Crown Of Thorns

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!”

(Matthew 27:27-29)

“And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

(Matthew 27:37)

Because Jesus was never found guilty before His crucifixion, the only accusation placed on His sign was the “crime” of being King of the Jews. The signage was “I.N.R.I.” The Latin reads: “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaerum”, meaning Jesus of the Nazareth, King of the Jews. The initials of the Latin superscription which Pilate had placed above the cross of Jesus in three languages (Greek, Hebrew, Latin). A sign stating the condemned man’s crime was often placed on a cross as warning to the people.

So They placed a crown upon Jesus but did not make Him their King. The soldiers dressed Jesus as a king. They placed a scarlet robe but they were only pretending.

The lesson here is sometimes we pretend that Jesus is our King. Jesus seems to be king at Church but not at our home! Jesus seems to be KING before believers; but not at work. When we only pretend, we hurt our Lord. Many say things about Jesus they do not mean. Many songs are but lies. Many commitments are never carried out. Many testimonies don’t ring true.

A hypocrite is not himself on Sunday. On Sunday we sing, “I love to tell the story” and never mention it all.On Sunday we sing, “Serve the Lord with gladness” and gripe about all we do.On Sunday we sing, “Sweet hour of Prayer” and are content without a prayer a day. Question: “If you were on trial for being CHRISTIAN, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

John Wesley said: “Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I will shake the world. I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; and such along will overthrow the Kingdom of Satan and build up the Kingdom of God on earth.

Here is a poem entitled “If Jesus Came To Your Home:”

“IF JESUS CAME TO YOUR HOME”

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two...
If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do.
Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored guest.
And all the food you’d serve to Him would be the very best.

And would keep assuring Him you’re glad to have Him there...
But...when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door.
With arms outstretched in welcome to our heavenly visitor?
Or would you maybe change your clothes before you let Him in.

Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?
Would you turn off the T.V. and hope He hadn’t seen.
Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about.

Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d plan to go,
Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?
Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends,
Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends?

Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on.

Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do,
If Jesus came in person to spend some time with you.

Let’s really make Him KING of our lives. Let’s give Him our lives without reservation. Jesus deserves our total Dedication. There are no crown wearers in heaven that were not cross bearers here below.

(Messages By: Rev. Teofilito A. Rufon)