Crown of Thorns

This Friday is Good Friday when we remember the suffering and death of Jesus. The cruel treatment He received is hard for us to imagine. He was whipped, spit on, and mocked before being crucified. Part of the mockery was placing a crown of thorns on his head which is recorded in all four Gospels.

"And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee and mocked him, saying Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matthew 27:29, Mark 15:17 and John 19:2, 5).

The soldiers who made this crown of thorns and placed it on Jesus head intended it as an instrument of torture. They were blind to symbolism in it. The earth God created did not include thorns. They were part of the curse sin brought on the earth.

"And unto Adam he [God] said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee (Genesis 3:17-18).

The thorns Jesus wore on His head were a symbol of sin, separation from God, and what He was dying for. He took our sins to the cross. "Who His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24).  The sign on the cross said who He was and the crown of thorns showed why He was dying. Jesus death provided a way for us to be saved from the power of sin and reconciled to God. The curse of sin has been broken!