"Twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head."
Matthew 27:29 NAS

Have you ever really considered the significance of the thorns that were woven into such a shameful symbol and placed on Jesus Christ's head? Throughout the scripture thorns represent the result of sin: (a) In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, He said, "I will ....curse ...the ground...[it] will produce thorns" (Gen 3:17-18 NCV). (b) Later He told Israel that unless they purged the land of their enemies, "They will be like .... thorns in your sides" (Num 33:55 NCV) (c) Solomon said, "Evil .... lives are like paths covered with thorns" (Pr 22:5 NCV) (d) Concerning untrustworthy leaders, Jesus said, "You will know these people by what they do. Grapes don't come from thorn bushes." (Mt 7:16)

Max Lucado writes: "The crown of thorns Jesus wore [on good friday] represented all our sins. As we were caught in the brambles of envy... anger... shame... discouragement... guilt...bitterness... and unforgiveness...., so Jesus, who knew no sin, became 'an atoning sacrifice for our sins' (1Jn 4:10 NIV) Not once did Christ use His supernatural powers for personal comfort. With a word He could have transformed the hard earth into a soft bed... boomeranged the spit of His accusers back into their faces.... and paralyzed the hand of the soldier who braided the ... thorns. But He didn't. Instead, God canceled the record that contained the charges against us... by nailing it to [His] cross (See Col 2:14 NLT), and He did it with you in mind!"

No wonder hymnist Isaac Watts wrote: "See from His head, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?"