FRAGMENTS FROM THE MASTER’S TABLE

THE CROWN OF THORNS

There are two key issues concerning the CROWN OF THORNS which we would do well to focus our attention on:

No. 1 – The arrival of Jesus Christ.

His arrival is well documented in Scripture, where we are told that He was born of a virgin in an obscure stable that housed farm animals. Many have asked what He did in the early years leading up to His 30th birthday because in actual fact, not much is known.
We are, however, given some life-markers in Scripture which are very significant indeed.

Aside from the account of Jesus’ birth and infancy, there is only one account in the Bible about his boyhood.  That’s the time when at the age of 12, Jesus was in the temple courts of Jerusalem amazing His teachers with His knowledge of the Scriptures.  Luke 2:41-52

This account ends in an interesting way. God tells us that the boy Jesus did not remain in Jerusalem in the temple.  Instead He was obedient to His earthly parents and went back with them to His hometown of Nazareth. From age 12 to 30, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.”

That’s it. That’s all we’ve got in the Bible about what Jesus was doing for all those years. We might wish we had more, but it would seem that the Bible was not given to us so that we could know every detail of His life here on earth, but rather it was given to us that we might be “wise unto Salvation”, as Paul wrote – a short-hand way of saying the Bible tells us exactly what we ‘need’ to know about Jesus in order for us to believe in Him and be saved.

No.2 – The departure of Jesus Christ.

Events leading up to this is a subject of the deepest solemnity upon which we should meditate as we enter the common hall of Pilate the Roman Governor where the Lord Jesus Christ is taken down into the depths of shame and crowned with a crown of thorns.
Let us pause at the threshold of the doorway for a moment of meditation on the One brought down to the deepest shame.

• Who is this Person who is set at naught in Pilate’s judgement hall?
• Who is this Presented by Pilate saying, “behold the Man?”
• Who is this Prisoner who has been subjected to the humiliation of mockery?

To help us in our meditation, we must remember the Excellency of His Person. We must remember the Glory of His Eternal Majesty. We must remember that He is God’s Incarnate Son. We must remember that He is the One who received a crown of thorns from man. We must consider His Power, the One who set the stars on their courses. He is the One who created all things who holds everything together with the Power of His Might.

As we cross the threshold of the door, our gaze is fixed on the Crown of Thorns.

There are seven things about this crown which demands our attention.

1. The material of the crown – it was made of thorns.
2. The making of the crown – they plaited the thorns and put it on His head.
3. The misery of the crown – they took a reed and beat the thorns into His temples.
4. The mockery of the crown – over and over they mocked Him.
5. The meaning of the crown – the thorns speak of the curse and represent the world.
6. The mystery of the crown – a fulfillment of prophecy, the most wonderful and most precious type of the Sacrifice of Jesus is when Abraham was commanded to offer up his only son Isaac on Mount Moriah, the same Mount as Mount Calvary.
7. The message of the crown – is two-fold:  it speaks of dark punishment and glorious pardon.

To understand the connection between the first issue and the second issue, we need to turn to Genesis 3:17-19 –
v17 And unto Adam He 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; v18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; v19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it you were taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

We must meditate further on what Abraham did:
He laid his only son on the altar and raised his knife.
Then came Divine intervention!
Abraham looked up and saw a Ram caught in a thorn bush.
He took his son off the altar and replaced him with the ram.
Here we see a perfect type of our Lord Jesus Christ.
No wonder the Saviour Himself could say –
v56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.” v57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” v58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
v59 So they picked up stones to throw at Him. John 8:56-59

Man gave Jesus a cross and a crown made of thorns which came from the ground cursed by God. He rose from the dead, departed this earth and is now seated at the right hand of God.

The next time our Saviour’s feet touch the earth, it will be on the Mount of Olives.
When this happens, they will recognise Him as the One whom they put to death. They will mourn as one who mourns for an only child and they will grieve for Him as one grieves over a firstborn.
The significance of the thorns is unmistakable. They were part of the curse in the beginning and mockingly used by man at the end.
As we wait excitedly for our Saviour to take us out of this world, may we consider with gravity and seriousness the plight of those who will be left behind.