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Sorrowful Mysteries: 3rd, Crowning with Thorns

Matthew 27:27-31
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him.
They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.
Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head.
And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.

The 3rd Sorrowful Mystery is the "Crowning with Thorns". This Mystery recalls the time after Christ was scourged at the pillar. The roman soldiers mock Jesus by calling Him "King of the Jews" and then treating Him badly. The soldiers give Him all of the symbols of a King in a way that hurts Him. In other words they are just making sport of Him.

The soldiers call Christ King and then go on to act as if He is anything but King. I think this is what struck me so strongly. As a Christian, I claim that Jesus Christ is King of Heaven and Earth and that I am under His dominion.

I have claimed Jesus Christ as King and one lesson I have learned from the 3rd Sorrowful Mystery is that every time I make a decision to act contrary to the word and example of Jesus, every time I disregard His law and teaching, I am joining with the roman soldiers and mocking our LORD. When I call Jesus King and go on to act as if His Kingship makes no difference in my life, I am just making sport of Him. This lesson brings to light the severity of my own sins, especially the ones that seem innocuous on the surface.
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