Sheepfolds and Thorns

The crown of thorns teaches us that, in God's currency, the twisted, ugly "crown" of pain and suffering and sacrifice is the only crown of real value. 

Before Jesus laid down his life at Golgotha, he wore a crown of thorns. It was a mockery of a traditional king’s crown, woven from the sharpest thorns that the Roman soldiers could find. The crown of thorns, by itself, is an emotionally moving study. It teaches us that, in God’s currency, the twisted, ugly “crown” of pain and suffering and sacrifice is the only crown of real value. 

As our hymns remind us, conventional crowns of gold, silver, and precious gems are meaningless compared to Christ’s crown of thorns. Gems, monuments, and crowns will molder into dust, but Christ’s crown of thorns will stand forever in the hearts of believers, as the crown of great achievement. It is the symbol of their Savior’s victory over sin and death on behalf of all who believe. 

What I have learned recently is that there were other “crowns of thorns” in the Bible. They were constructed by the brave shepherds who kept watch over their flocks by night on the rugged hills of the Holy Land. Let me tell you about those “crowns.” 

But first, let me tell you just a bit about W.M. Thomson and his wonderful book, The Land and the Book, published in 1858.1

W.M. Thomson

Thomson, preacher, educator, traveler, and writer, explored much of the Holy Land again and again from the 1830s-1850s, when it was still a dangerous place for outsiders. At that time, the land was just becoming accessible to Westerners, and very little changed from the days of the prophets and apostles. Thomson wrote an extended diary of his observations in a two-volume work entitled The Land and the Book. In the introduction to his great work, he writes: 

The land where the Word-made-flesh dwelt with men is, and must ever be, an integral part of the Divine Revelation. Her testimony is essential to the chain of evidences, her aid invaluable in exposition…  “The Land and the Book”—with reverence be it said constitute the entire and all-perfect text and should be studied together.

Thomson’s words capture the respect and awe believers attach even to the lands of the Bible. Putting aside his personal beliefs, which are scarcely mentioned, his large volumes of conversational discussions about scenes and customs in that land can help any student appreciate more fully the Bible message.

The book was extraordinarily popular in its day. For the next forty years after its publication in America, it sold more copies than any other book except the Bible and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Copies of The Land and the Book may still be found, even today, in used bookstores and through other services specializing in out-of-print books.

Thorn-Covered Sheepfolds

Now that you have “met” W.M. Thomson and considered the practically unique position he holds in understanding and explaining the people of God’s land and God’s book, and their lives and customs, let us consider what he had to say about the sheepfolds constructed by the shepherds in the ancient Middle East:

Owing to the wild wadis2 covered with dense forests of oak and underwood,3 the country above us has ever been a favorite range for sheep and goats. Those low, flat buildings out on the sheltered side of the valley are sheepfolds. They are called “marah”, and, when the nights are cold, the flocks are shut up in them, but in ordinary weather they are merely kept within the yard.
This, you observe, is defended by a wide stone wall, crowned all around with sharp thorns, which the prowling wolf will rarely attempt to scale. The “nimer”, however, and “fahed”—the leopard and panther of this country—when pressed with hunger, will overleap this thorny hedge, and with one tremendous bound land among the frightened fold. Then is the time to try the nerve and heart of the faithful shepherd.
These humble types of him who leadeth Joseph like a flock (Psalm 80:1) never leave their helpless charges alone, but accompany them by day, and abide with them at night. As spring advances, they will move higher up to other “marahs” and greener ranges; and in the hot months of summer they sleep with their flocks on the cool heights of the mountains, with no other protection than a stout palisade of tangled thornbushes.
Nothing can be more romantic, Oriental, and even Biblical than this shepherd life far away among the sublime solitudes of goodly Lebanon. 

Shepherds and Thorny Crowns

Whether the primary structure was stones assembled into a wall or dry brush piled together, the enclosures for the sheep were in each case topped off with sharp thorns woven and bound together. This was the ancient equivalent of modern barbed-wire fences, or other security fences with sharp objects at the top, to discourage any intruder—both wild predators (John 10:12; 1 Samuel 17:34) and human thieves and robbers (John 10:1). This structure, properly built, would be secure for the most part, but would also have an opening—the “gate” or “door” of the sheepfold (John 10:2). The protective circle was only closed when the flock was gathered in. Then the shepherd himself, or a watchman he left behind, would settle down to his vigil during the night. In this way, the one who guarded the flock became, literally, the gate or door of the fold. 

Therefore, when Jesus told his disciples, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.”4 (John 10:7), he was saying that he was always there, their last and best line of defense, the one who would stand in the way and protect them, laying down his life if necessary (John 10: 11, 15, 17-18). And he was also saying that, because of his Father’s oversight, his defense of them was absolutely sure:

“None Has Been Lost”

These thoughts inevitably carry us also to the garden of Gethsemane. As Jesus and his friends made their way through the city and out toward the Mount of Olives, he said to them:

He was quoting Zechariah, where the LORD Almighty was speaking:

The context of this rather obscure prophecy touches us to the heart. The man whom the LORD God says is “close to Me” is the subject:

Our Lord Jesus Christ was on his way to Gethsemane, and Golgotha was waiting not far beyond. Along the way, he would receive a “crown of thorns,” a small but important part of what he was to suffer. At last, after more suffering than our limited minds can comprehend, his dead body suffered one more indignity: 

One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (John 19:34). 

William Cowper wrote:

There is a fountain filled with blood, 

     Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood

     Lose all their guilty stains.5

The words had been spoken by Christ, and then they were fulfilled by him also:

These words help us to pull the threads together and appreciate the duty of the Good Shepherd. Not only did he lay down his life for the sheep, but even as he engaged the enemy, the “roaring lions” (Psalm 22:13) and the wild “dogs” (Psalm 22:16) that surrounded him and threatened the flock. He watched to be sure that the sheep, his friends, had gotten safely away. He knew they must escape (John 16:32), for they had to tell the story! 

More literally, Jesus facilitated their safe departure when he said to those who were arresting him:

They went as fast as their legs could carry them. Shepherd and Protector to the end, Jesus stood his ground while they got away, untouched for a time, into the darkness of the garden and then beyond. Reflecting on this scene many years later, the Apostle John wrote his own commentary:

This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” (John 18:9).

Jesus had spoken these very words no more than an hour or two earlier, praying to his Father, but also in their hearing, as they followed the path out of the city and up the nearby mountain:

And he had hinted at this sometime earlier in his parable of the Good Shepherd:

The Good Shepherd

Each evening, when night falls and the flock is safely bedded down, then the shepherd settles himself into the opening of the sheepfold. There he becomes the door. And the circle of protecting thorns, the crown of thorns, is completed!

The crown of thorns with which we are most familiar is not just a symbol of suffering and sacrifice. Jesus lived out the meaning of that symbol in real time in Gethsemane. Stepping into the breach, the faithful shepherd faced his last, deadliest enemy, holding off that enemy until his followers, his sheep, every one of them, got away safely.

Laying down his life for them, he had completed the mission he had accepted from his Father. And among his last mortal words, the cry “It is finished!” (John 19:30; cp. Psalm 22:31) rang out. 

It was the cry of a sufferer whose sufferings are over. The cry of a warrior whose last battle has been won. The cry of a runner who has finished the race. And the cry of a shepherd who has saved every one of his friends and whose work will yet save countless others until the end of time.

He wore a crown of thorns as he went to the cross, and then he became a shield of thorns, protecting all those he loves.

George Booker,
Austin Leander Ecclesia, TX