No Cross
without a Crown
For reading & meditation:
Ephesians 4:1-16
"He ... ascended higher than all
the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe." (v.
10)
In his autobiography, A King's Story, the Duke of Windsor told of a
strange thing that happened at the funeral of his father, King
George V. He described how, as his father's body was being conveyed
on a draped gun carriage through the crowded streets of London, a
mishap occurred which only those closest to the scene witnessed.
The imperial crown, removed from the Tower of London, had been
placed over the Royal Standard and secured to the lid of the
coffin. However, the jolting of the vehicle caused the Maltese
Cross, which surmounts the crown, to fall. "Suddenly," said the
Duke, "out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of light
dancing along the pavement. One of the sailors, marching behind the
gun carriage, picked it up, took it to his commanding officer, and
said, 'This cross fell off, Sir. It must be replaced.' The officer
was a little bewildered by the untoward happening and said: 'Must
it be replaced now?' 'Yes Sir,' replied the sailor, 'The crown is
never complete without the cross.' "
In Christian terms the converse is also true - the cross is not
complete without the crown. The ascension inevitably followed the
atonement; the coronation the crucifixion. One writer says: "One
senses a certain embarrassment in some ministers where the subject
of the ascension is concerned. They tend to shy clear of the topic
or dismiss it lightly as no more than a graphic myth or
triumphalist parable." But if there had been no ascension there
would be no gospel. The cross would not be complete without the
crown.
For further study:
Hebrews 1:1-9;
Luke 22:69;
Colossians 1:18;
1. What did God the Father say about the Son?
2. What did God the Father say to the Son?