Thursday, July 12, 2007

AND CROWN HIM WITH MANY CROWNS



From the Hallelujah Chorus came, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" from Rev 19:16. The hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns" is a great one written by Matthew Bridges in 1851, but one which mixes tenses to some extent. The rest of the first line reads, "The lamb upon the throne".



When Jesus returns, He won't be the Lamb. He's been there, thankfully for us, and done that. Nothing I've read or seen so literally depicted that as Gibson's movie and Caviezel's acting in The Passion of the Christ. Moved to tears, I wept unashamedly in the movie, thinking that my Lord died for me. But when He returns, and He will for God never breaks a promise, He will come as a victorious warrior on a white horse (Rev 19: 11-14). And that's where the hymn, as beautiful as it is, falls short for me.



The vision that John had of Jesus' return as commander of heaven's armies is a beautiful one. The final victory over sin and evil. It's a comeuppance that is perfect in God's timing, long overdue in man's.



Perhaps I was too much a sticker to details for Mr. Bridges, because in verse 9 of the same chapter, Jesus is referred to as Lamb. But as a former English teacher, I have an awareness of tense. And after Christ's return, there will only be one tense--Present Perfect.

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