HO
THE K I N G ’.S BUS I NESS
"Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head" (John 19:1, 2).
“The head that once was crowned with thorns Is crowned with glory now.” Alas, however, men still give Him thorns. Your sin and mine can cru cify Jesus afresh. What are some of those sharp scourges tearing His lov ing heart in our day? What grieves His tender Spirit? What thorns can we plat as a crown for His brow? Thorns! Here are some of them: There is indifference to His suffer ing. His anguish is nothing to the crowds as they pass Him by. There is unbelief in His efficacious death. This is the piercing sin of mul titudes—to refuse to believe that His death provided their salvation. There is the unreality of professed belief. May we be delivered from calling Him Lord, and yet failing to obey His commands. There is inconsistency of life. What a thorn is this and how it hurts the Master! Nothing is more painful for Him to bear. There is the greed of worldly gain. How carnality grieves the LoTd! Why, He died, naked, and was buried in a borrowed grave! There is the neglect of others for whom He died. He feels it when we fail to reflect His passion. Can we say that Calvary’s compassion is ours?
Enough thorns were His on that dark day when they furrowed His brow—why give Him more? May our daily prayer be: “O Lord, I would not willingly add to Thy sorrows. Help me to give Thee roses instead of thorns.” The question for each of us to an swer is evident: Is the salvation those thorns secured my very own? Thorns and briers were the first products of sin, and, by wearing the crown of thorns, the bearing of the curse is symbolized. Such a blood-stained diadem upon Christ’s brow indicated that the sin of the world garlanded His dear head and heart. He bore our sins in His own body upon the tree. ‘‘His cruel thorns, His shameful cross Produce our Heavenly crowns! Our highest gain springs from His love, Our healing from His wounds.” Have you experienced the healing His “dying wounds” provided? Sirt- stricken souls can only find relief at the Cross, where a fountain was opened for our uncleanness. If out of Christ, and in your sin, plunge into the crimson stream. Turn to the Sav iour and, accepting Him as your very own, place upon His once thorn: crowned brow a diadem of new honor and glory.
rPHAT ugly mock crown platted by the Roman soldiers who executed the orders of the Jews to crucify the Son of God, was a circlet of torture, piercing deep into Christ’s lovely brow. He had e x p e r i e n c e d severe scourging; then His hands were bound, which meant that they could not ap ply a softening touch to the place of pain. The gentle fingers which had eased so many hurts were unable to lift the garland of spikes to relieve the torture of His own bleeding brow. To wear such a cruel crown, Jesus had to lay aside His crown of past glory. Although rich, for our sakes He became poor. It is only when we compare the honor He received from the retinue of Heaven with the shame and rejection of earth', that we realize something of what was involved in His voluntary surrender of Himself for our salvation. He who created worlds by the Word of His power was sold for the price of a common slave. Yet had those coarse soldiers only known it, every thorn composing the crown thrust upon His brow was but a jewel inwrought with that of His divine majesty. The scorn of ipan. has been transformed into the emblem*tof divine, regal power,
Made with FlippingBook HTML5