Matt.27:27-31 – Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort to Him. And they stripped Him and put a red cloak on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
Every step Jesus took was a declaration or unveiling of the glory of the Father. As Jesus began to experience the cruel mockery and humiliation of His suffering, the hateful acts of His executioners declared the glory of the Lord. Cursing Roman soldiers shoved a crown of thorns on the head of Jesus, this act was a proclamation beginning in the garden so many years before. Man had been cursed, marked by the thorns all of his days. Now this one man bore this mark of the curse on His brow boldly proclaiming that the curse of suffering and lack is broken off of man. As Toplady teaches us in his famous song Rock of Ages we must hide ourselves away in the cleft of the Rock, the wounds of Jesus. Today I think I will hide myself in the wounds on His brow. Here is how Tertullian describes this.
“To what kind of a crown, I ask you, did Christ Jesus submit for the salvation of both sexes? He who is the head of man and the glory of woman and the husband of the church—what kind of crown? It was made from thorns and thistles. They stood as a symbol of the sins that the soil of the flesh brought forth for us but that the power of the cross removed, blunting every sting of death since the head of the Lord bore its pain. And beside the symbol, we are reminded also of the scornful abuse, the degradation and the vileness of his cruel tormentors.”
Hidden away in the wounds of Jesus, He bore my curse that I may inherit His blessing. Today I am hidden away from the curse of poverty and lack, the Lord is my Shepherd and He supplies all that I need. No longer looking to the world and its system, I am hidden away in Christ enjoying His blessing upon my life.
