"The Crown of Thorns"

"His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealings shall come down upon his own pate." (Psalms 7:16) Odd title for today's verse; you think? Yes; but there is a mystery to the crown of thorns that was placed upon the head of Jesus; those Roman soldiers had plaited it upon His head, thinking that they were making Him a mock-king; however, everything that happened to Jesus, happen for a reason; everything! What that crown represented was a special part of God's redemption; something which man was burdened with before the very curse was pronounced by God in the Garden! Let me try to explain; but please bare with me; it's a little complicated! We are talking about man being able to accept God's forgiveness; something which has been a problem from the very start of creation: why do you think man blamed the woman, and the woman blamed the serpent! Because they could not accept that God would forgive them for what they had done? or that they did not even know what forgiveness meant? Sin was so very new to them; so much so, that they were ashamed to be naked, and covered their bodies with leaves. Could it have been that forgiveness was not offered yet? Possibly? But, let's look at this verse of David's 'wandering, or charming song', and see what it has to say. The first word that I would like to look at, is the word "mischief", as in "His mischief shall return upon his own head". The word has at it's root a meaning of toil, as in to labor; trouble, sorrow, misery, grievance; heavy, wearisome labor; the sorrow or anguish of the soul. We then must look at the meaning of the word "head", which could apply to just the man's head; however, what is the man's head? Because it also speaks about chief, as in the chiefest, choicest, or best; whatever is highest and supreme! So, with that: Where do you place your head? Okay; you might have let that one slip by; because the misery of our suffering shall return upon our own head; that is unless Christ is our head!!! No, wait a minute; "and his violent dealings" are those things that are cruel, wrong, and damaging; which paints a perfect picture of man's curse of this earth; and the "plat" is meant for the crown of the head, or top of the head. If we look back to the curse, which is given in Genesis 3:14-21, one part of man's curse was that of the ground, and that it would bring forth thorns and thistles, thereby causing man to labor hard to supply bread for his household. The general meaning for these thorns and thistles was that of anguish in providing, and resistance on the part of the provisions. However, the crown of thorns which were placed upon the head of Jesus, were a symbol of His taking upon Himself the curse of our soul's labor in penitence, or punishment for sin. The toil that would anguish man's soul, was placed upon the head of Jesus, and was to symbolize that the punishment was no more a curse upon man's soul. In addition to man's toiling the ground, was also the curse of death, in which God said, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19) Therefore; the crown of thorns which Jesus bore upon His head also represented His new kingdom established for us, which is not of this earth; and in such a representation, He removed the curse of death which was placed upon man in the Garden; and these old dusty bodies that we have been given, will be replaced with new glorified bodies, that shall withstand the test of time; a long long time! Okay; now we try again to ask the question: Where do you place your head? If you place your head as the thing which has been installed above your shoulders, then your head might as well be lopped off; which is precisely what happened to Saul's head. However; if Jesus Christ is your head, then you have placed Him above all else; which then allows you to not only accept God's forgiveness, but you can actually see His forgiveness! And that crown of thorns means that we do not have to toil any more... "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"... JESUS!!!