Jesus was mocked by the whole band of soldiers

JESUS WAS MOCKED BY THE WHOLE BAND OF SOLDIERS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 27:27 27Thenthe governor'ssoldierstook
Jesus into the Praetoriumand gathered the whole
company of soldiers aroundhim.
The Whole Band Against Christ
BY SPURGEON
“Then the soldiers of the governortook Jesus into the Common Hall and
gatheredunto Him the whole band of soldiers.” Matthew 27:27.
I HAVE not observedthat anyone has turned to accountthe fact that “the
whole band of soldiers” gatheredin the Praetorium, or Common Hall, for the
purpose of mocking our Lord. That they did mock Him has often been noticed
and preachedupon, but that they should have gatheredunto Him the whole
garrison–thatall should have been there–is mentioned both by Matthew and
by Mark. And this being twice recorded cannothave been without some
meaning and some lessonfor us.
To begin, then, our blessedLord, being condemnedto die, was given over to
the brutal soldiers who garrisonedJerusalem. Theylived in quarters round
about the palace of the governorand when the Savior was delivered to them
to be put to death, they made Him the centerof their mockeryand derision
before they executed the terrible sentence upon Him. Does it not strike you
that any man condemnedto die ought to be protected againstsuchusage as
that? If he must die, some respectshould be paid to one who is about to
endure the death penalty. I think that there should be greatindulgence shown
in such a case–atany rate, nothing should be done or said to hurt the feelings,
or to wound the sensibilities. Pity seems to say, “If the man must die, then so

be it, but let us not, for a single moment make jestof him. Let there not be
mirth–that is a brutality not to be thought of at such a time as this! And to
make a man, about to die, the subject of scornis a superfluity of cruelty and
wickedness.”I think that even a devil might be ashamedof such savageryas
this!
But there was no law to protect the Savior from these soldiers. Every man’s
heart seems to have been steeledagainstHim–the common dictates of the
most ignorant humanity appearto have been violated. They said by their
actions, if not in words, “He shall not only die, but He shall be stripped of all
His honor. He shall be robbed of every comfort. He shall become the butt and
targetof all the cruel arrows of contempt that we can shootat Him.”
Still, why is it saidthat, in order to make Him the object of derision, they
gatheredtogether, “the whole band”? I do not know how many soldiers
constituted the garrison, or how many were barrackedround about the
governor’s palace, but they gathered together, “the whole band”–notmerely a
few of them who were on duty that day, but all were summoned to make a
mockeryof Christ. It was not because He needed to be guarded lestHe should
escape, forHe had no desire to be set free. It was not because the soldiers
would have needed to keepHim securelyguarded lest the people should
attempt to rescue Him, for the Jews did not want Him to be rescued. On the
contrary, it was by their clamor that He was doomed to die. They had cried,
“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” He had no friends to stand up for Him, no band
of disciples to come and force the soldiers awayand setHim free. Therefore
these soldiers did not guard Him with the whole strength of the band on that
account.
Nor were they all needed to execute the death sentence. With a people eager
for His death, four soldiers, a single quaternion, sufficed. He carriedHis own
Cross and they had but to drive the nails into His hands and feet and fasten
Him to the tree. That could have soondone it to a Victim so defenseless, so
inoffensive–it did not need that they should gather together, “the whole
band,” and so we are told it as a remarkable circumstance which did not rise
necessarilyout of the narrative. It must have a meaning of its own, “They
gatheredunto Him the whole band of soldiers.”
I shall speak thus upon it. First, it would appear that the soldiers were
unanimous in mocking their Prisoner. Secondly, so are men united in
opposing Christ. And, thirdly, what shall we say of both the facts of which we
are to speak tonight?

1. First, then, it is clearthat THE SOLDIERS WERE UNANIMOUS IN
MOCKING THEIR PRISONER.
Upon this, I remark, first, that men are very apt to go togetherwhen they go
wrong. You notice, in a workshop, how the religion of Christ will be despised
and how certainmen will lead the way in uttering calumnies against it. And
then the restwill follow. When men go astray, they are like a flock of sheep–
one gets through the hedge and all the rest go after it. We have heard of one
sheepleaping the parapet of a bridge into a river–and the whole flock went
after it and all were destroyed. Men are such curious beings, not only the
creatures of their ownhabits, but the imitators of other men’s example! I
know not how it is, but persons who, alone and apart, would seemto have
some goodinclinations, will shake them all off when they get into evil
company. At home, they will talk reasonably, but, in the crowd, they speak
madly. At home and alone, they are amenable to rebuke and conviction. But
when they got with other men, they will not hear a word of it–they shut their
ears to anything like goodteaching–andthey run greedily to do mischief. I do
not, therefore, so much wonder that when our Lord was givenover to the
soldiers, they gathered togetherthe whole band, for it is so usual for men to go
togetherwhen they go wrong.
Frequently, too, it will happen that there is not one man to bear his protest.
Would you not have expectedthat, in a large band of soldiers, there would
have been at leastone man of noble spirit who would have said, “No, do not
torture Him–He is about to die”? Would it have been at all amazing if one
man had stoodforward, and said, “This Man has done nothing amiss. Our
governorhas said that he finds no fault in Him. Why, therefore, do you set
Him in that chair and robe Him, and bow the knee in mockery, and spit upon
Him?” It would not have been very surprising if there had been among the
Roman soldiers some one or two who had espousedChrist’s cause, for, truth
to tell, those valiant men, although they grew brutalized by living amidst
scenes ofblood, were capable of deeds of high virtue. One has but to read the
old Romanstory to stand amazed, sometimes, that such fair flowers of virtue
and benevolence couldgrow on such a dunghill as the RomanState was then.
Yet you see that not one out of the whole band of soldiers would saya word
for Christ, or absent himself from the ring when their comrades mockedHim.
Perhaps I address some men here who work togetherand who are in the habit
of scoffing at the Cross ofChrist. I hope that there is not a workshopin
London without one man, at least, who will stand forward and defend his
Master’s cause.But if I speak to one to whom that thought has occurredand
yet he has said, “I dare not! I would be, myself, the subject of so much

persecutionthat I could not stand forth alone,” now, listen, Sir, if a Caius, or a
Fabius, or a Julius had stoodforth alone to defend the Lord’s cause, we would
have had his name here! And if he had even suffered death for it, he would
have been among the brightest of the martyr host! And you know not what
honor you lose if you concealyour testimony. If you allow the whole drift of
the talk to be infidel and atheistic and never put in your goodword for Him
whom you call Masterand Lord, you dishonor yourself! But if you could have
the courage andI hope that you may, to say, “He, of whom you speak thus ill,
has savedmy soul, snatchedme from habits of vice and renewedmy
character”–ifyou could stand forward, and bear such testimony for Him–I
know that it were a short road to Glory, honor and immortality! It is not
likely that you would have to suffer as the martyrs did, but suppose that you
did? The more of suffering, the brighter that ruby crownwhich would be set
upon your head in the day of your Lord’s appearing!I hope that Christian
men are still made of that grand old stuff which defied the Roman emperors
and made them weary of slaughter, for they could not mow down the crops of
the Church as fastas they grew!The blood of the martyrs was the seedof the
Church and the more copiously it was shed, the more the Church multiplied!
But, once more, the number of those who thus mockedChrist made their
conduct all the baser. When you, young fellow, get in with 50 more, and in the
workshopyou mock at some solitary Christian youth. When you, eachone,
have your jibe–when you give him what you call, “chaff,” which is sport to
you, but cruel enough to be death to him–did it never occur to you that it was
a most cowardlything and altogetherunworthy of you, that ten, twenty,
thirty, forty, fifty, should all set upon one? What if a man believes in religion?
Has he not a right to do so if he likes? Some of you who talk so much about
freedom are the biggestbullies in the world! You boastloudly of religious
liberty, but to you it means liberty to be irreligious!Surely I have as much
right to worship Christ as you have to despise Him–and if my views of religion
should seemto you to be peculiar, yet, if peculiar, have I not as goodreasonto
hold them as you have to reject them?
I speak thus plainly because I know of many, many cases where, if men were
men at all, they would ceaseto persecute Christians, seeing that they
persecute one or two whereverthey can if they, themselves, happen to be in
the majority. Think of this lot of howling dogs around this one gentle Lamb of
God, the Christ who had never even a hard word for them, whose mightiest
weaponwas silence and patience!Think of Him surrounded by all these men
of war from their youth up, these Romanlegionaries with their imperial

eagles!It was a cruel shame. The more there were of them, the meanerit was
of them thus, as a whole band, to gathertogetherto mock the Savior.
But I suppose that their number accountedfor the excess to which they went.
If there had only been two or three of them, they would not have thought of all
the cruel things that they did to our Lord. To put an old cloak upon Him and
to call Him the purpled Caesaris commonplace enough, but one cries, “Letus
make a crown for Him,” and they plait the thorns with cruel hands, piercing
His temples with the sharp spines. Another says, “Fetcha scepterand put it in
His hand. Set Him in that chair and let us bow before Him! Let us cry, ‘Hail,
King of the Jews!’” They would have stopped at that point had there not been
so many of them. But, being so large a band, one coarse fellow must go still
further and he spits into that blessedface!–
“See how the patient Jesus stands,
Insulted in His lowestcase!
Sinners have bound the Almighty hands,
And spit in their Creator’s face.”
I hardly think that one, two, three, or even half-a-dozen, by themselves, could
have been guilty of such detestable, loathsome conductto Christ! But the
whole band being together, they thought of fresh insults.
Take heedof sinning in a crowd! Young man, abandon the idea that you may
sin in a crowd!Beware ofthe notion that because many do it, it is less a guilt
to any one of them. Rememberthat the broad way was always the wrong road
and that it leads to destruction, none the less because many walk in it.
“Thoughhand join in hand, the wickedshall not be unpunished.” Though you
finish up the day’s work of sin with three cheers for your noble selves, you
shall find yourselves arraigned, eachone, before the Judgment Seat of God–
eachone to give accountfor the deeds done in his body according to what he
has done, whether it is goodor whether it is evil. Oh, the pitiful story, a whole
company of soldiers united againstChrist, with not one to quit the ranks and
say, “No, comrades!Do not do this!” But all wallowing in their cruelty, like
swine in the mire!
II. That leads me to talk to you, secondly, about another point. As these
soldiers were unanimous in mocking their illustrious Prisoner, SO ARE MEN
UNITED IN OPPOSINGCHRIST.
Like these soldiers, many do not pass Christ by with neglect. I should have
thought that many a brave man of that Roman legion would have said,
“Pshaw!I shall not go to taunt the poor Jew who has been hunted down by
the priests. Nobody gives Him a goodword–evenHis own followers have fled

from Him. I heard one of them declare that He did not know Him, though I
knew that man was a liar, for I saw Him in the Garden with his Master. My
comrades are going to the Praetorium to mock Him, but I shall not go. Such
mirth is unworthy of a man, especiallyofa Roman.” Instead thereof, they
were all there! Curiosity fetched them up–they must all come to see this Man
of whom they had heard so much–and an evil consciencemade them bitter
againstHim, for, because theywere evil, His being goodwas a protest against
their wickeddeeds.
So they were all united againstHim and they came up, every one of them, to
show their scorn. It is a strange thing, but if Christ is fully preached, somehow
men cannot be indifferent to Him. If they can get awayand never hear of
Him, they may be indifferent. But the true Gospeleither offends men, or else
it charms them. I believe that you may preacha certain sort of gospel, from
the first of January to the end of December, and everybody will say, “Yes, that
is very good, very, very good, perfectly harmless.” Yes, a chip in the porridge,
with no flavor in it. But if it is the real out-and-out Gospelof a Crucified
Savior, there will be someone who will say, “Ah, that is what I need! I like
that,” but there will be others who will grind their teeth and say, “I will never
hear that man again!I cannot bear his talk. I hate it.”
Do not be surprised when I say that, if I hear that So-and-So was very angry
at one of my sermons. I state as my belief, “That man will go to Heaven. I
have the hook in that fish and I shall yet catchhim!” But when I hear people
simply of it. It is better that a man should be in a downright rage against
Christ than be utterly indifferent to Him! And where He really comes so that
men are obliged to see Him, they cannotlong be indifferent. “Thatthe
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed,” is one of the objects of His death.
The Cross ofChrist is the greatdetectorof men. Fix it up and men
straightwaygo to the right or to the left of it. It is the parter and divider of the
ways. Jesus, Himself, said, “He that is not with Me is againstMe;and he that
gathers not with Me scatters abroad.” Mencannotpass by utterly with neglect
after once hearing the story of the Cross. Theymust gatherup for Christ or
againstHim, and, alas, many of them do gather up to pour their scornupon
Him!
Many ungodly men feel an inward contempt for Christ’s claims. “No,” says
one, “I have no such contempt for Christ.” I would not wish to charge you
wrongfully, but if you are not a believer in Him. If you have never accepted
Him to be your Saviorand your Lord, I venture to repeatthe charge–you
have an inward contempt for His claims, my Hearers. Whether you are
Christians or not, you are the subjects of King Jesus. Godhas put you into His

hands and you will have to stand before His Judgment Seatat the last. The
Man, Christ Jesus, who died on Calvary and rose again, and went to Heaven,
will judge every one of you at the Last GreatDay–andHe claims that you now
should become His servants, and yield obedience to Him!
Now, I know that you will say in your hearts, “We shall not do anything of the
kind!” Justso, and have I not proved what I said? “The carnalmind is enmity
againstGod,” and that carnal mind may be in a man who always goes to
Church, or to Chapel. If he has not been renewed, he does not believe in
Christ as King and, as far as his heart is concerned, he mocks at the idea of his
being a servant of Christ and Christ being Lord over him. In his very soulhe
thinks this to be a preposterous claim, that he should be obedient to Christ in
everything. Besides, the mass of men do not seek to know what Christ’s claims
are. They are ignorant of His Royalty and Sovereignty–andit is in this way
that their minds are filled with an indistinctly expressed, but still very
powerful, contempt for Him.
And so it happens, in the next place, that men invent different ways of
showing their derision. It is very curious that you find very learned men
opposedto Christ and they go to work, usually, by destructive criticism,
trying to getrid of this part of the Bible and that. But an ignorant man cannot
do that, so he says that he does not believe in the Bible at all. Here you find a
rich man despising Christ, sneering at “the common people,” as he calls
Christ’s followers, and there you see anotherman who is very poor, despising
Christ by wishing to overthrow all the rules of His sacredKingdom. Herod
and Pilate hate one another till Christ comes–andthen they join togetherin
reviling Him.
These Romansoldiers, having all come together, found employment in
mocking Christ. First, some of them stripped Him. Oh, have I not seenmen at
it in these days, stripping Christ of His Deity, stripping Him of His Priesthood,
stripping Him of His Sovereignty, stripping Him of His Righteousness,
stripping Christ of everything that makes Him Christ? Is not that the way
with many of the rich, the greatand the “advanced” theologians ofthe present
day? They show their hatred of Christ by stripping Him!
There are others who go to work the other way–theyput a scarletrobe on
Him. I have seenthem do it–put other men’s garments upon Him, make Him
out to be what He never was–travestythe Doctrines of Grace, caricature the
Gospeland hold it all up to contempt, imputing to Christ the faults of all His
followers and even laying at His door the sin of men who, like Judas, have
betrayed Him! That is anothermethod of showing enmity to Christ. Then we
see all around us men who mock at Christ’s Royalty. They crownHim with a

crownof thorns by their harsh speechesagainstHis people. By their
persecutions ofthose who love Him, Christ is often crowned, again, with
thorns. The husband has done it in his unkindness to his believing wife.
Parents have done it in their objection to their children following Christ. The
man or woman who has given the cold shoulder to a pious friend, has thus put
another crownof thorns upon the Savior’s head.
And have we not seenthem put the reed into His hand by representing Christ
as being a mere myth and His Doctrine as a dream, a holy fancy, a proper
thing to keepthe people quiet, but with no matter of fact or truth in it? So
they put into His hand the reed-scepterto mock Him and He regards it as
mockery. And thus, around the Christ, today, I seemto see, with eyes closed,
but by the vision of faith, a multitude kneeling before Him and pretending to
worship Him–hypocritical worshippers–thosewho even by their bedsides are
hypocrites, repeating a form of prayer and yet never really praying! They are
drawing near to Him with their lips, while their hearts are far from Him. Oh,
how do sinners thus prove their unanimity of enmity to Christ! Even in their
pretended worship, they do but show the opposition of their hearts to Him.
Here and there, also, I see one coarserthan other men who spits upon Jesus
and smites Him. You cannotlive long in London without hearing from men
who are opposed to the Cross of Christ, expressions that disgust you. I have
given up all idea, now, that we are living in a Christian country. Believers in
England are a band of Christ’s soldiers who are holding the fort against
deadly odds! Ours is a heathen country with an admixture of Christian people
and a smear, a varnish of pretended religion, but still a heathen country! And
every now and then some outspokenheathen, by his awful profanity, makes us
wish that we could not hear at all! This is how they spit on Christ. One does it
very politely with a bow. Another comes forward and abuses both the Christ
and His Cross. He has spatin His face and honestly lets us know where he
stands. One will undermine the Truth of God–anotherbrings the battering
ram, in open day, to beat down the citadel–but they are so united together
that, with one accord, the whole band of soldiers is gatheredagainstChrist.
DearFriends, if men attackedanyone Doctrine, you would find only one band
of men opposing it, but when Christ, Himself, is the object of mockery, the
whole band gathers round Him! If I preach some of the Doctrines of
Calvinism, I shall find men who are fatalists, and necessitarians andthe like,
who will agree with me. But if I preachthe whole Gospelof Christ, these very
men who might have been my friends under one form of doctrine, will be my
enemies againstthe whole of it! Only let Jesus appear, and Jews and Gentiles,

rich and poor, learned and unlearned–until they are renewedby Grace–count
His Cross to be a stumbling block and His Doctrine to be foolishness!
Now notice that men who could mock Christ like this were capable of doing
anything evil. If they could revile Christ, it was no wonderthat they castlots
for His clothes just at His feet when He hung on the Cross. I am often
astounded at things that I read about gamblers and what they have been
known to do. It is 50 years ago since there was a story told by a policeman–
and I do not doubt its truth–of two men at Hampstead who, having bet with
one another all that they had, at last had a wageras to which should hang the
other. And one of them did hang the other. The policemancame along just in
time to save him and when the man was cut down, what do you think he said?
Why, he said that he would have hung the other man, if he could, to win the
bet!
That was thought to be very extraordinary, but it is not so very long ago since,
at the laying of the first stone of a chapel, a friend of mine stoodbehind two
gentlemen from Newmarketand, when one whom I know stoodup to pray
over the first stone, these two made a bet about how long he would be
praying! Men will do anything for a wager. Thatmischievous vice which is
becoming so common, nowadays, leads to an extraordinary hardness of heart
beyond anything else!And I cannotso much wonder that men who were
brought up as these Roman soldiers were, were capable ofmocking Christ
and of anything else that was evil.
III. I have finished when I have askedand answeredthis question, WHAT
SHALL WE SAY OF BOTH THE FACTS WHEREOF WE HAVE SPOKEN
TONIGHT?
These cruelsoldiers unanimously came togetherto see Christ as a prisoner
and to put Him to extraordinary scorn–yetout of this band Christ found
witnesses.Theirchief officer, “the centurion, and they that were with him,” as
they stoodand saw Christ die, said, “Truly this was the Sonof God.” And
some of these soldiers, being appointed to watchthe tomb of Christ, came and
declaredthat He had risen from the dead. They were fine witnesses, were they
not? Men who were too rough to lie to help a sect. Theycame forward to bear
testimony to the Christ. O God, if there are any here who have blasphemed
You, who have cursed Christ to His face, who have persecutedChrist’s
people, save them, tonight, and make them witnesses ofYour power to bless!
When such a man gets saved, he is a goodwitness for Christ. He says, “Iknow
what Christ cando, for He has changedmy heart, He has appearedto me by
the wayand manifested Himself to me. And I know and am sure of that which
I testify, that, verily, this is the Son of God.”

Next, learn another lesson. All this mockeryshould rebuke the backwardness
among Christ’s friends. When He was to be mocked, all the soldiers came up.
Some of them were down in the canteen, but they left their wine and came up
to mock Him. Some of the soldiers, perhaps, had furlough for that day, but
they gave up their holiday to go to mock Christ. Now, then, Brothers and
Sisters, if His enemies could gather togetherthe whole band againstHim, let
us gather togetherthe whole band for Him. Why, just look at some of you on
the Lord’s-Day! There are a few drops of rain that might spoil your best
bonnets, or wet your new clothes, so you cannotgo to Chapel. You would have
gone to market, you know, rain or shine! How many there are who will not be
able to come to the Prayer Meeting tomorrow night! One pleaded, some time
ago, at the Prayer Meeting, “Lord, bless those that are at home on beds of
sickness!” “Yes,” saidthe preacher, “and, Lord, bless those that are at home
on sofas of wellness!” There are plenty of that kind, who stay at home because
they have not enoughof the hearty spirit that ought to be in them to let the
whole band gathertogetherto confess Christ. Do you love Jesus Christ, my
dear Sister? Then come and confess it! Do you love Jesus Christ, my Brother?
Then out with your avowal of it! Do not try to go to Heaven behind the
hedges. Geton the King’s High Roadand travel in broad daylight as a soldier
of Christ should. Say–
“I’m not ashamedto own my Lord,
Or to defend His cause.”
Next, I think that these mockers chide the uninventiveness of many
Christians. See how they brought out the old red cloak, plaited the crown of
thorns and cried, “Put them on Him!” Then they brought the scepterof reed,
saying, “Stick it in His hand and shout, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!”’Then came
the spitting and the smiting–they could not have made the mockerymore
complete. They soonrigged up all that mimicry of royalty. Come, then,
Brothers and Sisters, let us be inventive in honoring Christ–
“Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crownHim Lord of all.”
See, is there not some new plan to be tried, some method that you have not yet
attempted by which you could make Jesus lovedand honored in the soul of
somebody, be it only a poor child, a servant girl, or the most humble man in
the street? Surely, if enmity was so quick to deride Him, love ought to be
equally alert and inventive to find out ways by which to honor Him!
But, once more, all this mockeryshould excite our admiration of our patient
Lord. Remember that as He sat there, flouted and made a jest of, He might

with one glance ofHis eyes have flashed Hell into their souls and slain every
one of them! Had He only openedthose lips, He could have spoken
thunderbolts that would have destroyedthem at once!But He satthere and
patiently bore it all. As a sheepbefore her shearers, He was dumb. He opened
not His mouth because He was bearing all this to save you and to save me.
BlessedSavior!Oh, come, let us worship and adore and love Him!
The lastlessonis, let us summon all our faculties to honor Christ tonight.
Gather togetherthe whole band, your memory of all His goodness, your
judgment of all His greatness, allyour hopes and all your fears–yourquieted
conscience, yoursoul at rest–come, andwith the whole band of faculties that
God has given you, from the highest to the lowest, bow down in grateful
adorationbefore Him who bowedso low that He might lift us up to be with
Him forever! DearHearers, are you trusting Christ? There is no other trust
that will do for a soul for time and for eternity! On a dying bed, it must be
none but Jesus–letit be none but Jesus on your bed, tonight, before you fall
asleep. Do not dare to close your eyes till you have committed your soul into
the keeping of Him who still holds out His hands, as He did upon the Cross,
that He may receive you with open arms and save you with an everlasting
salvation!Amen.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Matthew 27:29 And they twisted together a crown of
thorns and put it on His head. They put a staff in His
right hand and knelt down before Him to mock Him,
saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The CrownOf Thorns
Matthew 27:29
W.F. Adeney

The wreaththat the unfeeling soldiers pressedon the brow of the patient
Christ, in mimicry of the victor's crown, with its cruel thorns to lacerate and
pain, was only meant for an insult. It was one element in the torture of rude
mockeryto which our Lord was subjected. Yet, though quite beyond the
perception of the brutal legionaries, this was wonderfully representative of the
true Kingship of Jesus. He is a King crownedwith thorns. Let us look at the
fact from two points of view.
I. THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST NECESSITATED A CROWN OF
THORNS,
1. Becausehe was King he could not but suffer. That is a vulgar notion of
royalty which regards it as a state of enviable pleasure. The king of the fairy
tales may live in a palace of delights; but the king of history is better
representedby Shakespeare, one ofwhose monarchs exclaims, "Uneasylies
the head that wears a crown!" Mostkings find some thorns in their crowns.
2. The peculiar Kingship of Christ involved peculiar suffering. No other king
wore a crown wholly woven of thorns. No other king ever suffered as he
suffered. It was not the common fate of kingship that bruised and crushed the
heart of the Divine King. He came to rule in the souls of men, and the
rebellion of men's souls wounded him. He came to rule the wills of his people,
and the resistance ofself-will hurt him. He came to rule with righteousness, to
castout all unrighteousness, and the wickednessofthe world turned against
him. His greataim was to overthrow the kingdom of Satanand to setup his
own kingdom instead of it. That is to say, he came to conquer sin and to reign
in holiness. But the victory over sin could only be had through suffering and
death.
II. THE CROWN OF THORNS CONFIRMED THE KINGSHIP OF
CHRIST. If they had only knownit, those heartless, mocking soldiers were
really symbolizing the right of their victim to be their king. Their mimicry of a
coronationwas most typical of his real coronation. Jesus is a King crowned
with thorns, because he is crownedwith sorrows, because his sufferings give
him a right to sit on his throne and to rule over his people.
1. The sufferings of Christ give him a right to the highest honour. After
describing his self-emptying and obedience evento the death of the cross, St.
Paul adds, "Wherefore Godhath highly exalted him, and given him the Name
above every name," etc. (Philippians 2:9). There is no merit in mere pain, but
there is greathonour in suffering for a noble cause. Christ went further; he
was more than a martyr. He drank a more bitter cup than any other man has
tasted, and he took all this suffering upon him for the saving of the world.

Such a crown of thorns worn for the goodof others marks its weareras
worthy of the highesthonour.
2. The sufferings of Christ give him the kingdom over which he rules. He had
to win this kingdom for himself, and it is his now by right of conquest. But he
did not use any weapons ofcarnalwarfare. He did not fight with the sword.
The sufferings of the war were not inflicted on the territory he was
conquering, but on himself, He wonthe world to himself by dying for the
world on the cross. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
And when they had platted a crownof thorns.
Matthew 27:29-31
Mockedofthe soldiers
C. H. Spurgeon.
The shameful spectacle!What element of scornis lacking? Romansoldiers
mocking a supposed rival of Caesarare sure to go to the utmost lengths in
their derision. The spectacleis as cruel as it is derisive. Thorns and rough
blows accentuate mockeriesandscoffs. Romanlegionaries were the brutalized
instruments of a race noted for its ignorance of all tenderness;they wrought
cruelties with a singular zest, being most at home in amusements of the most
cruel kind.
I. HERS LEARN A LESSON FOR YOUR HEART.
1. See whatsin deserved. All laid on Him.
(a)Ridicule for its folly.
(b)Scorn for its pretensions.
(c)Shame for its audacity.
2. See how low your Saviour stoopedfor your sake.
(a)Made the substitute for foolish, sinful man; and treated as such.
(b)Scoffed at by soldiers of meanestgrade.
(c)Made a puppet for men who play the fool.
3. See how your Redeemerloved you. He bears immeasurable contempt, in
silence, to the bitter end.
4. See the grand facts behind the scorn.

(a)He is a King in very surety.
(b)Glorified by conquering earth's sorrow.
(c)Rules by weakness.
(d)Makes men bow the knee.
(e)True Monarchof the Jews.
5. See that you honour and love Him in proportion to this shame and
mockery. The more vile He has made Himself for us, the more dear He ought
to be to us.
II. A LESSON FOR THE CONSCIENCE.
1. Jesus may still be mocked.
(a)By deriding His people.
(b)By despising His doctrine.
(c)By resolves neverfulfilled.
(d)By beliefs never obeyed.
(e)By professions neverjustified.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The crownof thorns
C. H. Spurgeon.
According to the Rabbis and the botanists, there would seemto have been
from twenty to twenty-five different species ofthorny plants growing in
Palestine;and different writers have, according to their ownjudgment or
fancies, selectedone and another of these plants as the peculiar thorns which
were used upon this occasion. Butwhy selectone thorn out of many? He bore
not one grief, but all; any and every thorn will suffice; the very dubiousness as
to the peculiar species yields us instruction. It may wellbe that more than one
kind of thorn was platted in that crown: at any rate sin has so thickly strewn
the earth with thorns and thistles that there was no difficulty in finding the
materials, even as there was no scarcityof griefs wherewith to chastenHim
every morning and make Him a mourner all His days. The soldiers may have
used pliant boughs of the acacia orshittim tree, that unrotting woodof which
many of the sacredtables and vessels ofthe sanctuary were made; and,
therefore, significantly used if such was the case.It may have been true, as the
old writers generally consider, that the plant was the spina Christi, for it has

many small and sharp spines, and its greenleaves would have made a wreath
such as those with which generals and emperors were crownedafter a battle.
But we will leave the matter; it was a crown of thorns which pierced His head,
and causedHim suffering as well as shame, and that suffices us.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Christian's crown, not gold but thorns
C. H. Spurgeon.
That thorn crown cures us of desire for the vain glories of the world, it dims
all human pomp and glory till it turns to smoke. It takes the glitter from your
gold, and the lustre from your gems, and the beauty from all your dainty
gewgaws,to see that no imperial purple canequal the glory of His blood, no
gems can rival His thorns. Show and parade cease to attractthe soul, when
once the superlative excellencies ofthe dying Saviour have been discerned by
the enlightened eye. Who seeksfor ease whenhe has seenthe Lord Christ? If
Christ wears a crownof thorns, shall we coveta crown of laurel? Even the
fierce Crusader, when he entered into Jerusalemand was electedking, had
sense enoughto say, "I will not weara crown of gold in the same city where
my Saviourwore a crownof thorns." Why should we desire, like feather-bed
soldiers, to have everything arrangedfor our ease and pleasure? Why this
reclining upon couches, whenJesus hangs on a cross? Why this soft raiment,
when He is naked? Why these luxuries, when He is barbarously entreated?
Thus the thorn crowncures us at once of the vain glory of the world, and of
our own selfishlove of ease. The world's minstrel may cry, "He, boy, come
hither, and crownme with rosebuds!" but the voluptuary's request is not for
us. For us neither delights of the flesh nor the pride of life canhave charms
while the Man of Sorrows is in view. For us it remains to suffer and to labour,
till the King shall bid us share His rest.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Crownedwith thorns
C. H. Davison.
I. The crown of thorns was placedupon the brow of our Divine Redeemerin
derision of His true kingly dignity. It suggeststhe world's generaltreatment of
His claims. Herod's question — "Art Thou a King?" Christ claims this
supremacy on the ground of His Divine fulness and sufficiency as our
Redeeming God.

II. The crownof thorns reminds us of kingship over suffering, or the passive
perfection of the Lord Jesus.
III. Of the disappointments which are inseparable from the earthly and the
seen.
(C. H. Davison.)
The crownof thorns
J. Clayton.
1. A striking exhibition of the intense love of Christ to guilty man.
2. The profound depth of His abasement.
3. The development of the nature of that kingdom which Christ came into this
world to establish.
4. There is a description of the character, tendency, and issue of the affliction
of the righteous. Afflictions prick and tear, but suffering is a crown.
5. An affecting image of the reality, extent, and the permanence of the
dominion of Christ.
(J. Clayton.)
The thorn crown
W. M. Statham.
I. SEE WHAT THAT AGE MUST HAVE SUNK TO. We test forces in
depravity by their resistance ofgood. Rome decadent!Do you know its
wealth, armies, etc. It was withal corrupt, dying.
II. SEE WHAT A LIMITED POWER CHRIST'S ENEMIES HAVE. They
can put thorns on His head, but none on His heart. How calm in all His
sorrow. The keenestphysicalagonyis little felt in the joyous sense of
triumphant love for others.
III. SEE WHAT SUFFERING LOVE CAN DO.
IV. SEE WHAT IS THE SIN OF THE WORLD TODAY. Our rebellion is a
crownof thorns on his heart.
V. SEE THE ALTERED VERDICT OF THE AGES. The crown was then a
mockery, now a royal symbol. Learn
(1)never to be carriedaway by a mere temporary judgment;

(2)what a contrastwe have in the glorious vision of the Apocalypse, "On His
head were many crowns."
(W. M. Statham.)
The crownof thorns
F. W. Brown.
The crownof thorns symbolized —
I. That Christ was about to bearthe CURSE for sinful man. Thorns were part
of the original curse upon the soil.
II. That Christ was about to endure PAIN for sinful man. The piercing thorns
were harbingers of the cruel spearand nails.
III. That Christ was about to CONQUER deathfor dying man. Christ was
crownedbefore He came to the cross;undesignedly indicating His victory.
(F. W. Brown.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(29) A crownof thorns.—The word is too vague to enable us to identify the
plant with certainty, but most writers have fixed on the Zizyphus Spina
Christi, known locally as the Nebk, a shrub growing plentifully in the valley of
the Jordan, with branches pliant and flexible, and leaves ofa dark glossy
green, like ivy, and sharp prickly thorns. The likeness ofthe crown or garland
thus made to that worn by conquering kings and emperors, fitted it admirably
for the purpose. The shrub was likely enough to be found in the garden
attachedto the Prætorium.
A reed in his right hand.—Here also the word is vague, and it may have been
the stalk either of a sugar-cane, a Papyrus, or an Arundo. It represented, of
course, the sceptre which, even under the Republic, had been wielded by
generals in their triumphs, and which under the Empire, as with Greek and
Easternkings, had become the receivedsymbol of sovereignty.
They bowed the knee before him.—We have to representto ourselves the
whole cohort as joining in the derisive homage. The term in Mark 15:19
implies a continued, not a momentary act—the band filing before the mock-
king, and kneeling as they passed.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
27:26-30 Crucifixion was a death used only among the Romans; it was very
terrible and miserable. A cross was laid on the ground, to which the hands
and feetwere nailed, it was then lifted up and fixed upright, so that the weight
of the body hung on the nails, till the sufferer died in agony. Christ thus
answeredthe type of the brazen serpent raised on a pole. Christ underwent all
the misery and shame here related, that he might purchase for us everlasting
life, and joy, and glory.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Had platted - The word "platted" here means "woventogether." Theymade a
"wreath" of a thorn-bush.
A crown - Or perhaps, rather, a wreath.
A crown was worn by kings, commonly made of gold and precious stones. To
ridicule the pretensions of Jesus that he was a king, they probably plucked up
a thornbush growing near, made it into something resembling in shape a royal
crown, so as to correspondwith the old purple robe, and to complete the
mockery.
Of thorns - What was the precise species ofshrub denoted here is not
certainly known. It was, however, doubtless, one of that species thathas sharp
points of very hard wood. They could therefore be easilypressedinto the slain
and cause considerable pain. Probably they seized upon the first thing in their
way that could be made into a crown, and this happened to be a "thorn," thus
increasing the sufferings of the Redeemer. Palestine abounds with thorny
shrubs and plants. "The traveler finds them in his path, go where he may.
Many of them are small, but some grow as high as a man's head. The
Rabbinical writers saythat there are no less than 22 words in the Hebrew
Bible denoting thorny and prickly plants." Professor's Hackett's Illustrations
of Scripture, p. 135. Compare Proverbs 24:30-31;Proverbs 15:19;Jeremiah
4:3.
And a reed in his right hand - A reed is a straight, slenderherb, growing in
marshy places, and abundant on the banks of the Jordan. It was often used
for the purpose of making staves for walking, and it is not improbable that
this was sucha staff in the possessionofsome person present. The word is
severaltimes thus used. See 2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah36:6; Ezekiel29:6. Kings
commonly carrieda "sceptre," made of ivory or gold, as a sign of their office

or rank, Esther 4:11; Esther8:4. This "reed" or"staff" they put in his hand,
in imitation of a "sceptre,"to deride, also, his pretensions of being a king.
And they bowedthe knee - This was done for mockery. It was an act of
pretended homage. It was to ridicule his saying that he was a king. The
common mode of showing respector homage for kings was by kneeling or
prostration. It shows amazing forbearance on the part of Jesus that he thus
consentedto be ridiculed and set at naught. No mere human being would have
borne it. None but he who loved us unto death, and who saw the grand results
that would come from this scene of sufferings, could have endured such
mockery.
Hail, King of the Jews! - The term "hail" was a common mode of salutation to
a king, or even to a friend. It implies, commonly, the highestrespectfor office
as well as the person, and is an invocationof blessings. Here it was used to
carry on what they thought to be the farce of his being a king; to ridicule in
every possible way the pretensions of a poor, unattended, unarmed man of
Nazareth, as if he was a weak impostor or was deranged.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
Mt 27:27-33. Jesus Scornfullyand Cruelly Entreatedof the Soldiers, Is Led
Away to Be Crucified. ( = Mr 15:16-22;Lu 23:26-31;Joh 19:2, 17).
For the exposition, see on[1374]Mr15:16-22.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Matthew 27:31".
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And when they had platted a crownof thorns,.... What sort of thorn this
crownwas made of, whether of the bramble, or of the white thorn, is not very
material (b): the word used in the Syriac version, is rendered by interpreters,
"white thorns", and which were common in Judea:these, be they what they
will, they made into the form of a crown, and
they put it upon his head; both to reproachhim as a king, and to torture him
as a man: however, it had its significance, and was an emblem of men,
comparable to thorns; either of wickedmen, and of his being encompassed
with them at this time; or of goodmen, chosenout from among them,
redeemedby him, and accountedas a royal diadem with him (c): or it might
representthe sins of his people, which, like thorns, piercedhim, and like a
crownof them surrounded him every side; or else the many troubles he was
exercisedwith, and through which he did, as his members do, enter the
kingdom: and especially, his being made a curse for us, thorns and briers

being the curse which was inflicted on the earth, for the sin of man: in this
Christ was the antitype of the ram, caught by his horns among the thickets,
which "Abraham" sacrificedin the room of his son. This may teachus many
useful lessons:we may see whata curse sin brought upon man, and upon the
earth for man's sake;and even upon the Messiah, in the steadof men: we may
observe the difference betweenus and Christ: we are a crownof glory, and a
royal diadem in his hand; we are crownedwith loving kindness and tender
mercies, and have a crown of righteousness, life, and glory, laid up for us, and
he was crownedwith thorns; as also the difference betweenChrist in his state
of humiliation wearing such a crown, and his state of exaltation, in which he is
crownedwith glory and honour. The Jews acknowledgethis circumstance of
the sufferings of Jesus, though they ascribe it to the elders of Jerusalem;who,
they say (d),
"took thorns and made a crownof them, and put it upon his head.''
Which are the very words of the evangelist:
and a reed in his right hand, or "cane";and Munster's Hebrew Gospeluses
the word, "a cane", suchas men walk with; and this may be confirmed from
the barbarous use they afterwards made of it, by smiting him on the head with
it: a "reed" indeed may fitly express the weaknessofhis kingdom in the eye of
the world: but any cane or common staff, or stick, put into his hands in the
room of a sceptre, would also signify the meanness of his kingdom, which was
not of this world, and came not with observation:they meant to reproachhim
with it, but they will find one time or another, that he, has another sceptre,
even a sceptre of righteousness,a staff of strength, a rod of iron, with which
he will rule and break in pieces, all the wickedof the earth. However, we may
learn from hence, Christ does not disdain to hold a reed in his hand: nor will
he break the bruised reed, or discourage, orcrush the weakestbeliever.
And they bowedthe knee before him, and mockedhim, saying, Hail, king of
the Jews:being thus clad in a scarlet, or purple robe, or both; and having a
crownof thorns on his head, and a reed insteadof a sceptre in his hand, they
carry on the mockerystill further, and bend the knee to him, as to a prince
just come to his throne, and salute as such; and in a mock way, wish him long
life and prosperity: thus deriding him in his kingly office, as all such do, who
call him Lord, Lord, but disregardhis commands.
(b) Vid. Bartholin. de Spinea Corona, sect. 1. 2. (c) Vid. Paschal. de Coronis, l.
10. c. 12. p. 701, 702. (d) Toldos Jesu, p. 17.
Geneva Study Bible

And when they had platted a crownof thorns, they put it upon his head, and a
reed in his right hand: and they bowedthe knee before him, and mockedhim,
saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 27:29 f. Ἐξ ἀκανθῶν]belongs to πλέξαντες. What is meant is
something made by twisting togetheryoung flexible thorns so as to represent
the royal diadem. The objectwas not to produce suffering, but to excite
ridicule; so that while we cannotaltogetherdissociate the idea of something
painful from this crownof thorns, we must not conceive ofit as coveredwith
prickles which were intentionally thrust into the flesh. Michaelis adopts the
rendering Bärenklau(ἄκανθος);but this is incompatible with the ἀκάνθινονof
Mark 15:17, which adjective is never used with reference to the plant just
mentioned. Besides, this latter was a plant that was highly prized (for which
reasonit was often used for ornamental purposes in pieces ofsculpture and on
the capitals of Corinthian pillars), and therefore would be but ill suited for a
caricature. It is impossible to determine what species ofthorn it was (possibly
the so-calledspina Christi?; see Tobler, Denkbl. pp. 113, 179).
καὶ κάλαμον]ἔθηκαν]being understood, the connectionwith ἐπέθηκαν is
zeugmatic.
Observe the imperfects ἐνέπαιζον and ἔτυπτονas indicating the continuous
characterof the proceeding.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
29. a crownof thorns] It cannotbe ascertainedwhatespecialkind of thorn
was used. The soldiers, as Bp Ellicottremarks, would take what first came to
hand, utterly careless whetherit was likely to inflict pain or no.
King of the Jews]Cp. ch. Matthew 2:2, and Matthew 27:37.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 27:29. Ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, the King of the Jews)Theytreated
Jesus as a madman who fanciedHimself a King.
Pulpit Commentary

Verse 29. - Platted a crownof thorns. In carrying out their mockery, the
soldiers next supply a regal crown. Palestine was a country thickly set with
brambles and thorn-growing bushes. They would have no difficulty in finding
plants to suit their cruel purpose, and in plucking with their gauntlet-covered
bands sprays sufficient to weave into a rude coronet. What was the particular
shrub employed cannotbe knownfor certainty. The zizyphus, Spina Christi, a
kind of acacia with long reflex thorns, is of too brittle a nature to be used in
this way. Some variety of the cactus or prickly pear may be meant.
"Hasselquist, a Swedishnaturalist, supposes a very common plant, naba or
nabka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp spines, soft, round, and pliant
bushes, leaves much resembling those of ivy, being of a very deep green, as if
in designedmockery of a victor's wreath, 'Travels,'288" (F.M.). Thorns were
the fruits of the primal curse, which Christ, the secondAdam, was now
bearing, and by bearing removed. A reed in his right hand. By wayof sceptre.
This must have been a reed or cane of a thick and solid character(see ver. 30,
and note on ver. 48). Bowedthe knee before him. Doing mock obeisance to
him as King. Thus these wretchedheathens did that in derision which sonic
day all Gentiles shall do in solemn earnest, when"all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before him" (Psalm 22:27). Hail, King of the Jews!
Doubtless they cried, "Ave, Rex Judaeorum!" in imitation of the "Ave,
Imperator!" addressedto the Emperor ot Rome.
END OF BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Matthew 27:27-31 New International Version (NIV)
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered
the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a
scarletrobe on him, 29 and then twisted togethera crown of thorns and set it
on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him
and mockedhim. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and
took the staffand struck him on the head againand again. 31 After they had
mockedhim, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they
led him away to crucify him.
Mocking ofJesus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mocking of Christ by Matthias Grünewald, c. 1505
The mocking of Jesus occurredseveraltimes, after his trial and before his
crucifixion according to the canonicalgospels ofthe New Testament. It is
consideredpart of Jesus'passion.
According to the gospelnarratives, Jesus had predicted that he would be
mocked(Matthew 20:19, Mark 10:34, and Luke 18:32). The mocking of
Christ took place in three stages:immediately following his trial, immediately
following his condemnation by Pontius Pilate, and when he was being
crucified.
The New Testamentnarratives of Jesus being mockedare filled with irony,
while the mockeryfocuses onJesus'prophetic and kingly roles.[1][2]
Gerrit van Honthorst, The Mocking of Christ, c. 1617
After Jesus'condemnationby the Sanhedrin, some spat on him (Mark 14:65).
He was blindfolded and beaten, and then mocked:"Prophesy!Who hit you?"
(Luke 22:63). This was done by those men who "held Jesus" (Luke 22:63,
King James Version). The New International Version translates this as "the
men who were guarding Jesus", but JoelB. Greentakes the phrase to refer to
the "Chiefpriests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders" mentioned
in verse 52.[3]
Greensuggests thatJesus suffers the mockerythat is typical of prophets, and
that his suffering suggests his "solidarity with God's agents who speak on
God's behalf and are rejected."[3]SusanR. Garrett sees Mark's inclusionof
the mockeryas an example of irony, since Jesus is indeed a prophet, at the
very moment his prophecy that Peter would deny him was being fulfilled.[4]
The prophetic assignmentis not always portrayed as positive in the
Bible,[5][6][7]and prophets were often the targetof persecutionand
opposition.[8]
Secondstage[edit]
Édouard Manet, Jesus Mockedby the Soldiers, c. 1865
After his condemnationby Pontius Pilate, Jesus was floggedand mockedby
Roman soldiers. Theyclothed him with a "purple" (Mark 15:17)or "scarlet"
(Matthew 27:28) robe symbolizing a royal gownsince purple was a royal

color, put a crown of thorns on his head symbolizing a royal crown, and put a
staff in his hand symbolizing a scepter. They knelt before him and said, "Hail,
king of the Jews!" (Matthew 27:29). This was done as a mockeryof Jesus'
kingship. After this, they spat on him, and struck him on the head with the
staff repeatedly.[9]
PeterLeithart notes that at the end of the scene, the soldiers "reverse the
whole coronationwith an anti-coronation. They spit in contempt insteadof
kneeling in reverence, pull the scepterfrom Jesus’hand and beat His crowned
head with it, strip off the scarletrobe and replace it with Jesus’ownrobe."
Leithart goes onto suggestthat, at this point, the Romans "remove the veil of
irony and revealwhat they really think" about the Jews and their God. [10]
The crowning/de-crowning ofa mock king is what Mikhail Bakhtin calls the
"carnivalesque."Carnivalesque expresses “life drawn out of its usual rut”
and “the reverse side of the world (monde à l’envers)" in which normally
suppressedvoices ofthe culture mock everyday socialhierarchies and the
voices of the status quo.[11]The soldiers not only mock Jesus;they mock the
whole notion of kingship modeled on this world. The irony is rich because the
type of king they mock—one who lords over others with scepter, crown, and
robe—is not the type of king Jesus is or the type of kingdom he brings (cf.
Mark 10:45 and Son of man came to serve). Their mockeryspeaks truth
beyond what they could possibly know.[12]
Robert J. Miller suggeststhat the gospelaccountis deeply ironic since Jesus is
exercising his kingship through submission and suffering: "the Roman
legionnaires have unwittingly furthered God's secretpurposes by dressing
Jesus up as a king."[13]In fact, the irony operates ontwo levels. James L.
Resseguie points out that there is verbal irony in the way the soldiers "mock
Jesus as a dismal failure and a pretend king" (that is, the soldiers are
themselves being ironic) as well as dramatic irony in that the readers "know
that the acclamationrings true in ways that the soldiers could not possibly
understand."[14]Luke 23:11 also mentions that "Herodand his soldiers
ridiculed and mockedhim" (New RevisedStandard Version).
Third stage[edit]
Hendrick ter Brugghen, The Mocking ofChrist, c. 1625
Jesus was also mockedwhile he was on the cross. According to Mark 15:29-
30, this was done by those who passedby and hurled insults at him and told
him to come down from the cross. Mark 15:31-32 points out that "the chief

priests and the teachers ofthe law" also mockedhim among themselves,
saying: "He savedothers, but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this
king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe."
Finally, those crucified with Jesus also heapedinsults at him (Mark 15:32).
Luke 23:36-37 mentions mocking by Roman soldiers:"The soldiers also
mockedhim, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, 'If you are
the King of the Jews, save yourself!'" (New RevisedStandard Version). In
Matthew 27:42 people, priest and the elders mock Jesus, and shout at him
while he is hanging on the cross:"He savedothers; let Him save Himself if He
is the Christ, the chosenof God."[15]
According to Luke 23:39, one criminal on his left who hung there together
with Jesus on the cross, hurled insults at Jesus:"Aren't you the Messiah?
Save yourself and us!"[16]
Thus, whereas the first stage involves mockery by Jews, andthe secondstage
mockeryby gentiles, the third stage has both together.[17]Leithart notes that
at this point "Jews andGentiles, governors and criminals, scribes and
commoners, all humanity joins in a single chorus of blasphemy."[10]
Timothy C. Gray notes that in the Gospelof Mark, the mocking of Jesus on
the cross "takes up the two charges leveledagainstJesus athis trial": firstly,
that Jesus "threatenedthe temple with destruction" (14:58 and 15:29);
secondly, that Jesus "claimedto be the Messiah" (14:61-62and 15:31-32).[18]
Theologicalsignificance[edit]
PeterLeithart argues that in the person of Jesus, Godhimself was mocked. He
suggeststhat "for Matthew, the cross is mainly about man’s mockeryof
God," and notes that while Paul says in Galatians 6:7 that "Godis not
mocked", this is preciselybecause Godhas been mocked.[10]
Many Christians see Jesus'suffering as being redemptive. Francis Foulkes
argues that the emphasis in the New Testamentis on Jesus'suffering and
death being "forus".[19]In this way, some Christians see the mockery that
Jesus endured as being borne on their behalf. Forexample, Philip Bliss wrote
in his hymn, "Hallelujah! What a Savior":

The Soldiers Mock Jesus
“When they had mocked[Jesus], they stripped him of the purple cloak and
put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him” (v. 20).
- Mark 15:16–20
Throughout God’s dealings with His old covenantpeople, we find a principle
of divine judgment executedby the Gentiles. That is, when the Lord wantedto
judge the covenantcommunity for its sins, He often delivered it into the hands
of its Gentile enemies. Deuteronomy 28:68, for example, warns the Israelites
that if they impenitently and flagrantly break God’s covenantwith them, “the
LORD will bring [them] back in ships to Egypt,” which is a metaphor for the
people’s becoming enslaved to a Gentile poweronce again. SecondKings
17:7–23 records the fall of Israelto Assyria and exile to that land as God
removing the northern kingdom “out of his sight.” Habakkuk 1:1–11 features
God’s announcement to the prophet that Babylon was His choseninstrument
for judging Judah.
Of course, the Gentile powers God appointed to judge His old covenantpeople
generallywere not aware that they were His instruments of judgment. They
went after the Israelites fortheir own selfish reasons. Nevertheless, the
sovereignLord of history uses people for His purposes, and in the case ofthe
Gentiles, He often used them as instruments of punishment for Israel. This
principle is important for us to remember as we considerthe crucifixion of
Jesus. ThatJesus stoodbefore Pilate was no accidentof history, nor was it
simply due to the fact that the Sanhedrin was unable to carry out capital
punishment. No, Jesus’trial before a Gentile magistrate is one more
indication of the purpose of His death. God the Fatherhanded His Son overto
Gentiles as part of the outworking of His wrath againstsin—not the sin of
Christ, who was sinless, but our sin imputed to the Savior.
Today’s passagerecords the horrible mockerythat Christ endured as part of
His being handed over to the Gentiles. He had already been beaten almostto
the point of death (Mark 15:15), but then the Roman soldiers were releasedto
have their “fun” as they mockedour Savior (vv. 16–20). We canhardly
imagine the shame our Lord endured, but as John Calvin comments, Christ’s
willingness to undergo such physical, emotional, and spiritual pain proves His
affectionfor us. “Here . . . is brightly displayed the inconceivable mercy of
God towards us, in bringing his only-begottenSon so low on our account. This
was also a proof which Christ gave of his astonishing love towards us, that
there was no ignominy to which he refused to submit for our salvation.”
Coram Deo

As we will see, the greatestsuffering Christ endured was not the physical and
emotional pain heaped on Him by other men; rather, the most intense pain
Jesus experiencedwas the pain of God’s wrath as He hung on the cross. But
all of our Lord’s suffering demonstrates His greatlove for us. Let us marvel at
the greatnessofthe God whom we serve, the God who in Christ gives
perfectly of Himself for the sake of our salvation.
Passages forFurther Study
2 Chron. 36:15–21
Isaiah50:5–6
Matthew 27:27–31
John 19:1–16a
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/soldiers-mock-jesus/
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Guilt That Will Not WashOff
Matthew 27:24
R. Tuck
By the Mosaic regulations, the elders of a city in which an undiscovered
murder had been committed were to washtheir hands over the sin offering,
and to say, "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen
it" (Deuteronomy 21:6). Pilate thinks that "whenhe gets the Jews to take the
crucifixion of Jesus upon themselves, he has relieved himself, if not entirely,
yet in a greatmeasure, of the responsibility. But just as the outward washing
of hands could not clearhim of his share in the guilt, so guilt contractedby
our being a consenting or cooperating party in any deed of injustice and
dishonour cannotbe thus mitigated or wiped away" (Hanna). Hand washing
as a symbolic actionis familiar at all times. Lady Macbethcannot washoff the
murder spot which her conscienceclearlyseesonseemingly cleanhands.
I. THE GUILT OF IGNORANCE WILL WASH OFF. We may do things that
are wrong without knowing them to be wrong. They may do mischief and
bring trouble; but they do not involve soulstain; so the sins of ignorance - if
the ignorance is not guilty ignorance - will washoff.

II. THE GUILT OF FRAILTY WILL WASH OFF. We sometimes do wrong
through body bias. Sometimes evenagainstour will. Sometimes by temporary
swerving of the will. If there be no set purpose, only human infirmity, the guilt
will washoff.
III. THE GUILT OF FORCED DOING AGAINST OUR WILL WILL
WASH OFF. We may be compelled, by circumstances orhuman persuasions,
to do what we would not do. That may bring trouble and spoil our lives, but it
does not soilour souls, and it will washoff.
IV. THE GUILT OF WILFUL SIN WILL NOT WASH OFF. That involves
inward stain. It must be got out. That can only be done
(1) by regeneration, or
(2) by judgment. Oh! if a man could roll off his deeds on other men; if a man
that is a partner with others could only roll off his portion of crime upon his
confederates,as easilyas a man canwash his hands in a bowl of water, and
cleanthem, how easyit would be for men to be cleansedfrom their
transgressions in this world! Pilate was the guiltiest of all that acted in this
matter. He was placedwhere he was bound to maintain justice. He went
againsthis better feelings. He willed the death of One whom he knew to be
innocent. Pilate's guilt will not "washoff." - R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
His blood be on us.
Matthew 27:25
God taking self-cursers at their word
J. Trapp.
God said Amen to this woeful curse, which cleaves closeto them and their
posterity, as a girdle to their loins, soaking as oil into their bones to this very
day. Thirty-eight years after this fearful imprecation, in the same place, and
close by the same tribunal where they thus cried out, "His blood be on us and
on our children," historians tell us that Herod, wanting money, demanded of
the Jews so much out of their treasury as would pay for the making of a
water-course.But the Jews, supposing it a needless work, notonly denied him,
but gave him outrageous stud spiteful speeches,tumultuously flockedabout
him, and with greatclamours pressedupon him, even as he was in his seat.
Whereupon, to prevent mischief, he sent to his soldiers to apparelthemselves

like citizens, and under their gowns to bring with them a daggeror poniard,
and mingle themselves amongstthe multitude; which they did, observing who
they were that made the greatestuproar. And when Herod gave the sign, they
fell upon them, and slew a greatmultitude. Many also, for fear of loss or
danger, killed themselves;besides others, which seeing this massacre,
suspecting treasonamong themselves, fell one upon another. What a dispersed
and despisedpeople they are ever since 1 exiled, as it were, out of the world,
by the common consentof all nations, for their inexpiable guilt. And beware
by their example, of wishing evil to ourselves or others, as our desperate
Goddamn-toe's do at every third word almost, and God will undoubtedly take
them at their words, as He did those wretches that wished they might die in
the wilderness (Numbers 14:28). As He did John Peters, the cruel keeperof
Newgatein Queen Mary's days; who commonly, when he would affirm
anything, were it true or false, used to say, "If it be not true, I pray God, I rot
ere I die; " and he had his desire. So had Sir Gervase Ellowais, lieutenantof
the Tower, hangedin our remembrance on Tower-hill, for being accessoryto
the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury: who being upon the gallows, confessed
it was just upon him, for that he had oft in his playing of cards and dice
wished that he might be hangedif it were not so-and-so. In the year 1551, the
devil in a visible shape lifted up a cursing womaninto the air in Germany;
and therehence threw her down in the view of many people, and brake her
neck. Another brought her daughter to Luther, entreating his prayers for her,
for that she was possessedby the devil, upon her cursing of her. For when she
had said in a rage againsther daughter, "The devil take thee," he took
possessionofher accordingly. The same author relates a like sad story of a
stubborn son, cursedby his father, who wished he might never stir alive from
the place he stoodin, and he stirred not for three years. Cursing men are
cursed men. Seestthou another suffer shipwreck, look to thy tackling.
(J. Trapp.)
His blood be on us and on our children
J. Pratt.
I. Considerthe daring impiety and wickednessofthus calling down on
themselves the blood of Christ.
II. Considerthe heavy wrath of God which fell on them. In the destruction of
Jerusalem.
1. We gather an awful warning from this history. The fulfilment in the Jew of
God's righteous anger.

2. It establishes the perfect innocence of the condemned Saviour. The
destruction of the Jewishnation was God's sealto the perfectrighteousness of
Him whom they put to death.
3. This fearful vengeance upon the Jewishnation stands also as an evidence of
the truth of the gospel.
4. We have also a moral evidence of the truth of the scriptures in the whole
Jewishnation. God hath kept them separate from the nations.
5. Learn to pity and pray for all who do not know the Lord Jesus.
(J. Pratt.)
The responsibility of blood
P. B. Power, M. A.
Can we bring this blood upon ourselves? The murderers of Christ may be
amongstourselves. The means of blessing perverted into a curse. The means
of blessing is the blood of Jesus Christ, prefigured by sacrifice. Blood
provided must be blood imputed. His blood be on us — this is our salvation.
Bloodprovided, imputed, accepted. It was sin that compassedHis death. You
then who knowingly continue in sin have identified yourselves with the
enemies who killed our Lord. His blood is on you.
(P. B. Power, M. A.).
The horrid imprecation of the Jews
F. Atterbury.
I. The aggravating circumstances withwhich the imprecation was attended,
and the solemnity, unanimity, and warmth with which it was expressed.
II. The wonderful manner with which it was accomplished, in the destruction
of the city and nation of the Jews.
III. The justice of God vindicated, in respectto these sufferers. His wisdom, by
making them, in their destruction, an irrefragable proof of our Saviour's
Divine mission; and in their dispersion, means of propagating those Divine
oracles that foretoldand described him.
IV. Inferences to be deduced —
1. To abstain from all rash and horrid imprecations, and to aim at simplicity
of speech, as well as sincerity of heart, and integrity of manners.

2. TO admire the inscrutable methods of God's providence, in bringing about
the salvationof sinners; and making the scandalof the cross turn to its
greatestadvantage.
3. To attribute the infidelity of those men to a judicial blindness, who live
where the gospelof Christ is professed, and yet shut their eyes againstthe
light of it.
4. To be fearful of despising the mercies of God, and falling into that sin, by
which God's peculiar people forfeited His protection and favour.
(F. Atterbury.)
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BARCLAY
THE SOLDIERS'MOCKERY(Matthew 27:27-31)
27:27-31 Thenthe governor's soldiers took Jesus to the military headquarters,
and collectedto him the whole of the detachment. They stripped him of his
clothes and put a soldier's purple cloak upon him; and they wove a crownof
thorns and put it on his head, and they put a reed in his right hand; and they
knelt in front of him, and mockedhim by saying, "Hail! King of the Jews!"
And they spat on him, and took the reed and hit him on his head. And when
they had mockedhim, they took off the cloak, and clothedhim in his own
clothes, and led him away to crucify him.
The dreadful routine of crucifixion had now begun. The last sectionended by
telling us that Pilate had Jesus scourged. Romanscourging was a terrible
torture. The victim was stripped; his hands were tied behind him, and he was
tied to a post with his back bent double and conveniently exposedto the lash.
The lash itself was a long leather thong, studded at intervals with sharpened
pieces of bone and pellets of lead. Such scourging always precededcrucifixion
and "it reduced the nakedbody to strips of raw flesh, and inflamed and
bleeding weals." Mendied under it, and men lost their reasonunder it, and
few remained conscious to the end of it.
After that Jesus was handed over to the soldiers, while the last details of
crucifixion were arranged, and while the cross itself was prepared. They took

him to their barracks in the governor's headquarters; and they called the rest
of the detachment. The detachment is called a speira (Greek #4686);in a full
speira there were six hundred men. It is not likely that there were as many as
that in Jerusalem. These soldiers were Pilate's bodyguardwho had
accompaniedhim from Caesarea, where his permanent headquarters were.
We may shudder at what the soldiers did; but of all the parties involved in the
crucifixion they were leastto be blamed. They were not even stationed in
Jerusalem;they had no idea who Jesus was;they certainly were not Jews, for
the Jews were the only nation in the Roman Empire who were exempt from
military service;they were conscripts who may well have come from the ends
of the earth. They indulged in their rough horse-play; but, unlike the Jews
and unlike Pilate, they actedin ignorance.
Maybe for Jesus of all things this was the easiest to bear, for, although they
made a sham king of him, there was no hatred in their eyes. To them he was
nothing more than a deluded Galilaeangoing to a cross. It is not without
significance that Philo tells us that in Alexandria a Jewishmob did exactly the
same to an imbecile boy: "Theyspread a strip of linen and placed it on his
head instead of a diadem ... and for a sceptre they handed up to him a small
piece of native papyrus bulrush which they found thrown on the roadside.
And because he was adorned as a king ... some came up as though to greet
him, others as though to plead a cause." So they mockeda half-idiot lad; and
that is what the soldiers took Jesus to be.
Then they prepared to lead him awayto crucifixion. We are sometimes told
that we should not dwell on the physical aspectofthe Cross;but we cannot
possibly have too vivid a picture of what Jesus did and suffered for us.
Klausner, the Jewishwriter, says, "Crucifixion is the most terrible and cruel
death which man has ever devised for taking vengeance onhis fellow-men."
Cicero calledit "the most cruel and the most horrible torture." Tacitus called
it "a torture only fit for slaves."
It originated in Persia;and its origin came from the fact that the earth was
consideredto be sacredto Ormuzd the god, and the criminal was lifted up
from it that he might not defile the earth, which was the god's property. From
Persia crucifixion passedto Carthage in North Africa; and it was from
Carthage that Rome learnedit, although the Romans kept it exclusively for
rebels, runaway slaves, and the lowesttype of criminal. It was indeed a
punishment which it was illegalto inflict on a Roman citizen.
Klausner goes on to describe crucifixion. The criminal was fastenedto his
cross, alreadya bleeding mass from the scourging. There he hung to die of

hunger and thirst and exposure, unable even to defend himself from the
torture of the gnats and flies which settledon his naked body and on his
bleeding wounds. It is not a pretty picture but that is what Jesus Christ
suffered--willingly--for us.
The Mockeryofthe Multitude
Matthew 27: 27-32
Our laststudy ended with a gripping statement: Matt.27:26 – Then released
he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourgedJesus, he delivered him to
be crucified. It doesn’t reveal much detail. Matthew declares that Jesus was
delivered to be crucified after He was scourged. Mostofthe detail we have
regarding such punishment has been handed down through historical
writings. We discussedthe severe flogging endured by those who were
whipped with a cat of nine tails. We know from prophecy that Jesus was
beaten beyond recognition. I am certain we cannotbegin to comprehend the
severe physicalabuse Jesus sufferedat the hands of the Roman soldiers as He
was scourgedjust prior to the crucifixion.
He has been beatenmercilessly, and yet the abuse continues. The heartless
Romans and accusing Jewswere not satisfiedwith the physical abuse already
inflicted. Here we discovertheir determination to add to Jesus’suffering. No
doubt barely able to stand from the recentscourging, Jesus now endures a
time of emotional abuse at the hands of His accusers.
As we move through these verses, keepin mind, Jesus endured all of this for
you and me. He willingly subjected Himself to unimaginable pain and
suffering so we might escape the pain and suffering of death and
condemnation. I want to considerthe humiliating events describedin this
passageas we think on: The Mockeryof the Multitude.

I. The Presentationof Jesus (27) – Then the soldiers of the governor took
Jesus into the common hall, and gatheredunto him the whole band of soldiers.
Following the horrific scourging, Jesus wasbrought againto the hall of Pilate.
Consider:
A. The Spectacle(27a) – Then the soldiers of the governortook Jesus into the
common hall. We find that Jesus was brought into the common hall. This was
an area within the compound of Pilate’s residence in Jerusalem. The phrase
“commonhall” is translatedfrom the Greek word praetorium, and refers to a
courtyard locatedwithin the governor’s palace. We can imagine a grand
courtyard, arrayed for the governor’s pleasure, and Jesus standing in the
midst, bloody, battered, and abused by His tormentors. At this moment, there
may have been some who were sympathetic to Jesus among the crowd, but
they would have been a small minority. Jesus is there surrounded by those
filled with hatred and animosity, demanding His crucifixion. He stoodalone
before them.
 It is interesting to note the place for this spectacle. The Sanhedrin was there,
crying out for Jesus’deathon the cross, but they were too self-righteous and
hypocritical to enter the palace of Pilate. Such activity would render them
ceremoniallyunclean, but they had no problem demanding
March 22, 2015
P a s t o r C h r i s B e n f i e l d , F e l l o w s h i p M i s s i o n a r y B a p t i s t
C h u r c h
Page 2
the condemnationand death of an innocent Man. They must have demanded
these proceedings take place within the courtyard.
B. The Soldiers (27b) – Then the soldiers of the governortook Jesus into the
common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. This appears

to reveal the soldiers who had subjectedJesus to the horrors of public
scourging had gatheredthe entire band of soldiers under Pilate’s authority to
witness this spectacle. Some argue that since Pilate’s primary residence was in
Caesarea,these would have included his elite palace guard that traveled with
the governorand ensured his safety. These were hardened men, having little
compassionfor those who were subjectto Romanauthority and rule,
especiallythe Jews. A full Romancohort of soldiers was comprisedof 600
men. This would have been a large, intimidating group of soldiers gathered
around Jesus.
II. The Humiliation of Jesus (28-30)– There can be no doubt, the physical
abuse already inflicted upon Jesus at this point would have been unbearable,
but the soldiers seemintent on adding to His suffering. They publicly
humiliate Him before the multitude. Matthew reveals a series of events that
accompanythis humiliation. Notice:
A. The Mockery(28-29)– Notice the aspects ofthis mockery:
 The Robe of Scarlet(28) – And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet
robe. The garment Jesus wore was removedand a scarletrobe was put on
Him. Justthe act of removing His garment would have been painful after the
flesh had been ripped from His back, but the soldiers were determined to
ridicule Jesus. The scarletrobe was put upon Him to add to His shame.
Scarlet, or any variation of purple, was consideredthe colorof royalty. The
soldiers were displaying a beatenand battered Man to the crowd. In their
minds, this man only claimed to be a king. It was as if to say, “Beholdyour
King! Doesn’the look like royalty?” If you remember, Herod’s soldiers had
done the same.
Unknowingly, the soldiers’ treatment of Jesus bore witness to the provision
He would soonmake for humanity. Isaiah1:18 – Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow;though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 The Crown of Suffering (29a) – And when they had platted a crown of
thorns, they put it upon his head. A crown made of thorns was platted and
placed upon the head of Jesus, mocking the crown of royalty a king would
wearbefore His subjects. This further added to the suffering and misery of
Jesus. As the thorns were pressedinto His head, fresh blood would have run
down His
March 22, 2015
C h u r c h
Page 3
face, intermingling with the blood already upon His body. This too paints a
picture of the provision of Christ for us. Thorns became a painful reminder of
the curse of sin after the fall. Jesus would bear the curse of sin for eachof us
as He endured the wrath of God in our place.
 The Reedof Sovereignty(29b) – and a reed in his right hand. They further
mockedHis claim of deity by placing a reed in His hand to representthe
scepterof a sovereignking. They never recognizedJesus as the sovereign
King, but He holds a place of preeminence that none canrival. Heb.1:8 – But
unto the Sonhe saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of
righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. When Jesus returns in power and
glory, there won’t be a tender reed in His hand, but a rod of iron as He rules
and reigns.
 The Ridicule of Soldiers (29c) – and they bowed the knee before him, and
mockedhim, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!This was not a display of honor
or submission to Jesus, but another form of mockeryand denial of who He
really was. These refusedto bow in submission to Jesus then, but one day they
will bow and proclaim Him Lord over all. Phil.2:10 – That at the name of
Jesus everyknee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth.

 As I consideredthe ridicule Jesus sufferedat that moment, I was reminded
of a time yet future when things will be much different. He was mocked,
despised, and rejectedthe first time, but His return will be in greatpowerand
glory. Rev.19:11-16– And I saw heavenopened, and behold a white horse;
and he that satupon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
he doth judge and make war. [12] His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his
head were many crowns;and he had a name written, that no man knew, but
he himself. [13] And he was clothedwith a vesture dipped in blood: and his
name is called The Word of God. [14]And the armies which were in heaven
followedhim upon white horses, clothedin fine linen, white and clean. [15]
And out of his mouth goetha sharp sword, that with it he should smite the
nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. [16] And he hath on
his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD
OF LORDS.
B. The Mistreatment(30) – And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and
smote him on the head. There is little more degrading than being spat upon.
The soldiers displayed their utter contempt and disdain for Jesus as they spat
upon Him. I cannotimagine the hatred and cruelty of such actions. He has
already been beatenbeyond recognition, publicly humiliated, and now they
resortto the greatestdisplay of contempt. Oh the sadness whenthese stand
before the One they spat upon in righteous judgment.
 The soldiers also took the reed from Jesus’hand and beganto beat Him
upon the head. No doubt this causedthe thorns to drive deeper into His flesh,
adding more physical pain. This was a
March 22, 2015
C h u r c h
Page 4

display of their rejectionof Jesus as King. It showedtheir disapproval of His
claims. One would never treat a sovereignwhom they respectedin such a
demeaning way.
III. The Condemnation of Jesus (31-32)– Following the suffering and
humiliation of this encounter, Jesus was condemnedto death and led awayto
be crucified. Consider:
A. The Prophecy(31) – And after that they had mockedhim, they took the
robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him. After the spectacle, the
scarletrobe was removedand Jesus’robe was put back on Him. These men
did not know, but this must be for the prophecies to be fulfilled. John 19:23-24
– Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and
made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat:now the coatwas
without seam, wovenfrom the top throughout. [24] They said therefore
among themselves, Let us not rend it, but castlots for it, whose it shall be: that
the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among
them, and for my vesture they did castlots. These things therefore the soldiers
did. God’s sovereignplan for the redemption of humanity was being carried
out to the smallestof details. The soldiers thought they were in control, but
this was going according to God’s plan.
B. The Punishment (31b) – and led him awayto crucify him. We will deal with
the crucifixion in detail in a later study, but this reveals the punishment
rendered for Jesus. He would suffer a horrific death, condemned to the fate of
a common criminal. Deathby crucifixion was not uncommon in Jesus’day.
Historians tell us that the roads into Jerusalemwere often lined with those
who suffered this fate as a means to deter criminal activity. However,
crucifixion was reservedfor the vilest of criminals who had committed the
most heinous acts.

C. The Procession(32)– And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene,
Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. We must keepin mind
that Jesus possesseda body of flesh like ours. He experiencedhunger, thirst,
and fatigue just as we do. As they led Jesus awayto be crucified, He was
expectedto bear the beam for the crucifixion on His back. Utterly exhausted
from the lack of sleep, the physical and emotionalabuse, and the loss of blood,
the soldiers selecteda man from among the crowdviewing the spectacle to
bear the cross forJesus as they made their way to Calvary. They chose Simon,
a man from Cyrene, the capital city of Libya. It is interesting to note that
Mark identified Simon as the father of Alexander and Rufus. Apparently
these men were known to Mark and others as fellow believers. One could
likely assume this encounterwith Jesus made a profound impact on Simon,
and eventually his family as well.
March 22, 2015
C h u r c h
Page 5
 I don’t wish to over spiritualize the encounter Simon had with Jesus, but it
seems apparent this encounter likely changedhis life. One cannotexamine
Jesus as the sinless sacrifice andwalk away unchanged. Simon was forcedto
make a decisionregarding Jesus and we must as well. I urge you, as you
considerthe facts, don’t disregardJesus as the Christ!
Conclusion:It saddens me to read this portion of Scripture. I am troubled by
the mistreatment and mockeryof Jesus by sinful men. I also realize this
rejectionand mockerycontinues today. Many deny and ridicule the name of
Jesus and fail to realize He is their only hope of salvation. I am thankful my
eyes and heart were opened to the truth and that I was given the opportunity
to respond to Jesus in faith. I know He endured all that He did on my behalf.
Have you consideredJesus today? Are you willing to embrace Him as the
Christ, Savior of all mankind? Do you know Him as your personalSavior? He

endured all of this for you. He suffered and died in your place so you wouldn’t
have to. If you don’t know Jesus as Savior, respond to His call by faith, repent
of sin, and be savedtoday!
BRIAN BILL
His Suffering
Last week we focusedon Jesus’trial before Pilate and the suffering that He
experiencedduring the scourging. As we come to Matthew 27:27, we see that
this was just the beginning. By the way, I heard something this week that
really jolted me. Many who have seenThe Passionofthe Christ have
commented that they could barely watch what was done to Jesus. I
understand. Listen to what this individual said: “Whateverelse you may think
about the movie, remember this. It’s just a movie. What actually happened to
Jesus was much, much worse.”
Follow along as I read Matthew 27:27-31:“Thenthe governor’s soldiers took
Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around
him. They stripped him and put a scarletrobe on him, and then twisted
togethera crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right
hand and knelt in front of him and mockedhim. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they
said. They spit on him, and took the staffand struck him on the head again
and again. After they had mockedhim, they took off the robe and put his own
clothes on him. Then they led him awayto crucify him.”
Notice that the “whole company of soldiers” gathers around Jesus to make
sport of Him. It’s hard to imagine but a “company” of soldiers generally
containedsix hundred men. We don’t know if they all took part in the
mockerybut we do know that their abuse of Him involved seven different
elements.
They stripped Him. This was done once before when he was scourged. How it
must have hurt to have his clothing ripped off since it opened the sores again!
They put a scarletrobe on Him. This was probably a discarded robe and was
designedto mock His royalty.
They crownedHim. This crownof thorns was forcedon his head, which both
mockedand tortured Him. Interestingly, thorns and thistles are mentioned in

Genesis 3:18 in connectionwith Adam’s sin. Jesus is about to reverse the
curse by wearing the crown.
They gave Him a staff. This stick was to serve as His scepter.
They knelt before Him. They bowedbefore Jesus in mock adoration saying,
“Hail, king of the Jews!” John19:3 indicates that they “kept marching up” to
Him, showing that this lasted for quite some time as they eachtook turns.
They spat on Him. As eachsoldier got up from his knees, he spat into the face
of love and forgiveness, the spittle mingling with the blood flowing down.
Jesus was also spit upon during his religious trial before the Sanhedrin.
They hit Him. After spitting, they start hitting the Holy One with His staff.
The Bible says that they struck Him on the head againand again. John 19:3
says that they not only hit Him with a stick but they also slapped Him with
their hands. Jesus was also struck in the face during his religious trials.
Matthew 27:11-30: “Jesus Is Tried Before Pilate”
by
Jim Bomkamp
Back Bible Studies Home Page
1. INTRO
1.1. In our last study we lookedat the beating and scourging of Jesus,
Peter’s denial of Jesus, and Judas’ remorse for betraying Jesus
1.1.1. We saw that the beating and scourging ofJesus reveals to us the deep
darkness of the sin of the world that is in rebellion againstGod
1.2. In our study today we are going to look at Jesus as He is brought
before Pilate who was the governorof Judea
1.2.1. Pilate finds no guilt in Jesus
1.2.2. Pilate asksJesus if He is a king, and Jesus tells him that it is as he is
saying
1.2.3. Pilate knows Jesus is innocent of any charges, andthough Pilate had a
chance to make a difference and keepan innocent man from being killed, he

chose the easyway out and sought the Jew’s favor by allowing them to have
Jesus crucified
2. VS 27:11 - “11 Now Jesus stoodbefore the governor, and the
governorquestioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”And Jesus
said to him, “It is as you say.”” - Pilate asks Jesusoutright if He is the King of
the Jews
2.1. We see here Pilate’s title, he was ‘governor’or ‘procurator’ of Judea.
2.1.1. He was the fifth procurator of Judea and the most wickedand corrupt
of all of them.
2.1.2. He was a harsh governorand hated the Jews.
2.1.3. Whena disturbance broke out Pilate had a tendency to send out
soldiers and slaughtera bunch of Jews and then later ask whathappened in
the first place.
2.1.4. As Governorof Judea, Pilate was the highest Roman authority of that
regionand as such he had sole responsibility for all decisions in court and
regarding the law.
2.2. The New Bible Dictionary has the following dissertationconcerning
Pilate, “PILATE. Pontius Pilatus was a Roman of the equestrian, or upper
middle-class, order: his praenomen is not known, but his nomen, Pontius,
suggeststhat he was of Samnite extraction and his cognomen, Pilatus, may
have been handed down by military forbears. Little is knownof his career
before ad 26, but in that year (see P. L. Hedley in JTS 35, 1934, pp. 56-58)the
emperor Tiberius appointed him to be the fifth praefectus (heµgemoµn, Mt.
27:2, etc.;the same title is used of Felix in Acts 23 and Festus in Acts 26)of
Judaea. Evidence of this title was discoveredin 1961 on an inscription at
Caesarea,and E. J. Vardaman (JBL 88, 1962, p. 70)suggests thatthis title
was used in Pilate’s earlieryears, being replaced by procurator (the title used
by Tacitus and Josephus)later. In accordance witha recent reversalin the
policy of the Senate (in ad 21—Tacitus, Annals 3. 33-34)Pilate took his wife
with him (Mt. 27:19). As procurator he had full control in the province, being
in charge of the army of occupation(1 ala—c. 120 men—ofcavalry, and 4 or 5
cohorts—c. 2,500-5,000 men—ofinfantry), which was stationedat Caesarea,
with a detachment on garrisonduty at Jerusalemin the fortress of Antonia.
The procurator had full powers of life and death, and could reverse capital
sentences passedby the Sanhedrin, which had to be submitted to him for

ratification. He also appointed the high priests and controlled the Temple and
its funds: the very vestments of the high priest were in his custody and were
releasedonly for festivals, when the procurator took up residence in
Jerusalemand brought additional troops to patrol the city. Even pagan
historians mention Pilate only in connectionwith his authorization of the
death of Jesus (Tacitus, Annals 15. 44): his only appearance on the stage of
history is as procurator of Judaea. Josephus relates (Ant. 18. 55;BJ 2. 169)
that Pilate’s first action on taking up his appointment was to antagonize the
Jews by setting up the Roman standards, bearing images of the emperor, at
Jerusalem:previous procurators had avoided using such standards in the holy
city. Because ofthe determined resistance oftheir leaders in spite of threats of
death, he yielded to their wishes after 6 days and removed the images back to
Caesarea.Philo (De Legatione ad Gaium 299ff.)tells how Pilate dedicated a
setof goldenshields in his own residence atJerusalem. These bore no image,
only an inscription with the names of the procurator and the emperor, but
representations were made to Tiberius, who sensibly ordered them to be set
up in the temple of Roma et Augustus at Caesarea(cf. P. L. Maier, ‘The
Episode of the Golden RomanShields at Jerusalem’, HTR 62, 1969, pp.
109ff.). Josephus (Ant. 18. 60; BJ 2. 175)and Eusebius (EH 2. 7) allege a
further grievance ofthe Jews againstPilate, in that he used money from the
Temple treasury to build an aqueduct to convey waterto the city from a
spring some 40 km away. Tens of thousands of Jews demonstratedagainstthis
project when Pilate came up to Jerusalem, presumably at the time of a
festival, and he in return sent his troops in disguise againstthem, so that a
large number were slain. It is generallyconsideredthat this riot was caused
by the Galileans mentioned in Lk. 13:1-2 (whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices), andC. Noldius (De Vita et Gestis Herodum, 1660, 249)
claimed that Herod’s enmity againstPilate (Lk. 23:12)arose from the fact
that Pilate had slain some of Herod’s subjects. This explains Pilate’s
subsequent care (Lk. 23:6-7) to send Jesus to be tried before Herod. It is not
known whether the tower at Siloamwhich collapsed(Lk. 13:4) was part of
this aqueduct. Pilate finally over-reachedhimself by the slaughter of a
number of Samaritans who had assembledat Mt Gerizim in response to the
call of a deceiverwho had promised to show them that Moses had hidden the
sacredvesselsthere. In spite of the obvious falsehoodof this claim (Moses had
never crossedJordan:some considerthat there is a textual error,
Moµy¬seoµs forO÷seoµs,and Josephus is referring to the Samaritan
tradition that Uzzi the high priest (1 Ch. 6:6) had hidden the ark and other
sacredvesselsin Mt Gerizim), a greatmultitude came armed to the mountain,
and Pilate surrounded and routed them, capturing many and executing their

ringleaders. A Samaritandelegationwent with a protest to Vitellius, who was
then governorof Syria, and he ordered Pilate to answerthis accusationofthe
Jews before the emperor, ordering Marcellus to Judaea in Pilate’s place (Jos.,
Ant. 18. 85-89). Pilate was on his journey to Rome when Tiberius died (ad 37).
(Cf. E. M. Smallwood, ‘The Date of the Dismissalof Pontius Pilate from
Judaea’, JJS 5, 1954, p. 12ff.) We know nothing of the outcome of the trial,
but Eusebius (EH 2. 7) preserves a report of otherwise unknown Gk. annalists
that Pilate was forcedto commit suicide during the reign of Gaius (ad 37-41).
The above incidents are all related by Josephus or Philo. E. Stauffer (Christ
and the Caesars,E.T. 1955, pp. 119f.)draws attention to a further instance of
provocationof the Jews by Pilate. According to G. F. Hill (Catalogue ofthe
Greek Coins of Palestine, 1914), the procurators minted small copper coins to
meet localneeds in Palestine. Normallythese bore symbolic designs of natural
features, such as trees and ears of corn, in deference to the second
commandment. In ad 29-31 Pilate issuedcoins bearing imperial religious
insignia, the lituus, or augur’s staff, and the patera, or paganlibation bowl.
Such issues ceasedafterad 31, and the British Museum has a coin of Pilate on
which his successorFelixappears to have overstampedthe staff with a
palmbranch, though Y. Meshorer(JewishCoins of the SecondTemple Period,
1967)states thatFelix also produced coins with symbols of a provocative
nature, such as Romanweapons, which underlined the Roman subjugation of
Judaea. Philo can find no goodthing to sayof Pilate:in De Legatione ad
Gaium 301 he describes him as ‘by nature rigid and stubbornly harsh’ and ‘of
spiteful disposition and an exceeding wrathful man’, and speaks of‘the bribes,
the acts of pride, the acts of violence, the outrages, the casesofspiteful
treatment, the constantmurders without trial, the ceaselessand most grievous
brutality’ of which the Jews might accuse him. The verdict of the NT is that
he was a weak man, ready to serve expediencyrather than principle, whose
authorization of the judicial murder of the Saviour was due less to a desire to
please the Jewishauthorities than to fearof imperial displeasure if Tiberius
heard of further unrest in Judaea. This is made abundantly evident by his
mockeryof the Jews in the wording of the superscription (Jn. 19:19-22). It is
most unfortunate that we do not know anything of his recordapart from his
government of the Jews, towards whomhe would appear to have shownlittle
understanding and even less liking.”
2.3. The Jews just came to Pilate to try to get him to rubber stamp their
capital sentence onChrist, howeverPilate insisted on hearing the case.

2.4. Since Jesus was askeda straightforwardquestion by the one in
highest authority over the nation, Jesus answeredin a straightforwardway,
not denying the truth about Him being the Messiah.
2.5. John in his gospelincludes quite a bit more to the events that
occurredhere before Pilate, as we read in John 18:33-38, “33Pilate therefore
entered againinto the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus, andsaid to Him,
“Are You the King of the Jews?”34Jesusanswered, “Are you saying this on
your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”35Pilate answered, “I
am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You up
to me; what have You done?”36 Jesus answered, “Mykingdom is not of this
world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting,
that I might not be delivered up to the Jews;but as it is, My kingdom is not of
this realm.”37 Pilate therefore saidto Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus
answered, “Yousay correctlythat I am a king. For this I have been born, and
for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who
is of the truth hears My voice.”38Pilate *saidto Him, “What is truth?”And
when he had said this, he went out againto the Jews, and*saidto them, “I
find no guilt in Him.”
2.6. In Luke’s gospel, chapter23, we learn that Pilate initially sent Jesus
to Herod Antipas, since Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdication, and Herod
was glad to see Jesus forhe had often wanted to see Jesus perform some
miracle, however after a brief interview with Herod, Herod sentJesus back to
Pilate.
3. VS 27:12-14 - “12 And while He was being accusedby the chief
priests and elders, He made no answer.13Then Pilate *saidto Him, “Do You
not hear how many things they testify againstYou?”14 And He did not
answerhim with regard to even a single charge, so that the governorwas
quite amazed.” - Jesus did not answerHis accusers
3.1. The chief priests and the elders of the people were making false
accusationafterfalse accusationagainstJesus,and yet we see here that Jesus
did not either try to defend Himself nor accusethem in return.
3.2. In Isaiah 53:7, we read that the Messiah, whomIsaiah portrays as the
suffering servant, when He comes will not open His mouth and revile in
return even though He will be oppressedand afflicted, “7 He was oppressed
and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led

Jesus was mocked by the whole band of soldiers

Jesus was mocked by the whole band of soldiers

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Jesus was mocked by the whole band of soldiers

Similar to Jesus was mocked by the whole band of soldiers (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was mocked by the whole band of soldiers