𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 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!” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 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. 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗪 𝟮𝟳:𝟮𝟳–𝟯𝟭

Read also 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝟭𝟱:𝟭𝟲–𝟮𝟬; 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟭𝟵:𝟮–𝟯; 𝟭 𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮:𝟮𝟯–𝟮𝟰.

𝙍𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩

A crown symbolizes royal authority, power, and dignity. Yet, when we look at the cross, we do not see the kind of king typically deserving of such a crown. Instead, we see the complete opposite—a crown of thorns placed on the King of kings, intended as a mockery of His kingship.

Thorns are a symbol of the curse of sin (Genesis 3:18). The crown of thorns echoes that curse, as Jesus took upon Himself the weight of sin for the redemption of the world. This crown is one that was fashioned by the soldiers uniquely for Jesus to wear.

Jesus was surrounded by soldiers who stripped off His robe and dressed Him in a purple garment. He was spat upon, slapped, and subjected to intense humiliation, yet He did not retaliate. Instead, Jesus endured all this because of the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). He did not give the soldiers what they deserved, nor did He complain. Quietly, He allowed the mockery, knowing that this was the only way for His creation to be restored to Him. Jesus entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23–24). Jesus is the God of all gods and the King of all kings, fully capable of punishing them, yet He chose not to. Instead, He allowed them to fulfill what was written in Scripture. He willingly suffered to fully pay the penalty for our sins. It demonstrates the profound humility of Christ. The One who holds full authority in heaven and on earth willingly allowed Himself to be humiliated, for our sake.

When Jesus first came in the flesh, He came humbly enduring the crown of thorns. In the book of Revelation, Scripture tells us that Jesus is coming again—this time in power and glory. We are told that He wears many crowns (Revelation 19:12) and is worthy of all other crowns laid down before Him (Revelation 4:4, 10). We are reminded that the crown of thorns is the most humbling of all the crowns He wore. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀’ 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆. He wore the crown of thorns so that, when we place our trust in Him, we can wear the crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8). The one who bore this crown of thorns now sits on the throne, ruling and reigning forever.

“Crown of Thorns” by Ira Stanphill

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦

𝘈 𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦

𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘥

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥

𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘺

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘏𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴

𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙

• Reflect on the crowns of Christ. How do you view and respond to His kingship? Have you come under the authority of Jesus as Lord and King of your life? How can your life be an example of worship and yielding to who He is?

• Thank God for how Christ came on earth, humbled Himself, and became obedient to the point of death on the cross to make us righteous before Him.

• Pray that just like Jesus, we’ll take on His posture of humility even when faced with humiliation (Philippians 2:3–11; 1 Peter 2:23–24).

𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧

Dear Lord, thank You for humbling Yourself, wearing the crown of thorns, and suffering for our sake. Help us understand the depth of Your sacrifice on the cross, so that we may learn to live in gratitude, trusting in Your love and grace. Amen.