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"And when they had twisted a crown of
thorns, they put it on
His head, and a reed
in
His right hand. And they bowed the
knee
before Him and mocked Him, saying,
"Hail,
King of the Jews"
(Mathew 27:29 NKJV).
Have you ever wondered why the Roman
soldiers chose thorns to create a crown of
mockery for Jesus? It was not an accident;
it was indicative of the mission that Jesus
came
to perform and was now ready to
complete.
It was more than just something to cause Him
pain. It was
filled with symbolism. Look at
Genesis 3:17-18. "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 for you" Adam
and Eve had forfeited their paradisiacal
habitat by their
sin of disobedience, and
the result was thorns...
the fruit of sin.
"Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains
of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho,
saying, ‘you shall drive out all the
inhabitants
of the land destroy all their
molded images, and demolish all their high
places. But if you do not drive out the
inhabitants of the land from before you,
then it shall be that
those whom you let
remain shall be irritants in your eyes and
thorns in your sides, and they shall harass
you in the
land
where you dwell"
(Numbers
33:50-55 NKJV)
Why did God
warn Israel that
the inhabitants would be thorns to them if
they allowed
them to remain?
God knew the potential and inclination of
Israel
to backslide
into idol worship. As
long as the pagan worshippers and their
gods
remained among the people of God, He knew
that it
would invade their worship of Him.
The result
of their sinful
pagan worship
would bring sin
and its consequence to the erring Israelites.
He likened the results of
their sin to thorns
which would prick them
and lead to deadly
infection...sin’s
consequence.
Joshua reiterated Moses’ warning to Israel
in Joshua 23:13.
"they shall be snares and
traps to you, and scourges on your
sides and
thorns in your eyes" The consequences of
their failure
to obey God
and keep their
worship of Him pure would
result
in
thorns...sin’s prick--and destroy
them.
Sin’s prick is deadly, eternally so.
God called Israel to task for not tearing
down pagan altars. He began by telling them
He
would never renege on His covenant
with
them, but they had failed on their end by
not obeying
His voice. "they shall be thorns
in your side,
and their gods shall be
a
share to you."
(Judges 2:3 NKJV)
When Gideon was waging war with the Midianites, he used
thorns to signify the
judgment of God. "When the Lord has
delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand,
then I will tear
your flesh with the thorns
of
the wilderness with briers."
Judges 8:7 NKJV)
The thorns represented God’s
judgment.
In Proverbs 22:5 'thorns and
snares describe
the consequence of 'the
perverse.' It will bring God’s judgment on
those who
are arrogant and rebellious
against God. The field of the
slothful will
be overgrown with thorns and
covered with
nettles (Proverbs 24:31). Again,
this
referred to consequences and judgment
for
not being obedient and diligent to serve
God.
Isaiah saw the Lord’s hand in judgment in
the fruitless
vineyard. He looked for
justice but saw only oppression. What would
He do about it? "I will take away its hedge
[protection/grace and mercy] and it shall be
burned; there shall come
up briers and
thorns" (Isaiah 5:5-7). Again,
thorns
represented God’s judgment and the
consequences of sin. This scenario was
repeated
in other verses in Isaiah:
vineyards would become a place of thorns and
briers (7:24), consequences of complacency
would turn the pleasant fields
and fruitful
vines
into thorns and brier thickets
(32:13).
Have you begun to see the portrait of thorns
and what they represent? Even the
palaces...places
of influence and
power...will not escape. "They shall call
its nobles to the kingdom. But none
shall be
there, and all its princes shall be
nothing.
And
thorns shall come up in its
palaces,
Nettles and brambles in its fortresses;
It
shall be a habitation of jackals"
(Isaiah
34:12-13 NKJV)
False teachers and preachers
who tickle our
ears will
be subject to the
thorn’s prick...judgment. 'Thorns shall be
in their tents
of worship, a place of
sacrifice to the Lord
which
they have
polluted" (Hosea 9:6)
No one will escape
the
judgment of God; the
prick of sin will
find everyone who has
not brought their sins
to Jesus before judgment falls and the prick
of sin brings eternal consequences.
Jesus taught that grapes are not gathered
from thorns, but
from the branches (us) of
the vine (Christ). He is the source of the
fruit and has purged us from thorns...the
prick of sin with
the consequence of the
sting of death. But He warned that the
thorns of cares of this life,
riches and
pleasures of life (things
the flesh lusts
after) will strangle the Word
and the life
it brings
if we aren’t diligent
and
prayerfully watchful.
Now, back to the crown of thorns that Jesus
wore. Every thorn that pierced His brow and
caused His precious sinless blood to flow
was
for our sin. "Then Jesus came out,
wearing the crown
of thorns and the purple
robe. And
Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the
Man!"
(John 19:5 NKJV)
Yes, 'Behold the
Man' who is suffering for our
sin, whose
crown of thorns is piercing His
heart for
the sins of the world. Behold the Man who is
taking
the consequence of breaking
God’s
Laws upon Himself. He is accepting the prick
of sin...ours...and will pay the ultimate
penalty, His death in our place.
The head that never knew the fruit of sin
(prick of the thorn)
was willing to bear
mine
and the sins of the whole world upon
His own sinless brow that pierced Him to His
heart. He allowed
the crown of thorns
(sin’s
fruit) to wound Him so I will never
have to
wear that thorny crown of sin’s
judgment.
He set aside His crown of glory for a crown
of thorns whose
every pierce cried 'Guilty!'
He stretched out His hands on the
cross and
with
His death burned all the thorns,
nettles and
briers of sin that the crown of
thorns piercing
his brow represented. The
crown of thorns is no more! He now wears
the
crown of glory and
has a crown laid up for
us for whom
He died and paid for every sin.
When you look upon the crown of thorns,
remember that
every prick was for you!
July 18,2003
Delores Adams
All rights reserved.
Alice's Legacy
Remembering
Alice
Bible Studies
The "Handkerchief" has
been anointed and prayed over by
several
believers who care about you and want to
help you
realize your full
potential in Christ Jesus Our Lord.
~The
Ten Commandments~
 
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