“That’s gnarly, dude!” I had to turn around to see who was talking behind me. I was on the airport terminal train heading for baggage claim and the car was crowded. It was standing room only. Two young surfer wannabes were discussing something when the “gnarly” comment surfaced.

“Gnarly” has been around for a while. Google tells us the word originated in the early 1600s as a derivative of “gnarl” (meaning knobbly or twisted), used to describe twisted trees or, later, gnarled hands. It evolved into 1970s Californian surf slang to describe dangerous, rough waves. Now, it means “disgusting” or “excellent.”

I have a different take on “gnarly” after visiting the Holy Land some years back. We were in the Judean wilderness near Engedi, where a young David fled from King Saul. Our guide pointed out some thorn trees, also known as Paliurus spina-christi, or Christ’s Thorn. This shrub, which grows in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, features flexible branches and razor-sharp thorns, allowing it to be easily shaped into a crown.

The Roman soldiers fashioned a crown of thorns to mock Jesus when the Jewish leaders brought him to Pontius Pilate for judgment. I made the mistake of testing to see if the thorns were as sharp as they looked. They were!

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a reed in His right hand. And kneeling before Him, they mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on Him and took the reed and struck Him on the head” (Matthew 27:27-30, ESV).

Jesus was crucified because He told the truth. The High Priest asked, “‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, 'You have said so [you are correct]. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Matthew 26:63-63).

When Pilate asked, “So you are a king?” Jesus acknowledged He was indeed a king, but His Kingdom was not of this world (John 18:33-37).

Jesus wore a crown of thorns for us so that one day we might wear the crown of righteousness. Paul, nearing the end of his earthly life, wrote these words to Timothy, his son in the faith: “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

Jesus is our King, and in this Easter season, we celebrate not only His resurrection but also His eventual return. Next time, it won’t be a crown of thorns on His head, but rather many crowns. “His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems [‘crowns,’ KJV], and He has a name written that no one knows but Himself” (Revelation 19:12).

If I go with the definition of gnarly as “excellent,” then His return will be gnarly, indeed!

What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!