THE CURSED TREE and the crown of thorns

”They crucified two criminals with Him, one on His right and one on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled that says: And He was counted among outlaws.“
‭‭Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Oh the irony of Good Friday! The innocent Lamb of God hung between the guilty of the land. The two criminals deserved execution Roman style, but Jesus wielded no knife, He stole no money, He was no thief, He had beaten no one, yet here He hung.

So what’s so good about Good Friday? The Son of God removed sins curse from humanity.

Jesus had to be executed on a Roman cross. That was the plan before He laid the foundation of the earth.

”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.“
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

”He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.“
‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

It was always going to be an old rugged cross. The Jewish leaders by law could have stoned Jesus like they did Stephen. That was within their legal right as a subordinate nation under Roman law, but that was not part of salvation’s plan. The act of stoning would not do the trick. Only crucifixion would satisfy and wipe out sin’s curse.

”“If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.“
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭21‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Only a cursed death can remove sin’s curse. So the plan was implemented as The Creator and The Son spoke the world into being. The curse of sin was woven into the bowels of evil.

”Yet, Christ paid the full price to set us free from the curse of the law. He absorbed the curse completely as he became a curse in our place. For it is written: “Everyone who is hung upon a tree is cursed.”“
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭TPT‬‬

”It will be excruciating,” The Father grieved over the plan. He could see the dark loom of Calvary’s Hill in the distant future, and still He planted the tree that would one day kill His Son. The Son told the Father, “I will go. It is the only way,” already feeling the separation as He would one day wear all of humanity’s sin and rebellion. Father and Son had never been separated, but one day Jesus Son of God would cry out,

”And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”“
‭‭Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭34‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

It wasn’t the first time He had spoken those words. He had spoken those same words using the cries of King David centuries before He took on the sin of humanity:

”My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning?“
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

The plan had been planted into the timeline of man before the timeline had even begun.

God had painted it’s ominous portrait throughout the Old Testament.

”So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.“
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭21‬:‭9‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Abraham’s substitute sacrifice was found in a thicket of thorns:

”As Abraham looked up, his eyes fell upon a ram caught by its horns in a nearby thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it on the altar as a burnt offering in Isaac’s place.“

Jesus was Abraham’s and our substitute sacrifice. Jesus spoke plainly of His crucifixion:

”Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,“
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

There was no plan B, crucifixion was the only plan. Jesus told them:

”Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to Myself.” He said this to signify what kind of death He was about to die.“
‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭31‬-‭33‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Jesus knew it would not be pretty, but He knew His Father, whom He loved and trusted, was orchestrating all the events of this horrifying trial. In fact Jesus told Pilate:

”“You would have no authority over Me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.”“
‭‭John‬ ‭19‬:‭11‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

So let the beatings, the flogging, and the humiliation begin. Jesus knew it was coming. He prayed before hand:

”“Now My soul is troubled. What should I say — Father, save Me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour.“
‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭27‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

The flogging ripped His back to shreds. The rope of the whip had pieces of bone strung within. Yet by His stripes we are healed. Most would die from the flogging, and if not die, the pain would drive them insane. The crown of thorns were pushed onto His brow. Drops of blood flowed into His eyes. The thorns were the curse of Adam’s sin against God and Jesus wore the curse upon His head as He drug His death tree up Calvary’s Hill.

”And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.“
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

That old rugged cross was slammed on His bleeding back. Golgotha, the skull’s head, rose before Him yet this is why He came. Its stench filled the air. Below the Hill was Jerusalem’s garbage heap where bodies of the crucified were thrown. Yet still He climbed.

”Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into headquarters and gathered the whole company around Him. They stripped Him and dressed Him in a scarlet military robe. They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and placed a reed in His right hand. And they knelt down before Him and mocked Him: “Hail, King of the Jews! ” Then they spit on Him, took the reed, and kept hitting Him on the head. When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.“
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭27‬-‭31‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

”So then, because of them, he handed Him over to be crucified. Therefore they took Jesus away. Carrying His own cross, He went out to what is called Skull Place, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified Him and two others with Him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.“
‭‭John‬ ‭19‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

No all these horrific events were not by chance. It didn’t “just happen.” God showed the prophet Isaiah what would be:

”Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.“
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭CSB‬‬

So what’s so good about Good Friday? The curse of sin was removed. Jesus became the cursed to remove the curse from His Creation. But the story is not over. We may end Good Friday with horror and guilt because it was for me, it was for you that He hung there. We may all go to sleep tonight feeling the shame of our sin. The disciples sure did that first Good Friday. They couldn’t believe what just happened to their beloved Rabbi though He warned them over and over it must happen this way. Tomorrow may be silent, but Sunday’s coming.

”But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And they came out of the tombs after his resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many. When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”“
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭50‬-‭54‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Death could not overtake Jesus. It did not accidentally sneak up on Him. He willingly went out and met it head on. Have you acknowledged, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”?

His death tore the veil and made a way for us to approach the Throne of God and that was always the plan.

”Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.“
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭CSB‬‬