Editorial April 21, 1973 Issue

After Thorns, a Royal Diadem

Naomi Price

In prophecies written centuries before the birth of Jesus, the book of Isaiah declared that the power of the Christ would be acknowledged even by kings: "The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory .... Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God."^{Isa. 62:2, 3;} But this crown was to be dearly bought, for the earthly representative of Christ was to be "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief."^53:3;

A diadem is a symbol of sovereignty—of authority and dominion, of dignity, of honor and victory. Spiritually, as the Son of God, Christ Jesus possessed the attributes and power represented by this royal crown. In the world, his purpose was to establish the recognition that divine Spirit, not human will, alone can win them. The way was hard. It required of him wholehearted faith in God's power, total dedication to the manifestation of God's, Love's, qualities, and day-to-day demonstration of the authority of Christ, Truth, to destroy sin, disease, and death in their most aggressive forms.

Despite the malice and seeming strength of the carnal mind arrayed against his holy purpose, the Master was always faithful. He steadfastly expressed God's qualities however cruelly his enemies provoked him. He proved the supremacy of God, Love, over hate, of Life over death, of Spirit over matter. Even the crown of thorns could not deter him. Finally, his fidelity was rewarded by victory in his resurrection and ascension. But the triumph was not only for himself. Later, he is represented by the Revelator as saying to the church in Smyrna, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."^{Rev. 2:10;}

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