What is the significance of the crown of thorns and purple robe Jesus wore at his crucifixion?

For my blog question on John this week I would like to focus on a few different issues within Jesus’ crucifixion, specifically the significance of the purple robe and crown of thorns that were placed on him. John 19:5 says: Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold, the Man!” Before I read this book, I didn't really know that they had put any different clothes on him before the crucifixion; I had only seen pictures of Jesus on the cross with a little white tunic covering his midsection, so I thought it was an interesting topic to research and find out if there was a deeper meaning behind it. Fortunately for me, there was. Growing up in church, it’s easy for me to look at this theologically but I am trying my best to branch away and gain some other interpretations on why they chose a robe and a crown and not something else, so bare with me.   

Robe Colors

                                                                                                                                  There are accounts of the purple robe and crown of thorns in Mathew, Mark and John. Mark and John say that it is indeed purple, but Mathew calls it scarlet, which is obviously a more red color. Eric Lyons, in his article about the robe color, states that a difference like this one means that the Gospel writers all wrote on their own accord, with no help from a higher being. This is what led to the contradictions within the stories themselves. Lyons, when describing how the difference in color came about, related it simply to the fact that people see colors differently. When one person sees red, another could see maroon. It all boils down to different shades of the same color inevitably. There was no difference in scarlet and purple in ancient Rome, they would use the term “purple” when actually describing various shades of red. Because of this, none of the Gospels are wrong when describing what color the robe was, they just used the terms interchangeably .

Significance of Crown and Robe

 

            John 19:2-3 says “And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. The color Purple was that of royalty. They came up to him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' and struck him with their hands." The context of this is that they were mocking Jesus. They used both the crown and the robe to present him as a king to the public. It has been rumored that the robe Jesus wore could have been Herod’s robe.  They also hung a sign above him that read “King of the Jews.”  Hebrews 6:7-8 also states that thorns were viewed as a curse in ancient culture (http://www.compellingtruth.org/crown-of-thorns.html). Hebrews states "For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."                                  

The idea that Jesus was crowned with thorns highlighted that His suffering and death were a curse. Galatians says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” Some say that dying this way was in fact the perfect death, because Jesus redeemed Christians from the curse of death by becoming the curse itself (http://www.compellingtr.There is more symbolism with the crown found when Adam and Eve sinned, which brought upon the curse and evil in the world. The Roman soldiers took an object from a curse (the crown of thorns) and put it on the head of a man that was to deliver all people from that curse, so…jokes on them. While the crown and robe were meant for mockery, it was actually the perfect duo for Jesus (http://www.gotquestions.org/crown-of-thorns.html).