Posted on 02/17/2005 8:28:13 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
The Third Sorrowful Mystery:
Jesus is crowned with thorns and mocked
The Crowning
The dirty soldier's cloak,
a proper Roman scarlet
is draped over his bleeding raw back,
the fabric growing darker
wherever it touches
the handiwork
the soldiers left behind
in long red stripes
still bloody.
A game he has become in their hands.
For the soldiers
bored,
violent children of a violent culture,
he is a doll to take their frustrations out
against everything
they hate about this
dusty foreign place
filled with strange people.
They crown him with their
disdain,
hate,
fear,
wrapped amid the thorns.
And as they bow low before each blow,
they ignore the miracle in their midst,
the privilege they have been given,
to be the ones to stand in
for all the mockery,
all the disdain
of God and good
that we heap upon the head of Jesus
until the end of time.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting 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 spat upon 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
You stand there Lord,
before the haughty Roman judge,
bloody,
beaten,
abandoned.
Behold, says Pilate.
So frail you seem,
as you lift your bloodied head
and look upon this gathered crowd,
hungry as jackals.
Bruised and battered, the face
that looks out over the assembly
gazes not with hot hatred
or numb resignation of the broken,
nor self-pity,
but with love
and grief
and an unfathomable caring
that yearns to heal each of us.
Lord, I am not worthy to meet your gaze.
Have I not, like Peter,
denied you?
Or like Judas, betrayed you;
Time after time, have I not
added to your stripes,
pierced your head
with the hard thorns of an unloving heart?
And yet here you stand,
pouring yourself out like a drink offering,
letting the cup be drained
until nothing is left.
Lord, you said the word to heal me -
let me never forget the price you paid.
The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood. The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be king. They throw a robe across His shoulders and place a stick in His hand for a scepter. They still need a crown to make their travesty complete. Flexible branches covered with long thorns (commonly used in bundles for firewood) are plaited into the shape of a crown and this is pressed into His scalp. Again there is copious bleeding, the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body.
After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers take the stick from His hand and strike Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tire of their sadistic sport and the robe is torn from His back. Already having adhered to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, its removal causes excruciating pain just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, and almost as though He were again being whipped the wounds once more begin to bleed.
From A Physician Testifies About the Crucifixion by Dr. C. Truman Davis
O Lord,
Let me consider in awe the price you were willing to pay for our redemption, how you accepted the blows and mockery of those who would be the tools of your death so that we all might live. And when my heart rages with impatience and anger, bring to mind your loving response, and teach me to be the tool in your
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Thank you for posting this. My Jesus, mercy!
Hard to believe it's been a full year since Mel Gibson's "The Passion" came out in theaters. Of course, it's now available in DVD and VHS for home viewing.
Here's wishing Lenten blessings for all FReepers.
Prayer for all FReepers: may the Lord give you rest and peace this night, and blessings throughout the Lenten season.
I was impressed with the supporting cast of "The Passion", esp. the actor who played Simon, the man who carried Christ's cross. He was sympathetic and believable.
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