Crowned in the Curse of Sin

Anyone who has ever been stabbed by a thorn knows how painful it is. Even smaller thorns, such as raspberry bushes or roses, can easily draw blood and tear clothes. Now imagine a wreath of those thorns being shoved onto your head...how painful would that be? This is exactly what happened to Jesus after His scourging.

We don't have a way of knowing for sure what kind of thorns these were. Some have suggested it was a common bramble bush...which is similar to our raspberries, but with more pronounced thorns. This is a possibility - however, there wouldn't have been many bramble bushes readily available to the soldiers in the Roman Fort, at the heart of Jerusalem. If they were to use this bush to weave the crown, a soldier would've had to leave the barracks and search for one outside of the city.

Others have suggested that the thorns were from a garden plant that was growing nearby in the Roman fortress. If this were the case, then it could've been from any number of plants. Some have suggested the Euphorbia milli (or "Crown of Thorns" plant) as a candidate. While we know that this plant was being grown for decoration at the time (and the thorns truly look wicked), the stems are simply not flexible enough to "twist" into a crown. As fierce-some as these thorns look, they're not a likely option.

It is interesting to note, the Romans commonly grew roses in their gardens in the middle east. Roses were often used in Romans celebrations and festivals. They were especially common garden plants throughout the Middle East during Roman times. Because of this, it's easy to believe that the great Roman Praetorium would have many of these thorny plants growing there.

While there is no Bible evidence to support this, I personally believe Jesus was forced to wear a crown of rose thorns. It's simply the most likely candidate for a flexible, thorny plant that was close at hand. Also, the Roman soldiers would probably have some experience with a crown made from rose stems. It was a Roman custom for a bride and groom to wear wreaths of flowers on their heads during a wedding...and roses (de-thorned, of course) were a common choice.

Cruel, Yet Beautiful

After the Roman lictors were done whipping Jesus' back into ribbons, they gathered the entire Roman garrison - every soldier in the Praetorium - and continued to mock and beat Jesus. 

(Why would the soldiers do this to a Man that their governor believed to be innocent? Simply put, it's because they resented the Jews, Jerusalem, and any mention of the promised deliverer known as the "Messiah". Time and time again, Roman soldiers lost their lives to Jewish zealots who were hoping to overthrow Rome. And here they had a Man who was apparently claiming to be the Messiah...of course they were going to make Him pay!)

As the crowd of soldiers gathered around Jesus, they threw a purple and scarlet robe over His tattered and naked body - to imitate a royal robe. Then they placed a stick in his hand as His "scepter". To complete the image, one of the soldiers cut stems from a rose bush and twisted it together to make a "crown". When he returned, this wreath of thorns was forced down to Jesus' forehead, piercing the skin. The pain must've been intense!

Once the soldiers had a degraded and bleeding "King" in front of them - crowned with thorns - they began mock Him by bowing down and proclaiming "All hail the king of the Jews!" Afterward, they took the stick out of His hands and beat Him over the head with it (no doubt, driving the thorns deeper into His flesh).

Once they were through with the fun and games, they sent Him back to Pilate and the ever-growing mob to continue His trial.

Breaking the Curse

Here's why I think Rose thorns are a fitting choice for Jesus' crown: There's no better picture of the beauty of God's creation that has been marred by the curse of sin. What's that saying? "Every rose has it's thorn." That wasn't God's original intent, but it's one of the many devastating consequences of sin.

In Genesis 3:17-18 we read what happened when Adam rebelled: "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you..." So then, thorns are a symbol of the curse of sin and it's effects on us.

In Mark 4:18-19, we find out that this curse of sin has more than just physical effects. "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the Word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful." So then, thorns are not only a literal consequence of the curse, they are also symbolic of anything that would prevent God's Word from producing fruit in your life.

Specifically, thorns are symbolic of these three things:

The cares of life

The deceitfulness of riches

The desires for things other than God and His Word

Each of these is a result of the curse of sin!

And here's what's so amazing: When Jesus took those thorns upon His head, He was rolling back the curse of sin for us...all the way back to before the fall! For those who would choose to believe it, Jesus; sacrifice was enough to break the grip of the curse off of our life. As He accepted the crown, He bore all the consequences (the "curse") of our sin upon Himself. This leaves us free to live the kind of live that results from doing everything right!

And it's not just the curse of our sin either. No, thorns are the result of sin in general! When He wore those thorns, Jesus made this bold statement: "You no longer have to suffer the effects of the curse! If you'll receive it, I'm rolling away all of the effects of sin...every sin...off of your life right now!"