βAnd the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,β¦. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!β (John 19:2,5).
Godβs Word refers to the βcrown of thornsβ on four occasions. Two instances are found in todayβs Scripture. The other two are in Matthew and Mark; notice these parallel verses. Matthew 27:29: βAnd when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!β Mark 15:17: βAnd they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,β¦.β The soldiers braided thorny branches to form a crown, and then jammed it on and into Christβs scalp. They intended it as degradation and torture. However, God the Holy Spirit documented it to provide us a glimpse of why Jesus Christ came to Earth at all
It always does us well to remember βthe law of first mentionβ when studying Scriptureβthe first occurrence sets the Bibleβs tone about a particular subject. Thorns first appear in Scripture immediately after Adamβs fall into sin. Genesis 3:18 says: βThorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;β¦.β Why did the Lord Jesus wear the crown of thorns? For all the crowds to see that He bore the curse of sin for you and me! source
