There were two austere white
garments, the gown for the anointing and the Colobium Sidonis. There were two made of cloth of gold,
richly embroidered, so exquisite that a gasp was heard when the Robe Royal was
lifted up for Her Majesty to don.
So for us … there are glories seen and unseen in the Kingdom of God and
of His Son.
The white anointing gown had
been replaced by the Colobium Sidonis, the under-tunic. Now the Queen was clothed in threads of
gold, woven into the “girdle” and the “Supertunica.” The Dean of Westminster and the Mistress of Robes assisted
as the Byzantine garment, with its wide, flowing sleeves, was fastened in place
by the “girdle.”
Elizabeth
appeared to be dressed in a robe of beaten gold. As if her exquisite, ornate Coronation gown had been but a
petticoat, bishops and peers began to dress her in her rightful majesty, each
piece symbolic of her royal and national highness, and of her place of
spiritual value to her peoples. To
them, she was chosen of God. Not
divine, but Queen by divine choice, and most assuredly with a divine
responsibility.
With every piece, with every
clasp fastened, she was putting on the Sovereignty that was hers in Christ
Jesus.
What can we say? Where can we go to hide from the truth
that defines us, and the majestic obligations that are ours, in the Lord our
God? The symbols of righteousness
and power were many, tokens and reminders of valid Scriptural duty, man-made
tokens of the authority that defends our high position in Jesus Christ.
Many, too, are the references
in the Word of God to the “putting on” that is ours. In some things we are “clothed upon,” and in many we must
“clothe ourselves.” God Himself
clothed Adam and Eve in skins, the first bloodshed. (Genesis 3:21)
In their humiliation, this was a glorious clothing!
In baptism, we have put on Christ! (Galatians 3:27) We are to put on “bowels of mercy”
(Colossians 3:12,) and In Ephesians 4:24, we are admonished to “put
on” the “new man,” being created in righteousness and true holiness
after God!
Oh that we would be as
cognizant of that day when Majesty became our rightful and responsible
adorning! For Elizabeth, she was
there; it happened. So, too for
us! Perhaps she can still recall
the weight of those golden robes … we still walk in the weight of the glory
which is our redemption, and which is Christ in us, the hope of glory!
We are clothed with
Christ. There is no greater
adorning. Nothing in heaven or on
earth can compare with it. Apart
from Him, all that took place on that day was paper dolls and pagan pretense. In Him it was a celebration and an
honest expectation, that God would support and defend Her Majesty, and that she would support and defend the dominions, lands, and peoples there placed in her
charge.
Whose life, whose redemption,
whose future and hope do we defend this glorious day? May we uphold them in all the majesty of the compassions
and the authority and the splendor of the love of God.
Supertunica and Robe Royal,
Wikipedia
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