Lent reflection 6

Christ Crowned with Thorns

Lent 6 Wednesday 24 March

by Deacon Selina

Christ Crowned with Thorns is by the Early Netherlandish painter Dirk Bouts, and was completed c. 1470-75. Originally it formed the wings of a hinged devotional diptych.

Here is Part 2 of the previous poem.

And so Jesus was first flogged, then led away for crucifixion
While Barabbas was set free, a grievous contradiction!
The governor's soldiers took Jesus into the praetorium
And gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.

They stripped him, then they dressed him in a scarlet robe instead,
And they wove a crown of thorns and set it on his head.
They put a staff into his right hand and they were much amused.
They all knelt down and mocked him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'

They spat on him and struck him with the staff, time and again,
Finally dressing him in his own clothes, they led him away then.
On meeting Simon, from Cyrene, they made him, against his will
Carry the cross to Golgotha – the place of the skull.

And there they offered Jesus wine, but it was mixed with gall.
So, although he tasted it, he refused to drink it all.
Then they crucified him, and cast lots for his clothes,
And thus they fulfilled what the prophet had disclosed.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are our rock and our strength. As we journey through Lent, open our eyes and our hearts to the many who stagger along the path of the cross, feeling crushed and rejected as they face each day. Give us strong shoulders to ease the load of others, and hearts filled with love for all. Amen.