Matthew 27:27-31 27Then the soldiers of the governor, after taking Jesus into the Praetorium, gathered the whole cohort before him. 28And after stripping him, they put a scarlet military robe on him, 29and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand. And after kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30And after spitting on him, they took the reed and beat on his head. 31And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away in order to crucify him.
The story of Jesus’ suffering moves to a new location in the governor’s headquarters called the Praetorium. The Praetorium was the residence of the governor. It was likely a large complex that served as the seat of Roman rule in Jerusalem. It could also serve as barracks and prison as needed. Jesus was now in the hands of the Roman soldiers who mocked and abused him. Matthew notes that the whole company of soldiers gathered to mock Jesus. They saw him as other criminals whom they had executed. In this case, Jesus was famous and had stirred the whole city. The soldiers were likely aware of the commotion and notoriety of Jesus, which only enhanced their ridicule of him. These solders were part of the Roman legion assigned to Jerusalem. More soldiers may have been brought into the city because of the Passover and the constant threat of Jewish rebellion.
Matthew moves the story along with a series of adverbial temporal participles. The soldiers focused in on the accusation that was proclaimed a king. Little did these Roman soldiers know what they were doing by proclaiming Jesus to be the King of the Jews. We do not know what was in the minds of these soldiers, but with some creative imagination, we can recreate the scene in our minds. They show the callousness of their hearts by taunting and physically abusing Jesus. They used what was around them to make him look like a king, but in such a way to cause physical and mental pain. First, they humiliate him by stripping him. Then they grabbed someone’s red Roman military robe and made him look royal. They probably sent some low level soldier out to grab some thorns and weave a mock crown for him. It likely pierced his head. Scalp wounds can bleed a lot from even a small cut. And then another low level soldier was sent out to find a reed, which they made into a mock scepter.
They must have been proud of their work for making Jesus look like a king. These soldiers, as the occupying force, likely had low views of the Jews and an even lower view of their “king.” They probably had no idea of Jewish prophecy or Scripture, or if they did, saw it all as superstitious. Not only did they mentally abused Jesus but they also took the reed and beat him on the head with it. After their fun, they got back to business and took Jesus out to be crucified.
The details Matthew gives in this scene imply that he took the ridicule and misrepresentation of Jesus’ kingship as a serious matter. Jesus was the true King, the prophesied Messiah, and these soldiers had missed the significance of the moment. They were like so many others the past few days who missed the Messiah because of their biases and ignorance. The reader is again confronted with the choice about what to do with this Jesus.
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