick here meets her regularly”. The tourist
then asked the bodyguard “What’s she like?” Pulling the queen’s leg, he replied
“Oh she can be very cantankerous at times but she has a lovely sense of
humour”.
Next thing they knew, the American
tourist had his arm around the bodyguard and asked the old lady to take a photo.
Little did he realise that the old lady who he’d asked to take a photo was none
other than her majesty the Queen herself!
Well it’s a great story of mistaken
identity. But I think it illustrates how we can get it so wrong when it comes
to Jesus Christ.
I think for a lot of people, Jesus
Christ is a swear word, or just a religious figure of history, someone that we
tend to leave out to one side. We don’t spot that he’s royalty. If only we had
eyes to see, we could have had a relationship with him.
Well John’s gospel says “these
things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of
God (two terms meaning God’s appointed King), and that by believing you may
have life in his name".
A case of mistaken identity. Have a
great day, and thanks for listening.
Followed by “It ain’t me babe”
by Bob Dylan.