Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were visiting a private Catholic school near London on March 20, shaking hands and greeting excited fans of all ages. But when Prince Harry reached out to shake hands with four-year-old Emmanuel Osei, the boy appeared confused.
“When is Prince Harry coming?” he asked.
“But I’m Prince Harry,” the Royal replied.
But Emmanuel just figured this man didn’t understand the question, so he repeated it. With emphasis.
“When is the real Prince Harry coming?”
Harry was gracious. He said again, “I’m the real Harry.” And maybe assuming his appearance was confusing, he quipped, “I’ve just had my hair cut for the occasion.”
No. That wasn’t it. Emmanuel wasn’t confused by what Harry looked like. He was confused by what Harry didn’t look like. Harry simply didn’t meet the boy’s expectations for how royalty should look.
According to Diane Redmond, a learning mentor at the school, the children have expectations for the appearance of a prince. “They think a prince should have a crown,” she explained.
In fact, this happens a lot. In a 2016 interview with People magazine, Prince Harry explained that “every time” kids are told the prince is coming to see them, and he shows up in his suit, it’s a let-down, and he sees “the disappointment on their faces when they see me without a crown or a cape.”
Well, yeah. Shouldn’t a prince, if he is really a prince, dress like a prince? That’s what we expect, right? Royalty should look like royalty. Talk like royalty. Act like royalty.
On our terms. For our purposes.
But what if the Prince isn’t who we expect? What if the Royal doesn’t fit our notions, make us comfortable, fulfill our whims, meet our demands? Then what?
After three years with Jesus, after His arrest and crucifixion and resurrection, John the apostle and close friend of Jesus wrote, “He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:10-11).
God came. The Creator visited His creation. Did they embrace Him? Bow to Him? Celebrate Him? No. They were confused, repulsed, angry. Where is the real King?
They wanted the crown and the cape. They got the Carpenter and Teacher.
When He healed the sick, they questioned His sanity. When He touched the leper, they recoiled in horror. When He imposed His authority, they disputed His accuracy. When He raised the dead, they wanted Him killed. Because that’s not how they thought the King should behave, what they thought He would say, how they thought He would look.
So they manipulated His execution, and the Romans dressed Him up in mock royal garments, a purple robe and a crown of thorns, and they laughed and beat Him and spat on Him, and as He hung bleeding they yelled, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” (Luke 23:36).
That’s what a real King would do. Right?
Be the King we want you to be, the King we expect, the King we require. Do what we want You to do. Say what we want You to say. Look like we want You to look.
But God knows what we don’t know. Before we see the crown and the cape, we need to know the Savior.
So be glad He doesn’t always look like you think He should, doesn’t always act like you think He should, and doesn’t always say what you want Him to say.
Because today, right now, you might want the crown and the cape. But He knows what you really need. Today, right now, you need to know Him just as He is. Your Savior. Your Redeemer. Your Lord.
So for now, today, you don’t need the crown and the cape. You don’t need your expectations fulfilled and your whims gratified. You don’t need Him to act like you want Him to act, say what you want Him to say, look like you think He should look.
You need the risen Lord to be the Lord that He is. You need Jesus.
Being in the form of God, [He] did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:6-11).