“The
Crown of Thorns”
Matthew
27:29 (27-31)
Midweek
Lent 5, April 3, 2019
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into
the governor's headquarters,[d] and they gathered the whole battalion[e] before him.28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe
on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his
head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him,
they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and
struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe
and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
So far we’ve considered some of the major symbols
of Lent. The ashes of repentance, as
well as objects and items from the account of the Passion of our Lord. The crowing rooster that accompanied Peter’s
denial. The 30 pieces of silver that
remind us of Judas’ betrayal. And the
scourge or whip, with which Jesus was punished before his crucifixion.
Today we consider the crown of thorns. In and of itself, perhaps, next to only the
cross, the crown of thorns stands for the suffering that Jesus endured for
us. Though it is depicted in Christian
art in various ways, we don’t really know much about it. What sort of thorns were they? How was it fashioned? What exactly did it look like?
Taken together with the scarlet robe and the reed
they placed in his right hand, you can see the intentions clearly. The crown of thorns was a part of the mockery
that the soldiers inflicted upon Jesus.
He who had claimed to be a king – they’ll show him! Here, your highness, a robe and scepter and a
crown – fitting for a man of suffering.
And so the crown of thorns, by its thorns, caused him pain, and by the
mockery did him dishonor. And the
soldiers seemed to take their glee in both.
But like so many details of the Passion, there is
a rich and deep irony to be found here.
For if anyone is a king, it is the king of kings. If anyone should wear a crown, it is the
bright Jewel of God’s own crown. In fact
we sing, “Crown him with MANY Crowns!” If anyone is worthy of the best, and of
the highest honor and worship, it is Jesus, the Son of Man who is also the Son
of God.
And he is also the Lord of Hosts. That is to say, that at a word of his whim,
God would have sent 12 legions of angels to defend his Son. All the armies of heaven, from the Archangel
Michael who cast Satan from heaven – to the lowliest of the rank upon rank –
all the angels answer to him. The hosts,
the armies, are his. He made them and he
commands them. But here, at his passion,
a battalion of Roman soldiers thinks they have him under control. The dare to mock him, strike him, spit on
him. If they only knew.
More than that, the crown he deserves, the crown
he laid aside to become incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary… the
divine glory, honor, majesty and might… all of that, he temporarily
eschews. He humbles himself. He takes on the form of a servant. Even though he had equality with God he
considered it wasn’t something to be grasped, held onto, but rather he lets it
go… at least for a time… steps down… to serve.
Much like when he tied the towel around his waist and started washing
feet. The Son of Man came not to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. He put aside one crown, to take up another.
But Jesus is a king, even in his suffering. King of the Jews, the inscription above the
cross – ordered by Pilate – said so. Pilate,
to whom Jesus had to explain, “my kingdom is not of this world”. Indeed, his kingdom is not limited to this
world, but far surpasses all earthly rule.
Pilate, that representative of earthly authority,
so puffed up in his own power – but Jesus isn’t so impressed. “You would have no power over me unless it
was given you from above”. And Jesus
doesn’t mean Caesar. All earthly kings
and rulers serve at the pleasure of the true king. They are underlings and agents of the divine
kingship of all. He raises them up and
brings them low at his whim. Empires
rise and fall. But the Lord reigns
forever.
But Pilate isn’t the only sinner ever to get a
little big for his britches. We have a
long history, going back to the Garden, of sinners trying to push God off his
throne so we can take his place. “You will
be like God” Satan tempted. We want the
scepter, the throne. We want the crown.
And it is because of Adam’s sin, and our sin that
this good earth is so twisted. Sin
twists everything good. It takes what is
created good and holy and perverts it, makes it crooked and off-kilter. Sin doesn’t make up new things equal to the
good that God creates – but it can only corrupt that which is good, break it,
deform it. Sin does not create new. Evil isn’t an equal to the good. It is less than the good. A shabby facsimile. A fun-house mirror version of the perfect.
And then there’s the curse. The crown of thorns reminds us of this: That even the creation itself is cursed
because of our sin. For from Adam, the
ground is cursed to bring forth thorns and thistles. Yes, that crown of thorns that they placed on
Jesus’ head wouldn’t have existed if it were not for Adam’s sin, and ours. But he bears, that, too, to the cross. And in the cross he not only destroys sin,
but all its consequences. The thorns of
the curse, the fallen creation itself will be renewed in Christ. How much more, then, the crown of his
creation, the ones made in his own image, will be restored by this second Adam. And so the cross becomes a life-giving tree,
and Christ’s body and blood, the fruits of the cross, the new “tree of life”
for all who believe.
And so, in Christ, creation is restored, and you,
the sinner, are restored. You are
restored to the fullness of God’s intentions for a human – righteous, holy, and
alive. In the resurrection we will see
it all fully realized. And then receive
the crown of glory.
Someone once pointed out to me that in all of
Scripture, it’s only humans that wear a crown (except for the devil, in his
false authority). But angels, as
powerful as they are, are never crowned.
Angels do not judge the nations, we humans do. Angels do not participate with Christ in his
reign and rule in glory, but we humans will.
This we, too, are given crowns.
One picture of this is in John’s vision written
for us in the Book of Revelation. We see
a glimpse of the heavenly throne room – with God the Father enthroned, but also
the Lamb who once was slain at the center of the throne. And between God and his creation is a vast
sea – calm like glass. And around all of
this are the 24 smaller thrones, with the 24 elders, who themselves wear
crowns. These are an image of the
church, in her glory, represented as the entirety of the Old Testament (as in,
the 12 tribes) and the New Testament (as in, the 12 apostles). And here they are, casting down their golden
crowns around the glassy sea.
Christ is, indeed, the King of the Jews, the King
of the Nations, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You could crown him with many crowns, and it
wouldn’t even be enough. For he is Lord
of all.
And he is Lord of all not only because of his
power and might. But the reason he has
the name above all names, the reason he is most glorified, the reason he is
exalted high above every other power by God the Father, is because of his cross,
his suffering, his crown of thorns.
And
being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point
of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:8-11)
When you look at that crown of thorns, consider
the crown that Christ set aside to bear this suffering for your sins. But hope, also, in the promise, that a crown
of righteousness awaits you in his eternal courts. For the King of Kings is your king, your
servant, your savior, your redeemer, your advocate, and your friend.
O
sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now
scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
O
sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet,
though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.
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