Coronation and Kingship (2 of 3)

This brief series will explore comparison and ironies between the Coronation of King Charles III and Jesus Christ the King.

2. The King is anointed with oil.

This oil is called ‘The Chrism Oil’ and comes from the Mt of Olives in Jerusalem.

Chrism oil is Myrrh.

Mrrrh surfaces several times in the New Testament

The Magi brought Myrrh as one of the 3 gifts to the baby Jesus.

Gold symbolised Kingship; Frankincense symbolised Priesthood.

But Myrrh symbolised death.

First, On the Cross Jesus said he was thirsty – what did they give him?  Wine & Myrrh (Mk 15:23)

Second, it was used in the embalming process (see John 19:39).

So King Jesus was given it at his birth, offered it on the Cross and embalmed with it the tomb.

That Jesus never drank it the mild sedative on the Cross is also telling, because for redemption to have its full effect, Jesus had to endure the full weight of human sin. In short, myrrh represents sacrifice and death, but Jesus became the sacrifice in his death. Thus Jesus didn’t take the myrrh into his body, he took sin and death into his body and thus exhausts them of their power.

The service of all earthly monarchs, anointed with Myrrh, reveals one vital truth:

That their anointing is a sign and symbol that they are under the pattern of Christ:

“Though Jesus was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross…”  (Phil. 2:6-8)