Day 6 - A Crown of Thorns

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!" Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. Matthew 27:29-31

We are using FamilyLife's Resurrection Eggs as a launchpad for our family's Easter devotions and I really enjoy the insight it gives into the Scriptures that we read during this season. I won't quote it all verbatim here, but I will give a short synopsis of what we read last night.



Day 6 - Crown of Thorns

Obviously, the same people who were praising Jesus a few days before, when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, are now the ones crying out for Him to be put to death. And not just any death, death by crucifixion. I read some information a few years ago, detailing the horrors of this type of death.

After scourging Jesus to the point that He was not recognizable, the Roman soldiers fashioned a crown of thorns and placed it on Jesus's head. Not your typical rosebush thorns, either. These thorns were 1 to 2 inch long spikes. The soldiers didn't just place it on His head, either. They crushed it down onto His head, thereby forcing the spiky thorns into His skin, causing much pain and bleeding.

Still, Jesus showed them the love of God by forgiving and praying for them. The Bible says if you love God, you will love others. If you don't show love to others, then you really don't love God. I stressed this point to my children as I was reading it to them, but I could feel Jesus pricking my heart on this issue, too. We can be reminded that even when we experience the thorns of others' meanness to us, we can choose to respond in love because Jesus has gone before us and has shown us the way of love...even when it is difficult to love.

I wish I had thought to post each of the days on here as we have read them, but I will leave you with the passages of Scripture and you can go back and read them.

Day 1 - Ride on a Donkey - Matthew 21:1-9

Day 2 - Silver Coins - Matthew 26:14-16, 46-50; 27:1-5

Day 3 - Passover Cup - Matthew 26:17-19, 26-28; Exodus 12:23

Day 4 - Praying Hands - Mark 14:32-42

Day 5 - Leather Whip - John 19:1-15

I will try to remember to post the others each day.