The Grace to Carry My Head Low

This week concludes our series of Lent devotionals. I hope you've enjoyed the opportunity to spend several weeks contemplating the gravity and joy of what this week on the Christian calendar represents.

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“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head” (Matthew 27:27-29a).

The effort we invest in “dressing up” for Easter is almost comically at odds with what Easter truly represents, at least according to Richard Rolle, a hermit from the early fourteenth century. It's difficult to challenge his perspective when we compare Jesus’ attire during the Passion with the meticulous care we take to impress others today.

While we have glamorized the famous “crown of thorns,” it was a cruel and excruciating mockery, particularly insulting to one who truly deserved to wear a crown of gold and diamonds. The scarlet robe is almost certainly the kind worn by Roman military or civilian officers. Of course, there would have been plenty of those lying around.