Mark 15:16-20 (NIV): The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
The mocking of Jesus is difficult to witness. Jesus, flogged horribly, bleeding freely from wounds all over His back, His arms, His legs, is completely helpless and weak. Now He is surrounded by a whole company of soldiers whose job it will be to put Him to death. These men have heard that Jesus had claimed to be the king of the Jews (Mark 15:2). In fact, the plaque detailing His crime, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” which would ultimately be nailed above His head on the cross, was already in their hands. This was way different than the normal type of criminal that they were charged with executing – thieves, murderers, insurrectionists. So they decided to have a little fun with Jesus before they led Him out to the execution site.
They designed their actions to be a farce, a comedy. Only after the fact could the irony of the situation be seen that made it a tragedy instead. They dressed Jesus as a king, draping a royal purple cloak across his torn back and shoulders. A wreath twisted together from thorns served as a makeshift crown. They put a stick in His hand to serve as a staff (cf. Matthew 27:29), and then mockingly bowed down to Him, declaring solemnly, “Hail, O king of the Jews!”
But then things turned ugly. They took the stick from His hand, and used it to beat Him over the head. They slapped Him over and over again, and spit in His face. All of this was just as Jesus had predicted (Mark 10:33-34).
In just a few minute’s time, they had done their work to degrade and humiliate the “king of the Jews.” He had been beaten to a pulp – a mere wreck of a man. The loss of blood and the shock of the beating had left Him so weak that He could barely stand. And that suited His tormentors just fine. That meant that He would die all the quicker, making their job easier.
But it was now time to get on with it. They took off the purple cloak, and draped Jesus own cloak across His shoulders. They then led Him out to start the march out of the city to the execution site.
Father, to these men the person in front of them was just a man. All that they could see was the outer shell of humanity, already torn and bloodied from the flogging. They had no eyes to see the Son of God inside that human skin, the one whose glory briefly peeping through on the Mount of Transfiguration had filled His disciples with such profound awe. They had no idea that the one that they were mocking as the “king of the Jews” was in fact the King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords; the one before whom every knee will one day bow (Philippians 2:9-11). They had no idea that they were leading to the slaughter the pure, holy Lamb of God, and that through their unwitting participation, they would be helping to bring about the possibility of salvation for all humankind.
But we know those things now, Lord. Help us to never take them for granted; to never minimize what Jesus went through to buy our salvation, suffering all of that torment, humiliation, and pain on our behalf. Help us to always hold Jesus up as our Lord and King, and, as such, to follow Him and obey Him every moment of every day. Amen.