I Choose Today to Remember the Crown of Thorns

Holy Week invites us to slow down and remember. This year, I found myself reflecting on one powerful symbol — the crown of thorns.

During this Holy Week, I have been reflecting on what Christ went through leading up to and including the cross.

He was tortured.

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They clothed Him in a purple robe and went up to Him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they slapped Him in the face.” John 19:1–3

But even in their cruelty, God was revealing something deeper, something that had been set in motion from the very beginning.

In Genesis 3:17–18, after Adam and Eve sinned, God said:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you…”

Did you catch that?

Thorns were part of the curse.
They were part of the consequences of sin, the brokenness that entered the world when humanity chose to be right in its own eyes.

And it was these same thorns that the soldiers twisted into a crown and pressed into the head of Jesus.

The very symbol of the curse…
placed upon the head of Christ.

Jesus took the curse onto Himself… literally.

The thorns pierced Him.
They brought Him pain.
They pressed into His flesh.

He took what began in Genesis…
and carried it to the cross.

He took it all, from the very beginning, onto Himself so He could put the curse to death once and for all.

And Isaiah saw this long before it ever happened.

Isaiah 53 describes what Christ would endure:

“He was despised and rejected,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief…
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down…
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.”  Isaiah 53 

He carried our pain.
Our sin.
Our brokenness.
Our curse.

Even when we turn away.
Even when we overlook His sacrifice.
Even when we fail to grasp the depth of what He endured…

He still did it.

Isaiah says,
“He will see the result of the suffering of his soul and be satisfied…”

He looked into the face of death…
and didn’t flinch.

For you.
For me.

So as I reflect on the crown of thorns this Holy Week, I find myself asking:

How do I respond to that kind of love?

For me, I want to honor the One who looked into the face of death and didn’t flinch…
by giving Him the best of me.

Not out of obligation…
but as an offering of gratitude.

Because through His suffering, He brought me healing.
Through His death, He brought me life.
Through His resurrection, He brought me hope.

And not just life…
but life abundantly.

So today, I choose to remember the crown of thorns…
and the love that wore it for me.

Today’s Step:

Take a few moments today to reflect on what Christ carried for you.

Thank Him for taking the curse upon Himself…

and ask Him how you can live in response to His sacrifice today.