Crowned with thorns
When Jesus was accused of a capital crime in court, the soldiers wove thorns into a makeshift crown and placed it on his head. (Joh 19,2)They dressed him in a purple robe and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" while they slapped him in the face and kicked him.
The soldiers did it to amuse themselves, but the Gospels include this story as a significant part of Jesus' trial. I suspect they are weaving this story in because it has an ironic truth - Jesus is the King, but His reign would be preceded by rejection, ridicule, and suffering. He has a crown of thorns because he is the ruler of a world that is full of pain, and as the king of this depraved world, he demonstrated his right to rule by suffering pain himself. He was crowned with thorns (only through great pain) (he was given authority).
Meaning also for us
The Crown of Thorns is also important to our lives - it's not just part of a movie scene where we are overwhelmed with the suffering that Jesus went through to be our Savior. Jesus said that if we want to follow him, we have to take our cross daily - and he could just as easily have said that we have to wear a crown of thorns. We are connected to Jesus in the crucible of suffering.
The crown of thorns has meaning for Jesus, and it has meaning for every person who follows Jesus. As the Book of Genesis describes, Adam and Eve rejected God and made the decision to experience for themselves what is good and evil.
There is nothing wrong with knowing the difference between good and evil - but it is wrong to suffer evil because it is the path of thorns, the path of suffering. Since Jesus came to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God, it is no surprise that humanity, still alienated from God, rejected it and expressed it with thorns and death.
Jesus accepted this rejection - he accepted the crown of thorns - as part of the bitter cup to suffer what people suffer, so that he could open the door for us to escape with him this world of tears. In this world, governments place thorns on the heads of citizens. In this world, Jesus suffered all that they wanted to do to him so that he could redeem us all from this world of godlessness and thorns.
The world to come will be ruled by the man who has overcome the thorny way - and those who have given him their loyalty will take their place in the government of this new creation.
We all experience our crown of thorns. We all have our cross to bear. We all live in this fallen world and share in its pain and sorrow. But the crown of thorns and the cross of death have found their counterpart in Jesus, who invites us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt 11,28-29).
by Joseph Tkach
