The King's Crown
2868 diamonds, 269 pearls, 17
sapphires, 11 emeralds and 4 rubies. Those are the precious gemstones that we
will see on Saturday, when King Charles exits Westminster Abbey wearing the
Imperial State Crown, which is estimated to be worth between £3bn and £5bn.
Weighing in at 1.06kilograms it is
actually only half the weight of the other crown that will be used on Saturday,
the St Edward’s Crown that is only ever worn at the moment of coronation, and
that comes in at a hefty 2.23kg (that’s almost 5lbs).
The word Coronation means to crown
someone. It comes from the latin word corona which means crown, (you’ll
remember corona-virus was a named after the crown like image when seen under a
powerful microscope). While King Charles took over from his mother Queen
Elizabeth the moment that she died on 8th September, the symbolic
high point of recognising him as the monarch will be when the archbishop of Canterbury
puts the crown on his head. No pressure!
Christians believe that there is
another King. A king whose reign will last more than even the reign of the
longest earthly monarch, and whose power is so much greater. I’m talking about
Jesus Christ.
What strikes me is that the crown
that Jesus wore on the cross was of a very different kind. No rubies or
sapphires for Jesus. No Culinan diamonds worth billions of pounds.
The crown Jesus wore was a crown of
thorns. There’s a great irony here, because the soldiers that twisted a coil of
barbed wire type thorns to thrust on his head did so to cause him pain and mock
him as a condemned criminal.
But Jesus was in fact be God’s King,
and when he was crucified he was dying for the sins of the world that keep you
and I from God. And three days later he rose from dead as the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords before whom rulers and kings will one day bow.
Well, whether you are a staunch royalist or fiercely anti-monarchy, history will certainly be made this Saturday when King Charles III is crowned King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. But don’t miss the cross on top of the crown, and the higher authority that it points to, Jesus Christ, King of Kings.
Charlie Newcombe, 03/05/2023