The child who was born to be King

It can scarcely be said that His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge slipped quietly into the world, the news of his birth barely travelling beyond the circle of his family. That’s how it was with most of us, I suppose. Not with the royal baby! I doubt if there has been a birth in all of human history as widely publicised, and a naming as eagerly awaited, as that of Britain’s future king, George Alexander Louis.

It reminded me of another child who was born to be king – and a song. One Christmas, too many years ago, the youth choir I accompanied performed a cantata, The Glory of Christmas, by Jimmy and Carol Owens. It is full of great songs one of which asks the question, how should a king come?

“Even a child knows the answer, of course;
In a coach of gold with a pure white horse!
In the beautiful city, in the prime of the day;
And the trumpets should cry and the crowds make way!
And the flags fly high in the morning sun,
And the people all cheer for the sovereign one!

“He should dine upon summer strawberries and milk,
And sleep upon bed-clothes of satin and silk!
And high on a hill his castle should glow
With the light of the city like jewels below!
And everyone knows that’s the way that it’s done,
That’s the way that a king should come!”

With Jesus, however, the greatest king of all, the difference is amazing. For starters he was born in a stable, to poor parents, in a rather insignificant town called Bethlehem, none of whose inhabitants had any clue that royalty from heaven had been born in their midst. Early on he had to be rushed off to Egypt because an infinitely lesser king than he was threatening his life. When he returned to his native land it was to train and work as a carpenter. His home was in Nazareth, a village people sneered at. And when he left it it was to enter upon a ministry that ended in the most cruel and shameful of deaths. The greatest king of all? Surely not!

But he was! The world’s press may not have uttered a peep, but when Mary gave birth to Jesus it was to none other than the Son of God. When his enemies thought they had succeeded in getting rid of him, God the Father triumphantly raised him to life again. And when at last he left the world it was to succeed to the throne of heaven. Prince George may one day be King of England. Jesus is here and now and always will be king of all!

It is a truth with both a bright side and a dark side. The dark side of it is that when he returns (as he shall do, at the end of the age) he will take vengeance on all who have rejected him. The bright side is that his loyal subjects will reign with him forever in a world without sin or sorrow or death. Hence the exhortation of an ancient biblical writer to “kiss the Son” (Psalm 2:12). It is a solemn and urgent call to submit to Jesus as our rightful king, to welcome his reign, to serve him devotedly, to give him the supreme loyalty of our hearts. On pain of destruction. With promise of everlasting blessing.

David Campbell
Grace Baptist Church
777 W North Street
Carlisle, PA 17013