Mark 15:16-20
- The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.
- They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
- And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
- Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.
- And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
- Reasons for Jesus’ Wearing the Crown of Thorns
- To redeem us from the sins committed with our thoughts
B. Each individual has his own knowledge and thoughts
C. Fill you with knowledge of truths for the thoughts of truth
D. Throw away fleshly thoughts for spiritual thoughts
E. Purify your heart for the thoughts of truth
3. Jesus Wore the Crown of Thorns to Give Us Good Crowns
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This is the 12th session of the Message of the Cross, testifying to the providence of the Cross. Jesus came down to the earth to save us sinners. To save sinners, He had to take the penalty of death that sinners should have received. That’s why Jesus suffered many pains and was finally crucified. The suffering of Jesus has brought us the forgiveness of our sins. It has set us free from the curse of sin and let us live in the blessings of God.
By the way, we should not simply have the idea that Jesus forgave us of our sins, but understand in detail how He forgave us. Only then will we be able to love Jesus from our heart and live a more powerful life in faith, knowing how He took all the sufferings for us. Through the previous session, we have looked into the providence of Jesus being laid in a manger, living a poor life, and shedding His blood by flogging. I will now preach about the providence in Jesus wearing the crown of thorns.
I hope you realize from the depths of your heart the love of the Lord who wore the crown of thorns for us. And I pray in the name of the Lord that all of you run more powerfully toward the gate of heaven in that abundant love of the Lord.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Jesus is the Son of God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He truly deserves a glorious crown. However, the crown Jesus wore was not a glorious crown made of gold and jewels but of sharp thorns.
Mark 15:16-18 says, “The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18. And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!'”
Brambles in Israel have long and hard thorns. Roman soldiers made a crown from branches with those thorns that was sized smaller than that of a man’s head and pressed it onto Jesus’ head. Those long and terrible thorns pierced through the skin of His head and brought excruciating pain to the bones of His head. And soon His face was covered with blood.
Why then did God let His beloved only Son Jesus wear such a thorny crown? That was because He intended to forgive us of the sins committed through men’s thoughts.
Men think untruths that are against truth and have evil feelings because there are untruths within their minds.
They hate, envy, judge, condemn, and are jealous of others. They covet others’ possessions, have the desires of adultery, and pretend to honor others but despise and have contempt for others in their hearts.
Because they have those sins in their thoughts and minds, they commit those sins outwardly too. No matter what evil thought or desire they have, it is not considered as sins in the world unless it is committed in deeds. But when somebody desires to sin in his thought and mind, the Bible condemns him. Matthew 5:28 says, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” And 1 John 3:15 says, “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”
If somebody hates another person, though he has not murdered, he will be deemed to have already murdered in the sight of God who sees the inner heart of each one of us. The reason that Jesus wore a crown of thorns and shed His blood was to forgive us of even the sins we commit in our thoughts. Anyone who believes this fact and is forgiven should purify his thoughts and mind.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
To abstain from the sins of our thoughts, we should understand what the thought is.
In our brain, there is a “memory system” through which we can store and utilize knowledge. When we have stored what we have seen, heard, and learned through our senses into the memory system, that which is stored is called “knowledge.” When the stored knowledge is reproduced, this process is called “thought.”
The knowledge stored in each individual’s brain since his birth is different. That’s because each one’s growth conditions and education are different, and each one has different feelings even though he is taught by the same person under the same situation. Because each one has different knowledge, his standard of value and the standard of discerning good and evil are different. The content of the knowledge each one reproduces in the same situation is also different.
Some people might say that something is bad and wrong, but others may say it is good and beautiful. What is deemed to be polite in one country may be condemned as rude in another country. Likewise, each individual’s thought is different and most thoughts in the world are against the truth. That’s because it is Satan, the enemy of God, that controls the thoughts of fleshly people.
When Adam lived in the Garden of Eden, he had only the knowledge of truth. It was because God taught him only truths. Adam’s thought was only about truths. But since he sinned, the knowledge of the truths leaked from his heart and the knowledge of untruths replaced the truth of his heart. The knowledge of truth such as to love, service, and understanding was replaced by the knowledge of untruths such as hatred, greed, and desire for gain. Satan controls the knowledge of untruths and urges us to think against the will of God.
Let me give you an illustration. Suppose one of your colleagues did a good job and was praised before many people. In that situation, Satan may control untruths within you and urge you to think evil things. Then, you may complain thinking, “This job was not done only by that man, but now he alone is praised” or “Why is only he praised although I also helped to do that job?”
If he has only the knowledge of truth in his mind, he will not think that. Satan cannot control him but he will rejoice with truth saying, “I am happy because he is praised. Now I will also be diligent like him.” When someone’s actions disagree with what you want, if you follow the thought of untruth, you may pass judgment that they are rude and selfish. You may have ill feelings and a mindset against meeting him or her. You may go through great pains to be patient despite your fierce hot temper.
On the other hand, if you have the knowledge of truth, when you see the person act with evil, you will not judge or have ill feelings but try to understand why he did that and truly understand him.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
If a man has stored the knowledge of truth into himself, he is able to think only in truth. But in fact, because everybody stores up the knowledge of untruths since birth, every thought reproduced from his mind is untruth. That’s why you should change your knowledge into the one belonging to truth after you believe in God. Then, your thought will change into the one of truth.
Let me give you an example. If you make some food with bad ingredients, that cooked food will surely be bad. That’s why you must replace those bad ingredients with good ones if you want to make fresh food. In the same way, when you change the knowledge stored in your mind into truth, your thought will change into truth.
For you should diligently listen to the word of God and make it your spiritual food. You should worship God in spirit and in truth, and receive the word with ‘Amen’ and ‘Yes’ and change yourself by it. If you do it continually, you can go into spirit as soon as possible.
Some people say “Amen” when the word of God agrees with their own thought, but they deny it saying “No, it’s not” when it disagrees with them. Even though the word says, “You will be great if you serve and lower yourself,” they think it is not easy to be great even with many efforts to elevate themselves and refuse to lower themselves and serve.
If the word teaches them to turn their left cheek when somebody strikes their right one and to give him their cloak if he wants their tunic, they say they cannot live in the world with that way. The almighty God absolutely elevates a person who serves and blesses a person who obeys the word. But man does not believe the word but considers what is against the will of God because the word disagrees with his own knowledge and experiences.
Here the thought that is against the will of God is called “the fleshly thought” while the thought in accordance with the truth is called “the spiritual thought.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
If you seek truth, you must first throw away fleshly thoughts. To do so, you should believe the word of God and make it your standard. When you are truly transformed into truth, you will not even have to make an effort to throw away fleshly thoughts. Your old thoughts will vanish, and the thoughts of the truth will naturally remain.
No matter how much effort you make, if you do not change your knowledge to truth, you will not be able to become truly spiritual and the spiritual thought will not remain. On the other hand, if you are changed into truth, even though you have not made any efforts, all fleshly thoughts will be driven out of you.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Jesus wore the crown of thorns to give us good crowns. Jesus who should have received a glorious crown of victory received a crown of thorns for us to redeem us from our sins. He took upon the penalty of sin, even the sins of the thoughts.
When the blood flowed from His head, He took all the sins of thoughts. Now He will give us the glorious crown, the crown of life and righteousness, and eternal glory and honor. That is a beautiful crown that no eye has seen or ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man.
In Revelation 2:10, Jesus says, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” And in Revelation 3:11, He also says, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Though we are suffering now, we will receive the glorious crown by overcoming all the suffering in the world. Thus, our great hope is the heavenly crown. And it is our blessed faith to wear the crown of life, being freed from the crown of thorns that Jesus wore.
I hope you realize from the depths of your heart the love of the Lord who wore the crown of thorns for us. And I pray in the name of the Lord that all of you run more powerfully toward the gate of heaven in that abundant love of the Lord.