Thorns of Love?

On the cross Jesus was crowned by the very thing that did not even exist when God created the earth.  Thorns were not in the original creation story.  They came about after man’s rejection of God.  Thorns were not God’s plan for man.  In Genesis 3 we read that thorns grew on the earth for the very first time after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

Thorns represent the cursed earth.  Now I ask myself…Why would Jesus be crowned with something that represents the curse?  Why did Jesus allow the cursed thorns to draw blood from his head?  His perfect, sinless, blood dripping from his head by the very thing that man’s disobedience brought to the earth.  What irony! 

It is yet another reminder that He came for us in spite of our rejection of God.   God sent him to accomplish a very wonderful and loving task.  To show us a way back to God.  Man’s ultimate sin is being his own God.  It is our mistrust of God that makes us act as our own God, yet in doing so, we elevate ourselves above God.   Our thoughts are evidenced by our actions and called "sins".  We do our own thing.   We are in charge.  As humans, we do not naturally submit to our creator.  That is something we learn to do.  Then we call it "wisdom".  Adam’s self-leadership is what originally brought thorns to this earth. 

It was Jesus who showed us that we humans need our heavenly father to lead us.  And God accepts us back into his family if we make Jesus our leader.  We do this by acknowledging that we know very little compared to what God knows.  We need God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  We come 4^th in the rankings.  And we always will.  No matter how good or smart we get, we need to know that we will never elevate ourselves above God. 

So consider Jesus, who loves us even though we did nothing to earn it.  And by remembering the sinless blood streaming down his face, and knowing he is wearing a crown made of human rebellion, we can see clearly the powerful symbolism.

Now living simply becomes about gaining wisdom through everyday experiences and talking to God as we go.  But until the day Jesus comes back to earth to govern here… our roses will always have thorns.

Come Lord Jesus.