What would you do if you met a present-day head of state? If you met a president, vice president, or prime minister, how would you act? Would you show him or her respect or would your reaction be based on how you personally felt about that leader?
When my oldest daughter was just a baby, a vice presidential candidate visited our area, so we decided to come and hear him speak. After he spoke, he took some time to greet the crowd, and because we had a baby with us, one of the political operatives invited us to stand right at the edge of the rope line so we could be sure to greet him and get pictures with him.
As that man came near to us, he was surrounded by Secret Service agents who operate in a constant state of readiness. They’re looking all over the room and doing everything they can to make sure the people they’re protecting are safe. As they stood in front of us, our small daughter decided that was the perfect time to kick her little legs, and she literally kicked one of the agents in the back. He immediately snapped his head back, assessed the situation, realized there wasn’t an actual threat, and let us meet the future vice president. This wasn’t the way we expected to greet him, but I guess that was out of our control.
In Mark 15, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, also received a greeting that wasn’t exactly the kind of reception the Lord of all creation should have received. He should have been honored, but He was severely ridiculed and mocked instead.
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 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. - Mark 15:16-20
After Jesus had been scourged with whips, He was brought back inside Pilate’s headquarters, and a battalion of about 200 soldiers was brought together for the spectacle. At this point, His body was beaten and bloody. I’m guessing His face was bruised, swollen, and looking less and less recognizable. And as if the physical torment He had been forced to endure wasn’t enough, Jesus was mocked by the Roman soldiers who seemed to enjoy the task of fulfilling His execution.
There are several ways the soldiers decided to mock Jesus. For starters, they took a purple cloak (because the color purple represented royalty) and put it on Him. Then they fashioned a crown out of thorns and pressed it into His skull. In Matthew’s gospel (Mt. 27:29), we’re also told they put a reed in His right hand to complete their attempts to mock His royalty. Jesus put up with it all, even allowing Himself to endure their mocking salute of “Hail, King of the Jews!”
As they did this, we’re told they repeatedly struck His head with a stick, spat on Him, and kneeled in front of Him in false reverence. Once they got their fill of making fun of Him, they ripped the purple cloak off His bloody body, exposing his fresh wounds to more discomfort.
There are so many things that can be said about the activity of these soldiers. Their actions were prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures that spoke of the Messiah’s willingness to suffer for the sins of humanity. But one particular action stands out to me because of its symbolic significance. My mind is particularly drawn to the significance of the crown of thorns being placed on Jesus’ head.
In the book of Genesis, we’re told about the creation of man. When Adam was created, he was without sin. He was given dominion over the earth, and he walked with God in perfect fellowship. But when he sinned against the Lord, his walk with God was hindered; he invited death into the human experience, and this whole earth was placed under a curse. One of the effects of the curse was the fact that the ground wouldn’t be as easy to work with. Prior to sin, plants weren’t thorny, but after the earth was cursed, they produced thorns.
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; - Genesis 3:17-18a
Please consider what Jesus was doing as He willingly accepted that crown of thorns being placed upon His head. In the symbolism of what was taking place, He showed those who would care to notice that He was taking the curse that was originally placed upon this earth upon Himself. Jesus came to pay for Adam’s rebellion and reverse the curse. In fact, elsewhere in Scripture, we’re told that the day is coming when earth and heaven will be fully remade and will no longer operate under the curse of sin.
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. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. - Mark 15:21-25
The soldiers led Jesus out to a place called Golgotha to be crucified. Criminals were commonly crucified there because it provided the Romans with a practical location to make a spectacle of those they were punishing. Its location guaranteed that many people would see it, and they hoped the visibility would deter future acts of rebellion against its authority.
Jesus wasn’t guilty of any actual crime, but to appease the Jewish religious leaders, He was sentenced to death and forced to carry a wooden cross to the place of His execution. This action was all part of the spectacle that the Romans wanted to make visible. They wanted to shame a prisoner and force him to walk past crowds of curious onlookers. In Jesus’ case, His body had been so severely weakened from being scourged and beaten that He wasn’t able to carry the cross, so a man named Simon was forced to carry it for Him. I’m guessing Simon wasn’t initially crazy about this idea, but based on the fact that his son Rufus is possibly the man named among the believers in Romans 16:13, it’s believed that Simon and his family eventually came to faith in Jesus.
As Jesus hung on the cross, He was offered wine mixed with myrrh. Myrrh was believed to be a narcotic that could dull pain, but Jesus refused to ingest it. He wasn’t looking to ease His suffering. His desire was to bear the full weight of the sin of humanity as He died on the cross. As was prophesied hundreds of years earlier, the soldiers cast lots for His clothing, leaving Jesus on the cross naked and exposed to shame. Again, He endured the shame that was meant for us. We deserved this punishment, but Jesus bore it on our behalf.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. - Psalm 22:16-18
I still remember the first time Psalm 22 caught my attention. I had just finished my first year of college, and I worked at a summer camp during the summer months. On a break, I sat down on a bench near the basketball court to read my Bible. I was reading the Psalms that day and came across Psalm 22. Knowing that this passage was written about a thousand years before Jesus was crucified, I was amazed at the psalm’s specificity. In very specific detail, it prophetically revealed the very things that Mark eventually chronicled.
Moments like that bolster my confidence in the reliability and accuracy of God’s word. The very same word of God that revealed details surrounding the crucifixion a thousand years before they took place is the same word of God that reveals the plan of salvation and the kind of life a child of God is called to live. The more I have read and studied God’s word, the more my confidence in its revelations continues to grow. Jesus is who He said He is. Eternal salvation is found in no other name but the name of Jesus Christ.
And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. - Mark 15:26-32
Pilate, the governor, didn’t like the Jews. They didn’t like him either. I think he resented the fact that they forced his hand to crucify Jesus, so he made sure to take the opportunity to irritate them even while fulfilling their request to execute Jesus. It was customary to place a board on the cross that listed the charge against the person being crucified. Jesus had done nothing wrong, but the Jewish leaders said He claimed to be a king, so Pilate made sure to place the charge of “King of the Jews” on the cross of Jesus. This was a statement of fact because Jesus certainly is King, but it also was meant to bother the Jewish leaders who hated Jesus and refused to acknowledge His royalty or divinity.
As Jesus hung on the cross, He was mocked further. The people patronized Him and questioned His power. They even invited Him to come down from the cross and save Himself, claiming that if He did that very thing in their sight, they would finally believe in Him. But as we know, if the miracles He had already done in their midst didn’t convince them to believe, nothing would.
Sadly, we live in a day that isn’t too different from the day Jesus ministered. There are people in every generation who continue to mock Him and refuse to worship or honor Him. The cross didn’t defeat Jesus. On the third day, He rose from the dead and began to physically appear to hundreds of people over the course of nearly six weeks. Death didn’t defeat Jesus. Rather, He defeated death.
But when we look at an account like this, please know that there are people in this historical record who accurately represent the exact state our hearts are in at present. Maybe you’re like Simon, and you’ve come to believe in Jesus. Maybe you’re like Pilate, and you feel bad about what happened to Him, but you certainly don’t trust Him. Maybe you’re like the crowds who patronized Him and made jokes. Maybe you’re like the soldiers who took delight in His pain. Or maybe you’re like the religious leaders who wanted nothing more than to see Him executed and forgotten.
I don’t know where your heart is at present, but I would encourage you to consider what Scripture tells us about Jesus and let that permeate your thinking and believing. Jesus is our Creator who willingly lived among us, suffered, and died to atone for our sins. He then rose from death and offered complete forgiveness for anyone who genuinely trusts in Him. He also offers us a permanent place in His eternal kingdom if we place our faith in Him today.
You may mock Him today, but I promise you, you won’t mock Him forever. The day is coming when every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. I pray that that day for you will be today so that you will experience the joys of His presence with you right now and the delights of an eternity in His kingdom forever.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:9-11
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Originally published by Bible Study Headquarters. Used with permission.
John Stange is the Lead Pastor at Core Creek Community Church and a professor at Cairn University where he leads the Digital Media and Communication program. He also leads an online community called Platform Launchers where he helps people build message-based online platforms.
John has authored over 30 books and presently hosts several podcasts on the LifeAudio podcast network. His shows have been downloaded millions of times by listeners throughout the world.
You can learn more about John’s ministry, books, and podcasts at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com.
