Then the soldiers of the governor, having taken Jesus with [them] to the praetorium, gathered against him the whole band,
Matthew's account moves from Pilate's judgment seat into a Roman barracks, where Jesus passes out of Jewish hands and into Gentile ones. The verse is mostly setting — a place and a crowd — yet both details carry weight: where He was taken, and how many gathered to see it.
"Governor's headquarters" translates one Roman word, and older Bibles render it several different ways.
The word is praetorium, the word Mark 15:16 uses. It was the official residence of Pilate the governor in Jerusalem... Other verses render the same word 'palace' in Philippians 1:13 (the barracks of the Praetorian soldiers, the men Paul's guards came from), 'common hall' in Matthew 27:27, and 'hall of judgement' in John 18:28.
Until now the pressure had come from the chief priests and the crowd. The soldiers are a different set of men, with no tie to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council.
The soldiers Pilate hands Him over to are a new class of men, and in them man faces a fresh test. They have heard the judge call Him innocent and still send Him to an agonizing death. These soldiers are not Jews. They care nothing about the Sanhedrin. The chief priests do not push them, nor do the shouts of a people they despise as senseless, narrow-minded fanatics... Their job as executioners does not force them to do what they do next. The mocking and the insults are their own idea, and none of them wants to miss it: they gather the whole band.
The soldiers called the whole band in to watch. What they do to an innocent man says more about man than about the army.
But now we see something more: the cold-hearted wickedness of the Roman soldiers (the whole band) venting its spite against their Creator. They would not have done the same to a guilty criminal. Yet One who is plainly innocent and just they take advantage of in the most hateful way. This shows exactly what is in the heart of man toward God.
The soldiers were Gentiles, so the guilt now spreads beyond Israel. Jew and Gentile each had a turn with Him, and each failed in a different way.
The coming of Christ is the last and great test for man. You see it here: Jew and Gentile join in denying and rejecting the Lord. The one hates Him and shouts for His death. The other is indifferent, and hands Him over to death while finding no fault in Him. What a scene! Jewish hatred and Gentile indifference combined, and Jesus, the Holy One, is led out to death. The Gentile was only a little less guilty than the Jew. Pilate washed his hands, and it changed nothing.
The soldiers now had their turn with Him, free to do as they liked. What they chose says more about them than about their prisoner.
See how each class of men is made to witness against itself through this whole scene. They freely act out the very depths of their hearts, while God's purpose overrules them to display the glory of the Man who seems so helpless in their hands... Now they have a king in their hands — a King! — and a dignity about Him that no one can explain, and nothing man has done can touch it.
Each Gospel names a different robe, and each robe brings out a different glory. The mockery also points to something real.
In the Gospel of the King, Pilate's soldiers mocked Him with a short "scarlet cloak" of royal military design. They put a reed in His right hand and a crown of thorns on His holy head (Matthew 27:27-29). In the Gospel of Jehovah's devoted Servant they added the "purple" (Mark 15:17). Herod's troops mocked the Son of Man with a shining or "splendid robe" in the Gospel of the perfect Man (Luke 23:11)... The "purple robe" (John 19:5), which stands for imperial glory, comes to the front in the Gospel of the Son — the Word who was God become flesh. But God will see to it that the royal, imperial and universal honours His sinful creatures mockingly put on the rejected Messiah shall truly be His.
- Place. The praetorium was Pilate's official residence in Jerusalem. Other verses render the same word "palace," "common hall" and "hall of judgement."
- People. The soldiers were a new class of men. No priest pressed them and no duty forced them. They called in the whole band by choice.
- Proof. They would not have treated a guilty criminal this way. What they did to an innocent man shows what is in the human heart toward God.
- Partnership. Jewish hatred and Gentile indifference met at the cross. The guilt belongs to the world, not to one nation. Pilate washed his hands, and it changed nothing.
- Purpose. Men acted out their hearts, and God overruled the scene to display the glory of the Man who seemed helpless. The honours they mocked Him with will one day truly be His.
and having taken off his garment, put on him a scarlet cloak;
Pilate handed Jesus over, and the soldiers took Him into the governor's headquarters. There they dressed Him up as a king. Why scarlet, when Mark and John say purple? And what does this mock crowning show about the men who staged it?
The whole company joined in the sport.
A whole cohort of rough, barbaric soldiers now take hold of the willing victim. After that terrible scourging, they heaped the most awful indignities upon Him. First they tore His clothes from His outraged body, most likely in eager haste to have their sport with Him. Then they cast a scarlet cloak on Him. Kings wore that garment. The scarlet colour came from the coccus cacti, the crushed insect.
The colour was not random, and the mockery will one day be answered.
Scarlet is the royal colour of Israel, and with this they clothed the Lord in mockery (Matt. 27:28). They put the crown of thorns on His head, and bowed the knee before Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Those who mocked Him in this way will yet see Him in His glory as King of Israel. Then they will have to bow the knee before Him. From His lips they will receive the righteous sentence on their mockery, and on all their sins.
Commentators differ on how to line up the Gospel accounts. One answer is that each writer records the detail that suits his own picture of Christ.
Notice here how God overruled all the malice and mockery of men. He turned it to the fulfilment of prophecy and a testimony to His Son — the very opposite of what they intended. Matthew records that they put a scarlet robe on Him. By that royal colour they declared that He was the King of the Jews. In Herod's palace they dressed Him in a "gorgeous" (white or shining) robe, which testified to His sinless character. Mark and John, again, tell of a purple robe. God suited each of these to the way the Lord is set before us in the different Gospels.
Another writer weighs what the two colours stand for, and adds a simpler possibility.
If the purple is taken as a symbol of royalty and worldwide rule, the scarlet may stand for earthly grandeur and Israel's royalty. In the New Testament they clothed the Lord in a scarlet robe, κόκκινος, Matt. 27:28 (it is "purple" in Mark and John: it may have been an old faded robe that could be called either).
These men had no personal grudge. That is exactly what makes the scene so revealing.
Now we see something more added: the cold-hearted wickedness of the Roman soldiers (the whole band) venting its spite against their Creator. They would not have done the same to a guilty criminal. But One who is clearly innocent and just they take advantage of in the most hateful way. This expresses just what is in the heart of man toward God.
The same attitude did not die with those soldiers.
In mockery and irony they insulted His kingly rights. The spirit of this world still rejects and ridicules the One to whom all dominion belongs by right.
The colour itself carries a meaning the soldiers never saw. Scarlet dye came from a crushed insect. The same word appears in a psalm about the sufferings of Christ.
The worm is the coccus cacti, the cochineal, which gives the scarlet dye. In Psalm 22 our holy Lord, in the middle of His anguish as a sin-offering on the cross, says, "I am a worm and not a man" (v. 6). This is the same word used for the scarlet. So our Lord, "who knew no sin," was "made sin" (or sin-offering, 2 Cor. 5:21) for us, taking the place we deserved. He took the place of being a worm. He went down into death, crushed under the wrath and judgment of God. He shed His precious blood to put away our scarlet sins.
The soldiers dressed Him for a laugh. They dressed Him for the worship of centuries.
But they could not know that ever after we would be gazing with eager adoration at this wonderful Figure, just as their cruel hands had arrayed it. They could not know that the centuries would see in all they had done, no longer their spiteful mockery, but the emblems of God's glorious King, full of meaning He gave them.
- Stripped. The soldiers tore off His clothes after the scourging, in eager haste to have their sport with Him.
- Robed. Scarlet was the colour of kings and of Israel's royalty. They dressed the true King in the costume of the throne they denied Him.
- Exposed. They would not have treated a guilty criminal this way. Their spite against an innocent Man shows what is in the human heart toward God.
- Crushed. Scarlet dye came from a crushed worm, the very word of Psalm 22 — He took that place, made sin for us, to put away our scarlet sins.
- Crowned. What they staged as ridicule became the emblems later generations adore. The mockers themselves will yet bow the knee in earnest.
and having woven a crown out of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and, bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Roman soldiers staged a coronation for a condemned prisoner — a woven crown, a stick for a sceptre, a royal greeting. Every item in that joke was truer than the men holding it knew.
The soldiers set out to complete the mockery. Their choice of material was the point of the joke.
Herod had mocked Him with a royal robe; it should be theirs to crown Him; but with what? With bay, laurel, myrtle? He takes satire easily, as if He does not even feel it. Can they not make Him feel it, this Man they cannot get through to? You see the brutal jest of the soldier: crown Him? Yes, crown Him! Make the satire sharp: crown Him with thorns.
The reed is easy to skim past. One writer weighs it against the hand that held it.
They put a reed in His hand, a weak, perishable reed. That hand upholds all things. He had stretched it out in blessing over the weak, the straying, the sick, the blind, and with it He had touched the leper. That mighty hand holds the reed, a sceptre of mockery.
The thorns carried a meaning the soldiers never intended.
They stripped Him of His clothing and dressed Him in a scarlet robe, the emblem of royalty. They pressed onto that holy brow a crown of thorns. That crown bore solemn witness to the curse of God resting on the earth because of man's sin. And it was surely a picture of the curse He was now taking upon Himself to remove it from man.
The Greek word behind "Hail" is the ordinary word for rejoicing. Reading it that way sharpens what the soldiers were saying while the thorns were being driven in.
The next time we find this word Chaire, "Rejoice!", in the Greek New Testament is when the Roman soldiers put the crown of thorns on His holy brow. They struck Him on the head with the reed, driving those thorns into that beloved brow. They spat on Him, they abused Him until His face was more marred than any man's, and His form more than the sons of men. And then they said to Him, Chaire! "Rejoice, King of the Jews!" The cruelty, the heartlessness, the wickedness of such mockery is beyond words. "Rejoice!" at such a moment!
Matthew's account names the robe scarlet.
Scarlet is the kingly colour. The Gospel of Matthew presents Christ as the King of Israel. At the time of the crucifixion the soldiers put a scarlet robe on Christ in mockery, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" His own people on earth have rejected Him. But He will yet reign over them as their King, their Messiah, God's anointed One.
Note also who handed Him over.
The Jews have now rejected their King and handed Him over to the Gentiles. They crown Him with thorns, the symbol of the curse, and dress Him in mockery with a royal robe.
Those soldiers went down on one knee as a game. Commentators point ahead to a second meeting between them and the Man they knelt to.
In mockery they dress Him as a king. But His crown is woven of thorns, the symbol of the curse. Little did they understand His own willing bearing of the curse of God because of man's sins (Galatians 3:13). They add contempt to their mockery, daring to spit on the blessed Lord of glory. They add violence too, striking Him on the head. Can we imagine their dread dismay when they see this same Man of sorrows sitting in judgment on them?
Every prop in the scene has a real counterpart still to come.
He is the King in glory, the King of kings and Lord of lords. The royal garment is His. The crown of thorns gives way to the many crowns His brow will wear. The sceptre is His. Every knee must bow before Him and every tongue confess Him Lord, to the praise of God the Father. He reached the highest glory through suffering, the crown through the cross, because He loved such as we are.
- Crown. What should they crown Him with — bay, laurel, myrtle? They chose thorns, to make the joke sharp.
- Curse. The crown of thorns witnessed to the curse of God on the earth — the very curse He took on Himself to remove.
- Greeting. "Hail" translates the word for "Rejoice" — they told Him to be glad in the moment they were driving thorns into His head.
- Colour. Scarlet is the royal colour. Matthew presents the King whom His own nation rejected and handed to the Gentiles.
- Crowns. The knees that bowed in fun will bow in earnest. The crown of thorns gives way to many crowns, reached through the cross.
And having spit upon him, they took the reed and beat [him] on his head.
The soldiers have already dressed Jesus in a scarlet cloak, pressed a crown of thorns on His head and put a reed in His hand as a mock sceptre. Now the pretend homage turns into open violence, and the props of the joke become tools of pain. Who is this silent Man, and why did He allow it?
The reed handed to Him as a toy sceptre now falls on His head. One writer sees deliberate cruelty in the blow.
This abuse was not given to criminals. It exposes man's cruel hatred toward his Creator. His own perfect truth and goodness seem to be the very reason for their violence, contempt and mockery. They also strike His head with a reed, clearly meant to press the thorns further into His flesh. They spit on Him and worship Him in mockery. The believing heart can easily picture the calm dignity with which the blessed Lord of glory bore all this. In reality, His was a precious moral triumph. His enemies little realised how great a defeat they were suffering as their wickedness rose to such a height.
after_note: DELETE
What the soldiers put into His hand is worth weighing against what that hand had done.
They put a reed in His hand — a weak, perishable reed. Yet that hand upholds all things. It had reached out in blessing over the weak, the straying, the sick and the blind, and it had touched the leper. That mighty hand now holds the reed, a sceptre of mockery. And then the satanic drama of mockery and ridicule is complete. One after another these wicked men come and bow the knee before Him and mock Him. "Oh joy!" or, "Rejoice, King of the Jews!" That was their greeting. But they get up from that position and spit on Him and take the reed and beat Him on His head.
The spitting was foretold by Isaiah, in words spoken by the Servant Himself: "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). One writer notes what made such treatment possible — the very lowliness that should have won men's hearts.
"I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). His humiliation should have made Him infinitely more precious to men, since it was the incomparable proof of His love. Instead it gave men the opening they wanted, under Satan's leading, to insult Him to the very limit. And He gave back no insult of His own.
One writer weighs what His silence brought out.
The insults of men only served to bring out the perfection of Jesus. It was all met in the spirit of perfect submission. No rebellious word escaped His lips, no angry look clouded the face that man spat upon.
One writer traces the blow to a much older prophecy.
Micah wrote, "With a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek" (Micah 5:1). It is an extraordinary prophecy. Yet it came true when they took the reed they had put in His right hand as a mock sceptre and struck Him on the head (Matthew 27:30).
Another writer follows that insult forward, into Israel's day of trouble.
Judah insulted the Messiah when He came to them. The Judge of Israel was struck on the cheek. But the One whom they refused and insulted shall be their only hope. Those whom the nation once refused are their only strength and expectation in the day of their calamity.
The mock bowing points forward to the real thing.
What will these wicked men feel when they see Jesus in His glory? Instead of the purple robe He will wear garments of heavenly glory, with crowns of majesty on His brow. Their knees will bow again, but not in mockery. They will bow before Him whom the angels and all created beings own as Lord of all.
The scene is not only history to be studied; it makes a personal claim on the reader.
Think of the Son of God — He who came from the bosom of the Father, the Only Begotten, whose glory Isaiah had seen. His own vile creatures insulted Him, outraged Him, spat on Him and trampled on Him. And reader, it was our sin which did it. How much this should affect our hearts, and indeed it does. How He loved us, to give Himself to such shame and suffering.
- Mockery — the soldiers take back the fake sceptre and beat Him with it, driving the thorns deeper. The joke turns to cruelty.
- Majesty — that weak reed sat in the hand that upholds all things and once touched the leper.
- Prophecy — Isaiah foretold the spitting. Micah foretold the rod on the cheek of Israel's judge. Both came true in one moment.
- Meekness — He gave back no insult and no angry look. The abuse only displayed His perfection. His enemies were losing at the very moment they seemed to win.
- Hope — the knees that bowed in mockery will bow for real before Him in glory. The One the nation insulted is its only hope.
And when they had mocked him, they took the cloak off him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify.
The mocking inside the governor's headquarters ends here, and the last short walk begins. Why do the soldiers hand back His own clothes first, and why do they take Him outside the city to kill Him?
The words "when they had mocked him" cover more than a moment. One writer walks through the whole scene step by step.
First, we read that after the wicked trial by furious men led on by Satan, the holy Sufferer was "scourged," which must have taken up some time. Then they brought Him into the governor's headquarters, and the whole band of soldiers gathered around Him. There they stripped Him of His own clothes and put a scarlet robe on Him... All this outrage and the other insults must have taken some time. The words "when they had mocked him" suggest that they held the Saviour up to public ridicule for a while.
The costume comes off before the walk to the cross. One writer sees meaning in that: He dies as Himself, not as the figure they dressed up.
The Jews have now rejected their King and turned Him over to the Gentiles, by whom He is crowned with thorns (a symbol of the curse) and dressed in mockery with a royal robe (27-31). He is then led out in His own garments — symbolising His own character, which God will not allow to be clouded in any way.
The robe they strip off is scarlet, Israel's royal colour. The soldiers bowed the knee as a joke; commentators point to a day when those knees bend in earnest.
Scarlet is the royal colour of Israel, and with this they clothed the Lord in mockery (Matt. 27:28), when they put the crown of thorns on His head and bowed the knee before Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Those who mocked Him in this way will yet see Him in His glory as King of Israel, and they will be forced to bow the knee before Him, and from His lips they will receive the righteous sentence on their mockery and on all their sins.
Jewish leaders demanded His death; Roman soldiers carried it out. No single group carries the guilt alone.
Again putting His own clothes on Him, they lead Him outside the city to carry out the sentence of crucifixion. Of course the Jews were guilty of this murder of the Son of God, but Gentiles just as willingly joined in His condemnation. The whole world is represented in this solemn, hateful rejection of God as revealed in matchless grace.
He goes without a struggle. Onlookers read that silence as weakness.
He never fought for His rights, but was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was silent before His enemies as a sheep is silent before her shearers. There was never such a display of apparent weakness as the one seen in the lowly Nazarene when men rose up against Him; and they despised Him for it... If He had defended Himself, or even tried to, they might have respected Him, for is not self-preservation the first law of nature?
Another writer looks at the same walk and finds fragrance in it.
Had we walked behind that blessed Saviour as He went to the cross, we would have caught the fragrance of myrrh, aloes and cassia! Oh, the fragrance of Christ as He walked to the cross! ... As He goes forward — "Not My will, but Yours be done."
They lead Him out of the city. One writer ties this to the sin offering, whose body was burned outside the camp.
"Outside the camp" is a place where there is no recognised relationship with God or man. It is seen either as the place of judgment from God, or as the place of reproach from man... The body of the sin offering burned "outside the camp" is a fitting picture of God's holy judgment on sin. Jesus went into this place. To set His people apart by His own blood, He suffered outside the camp. The Word says "outside the gate," because by the time Christ died the city had taken the place of the camp. So that we might have the place of blessing inside the veil, He had to take our place of judgment outside the camp.
- Mocked — the scorn was not a passing moment; the wording points to a stretch of time in which men held Him up to public ridicule.
- Restored — the mock robe comes off and His own clothes go back on; He goes to the cross as Himself, and God lets nothing cloud His character.
- Led — He does not resist, and men despise Him for it; behind that apparent weakness is "Not My will, but Yours be done."
- Outside — they lead Him beyond the gate, the place of judgment and reproach, so that we might have the place of blessing inside.
- Crowned — the knees bent in mockery will bend again in earnest, when the mocked King is seen in His glory.