This mystery is less about physical suffering (though that is most definitely a factor) than it is about what I think of as perfect humility.
Humility has two aspects. The first aspect is more basic: Seeing yourself as God sees you. (Easier said than done, sure, but still very positive.) The second aspect requires much more supernatural grace: Remaining in virtue when others do not treat you as your God-given dignity deserves. Everything about the Crowning with Thorns smacks of this perfect humility. He was God, for goodness' sake! And here he was being treated like a common miscreant! On top of that, they were mocking His Kingship - a kingship of which He was very aware especially during His passion.
Lord, remind me not to get upset and snap back when others fail to give me the respect I deserve. Teach me how to just take it like You did. Teach me how to let myself be walked all over - and more importantly, when it would be beneficial to do so.
And help me to embrace the crown of thorns You've set aside for me throughout my life.
Karl and the Cloister
1 day ago
I recently got a copy of the NAB on MP3 (AWESOME!) and so I listened to the two books of the Bible I have never managed to finish -- Sirach and Jeremiah, ironically enough. The crowning of thorns reminds me a lot of what I heard in Jeremiah. Specifically, I am reminded of the time when he tells the people of Judah that they will all be destroyed if they go to Egypt, but they will live well if they stay in the land. Of course, they go down to Egypt (and many die there), but they also forced Jeremiah to go with them.
ReplyDeleteI see in the crown of thorns this lack of power. No where else is Christ as powerless as when his power is mocked this way. When he was being scourged, he could have still appealed to Pilot. When he carried his cross, he CARRIED it, when he died it was he who chose to give up his spirit...
PS, you should hang out with us before the fall.