John 19:1-2: “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus,and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put upon him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and the smote (hit) him with their hands.”

The wickedness that Jesus suffered was unimaginable, as he had told the disciples that it was the enemies time to act and all hell was unleashed against him on earth and the wrath of God fell as he took the sins for all mankind.

As we go through this Holy season, I want to focus a little on piercings, not the jewelry kind, but the piercings experienced by us emotionally, mentally and sometimes spiritually, suffered by us and those piercings that Christ endured on our behalf.

The crown of thorns was not merely made up of tiny little briers, which would have been bad enough, but these were large thorns intended not just for mockery but maximum damage.

They cut into his skin and blood poured down and it was undoubtedly excruciating.

The blood and terror described in the Book of Solomon as he beckons his bride to awake from her slumber.

Song of Solomon 5:2: “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.”

That is a description of the blood and sweat, the condition he was left with following the sorrow that he had endured for her.

The dew, the sweat and the drops of the night, the blood that flowed from the cuts and punctures produced from the thorns and the night, the picture of death that would follow.

It also mirrors Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

All through the ages, we still have the same problem, not wanting to leave the comfort zone to answer the call of the Lord but he is so merciful, he continues to knock, continues to beckon, his love and sacrifice evident by his blood-soaked head as he suffered in our place.

Isaiah 53:5:” But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed.”

The piercings of our very soul, sorrow and grief that would have no words, no one could understand this better than his mother Mary.

It was prophesied to Mary concerning him, as Simeon who had long awaited his arrival, having been promised that he would see the Messiah before his death.

Luke 2:25-35: “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,

Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou servant depart (let your servant die) in peace, according to thy word: 

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 

Which thou hath prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul als0) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” 

The piercing of her son, the piercing of her very soul.

The thoughts of the hearts, the Pharisees and leaders who hated and despised him and those who adoringly followed him, knowing that he was the Son of God. 

This passage is also another really great reminder of the truth of Israel that has so been debated, he came for both.

To save all, the Gentiles, the house of Israel, all of any people who would call upon him and recognize him for who he is.

Piercing of words from others, words said to us, words said about us.

Words that pierce through to the heart, destroying our self-esteem, self-worth and emotionally cutting to the bone.

Making us doubt, making us question our faith, question our salvation.

Proverbs 12:18: There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.”

All the thoughts that trouble, that attack the mind and steal the peace.

Constant barrage of woes, terrors, what if’s and what if nots.

Piercings of disappoints, piercings of failed relationships, piercings of poverty or neglect, piercings of failed marriages, piercing of parental separation, piercings of regret, we could go on and on but the damage to the soul is still the same.

Fear of today, fear of tomorrow, sorrow and emotional sufferings, loss of loved ones and traumas that we just can’t seem to forget.

All were covered by his blood, and those piercing thoughts were laid captive under that crown of thorns.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5:“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

We only win the battle one way.

As followers of Christ our weapons are not like those of the world, we only have victory through the blood of Christ.

Pulling down those strong holds, those thoughts or troubles that have been driven so deep that they have literally taken root and have become no longer a thought or fear but a strong hold that we must overcome.

In that overcoming, casting down, removing, destroying imaginations, all those what ifs that keep us up at night and torment our days, playing over in our minds things that could happen, scenarios and scenes, all imagination just as awakening dreams.

Not productive, not beneficial, just inflicting torment upon ourselves.

We are told to cast them down, throw them out because God does not want our minds overran with possible worst-case scenarios in a life that he has already planned.

What if what if never comes? 

What if we spend our entire life in fear, full of exhaustion and dread, holding on to what should have been let go long again and our time comes and we find ourselves at the end of our life consumed by regret of the opportunities that passed and all the time we will never have again.

That will not cost us our eternal salvation, but it will be sadness for what might have been.

All the high things, thoughts, attitudes, and fears that are contrary to the word of God and in opposition to the promises that he has already gave.

We bring the thought, the torment the high thing to the word of God and compare the word of God and bring it into obedience through Christ.

Example: If we are having a sin struggles, say temptation of some sort and it keeps troubling our mind, we would compare that to these:

Romans 6:12: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”

Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion (power) over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Loneliness: 

Psalms 68:6: “God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains…”

Isaih 54:1:” Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear (did not have children); break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.”

God works in the supernatural realm, and he can bless us in ways we never even imagined but in order to line up with those blessings, we have to get the right mind set.

It is his word speaking truth of blessing over the baseless thoughts of lack.

Use a concordance and find scripture pertaining to the issue at hand, if you need peace, find scriptures on peace.
Joy, healing, rest, whatever the need may be, whatever the enemy is attacking your mind about and use those scriptures to counter the thoughts of the mind.

That is how we bring every thought into captivity.
Jesus wants us to have peace of mind even in difficult times.

The things that torment our minds are contrary to his word and in his word, we find the truth of his word and the promises that we need in order to overcome those troubling thoughts.

As we reflect on his goodness, take a little extra time to ponder the crown of thorns and the freedom that he has given us from those piercing thoughts as he bore that for us.

Philippians 2:5-8:“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God;

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Whatever we need to do that we do.

If we need to cry for three weeks (been there), or whatever the emotion is that is going on inside of us we must hold onto to the promises of God and know that he will deliver us in his time.

But we have to fight, soldiers are only exempt from fighting while they are wounded, they must then get back up and go back into the battle.

2 Timothy 2:3,4:“Thou therefore endure hardness as a good solider of Jesus Christ.

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

Which means those who have been chosen of God, must forget this world and the problems and issues of this world and not be caught up and bound up by those things so that they can go on as a soldier of Christ.

Know that you are not alone, we all struggle, we all have days, weeks, or sometimes months that we can’t seem to get our head above emotional waters because some seasons in life are more difficult than others and sometimes weeks can feel like years and when we are dealing with grief there are days that are nothing but a constant flood of tears.

Thankfully Jesus knows this and he loves us and helps us and heals us.

Those piercings are never going to be painless but know that he loved us enough that he allowed himself to be inflicted with that crown so that we could have his peace in our mind.

As our verse stated, he humbled himself, God of the universe, could have destroyed us all and created something completely different, but he loved his creation so much that even in our sin, our disobedience, our human failings, he loved us enough to die for us.

Once that is understood, believing that he gave his life, for us, he would also in that same love help us and deliver us in any way needed is much easier.

Love & Peace, enjoy the rest of your Holy Week, we’ll look at few more things in our resurrection Sunday post.

Φλογιζω NBJ 2026/ Rev N Brown Johnson