The Instructor 2.8.74

it crowned as a king. Therefore, the man in whom they did not believe they will recognize as the loving God, Lord and just; for what they bitterly provoked, to show the Lord, they bore witness to him when he was lifted up, placing the diadem of righteousness through the evergreen thorn on him who is exalted above every name. This diadem, hostile to those who plotted against him, restrained them; friendly to those who gather in the church, it crowned them. This crown is the flower of those who have believed in the one who is glorified, but it draws blood from and punishes those who have not believed. It is also a symbol of the Lord's achievement, since he bore on his head, the ruling part of the body, all our evils by which we were pierced. For by his own passion he rescued us from stumbling blocks, sins, and such thorns, and, having destroyed the devil, he rightly said in triumph, “Where, O death, is your sting?” And we gather grapes from thorns and figs from thistles; but they are torn to wounds, those over whom he stretched out his hands, over a disobedient and fruitless people.