Around 2005, Queen Elizabeth II and her royal protection officer, Richard Griffin – known as Dick to the Queen – were walking together one afternoon in the hills near the Scottish royal castle, Balmoral.
Two American tourists approached them and engaged in conversation.
Griffin recalls: “There were two hikers coming towards us, and the Queen would always stop and say hello. They were two Americans on a walking holiday. It was clear from the moment we stopped that they hadn’t recognized the Queen, which was fine. The American gent was telling the Queen where they came from, where they were going next, and where they’d been in Britain.”
“I could see it coming” Griffin continued, “and sure enough, he said to Her Majesty: ‘And where do you live?’”
“She replied: ‘Well I live in London, but I’ve got a holiday home just the other side of the hills.’”
“He said: ‘How long have you been coming up here?’”
“She replied: ‘I’ve been coming up here ever since I was a little girl, so over 80 years.’”
“You could see the cogs ticking, so he said: ‘Well, if you’ve been coming up here for over 80 years, you must have met the Queen.’”
“Quick as a flash, she said: ‘I haven’t, but Dick here meets her regularly.’”
The hiker then asked Griffin what the monarch was like in person.
Griffin told Sky News about his thoughtful answer: “Because I was with her a long time, and I knew I could pull her leg, I said: ‘Oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she’s got a lovely sense of humor.’”
“The next thing I knew, this guy comes round, puts his arm around my shoulder, and before I could see what was happening, he gets his camera, gives it to the Queen, and says: ‘Can you take a picture of the two of us?’”
“Then we swapped places, and I took a picture of them with the Queen.”
“And we never let on, and we waved goodbye.”
“Afterwards, Her Majesty said to me: ‘I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to his friends in America, and hopefully someone tells him who I am.’” *
Seven hundred years before Christ, Isaiah made a prophecy concerning the coming Messiah (Isaiah 53). Using “prophetic perfect” language, Isaiah foretold some things about the physical appearance of the Messiah: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2 ESV). In other words, when people would look at Jesus, the promised Messiah (Christ, Anointed One), there was nothing about His appearance that would indicate that He was royal and divine. He looked like an ordinary man.
But He wasn’t and He isn’t.
He’s the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Son of God.
Jesus, the King, died on the cross for our sins so that we can become a part of His royal family and inherit all the wonderful spiritual blessings that God has for us (Ephesians 1:3) including salvation from sin and an eternal home in heaven.
God will cleanse from sin, add to His family, and give eternal life to those who submit to King Jesus in trusting obedience: placing their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confessing Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
Read the Gospel accounts. Examine the evidence. Come to know who Jesus is and surrender your life to the King. Then you can rejoice for an eternity that you know the King and you are a part of His eternal kingdom.
— David A. Sargent
* Information gleaned from “Fun side of Queen Elizabeth II that the public rarely saw” by Gillian Duncan, in The National, www.thenationalnews.com
