Genesis 3:17-18
“To Adam [God] said, ‘…Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.’”

Genesis 22:13
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.  He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.”

John 19:1-2a
“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.  The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.”

Holy Lord, you have not abandoned our guilty race, but set the price of restitution and provided the payment.

Upon his innocent head your Son wore the curse of our sin-soaked ground.  Caught in a thicket of treachery, he sacrificed himself to free us from our fetters.

Open our hearts to the love that bore such a cruel crown.  Remove the thorns that choke our faith and cause you pain.

In Christ’s precious name, the Lamb of God pierced to make us whole, we kneel before you with grateful praise.

Listen to ‘The Cross of Christ’ by Todd Wright