Inauguration and Coronation

The time has come again for the United States to inaugurate a new president. It has been eight years since we’ve had a new Commander-in-Chief and regardless of your politics inaugurations are important.

In this political season as we watch the new president take office, recall that our true citizenship is not in any of the nations of this earth. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:20 that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”.  Since this is the case, let us reflect on Jesus’ coronation, the day He was officially crowned King. The scriptures record this for us in Matthew 27:27–31:

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

Yes, that is correct. Jesus was crowned King in the midst of His suffering for our sins. The Church Father Chromatius reflecting on the deep truth and mystery of this reality wrote of this passage:

These things were done to mock Jesus. But now we know these things happened through a heavenly mystery. Wickedness was at work among the former; among the latter, the mystery of faith and the light of truth. In the purple tunic Christ is dressed as king; and in the scarlet robe, as prince of martyrs, he is resplendent as precious scarlet in his sacred blood. He receives the crown as conqueror, for crowns are usually bestowed upon conquerors. He is adored as God by people on bended knees. Therefore he is vested in purple as king, in scarlet as prince of martyrs; he is crowned as conqueror, is hailed as Lord and is adored as God.

After His coronation, Jesus’ first act as King as was not to assemble His cabinet, start a war or even send a strong warning to His adversaries. Instead, Jesus first act was to bleed and die for His enemies so that they could be reconciled to God. Romans 5:6–10 says: 

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son

Through His death Jesus canceled the record of debt that stood against us so that we could be forgiven of our sins (Col 2:13-14). In all of the history of human kings you will never read of one more selfless and loving than King Jesus. He laid down His life so that you could be forgiven and live.

Our King is nothing like the kings of the earth or even the President of the United States. King Jesus truly is the Prince of Peace.

So, as we reflect on the changing of the guard in the White House, let us use the occasion to ponder the great tragedy and beauty of Jesus’ coronation because He is our King.