The Thorns of Sinai

Mark 15:17

And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him.

Thirty four hundred ago the Creator of the universe decided to appear to a man who would reveal Him to Israel and eventually the world. God had been watching the affliction of His people and was ready to bring them out to their grand destiny. The One who created us knows us; he knows we judge by appearances, so as a long awaited mysterious visitor He carefully prepared His grand entrance; everything had to be right, especially the form of His appearance as it carried His message.

In the Text, we read that the Creator appeared in a paradox: a bush that burned yet was not consumed. None of it was illusionary: the bush burned yet was not consumed. The Hebrew word for thorn is: ‘s’neh’ carrying the same etymological root as ‘Sinai’. According to a Jewish sage’s perspective, (Rabbi Yanni), God’s appearance in the midst of a thorn bush was emblematic of the anguish He suffered over Israel’s affliction. In that sense, the thorn bush was something akin to putting on sackcloth and ashes. The thorn bush represented a royal messianic statement: God’s empathy for Israel.

Through Isaiah our great Father unveils His emotional attachment to His people; He says, In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old (Isaiah 63:9). “This is to be compared to the situation with identical twins”, Rabbi Yanny says, “if one has a pain in his head the other feels it. Israel certainly had a pain in his head”, and eventually Mashiach wore the thorns of Sinai upon his forehead, again as an illustration of the Father’s empathy for His people (Mark 15:17).

A father naturally suffers when his child is afflicted, so the Father suffers when His people are afflicted. He takes upon Himself all their suffering until the time when in His fury He awakes and desires vengeance, yes vengeance on those who afflict Him through His people (Isaiah 63:3). As we are afflicted, He is afflicted.

As parents we love our children, but our parental love contains an element of hatred, hatred for our children’s evil behavior. Good parents should not be afraid of afflicting their children in order to set them straight. Parental love does so, and the great eternal Father is the greatest example of it. Thus the paradox returns: love, mixed with hate.

Once we have solved the paradox of the burning bush; once our finite mind feels comfortable with a God who loves us so but in His hatred of our sins can also let us suffer, that is precisely when we enter the greatest error of all. The Father reveals Himself to us in a paradox. This is the mystery of the burning bush; this is the Mystery of Messiah.