A queen who recognized Jesus

Leaders and common people in the UK and throughout the world have shown their justified sadness and respect in response to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Her character was firm and generous, a lady who blended personal warmth with dignity and the increasingly uncommon and highly prized attribute of self-restraint.

The queen was a close ally of our own nation. She was aware of the sacrifices made by thousands of young Americans who lost their lives protecting not only their own but also her own country’s freedom. This devoted love was movingly demonstrated when she “authorized the (American) national anthem to be played on September 12, 2001 during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace out of respect for those who lost their lives and in solidarity with the United States” During a 9/11 memorial service held in London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, “when ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ was played in the cathedral, she joined in (the singing), and was later seen.”

The late queen’s faith in Christ must not be overlooked among the various honors paid to her. For instance, she described Jesus as being in his early 30s when He was imprisoned, tortured, and killed alongside two criminals in her Christmas program from 2000. The tale may have ended with his death, but the resurrection followed, laying the groundwork for the Christian faith.

Note that this was not a weak defense of Jesus as a good man who spoke positive things. The queen made it quite obvious that she believed that Jesus had physically risen from the dead. This was a wonderful, bold, and emotional act.

Elizabeth’s 2011 Christmas speech was once again blunt in her views. “Although history shows us that people are capable of enormous deeds of generosity, it also shows us that there are moments when we need to be saved from ourselves, from our carelessness or our selfishness. God sent a special person into the world who was not a general nor a philosopher, significant though they are, but rather a Saviour with the capacity to forgive. I hope that everyone would make space in their life on this Christmas day for the message of the angels and the love of God revealed through Christ our Lord.

And in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the queen urged all Britons to remember the real meaning of Easter in her first-ever Easter address. “We may all take comfort from the finding of the resurrected Christ on the first Easter Day, which gave his disciples new hope and purpose.”

The calm yet vivacious faith of their monarch impacted not just the British people. In his autobiography Just As I Am, the late preacher Billy Graham noted of Elizabeth, “Her official status… prohibited her from overtly sponsoring our Crusade gatherings. But she (went) out of her way to be quietly supportive of our mission by welcoming us and having me preach to the royal family on several occasions at Windsor and Sandringham. Another evangelist, CEO of Britain’s Evangelical Alliance, Gavin Calver, went as far as to say, “The Queen has served incredibly and was also the greatest evangelist I could think of.”

In his eulogy for Elizabeth, the Archbishop of York, one of the most influential members of the Church of England, observed, “The Queen was not bashful in speaking of her faith and the hope and strength she found in Jesus Christ. “This belief, this hope, sustained our Queen and as she rejoices in that promise fulfilled so we too can draw comfort and hope from it,” said Archbishop Stephen Cottrell. “At the heart of the good news of God is that through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus, the promise of new and eternal life is offered to us all.”

The queen occasionally made quite obvious allusions to her own relationship with God. For instance, she once expressed her gratitude to God for His unwavering love. I have actually witnessed His faithfulness.

Christians might be encouraged by the beloved monarch’s example of faith in the face of significant change and, occasionally, significant adversity, and they can hope that we will all have the same courage to declare our own.