Usually, when we think of a crown, we think of power, rule, and honor. In Jesus’ day, a crown was something that was placed upon the head of a king to mark him as a man of power, as someone who was to be respected, as someone whose word is law

The New Testament also speaks another kind of crown. When an athlete in the Olympic games won his event, a laurel wreath crown, or victor’s crown, would be placed upon his head to mark him as the winner. Again, this crown was a sign of great honor.

How different is the crown, we read about in our text, that Jesus wore. This crown was made of thorns and pressed into Jesus’ head. The intention of this crown was not to give honor, but to hurt and humiliate. This is the crown that is pictured in the window we will dedicate tonight. And Good Friday is a very appropriate time to dedicate a window with this crown of thorns. For the crown of thorns has became a very common symbol in the Christian Church for the suffering and death of Christ.

So, as we think about this window tonight, let us turn to this text from which the symbol has been taken. The events in our text occurred shortly before noon on the first Good Friday. Very early on that morning, Caiaphas and the leaders of the Jews had brought Jesus to be tried by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Their charge against Jesus was that He claimed to be a king, and, as a king, He posed a threat to the Roman government. But Pilate, seeing that Jesus posed no threat to Rome, and understanding that the Jewish leaders had brought Jesus to him out of envy, told the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” Knowing that Jesus was innocent, he wanted to release Him. But the crowd kept insisting that Jesus be crucified.

Pilate tried several times to release Jesus. He even gave the people a choice between releasing a notorious criminal, named Barabbas, and releasing Jesus. The crowd chose Barabbas and shouted even louder for Jesus to be crucified. Finally, Pilate gave in. He took a basin of water and washed His hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood, he said. It is your responsibility.” The people responded, “Let His blood be on us and on our children.” With this, Pilate turned Jesus over to the soldiers to be whipped and then crucified.

It is at this point that our crown of thorns comes into the picture. While some of the soldiers were whipping Jesus, apparently others went outside and gathered some vines or branches and made them into the shape of a crown, similar to that which is shown in our window. They took this crown and drove it into Jesus head. They put a scarlet robe on Him and a staff in His hand, to represent a royal scepter, and they knelt before Jesus and mocked Him, saying, “Hail King of the Jews.”

Of course, they didn’t really believe Jesus was a king. This was all just a game to them. Yet, as so often happens in the Gospels, these enemies of Jesus were saying more than they realized. Jesus really is a King, a King far greater than anyone realized on that first Good Friday. If these soldier’s eyes could have been opened to see who this really was that they were mocking, they would surely have died from pure terror.

And the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’” Shortly after Jesus was born, wise men traveled from the east to bring gifts to this King. When they were near Jerusalem, they stopped to ask Herod, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews?” Yes, Jesus was a King, far greater and far more powerful than anyone expected on that first Good Friday.

But, He was a King who had come not to establish an earthly kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom. And to do this it was necessary that He go to the cross and offer His life for the sins of the world. So He allowed the soldiers to mock Him and place the crown of thorns on His head. When they were finished, they led Him off to be crucified.

Jesus was so weak from what He had been through that He could not even carry His own cross. A man named Simon, from the African city of Cyrene, had to be enlisted to carry it for Him. They led Jesus outside the city of Jerusalem to a skull shaped hill called Calvary. It is when they arrive here that that the other symbol in our window comes into the picture. In the window, we see three nails inside the crown.

These, of course, represent the nails, or spikes, that fastened Jesus to the cross. Actually we don’t know for sure how many nails were used on Jesus. Christian symbolism has always used three, which assumes that one nail was driven through both of Jesus’ feet. But in using three nails, the church is not really trying to guess about the details of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is pointing us to the Triune God. The three nails are to remind us that all three persons of the Trinity were involved in Jesus’ death on the cross. There was no division among the Godhead in paying this extravagant price for our salvation. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all so loved the world that They all participated in this sacrifice, so that we would not perish, but have everlasting life.

Notice, also that the nails in our window are black. Black is the color of Good Friday. Black is to remind us of the terrible evil that our race participated in on that day. St. Peter speaks of that evil in the sermon he preached after healing the lame beggar. Addressing the multitude he says, “You killed the author of life.” That is the magnitude of the crime committed on that first Good Friday. The author of life, the King of kings was hanged on a cross to die. That’s why the great darkness covered the whole earth. That’s why the nails in our window are black.

And let us not forget that those words of St. Peter could be spoken to each of us also. He could say to us also, “You killed the author of life.” It is our sins also that put Jesus to death. And let us not think that if we would have been present at our Lord’s crucifixion, we would have acted differently than the crowd that mocked Him. The only reason we think that is because we know about the resurrection. But if we had been there, we surely would have been among the group who cried “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” or else we would have run away to hide with the apostles. For we are just as great sinners as the people who drove the crown of thorns into Jesus’ head, and the nails through His hands and feet.

And unless we realize this, we will not really appreciate what the crown of thorns, the nails, and the cross mean. For Jesus endured all of this suffering, pain, and shame, and even more, to save us from our sins. All of this we see happening to Jesus on that first Good Friday is God’s curse and judgment against sin, not against Jesus’ sins, for He was innocent, but against your sins, and my sins, and the sins of the whole world, which He bore. If Jesus had not undergone the horrors of Good Friday, then you and I would have undergone them for eternity.

As the prophet Isaiah says, “He was pierced for our transgressions … the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.” The thorns and the nails that pierced Jesus are what brought us peace.

So, now, a rather interesting thing has happened. These instruments that brought pain and shame and death to Jesus have now become symbols of our victory. Usually, when something bad happens we try to block it out of our mind and forget about it. But not so with the death of Christ. For we know that His death was the greatest act of love this world has ever known. “God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In the death of Christ, we have been given the victory over sin and death. We have a day every year to remember the death of Christ. We have a cross above our altar to serve as a constant reminder of that death. And this evening, we dedicate a window with the crown of thorns and nails pictured on it.

Jesus, Himself did the same thing. After His resurrection, when He appeared to His disciples, He showed them the nail marks in His hands. These nail marks, which had caused such suffering and pain for Jesus, were now a sign of their victory and peace with God.

It is the same with us. So this evening we dedicate this window with the crown of thorns and nails. May they always serve to remind us of our victory over sin and death through the suffering and death of Christ. Amen.