The Ballad of a Cross and a Crown

[UntoHim]

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him".
John 19:1-4

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34

This is the ballad of a cross and a crown
and the man who was so punished,
though no guilt in him was found

The scoffers would mock him,
even his own would flee
Still with his last breath:
"Father forgive" his dying plea

As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, may we all be reminded afresh of the last week of our Savior's earthly ministry. "That the scriptures might be fulfilled" was his urgent theme. He was introduced by John the baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) The people were accustomed to the an animal sacrifice atoning for the sins of the people of Israel, but "for the world"? This was something far beyond their tradition. The Passover meal had become "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Cor 5:7) The blood upon the doorpost before the Exodus had become "the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." (1 Pet 1:19) Finally, in Revelation it is this very same blood which "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev 7:14)

"Father for given them, for they know now what they do" was ostensibly aimed at his Roman executioners, however his plea surely included Pilate, who only hours before had quizzed Jesus: "What is truth?" It included the Jewish leaders that cried out "crucify him, crucify him!". It included his very own disciples that fled the scene of the crime, including Peter, the Rock, who denied that he even knew who Jesus was. And last of all, it included you and me, and every human who has ever taken a breath of the air that has been supplied by that man on the cross. Yes, "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev 13:8) has proclaimed "it is finished". (John 19:30) So finished it is.

to be continued
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