Had you seen her, you would have agreed that her wave was the wave of royalty: a fluid back and forth whoosh, combined with a slight rotation of her cupped hand. Atop the tall slide platform, seven-year-old Emma was the picture of a princess—and she knew it.
Accordingly, Emma called down to her sister, Ava, and me, trumpeting (or was it ordering) us to “Hail the queen!” So, Ava curtsied, and I bowed. At that, Emma slid down the slide. But she quickly climbed back to the top, repeated her royal routine, and waved while yelling, “Hail to the queen!” This repeated a few more cycles until no one responded.
And so it happened that her majesty was greatly displeased. From atop the slide, she blasted, “Hey! You’re not hailing! You are not hailing the queen!” Out of respect for her highness, we bowed one last time.
With the fragrance of Easter still lingering, I pondered the scene where the Roman soldiers guarding Christ “repeatedly came up to Him and said, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and slapped Him in the face again and again” (John 19:3).
Clearly, they didn’t see Jesus as their king, so they didn’t hail Him as such. And their legacy of unbelief is the brazen posture of every generation since. Scripture paints with the darkest of hues a future scene in which Jesus will essentially say to these, “You didn’t hail me.”
Yet my concern is not so much for the opponents of Christ, as it is for His followers—you and me. Does Jesus ever say of us, “You didn’t hail me”?
- Do those in our immediate family see us hailing Jesus daily in the choices we make and the words we speak?
- Do we hail Jesus in our church attendance, our ministry service, and our offerings?
- Would our neighbors have any reason to suspect there’s Someone greater than ourselves ruling and reigning over our conduct?
If only there were a way to measure this business of hailing. Perhaps there is in the words of Matthew Henry, who wrote of Jesus, “First things belong to Him who is first.”
If Jesus is our Sovereign, if He really is our King, it will be seen a thousand ways a thousand times a day. And He will be first in every single one of them.
King Jesus, be first! First in our thoughts. First in our hands. First in our hearts. First in our words. Be first—today, tomorrow, and forever! Amen!
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all!
