The Crown of Thorns – It’s Significance

The end of the earth curse

One of the most overlooked aspects of the unrighteous treatment that Jesus bore for us is the crown of thrones.  Why was a crown made of thorns put on Jesus’ head and why was it mentioned?  Was it a fluke or by chance?  Even more importantly, why is the crown of thorns overlooked in the preaching of the gospel?

“Thy dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on Him.”  (Mark 15:17 HCSB)

After Adam and Eve’s rebellion toward God’s Word, God cursed the ground through which Adam received his sustenance.  God said to Adam, “The ground is cursed because of you.  You will eat from it by means of painful labor.  It will produce THORNS and thistles for you, and you will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it….  (Genesis 3:17-19 HCSB)

From this point on, mankind was to survive by painful toil and sweat.  The thorns and thistles represented the curse and was a reminder of Adam’s act of disobedience and rebellion.  Today every human being has to “make” a living the hard and painful way.  It’s a pain for most people to get up and go to work for someone else just to eke out an existence.  For the majority, more than 1/3 of our day is spent making enough money just to survive.  We welcome weekends and vacations just to get a break from this curse.

Most people dislike and even hate having to get up each day and go to work.  People are working jobs that fill them with stress, anxiety, and discontentment.  They moan and groan for raises and bonuses just to relieve the pressure of the curse imposed on them by Adam, so long ago.  In an attempt to get relief, some play the lottery, hoping for a win to save them from the pain of labor.  A few even resort to lawsuits and a life of crime to get relieve…only to find none!

However, there is good news!  Over 2,000 years ago one man bore a crown of thorns and took those thorns all the way to the cross where the earth curse was forever banished and replaced with a blessing.  Christ redeemed us from the curse (Galatians 3:13).

Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the Lord enriches, and struggle adds nothing to it.”  Something amazing happened on the cross.  The earth-curse was judged and it died with Jesus there.  A way of escape from a life of painful toil and labor was made available.  Jesus freed us from the earth curse and blessed us with freedom, abundant life, forgiveness and so much more.  This is good news!

Part of the gospel message is “good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18).  Let me ask you, what is good news to the poor?  Good news to the poor is promised abundance.  Good news to the poor is riches without painful toil, hard labor and sweat just to survive.  The gospel promises abundant life (John 10:10) and being made rich through Jesus’ poverty (2Corinthians 8:9).  Good news to the poor is being relieved from caring for our own existence and letting God be our Source of wealth creation (Deuteronomy 8:18).

Jesus said, in the gospels, that we no longer have to worry about provision.  He compared us to birds who do not toil or labor.  They don’t even have to sow—they just gather (Matthew 6:25-24).  In John 4:38 Jesus told His disciples that He sends them to reap what they didn’t labor for.  This is the reality of living under the blessing.  Under the blessing we become gatherers reaping where others have sown.  This illustrates a life void of painful toil and labor.

I am in sales and I cannot begin to tell you how many times this “gathering life” has been my reality.  There have been countless times when I would get phone calls out of the blue asking to do business with me.  I receive business referrals all the time.  These are opportunities that I did not have to labor and sweat to obtain.  I have enjoyed a life of “accidental” gathering for years, but it was not until recently that the Lord told me that I must develop a “gathering” mentality.  I now declare that “I am a gatherer.”  I am a thankful recipient of God’s blessing through Jesus.

When God promised Israel the Good Land, it was something that they just had to take.  God told His people that He would deliver the land into their hands.  They just had to receive it.  He promised them cities, houses, and vineyards that they did not have to labor to build (Deuteronomy 6:10; Joshua 24:13).  The Good Land is a perfect illustration of how we are to operate under the blessing today.  God will fight for you.  He will lead you to the “land of plenty.”  All you have to do is believe and obey His Word.

Under the blessing comes promotions, raises, bonuses, business ideas, business strategies and concepts along with witty inventions.  God will show you HOW to live the blessed life without the struggle, toil, labor and sweat.  Does this mean we don’t have to work?  No!  Instead of painful toil we just have to learn God’s kingdom laws and operate in them.  We learn to become professional gatherers (the best kind of work).  Jesus said, don’t worry about your life (Matthew 6:25).  God will provide the way to those who seek FIRST His kingdom and righteousness (doing the right thing based on kingdom law).

One of the many laws of the kingdom of God is the Law of Sowing and Reaping.  We will ALWAYS reap what we sow. Everything is a seed.  Our words are seeds.  Our deeds are seeds.  Our money is seed.  What we say, do, and how we use our money will reap a harvest accordingly.  The hard work is not the sowing or reaping.  Hard work is trying to “making it happen” on our own.  Based on the Law of Sowing and Reaping God does all the hard work leaving us with the task of just sowing and reaping.  When the crops become ripe, just go gather them.  Now that’s a blessed life!

According to 2 Corinthians 9 God is the One who even provides the seed for the sower!  He provides the seed, you just plant it and gather it in due season.  God does all the rest.  You no longer have to be the one “making it happen” to make ends meet by working harder and longer.  You no longer, based on kingdom law, have to go out and get 2 or 3 jobs just to survive.  Follow God’s plan and you will thrive!

The crown of thorns, part of the curse that Jesus bore, has now become a blessing for us.  The crown of thorns made it possible to live a life void of painful toil and labor.  Jesus bore that burden once and for all so that you would not have to any longer.  In Matthew 11:28 Jesus invited those who labor and are burdened to come to Him to get rest.  He invited all of us to take on His yoke and learn from Him for His yoke is EASY and His burden LIGHT.  Our struggling days are over!  We must be willing to come to Him and receive the blessing He provided by wearing the crown of thorns on the cross.

If you have not received Jesus as your Savior, the one who died in your place, I encourage you to do so right now.  He paid ALL your debt, you just have to received what He did.  Say, “Dear God, I receive the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ.  I believe He died that I might live and that He now ever lives to make intercession for me.  Thank you, Father, for making me your child.  Amen!”

If you prayed this prayer, you are now a citizen of God’s kingdom with the full rights and benefits of being His son or daughter.  The life of painful toil and labor is over for you!  You just have to enter into that reality by growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Get a Bible and begin reading it out loud.  It doesn’t matter if you understand it, that will come as the Spirit shows you what His Word means.  Get involved with a good Bible believing, Spirit-filled local church.  Your new life has just begun!  Congratulations!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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