What Does Lady Jane Grey show us about Faith?

“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone [just one grain, never more]. But if it dies, it produces much grain and yields a harvest. The one who loves his life [eventually] loses it [through death], but the one who hates his life in this world [and is concerned with pleasing God] will keep it for life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must [continue to faithfully] follow Me[without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]; and wherever I am [in heaven’s glory], there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:24-26, AMP)

Imagine being told one day to attend a meeting at a secret location. You travel to the house where you were told to meet and all the major politicians of your time are there. They are kneeling, promising you fealty, and calling you the new ruler of England.

On July 9th, 1553, Lady Jane Grey found that her cousin, King Edward VI had died and that in his last will and testament, he had ordered the succession of the crown be changed– passing over Edward’s older half-sister Mary Tudor to name Lady Jane Grey as his heir to the throne. This was a role she neither anticipated nor campaigned for. In fact, she first protested the crown and when she did finally accept the role, she asked God to help her rule to His glory if it be His will that she reign.

Any history buff will know that her reign was short-lived. To historians and anglophiles, Lady Jane Grey is commonly known as “the Nine Days Queen.” In the 35 years since Martin Luther had nailed his 95 thesis to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, church reform was debated and spread throughout Europe. Of course, history knows that King Henry VIII took his own liberties in starting the Church of England, but his break with the Roman Catholic church did begin the process of allowing Protestantism to take hold in England in the mid-16th century. 

His son, Edward VI chose Lady Jane Grey as his heir due to her Protestant beliefs, believing that Jane would further the truth of the Gospel in England over Mary, who was a staunch catholic. He worried that upon his death, should Mary take the throne, she would lead the people back into the Roman Catholic Church and persecute anyone that didn’t follow her. On the other side of the coin, Jane’s noble upbringing meant that she was allowed tutors and a formal education. She was well-read and was well-versed in many languages, including French, Italian, Chaldaic, and Aramaic– besides being able to read Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. 

This of course, meant that she could read and study scripture, and from a young girl, Jane was enraptured by the Gospel message of the reformation; one that knew God’s grace was not extended because of any merit for good deeds, but rather by Jesus on the cross for our sin.

But in the nine days following being made queen, Mary Tudor garnered support for her claim to the throne and gathered an army of ten thousand men, allowing her to establish herself as queen. Because of Jane’s threat to Mary’s rule, she and her supporters were imprisoned and awaited trial.

In the years that Jane spent in custody, she watched as some turned away from their protestant faith in order to please Queen Mary and regain their standing in English society. This disturbed Jane, who told those that visited her that she prayed God would strengthen her and help her never forsake her faith “for love of life.”

And He did. Jane spent about six months in prison as she awaited Mary’s sentence regarding Janes claim to her throne– a claim that Jane never staked herself. Those six months are said to have shown her confidence in God and keeping her faith in Him. During that time, she wrote letters and prayers that showed her resolve in the fact that because Jesus shed His blood on the cross and saved her, all her troubles were meant for God’s good purpose. “I am absolutely persuaded that all that Thou doest can only be well.” 

She quoted scripture, she prayed, and she watched as Mary weeded out fellow Protestants in England, putting many to death. In the days leading up to her execution, Mary sent a catholic monk named John Feckenham to Jane’s cell, hoping that he could convince Jane to change her mind and turn back to the catholic church, believing it was the only way her cousin would go to heaven. Feckenham spent many days with Jane, trying to convince her, but Jane stayed firm, saying, “I ground my faith on God’s Word and not upon the church. 

As she faced execution, she wrote to her sister, “Strive, then, always to learn how to die. Defy the world, deny the devil, despise the flesh, and delight yourself only in the Lord. Repent of your sins, and yet don’t despair. Be strong in faith, with humility… As for my death, rejoice as I do, my dear sister, and consider that I shall be delivered of this corruption and put on incorruption, for I am sure that I will, for losing a mortal life, gain a life that is immortal life.”

We should all strive for that kind of faith: one that trusts despite how bad things can get. One that trusts in God and rejoices in the fact that though we might be hated for our faith in this life, the life that is gained through Christ is incorruptible. 

Do we really believe that God works all things together for our good? Even in the face of imprisonment, persecution, and death itself? Jane’s reign might have been laughably short, but her testimony to the Church and strengthening the faith of other Christians was far-reaching. She knew the very heights of what this world has to offer– she was queen and knew all the wealth and power associated with it. Yet she counted this life a loss in order to gain the one Christ gave her. She herself said her Bible was “more worth than precious jewels.” 

She lost her life because she was appointed to a throne for her faith. And when that faith led her to jail, trial, and the executioner’s block, she still clung to it. It was more precious to her than her life. And she was young! Just 17 years old at the time of her death.

But she counted God’s grace and His love for her as worth more than the long life that should have been in front of her. Among her last words, Jane said, “I look to be saved by none other means but only by the mercy of God and the merits of the blood of His only Son Jesus Christ.”

That’s the Gospel. Jesus on the cross, crucified. Jesus, saving us by the merit of His blood– not the good works we can do, not the Christian life we lived. God’s mercy saving hopeless sinners, and those sinners giving up all the world, no matter the cost, to believe in Him.