3

THE CROWNING
WITH THORNS

Next the soldiers decided
to become even nastier.

Was it because
they wanted to impress each other
with their “bravery”?

Was it because of their anger
of being stationed in Jerusalem,
far away from home?

Was it because
this was the way they wanted to treat all Jews?

To have fun at the expense of another.

To treat another person as a thing,
an abortion of one’s own feelings,
to cease to be human during moments of cruelty.

By now Jesus was dazed
by those bullets of cruelty shot into him.

To cause even further pain
because he was a Jew,
because he talked of a kingdom,
they said,
“Let’s make him the King of the Jews.”

They grabbed a scarlet cloak
and wrapped it around his scarlet body.

Did they do this
to shield their eyes
from the cuts on Jesus’ back,
the graffiti of hatred?

Then someone thought up the idea
of a crown of thorns.

Like a spoiled child,
this cruel one went up
and placed it gingerly on Jesus’ head.

“We mustn’t hurt the king,
mustn’t we,”
was his crack
as he stepped back laughing at his own joke.

“What about his scepter?”“Every king has a scepter?”

Someone then grabbed a reed
and stuck it in Jesus’ hand.

“Now there’s a king for you.”

One by one each soldier came up
laughing and genuflecting before Jesus,
“All hail king of the Jews.”

Suddenly the ugliness
of what they were doing hit them
and they had to hide.

Quickly, they began to look
for even crueler masks to wear.

They grabbed the mask of spit.

They began to hit his head violently with the reed.

Why? Is there a point in cruelty
when a person realizes
that the other person is a person?

Is there a point of torture
when the torturer realizes
he is actually torturing parts of himself –
the better parts?

Is there a point of no return?

Is there a moment
in the heat of anger or cruelty or war,
when a person realizes
he has let his nerves become barbed wire,
fencing in the God of love within him?

Did the crown of thorns,
the horror of that night pierce
or cut into any of those soldiers?

Can brutality lead to love?

Can the beast become a beauty?

Can a person change?

Is there redemption?

Is there resurrection for the dead?