16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
After flogging Jesus, the soldiers led Him away into Pilate’s residence. There the entire cohort (600) of soldiers mocked Jesus. They dressed Jesus in mock royal garb. Probably a faded military cloak with a crown made of thorns and a reed as a mock sceptre (Mat 27:29). Then they mocked Him. They pretended to honour Him, then spat on him and beat Him over the head with the reed driving the thorns into His head. When they were done, they dressed Jesus in His own clothes again and led Him out to be crucified.
He was too weak to carry the crossbeam of His cross, so they compelled a man, Simon of Cyrene to carry it for Him. Simon is noted as the father of Alexander and Rufus which suggests they were disciples known to Mark’s readers at the time. Jesus was led to the place of execution which was known as Golgotha (Place of a Skull) because the rocky layout resembled a skull. There He was offered a wine/myrrh mixture which was intended to help ease the pain, but Jesus refused it and endured his suffering without any impairment to His senses. Then they crucified Jesus and the execution squad cast lots to divide up his clothes amongst themselves (fulfilling Psalm 22:18). An inscription was put above Jesus’ head which read, “The King of the Jews.”
The Romans represent the depths of depravity man can go when He abandons God. The Romans weren’t treating Jesus this way because He was God’s son. They treated Him that way because that’s how they treated people. That is what Jesus died for. Jesus died for the depths of our depravity (Rom 5:8) to free us from that and return us to God. What does the way you treat other people, especially those who are “lower” than you, reveal about your heart?