The Crown of Thorns

About 5 years ago I sprouted a lemon seed and it grew into a large tree. That lemon tree grew to about 5 1/2 ft tall and developed these inch long thorns.

I never knew that a lemon tree would produce thorns like that. Since it was never pollinated, it did not produce any lemons. But this year it did not look healthy, so I pruned back to about 3 1/2 ft tall. And now it looks pretty healthy.

Today, while I was cleaning up the thorny branches, I poked myself in a couple of places. Those thorns were long, sharp and painful against my skin.

Immediately I thought about my minimal amount of pain compared to the pain my Lord must have endured when they jammed that crown of thorns on his head. Actually, the crown of thorns was probably the least of the things He suffered. Roman soldiers humiliated Him. They spat in His face, ripped the hair out of His beard, whipped Him with a cat o' nine tails, punched him in the face, and ultimately nailed him to the tree.

Jesus probably suffered more than anyone who has ever lived on the face of this earth and He didn't even deserve it. That's the punishment that you and I deserve, but He substituted his own body in our place. He bore our sin on the tree so that we could be righteous in the sight of God. Thank you Jesus for reminding me today!

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21