Meditation on a mock coronation.

The Crowning with Thorns 

Good Friday 2013

Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. (Matthew 27:27-31a)

I asked the Lord to grant me a seat - front and center - to witness His crowning with thorns. Almost unrecognizable from the scourging, it is extremely difficult to see Jesus treated this way. This is wrong. This is all so terribly wrong. Present are all of the trappings of a coronation: a great assembly, a kingly robe, a crown, a staff as scepter, and cheers of homage. But this coronation is a demonic inversion of a true crowning. My first impulse is to cry out “Lord, do you want me to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus is silent and calls me to imitate Him in His silence. As I behold this unholy charade conducted by these vile men, I am once again reminded of the great paradox of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Kingship

God the Son is the King of kings and Lord of lords. We acclaim Him in song: O worship the King all glorious above… Hail Jesus, You’re my King… Our God Reigns… Majesty, Worship His Majesty… The splendor of the King, Clothed in majesty, and, of course, just a few months ago we were singing “Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King”. He truly is worthy of reverence and respect. But He was served suffering, humiliation and sacrilege. What we witness in this assembly is the diabolical, total opposite of the honor that is due to King Jesus.

The Robe

“They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.”
We sing the Psalm, “The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength” (Psalm 93:1) but Jesus endured the shame of nakedness and a farcical scarlet robe. In contrast, we are called to be clothed with Jesus Christ Himself and are promised to be numbered with the Great Multitude in White Robes in Heaven. (Revelation 7:9)

The Crown

What crown would be fit for the King of the Universe? In St. John’s vision of heaven he saw “a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head.” (Rev. 14:14) But in order to redeem us from the curse, the soldiers used material that is connected with the curse after the Fall, for God said to Adam “cursed is the ground because of you… thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you”. Jesus was crowned with thorns so that we can one day “receive the crown of glory that will never fade away”. (1 Peter 5:4)

The Staff

They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!"

“A scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom” writes the Psalmist (Psalm 45:6) Since justice is giving someone their due, worshipping God is the first act of justice. Once again Jesus is dealt the inverse of what is due to Him. Not only did they give him the staff of insincerity, they beat him with it driving the thorns deeper into His sacred head. King Jesus suffered the greatest injustice possible. The staff of man beats down and abuses us the way the soldiers beat on Jesus’ head. In sharp contrast, the rod and staff of the Good Shepherd, comfort us. (Psalm 23)

In this paradoxical mystery Jesus shows us how to “do humility”, how to respond to gross disrespect, how to transform suffering into an offering of praise. We also catch a glimpse of the price paid for our inhumanity, mockery, indifference, and rebellion.