October 29, 2023

 Insult to Injury

(Some information may be too graphic for small children)

“And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him;” John 19:2 (NASB)

            Some years back, a friend and I were in the backyard trimming limbs on our oak tree. I had a chainsaw to trim the bigger branches, while he held them. One limb, he pulled to avoid it falling into the neighbor’s yard. As I cut the branch, it swung around and hit my head. I thought, “That really hurt!” I saw a small steady stream of blood running down my face. I knelt down as it dripped steadily into the ground. After a few minutes, a puddle about 12 inches in diameter was apparent. My friend said, “I am going get your wife.” I said, “It is slowing down, I am ok.” When my wife arrived, she said “We are going to the emergency room. It needs stitches.” When I arrived at the ER, after a few minutes in the waiting room, I felt strange. A few minutes later they took my blood pressure. It was 60/30. I felt okay (other than a headache) but strange. I lost too much blood. Within a few hours of IVs and stitches, I went home. Head wounds bleed a lot.

             “And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head,” The cruelty of men who have been in battle conditions can often be frightening to those who have never been exposed. Roman soldiers were used to violence. As they tortured Jesus, they carried their fun further. They hated the Jews, and this gave them a chance to let out their contempt. “Here the symbolism is plain. In John 3:14 Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.” He knew he had to bear man’s sin, which began through the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Now Jesus received a crown of thorns and briars, which Genesis specifically associates with the curse of the Fall (3:18). It was a terrible coronation, yet Christ remained in control.”[1] Lenski says, “They dress Jesus as a king. John mentions the crown first which was roughly plaited or twisted together of thorn-bearing twigs, a kind of circlet to go around the head. Many guesses have been offered as to the nature of the shrub from which the ἄκανθαι were cut, but the real name for it is not definitely known. On some coins emperors are represented with a laurel wreath encircling the head, and kings have always been distinguished by wearing crowns. So a crown is improvised for Jesus. How the soldiers hit upon the idea of a crown of thorny twigs, and where they found the plant from which they cut them, who will say? The presence of the plant, perhaps twining upon the wall of the courtyard, may have caught the eye of one of the men and suggested to him a chaplet, one wound of these ugly thorny twigs instead of noble laurel. Two purposes were thereby served: to make this king ridiculous and to do this with cruelty by forcing the crown with its lacerating thorns onto his head. The soldiers certainly considered their procedure as a perfect joke. Little trickles of blood disfigured the victim’s face, not with the artistic elegance of so many of our painters, but with the stark hideousness of cruel reality.”[2]

            The robe too was an insult to Jesus. Matthew and Mark record Jesus holding a scepter too. Then took it away as they beat Him further. Today, Jesus holds the Scepter of Life in Heaven. He has defeated death and the grave. By His stripes, we are healed!

[1] Hughes, R. K. (1999). (p. 431). Crossway Books.

[2] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). (pp. 1247–1248). Augsburg Publishing House.