The Coronation of the Cross

On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was coronated as the queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey. At her coronation, Elizabeth was draped with a robe of gold thread and a crown made of gold with 444 precious stones. She received the Sovereign’s ring which is pure gold with an octagonal sapphire overlaid with a square ruby. The ring alone contains 14 diamonds. She was given two scepters. The first was the scepter of the cross, which is symbolic of her role as the head of state. The scepter of the cross contains 333 diamonds, 31 rubies, and 7 sapphires. At the top, the Cullinan I diamond, the Great Star of Africa is placed which at 530 carats is the largest clearcut diamond in the world. The other scepter she received was the dove scepter, recognizing her as the spiritual leader of the UK. This scepter is made with 285 precious gems, 94 diamonds, and 53 rubies. Housed at the Tower of London, the Crown Jewels are officially listed as ‘priceless’ and are given to the monarch for the demonstration of their glory, prosperity, and anointing.

This morning, we are going to see a coronation of a different type. It is the coronation of a greater King, not in his glory, but in his agony. He will not be crowned with gold, but thorns. There will be not no robe of golden thread but the cape of a Roman soldier draped over his mutilated back. In the place of diamond crested scepters will be the blood drenched cane that was used to stripe his back. Yes, this coronation will be far different, but it will mark the end of a tyrant and the coming of a greater Kingdom.

God’s Word

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Picture 1: Mankind “Living Under” His “Curse”.

v. 29 “they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Jesus has just been scourged. It was a process used by the Romans to weaken a man before he went to the cross and to expedite his death. Very often, the condemned man didn’t survive the scourging itself. They would strip him down, stretch his back over a post, and use a series of whips and canes to the point his entrails would be exposed through his now skinless back. From there, it says it’s at that point that they brought him before the whole battalion, which would consist of about 600 Roman soldiers, in which they would perform their mock coronation of the “King of the Jews.” It was a coronation that was dripping with irony for their mocking words were far truer than they could ever realize, and they were working in accordance with the plan of God to ultimately crown the King of Glory. Beginning here, we see at least three pictures on display (headline) that are crucial for us to understand who this King is and why it matters to us.

The first picture that I want us to notice is that of Mankind “living under” his “curse”. In , Adam and Eve made a decision that would affect them and all of their offspring to follow. They decided that they wanted to be like God, as though they were entitled, and they rebelled against his good design. As a result, earth and her inhabitants came under the curse of sin. It was gracious in that they lived longer than they should have and the earth wasn’t destroyed, but it was a curse nonetheless that led to the corruption of all things, all minds, all people, culminating in a death that was physical, spiritual, and eternal. There is no place in all of the Scriptures, or in any point of human history for that matter, that better displays mankind living under the influence of that curse than in .

We are “hateful”.

vs. 29/31/41 “they mocked him” You see, as a result of the curse, we are “hateful”. You’ll notice three different times in our text that it says explicitly ‘they mocked him’, and two other times it says that they ‘derided’ him and ‘reviled’ him. What does it say about mankind that we humiliated the King of Glory? He wasn’t just rejected, and He wasn’t just exiled. In fact, He wasn’t even ‘just’ killed. He was humiliated. He was publicly embarrassed. He had been stripped completely naked, beaten within an inch of his life, paraded before the Roman cohort like a deposed king, and then spat upon by hundreds of men until the blood was watered down. He could hardly lift his head as they shouted, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

“whole battalion…those who passed by…the chief priests, with the scribes and elders…the robbers who were crucified” And, there were four different classes of people that mocked Christ. Everybody participated in his humiliation. The unbelieving soldiers hailed him as a fake king, worshippers on their way to the Temple for Passover hurled insults and shook their heads, the religious leaders called him powerless, and even the criminals nailed on either side of him found the strength to mock him. You see, this curse is universal and total. There is no person, no class of person, no nation of people that are beyond it. The religious, the cynical, the ordinary, and the criminal are bound together by this common curse, this common hatefulness.

APPLICATION: This is why Jesus didn’t say that He came only to save the Jew or the Gentile, the religious or the atheist, the rich or the poor. Jesus came to save the world because it is the whole world that needs saving. It is the whole world that bears the mark of this hate-filled curse. It is every person, criminal record or not, Sunday school record or not that needs saving. All of us find criticisms more natural that compliments. All of us find dislikes before likes. All of us latch on to negative stereotypes over positive character. And, it’s because of the curse. It’s because of the curse that clouds our minds and kills our souls.

We are “unjust”.

v. 31 “they…led him away to crucify him.” Further, you’ll see that we are “unjust”. It’s remarkable how simply Matthew describes what happens. He says simply, if not poetically, “they…led him away to crucify him.” It’s startling to hear a sentence so heinous described so simply. And, it’s this moment that is the height of injustice on this created earth. Jesus, the bedrock of justice, is crucified like a criminal and with the criminals, though He was in his very essence holy and righteous. Jesus raised others up, and He was struck down. He made others well; yet, He is afflicted. He loved the very hardest to love, and it is returned to him as hatred. He gave bread and fish, but He receives lashes and nails. He brought healing and salvation by simply saying it, yet the voices declare in unison his own condemnation. Oh, it is the height of injustice. It is the very picture of our curse that Jesus did not reap what He had sown. Rather, He reaped what we had sown.

APPLICATION: And, this is the gospel, brothers and sisters. Jesus didn’t reap what He had sown; He reaped what we had sown SO THAT we might receive what was rightfully his. Jesus received injustice so that we wouldn’t receive justice. He died unjustly so that we wouldn’t die justly. It is a traumatizing picture of holiness in the light of our injustice that should strike us to our knees. We like Isaiah should see our King here, high and lifted up, only to respond, “Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips.” Like a cockroach scurrying frantically from the light, the sinner recoils at the sight of the Holy Lord reaping the harvest of a sinner. “I am so unloving, so hateful, so self-centered, so jealous, so dishonest. Jesus, why would you ever take those nails instead of me?”

We are “unbelieving”.

v. 42 “let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him” And, we see that we are “unbelieving.” Jesus was murdered, first and foremost, by unbelief. Before there was resentment, before there was contempt, before there was injustice, there was unbelief. The Romans didn’t believe He was the King, the passersby didn’t believe He was the Prophet, the priests didn’t believe He was the Messiah, and the criminals didn’t believe He the Innocent. The priests and elders shouted up to him on the cross, “Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him.” They saw what was, not what would be. They misunderstood what Jesus had said, and they misunderstood what Jesus was now doing.

This is the essence of unbelief. They saw the Temple still standing and believed that Jesus had gotten it wrong. They saw Jesus on the cross, and believed that Jesus’ story was about to be finished. But, on Sunday, the earth would shake, and the veil in the Temple would be torn, and the Christ they mocked and the Christ they had rejected would and the Temple they had torn down would be raised in victory over death and sin. They could only believe what they understood, and they could only trust what they saw. But, their eyes were deceiving them, for what they couldn’t know was that this earthly temple was fulfilled in the true Holy of Holies, and He would be raised to build up a nation of priests. He was the new meeting place of God. He was the new King David. He was, in fact, the Deliverer of Israel, but if He came down, if He left the cross, belief in him would not matter

APPLICATION: Do you believe only what you understand and trust only what you see? Do you demand, like the priests, that Jesus come to you on your terms rather than go to him on his? If so, that type of faith cannot save you and cannot help you because it is not faith at all. Faith is going to Jesus on his terms, not demanding Jesus to come on yours. How common it is to offer God our conditional faith. “If you’ll fix my marriage, I’ll worship you.” “If you’ll get rid of my depression, I’ll love you.” “If you’ll let my kids be healthy and my career go well, I’ll give you my life.” But, conditional faith is not faith at all. Faith has no contingency plan. It’s obedience when you don’t understand. It’s confidence when you can’t see.

Picture 2: Jesus “Taking On” Our “Curse”.

Birth “pains” are reversed to “new” birth.

v. 34 “they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.” In , we read about the curse sin brings down upon mankind. To Adam and Eve, we see four aspects to this curse, and we see in our passage Jesus “taking on” our “curse” to defeat it and reverse it. In , God begins his curse of mankind by cursing childbirth. He says that there will be ‘pain in bringing forth children.’ Childbirth would be agonizing and terrifying. Some children will be born, and some won’t. Some will be healthy, and some won’t. And, in all cases, the mother will face a deep-seated pain and emotional distress. I can think of both times driving to the hospital to have our daughters and being struck by the thought of how I expected all of us to come together, but someone could be missing. I could lose my daughter. I could lose my wife. I could lose both. And, postpartum depression is a significant emotional threat as the actual birth is a physical threat. It’s a painful process.

Birth “pains” are reversed to “new” birth.

Upon the cross, Jesus is offered wine mixed with myrrh (gall). The purpose of this was to have a narcotic effect and to dull the most severe pains that the condemned man would face on the cross. It would reduce the shock his body was facing. But, Jesus refuses to numb the pain of his open wounds and slashed nerve endings, of his gasping breaths and his throbbing body. Jesus is dying vicariously the death we are owed. He is absorbing the full wrath of God that is owed for our own fall under the curse of sin. And, it is in this agony that Jesus enables the New Birth, the birth of the children of God that will build up his Church. Birth “pains” are reversed to “new” birth!

“Earthly” family is reversed to “spiritual” family.

v. 40 “if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” God told Eve, “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” That is, the most precious relationship on earth, marriage — the family, would fight division and abuse and mistrust. God had brought them together, but the curse would work to pull them apart, to divide their hearts from one another. In Hosea, we see Israel pictured as the unfaithful wife of God. They adulterated themselves out to the gods of earth and were unfaithful to their husband. In , God calls Israel his firstborn son. He was their Father, and they were his people. Yet, they rejected him, and they rebelled against his rule. And, ultimately, it was his children that were to murder his Son. Like Cain killing Able, it was his children that shouted to crucify his Son. It was his children that spat upon him. It was his children that mocked him and humiliated him. There was division between God and his people, Christ and his bride. But, God’s Son, Jesus, had come so that He might establish a New Family from every nation, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. He had come so that God’s children might have access to him and dwell in his presence always, living in joyful obedience. Jesus took this curse of division upon himself so that “earthly” family is reversed to a “spiritual” family, a family that will not end and cannot be divided.

“Cursed” ground is reversed to a “new” earth.

v. 29 “twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head” God tells Adam that he will live a hand-to-mouth existence that will require him to work the ground. But, that ground had been cursed. There would be ‘thorns and thistles’ that would grow. That is, there would be a constant struggle for him to have the right amount when it was needed. Sometimes, the ground would produce. Other times, there would be famine. Sometimes, the earth would provide what was needed. Other time, drought would come, and he’d go to bed hungry. On that Good Friday, they would take the very thorns of the ground, and they would weave together a crown of thorns that they would press down upon the brow of our Lord. They coronated him as the Suffering Servant. But, don’t you see the picture? Those thorns were our curse! Jesus was taking our curse upon his own head so that this “cursed” ground is reversed to a “new” earth. He took that crown upon his head so that our tears, our pain, our famine might be replaced by joy, power, and glory!

“Death” is reversed to “eternal” life.

v. 32 “they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.” Ultimately, God had told Adam from beginning, “Eat of this tree, and you will surely die.” And, God is no liar. God is just. And so, in the curse of , God tells Adam, “I’m made you out of the dust of the ground, and I will return you back to the dust of the ground.” Since that time, the curse of sin has condemned man to die. We die physically, and we die spiritually. But, see the picture! See the picture! Christ takes on the curse of our death! says that it was ‘through him and by him and for him’ that all things that are made have been made. It says that ‘in him all things hold together.’ That is, Jesus made the world, and Jesus holds the world together, but here He is, and He’s too weak to even carry his own cross. He’s strong enough to carry the world, but too weak to carry the cross. Jesus, being fully God, became fully man so that He might die in the place of men, and dying in the place of men, He might deliver men from death. Jesus came so that “death” is reversed to “eternal” life.

Victory Over the Curse

APPLICATION: You see, in the midst of that curse all those years ago, God had made a promise to Adam and Eve. Birth would be painful, but birth would lead to life. From the seed of Eve would come a Son who would crush the head of the Serpent. He would unify what was divided, heal what was ailing, and restore what was broken. He would reverse the curse over us by becoming the curse for us. The Son would take on our curse, dying our death so that we might be made new in a spiritual family unto eternal life. And, as Jesus scratched and clawed his way up to Golgotha that day, it wasn’t for defeat, but victory! Victory over pain, victory over sin, victory over brokenness, victory over the curse!

Picture 3: The Father “Ruling Over” Sin’s “Curse”.

v. 43 “let God deliver him now” How can we be sure? How can we be certain that Jesus’ cross is working toward victory and not doomed in defeat? How can we know that it is Jesus who is the promised Seed of Eve? That’s the final picture: The Father is in control. The Father has planned it out. We see the Father “ruling over” sin’s “curse”. Turn with me back 1000 years to . We could turn to or or to see the same thing. Read ; ; . Does this sound like an accident to you? Does this sound like an unexpected, surprise sequence of events?

God “Planned” the Cross

The cross is the plan of God, not the reaction of God. It was no surprise; it was sovereignty! God “planned” the cross! God planned the beating. God planned the humiliation of his Son. God planned the crown of thorns. God planned the mocking voices. God planned the nails. God planned this death God isn’t reacting; He is redeeming. And, that’s the best news in the history of the world. We are born under a curse, but Jesus took that curse upon himself because our God planned to save. Our God planned to redeem. Our God planned our glory.

Discussion Questions:

What are some ways that we see our hateful nature? How did YOUR hate lead to Jesus’ cross?

If you truly reaped what you have sown, what would you reap? If we reap what Jesus has sown, what do we reap? Who reaps what they’ve sown, and who reaps what Jesus has sown?

Where do you find unbelief in your life? Where do you have a contingency plan ‘in case’ God doesn’t come through? How did that unbelief lead to Jesus’ cross?

How does Jesus’ reversal of our curse affect the way that we live every day? If Jesus died for the sake of creating a new spiritual family, what role should that family play in our daily lives? Read to see who is in Jesus’ spiritual family and how important it was to him.

Why would God plan a cross, even before the foundations of the world and the first sin (, )? How is God glorified by Jesus’ cross? How does God plan of Jesus’ cross change the way you approach suffering in your life?

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