The ragged, thorny crown, what does it represent? In Genesis, Adam and Eve, because of their disobedience are told that they must leave the garden. The consequences have begun. They are trading lush green landscapes for ragged thorns and weeds. Blessings for a painful curse. Read chapter 3, verses 14-19. God speaks to the serpent:
"Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel."
To Eve God spoke, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
Then God said to Adam: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the day of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." Adam and Eve left the garden sorrowful that day and wishing they had not taken God's goodness, provision or instructions for granted.
As I was studying the sacrifice of Jesus, His crown of thorns made me wonder. See, this ring of thistles wasn't just the final touch to Satan's devious, yet failing plan. It wasn't a "designer" piece of Jesus' crucifixion wardrobe. It wasn't even just one more attempt to mock Jesus while He had Him where he wanted Him. Although that is what Satan intended. Nobody puts The Son of God anywhere He doesn't choose to go.
Jesus could not and would not be mocked. He willingly wore this crown of thorns for us. He wore that splintery crown recognizing the curse which He was breaking. See, thorns are actually seeds ... They represented fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a last-ditch dig of Satan to hurt Him. They pricked His scalp and made Him bleed. The blood ran down His face and Satan smiled thinking he had won. He knew so little ... about the blood.
Before the fall, were only good seeds and these good seeds produced other good seeds. After the fall, even the seeds changed. And the bad seeds reproduced more bad seeds. Just like sin reproduces sin. Jesus could have rejected the crown, refusing to wear it but He didn't. These thorns were symbolic of man; Full of beauty and goodness in the beginning, but severely twisted and mutated by sin.
Like the soldiers below, they mocked and made him bleed. But making Jesus bleed was the wrong thing to do. See, the one who represented the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not very knowledgeable, himself, or he would not have done what He did. But then again, it had to be done. It was all predetermined from the beginning. Not that Adam and Eve would fail, but that this sacrifice may be required.
Satan couldn't even be original. He himself was following a predetermined course. Apparently he must have forgotten about Moses's rod which became a serpent and devoured Pharoah's magician's serpents. And now this crown of thorns which was intended to mock the Son of God was being raised up high above their heads ... just like the serpent on a pole in the desert which brought healing to the people of Israel. Now, who was mocking who?
This crown was symbolic of all that Christ was doing for us. He took the thorns and thistles of adversity meant for us and wore them upon His own head. At His heels soldiers struck and mocked him but it wasn't really them. They were just pawns also, in service to the serpent. God had the enemy right where he wanted him. Satan thought he had the upper hand, boy was he wrong. Those nails that pierced Jesus' hands and feet nailed him instead.
When Jesus walked out of that tomb, the enemy realized something that maybe even we haven't fully understood. God's love for us. Satan misjudged the power of Love. But we don't need to.
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