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 ESV
On one level, the crown of thorns was simply a torture device that served the additional purpose of humiliating Jesus. The soldiers wanted both to mock Jesus and to cause him pain. But the Gospels indicate that something more was going on. Pontius Pilate planned his inscription on the cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19), to be nothing more than a humiliation of the Judeans before Rome. But the declaration on the cross in three languages was also a providential proclamation of the Gospel.
The pagan Roman soldiers may not have learned about the creation of humanity in Adam and Eve. They may not have known that God made them (and us) to rule over creation. They may not have heard about how Adam fell into sin and was cursed to deal with thorns that would make his rule much more difficult. But for anyone familiar with the Bible, those facts frame the story.
So when the battalion mocked him with a robe, a reed scepter, and a crown of thorns, the meaning of what they did is open to another interpretation. (The robe is especially interesting since a scarlet robe would have been expensive. They made a point of replacing it with Jesus’ own clothes before leading him away to be crucified—clothes that were valuable enough to loot and gamble for. So why would someone want to use luxury clothing on a bleeding prisoner? What moved them to make such an extravagant gesture?)
Jesus was a new Adam, a new king: but not an Adam bequeathed a kingdom in a fruitful garden. He wasn’t just charged to subdue the earth; rather, he had to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:18-21). The Father was working through Jesus’ enemies to declare the truth about His son. Jesus was crowned according to his calling: As their king he was called to bear the curse that his people had brought on themselves.
This is what we should expect. While the Jewish and Roman authorities intended to demean, disfigure, and destroy Jesus, Jesus tells us that he was being glorified:
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
John 17:1–5 ESV
Jesus spoke of his work glorifying his Father as if it was in the past. It had led him to that moment when the Father would honor what he had done by glorifying him. That was the real meaning of the cross. It was God honoring Jesus.
So we find Christians after Penecost follow Jesus by regarding their tribulations as an honor.
So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Acts 5:39b–41 ESV
Jesus was worthy to be the suffering king who rescued his people from the curse for sin and his disciples learned that suffering for his sake was an honor.
The author of Hebrews tells Christians to regard persecution as an affirmation that they are God’s sons.
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Hebrews 12:7–8 ESV
Furthermore, he reminds these persecuted Christians of Jesus pleading with God to be spared the cross and assures them that God answered him!
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Hebrews 5:7 ESV
When most observers saw Christ crucified, they were sure it meant that God was not listening to his prayers. But they were wrong. God was glorifying his son as the king and savior of the world. No one else was worthy of that honor. No one else deserved to be crowned as the Second Adam who could bear the curse the first Adam brought on himself.
That being the case, why do we resist being honored by God in our daily lives?
God created humanity to rule the world as creatures made in God’s image. Since God already ruled creation he did not create and commission us to provide a service that he needed. Rather, God wanted people to learn to rule despite limitations. He wanted sons and daughters who learned how to rule through what they suffered (to adapt Hebrews 5:8). Our frustrations are our badge of honor.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2–4 ESV