The soldiers led Jesus away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
Mark 15:16-18
Anointed
The Bible tells us a lot about Kings Saul, David, and Solomon, and much about the kings that reigned over the divided kingdom until their separate exiles. The king was called “God’s Anointed one,” translated “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew). Thus Christ is not another name for Jesus, but a title that indicated he was the anointed heir to the kingship of the Jewish nation.
Saul was anointed (1 Samuel 10:1) and the Spirit of God subsequently rushed upon him (1 Sam 11:6). David was anointed and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him from that day forward (1 Sam 16:13). Not only that, but God promised David that his would be an eternal kingdom. “I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam 7:12-16).
David’s son Solomon was anointed (1 Kings 1:39) and “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure” (1 Kgs 4:29). There are passages in each of the Gospel narratives which describe Jesus being anointed (see Matthew 26:7, Mark 14:3, Luke 7:37, John 12:3); however, his Spiritual anointing took place “When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him” (Matt 3:16), and his priestly anointing with myrrh and aloes at his burial (John 19:38-40). Thus when we are baptized, we are “baptized into Christ’s death, indeed we are buried with him into newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). Like Jesus, at baptism we receive the Holy Spirit and become Christ-ians, that is “Little Christs.”
Proclaimed and Crowned
Saul and David were each anointed before being crowned as king. Solomon, foreshadowing Jesus’ triumphal entry, rode on his father David’s mule (1 Kgs 1:38) before being anointed and proclaimed king. Though their coronations are not described in Scripture, Saul’s crown is mentioned when it was brought to David upon the former’s death in battle (2 Sam 1:10). The coronation of David’s blood descendant King Joash is described in detail (2 Kgs 11:12 and 2 Chronicles 23:11). The young king is crowned, given the book of the law, proclaimed king, and anointed.*
According to the Gospel of John, Pontius Pilate publicly proclaims Jesus “King of the Jews,” then releases him to the Roman soldiers, who “scourged him” (two short words, behind which hide unimaginable agonies), called together the entire garrison, and “plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe; they came up to him saying “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.” Three times Pilate says, “I find no crime in him.” Three times he calls Jesus king. As a final act, three times (in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek) Pilate wrote “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
Who Fashioned the Crown of Thorns?
A nearby parish has long-hosted an annual wreath-building pot luck dinner, at which families build Advent Wreaths using shared tools and a varied supply of evergreen branches, leaves, and ornamental trimmings. Ours usually turned out fine, but others’ wreaths were exquisitely crafted works of art, a beautiful and aromatic reminder of a joyful season of preparation.
The crown of thorns, described as “plaited” above (from the Revised Standard Version- Catholic Edition), is elsewhere translated as woven, platted, twisted together, or braided. It struck me today that just as each family spent time and effort fashioning the Advent wreaths we would place on our dinner tables, so also a soldier or group of soldiers in the Jerusalem garrison must have gone out in the morning, gathered thorns and thistles, and carefully fashioned them into what they intended to be an instrument of mockery and pain. Could these same soldiers have been the ones at the foot of the Cross later that afternoon proclaiming, “Truly, this was the Son of God“?
What Am I Plaiting? Who Am I Proclaiming?
Each of us is uniquely gifted. It is valuable to take time at the end of each day (utilizing the Iganatian Examen or a similar meditative prayer) to reflect on how we used those gifts – did my words and actions draw me and those I encountered closer to God or further away? May what we plait each day be a beautiful prayer, and may our daily proclamation of Jesus as our King and our God be reverent and sincere.
Feature Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay
*King Joash of Judah succeeded his grandmother, the usurper Queen Athaliah – the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel who had married into Davidic line of the Southern Kingdom. Athaliah outdid even her infamous parents, going so far as to murder her own children and grandchildren. Joash, seven years old at his coronation, had been rescued as an infant by an aunt and hidden away in the Temple.
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