+JMJ
A Meditative Prayer from the Crowning Of Thorns
The Crowning of Thorns is my favorite passage in scripture, especially the version from John’s Gospel. If given the choice I always choose this one to sit and meditate on. The Lord blesses me abundantly, and often, in this passage.
The moment I am going to share now, isn’t what I would consider contemplative. It is a meditative moment with an “AHA” moment, that is mixed with some grace.
I guess that is the best way to put it. 😬😉
It is amazing what the Lord will reveal to you in prayer, if you take the time to just listen.
The Just Judge
Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And he said to them, “Behold the Man!” When the chief priests and the guards saw Him they cried out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him, yourselves and crucify Him. I find no guilt in Him.” The Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid, and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate said to Him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release You and I have power to crucify You?” Jesus answered [him], “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” Consequently, Pilate tried to release Him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release Him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated Him on the Judge’s Bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
John 19:1-13
I froze here.
Pilate….
Seated…
Jesus…
On the Judge’s Bench….
Think about this for a minute……
Jesus is crowned with thorns and wrapped in a purple cloak. He is scourged, beaten, and bloody. He is paraded around before the mob. He is spit on, mocked, and abandoned.
Then, Pilate, unknowingly, placed Jesus in His rightful place, as judge over the mob, over-all. Just as He would eventually be in heaven.
Locked Hearts
This is where the little sprinkle of grace comes in.
Jesus sits on the bench overlooking the mob down below Him in the praetorium. He scans the crowd looking for one familiar face. But He finds none. Just angry, hateful, spiteful faces.
He scans the hearts of everyone in the mob. They are all shut, locked, and sealed tight. Each shout for His death tightening the chains on those pitiful hearts.
He is abandoned there in physical pain from the wounds that have been inflicted on Him. But also in internal despair at the sight of what lay before Him: Hatred, disgust, and contempt.
He sees the influence sin has had on all these people demanding His death.
He closes His eyes, not out of defeat, but out of humility. Taking everything for the sake of those who hate Him. Taking every shout as if it were a physical blow. Taking every curse as another stroke of the whip. Every hateful thought as another piercing thorn. The weight of the sins of all eternity pummeling Him.
But a voice penetrates His being. A soft, gentle, sweet, voice. It is the prayers of His Holy Mother. She is locked outside the praetorium. But the prayers pour forth from her heart, strengthening Him.
The hate has filled the praetorium and won’t allow her inside. The good is locked out.
Sin Locks Jesus Out
“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.”
Saint Augustine
The same goes for my own heart. When it is filled with sin, there is no room for Him to sit as the Judge of my heart. He, instead, sits in anguish searching for a gracious face and receptive heart. His goodness is so often locked out by the sins I continue to commit because my heart is too full to receive Him.
My heart is like the Judge’s bench, a seat where I need to sit Jesus. A place where I can see what my sins have done to Him. To gaze upon the tortures I have inflicted on Him. This allows me to see my unworthiness in comparison to His majesty.
As the mob was blinded and overlooked His Majesty, so does sin blind me to Him in my heart.
Thrive in Jesus, my friends!
What can you remove from your life and heart to allow room for Jesus? Would the sight of you in the hateful mob be a consolation to Him? Or is your heart locked like theirs?
Leave a comment if you feel moved too!