seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 27:27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Here's how the commentary breaks this down.
They only needed a regular group of four soldiers - called a quaternion - to carry out the execution. Yet they gathered the whole garrison around Him. It wasn't to prevent His escape. It wasn't to prevent a hostile crowd from rescuing Him. It wasn't to keep the disciples away.
"Take heed of sinning in a crowd. Young man, abandon the idea that you may sin in a crowd. Beware of the notion that, because many do it, it is less a guilt to any one of them."
"The soldiers of the governor were auxiliaries, not Roman legionaries, and would be recruited from non-Jewish inhabitants of the surrounding areas (e.g. Phoenicians, Syrians, perhaps Samaritans)."
Garrison: "The detachment is called a speira; in a full speira there were six hundred men. It is not likely that there were as many as that in Jerusalem. These soldiers were Pilate's bodyguard who accompanied him from Caesarea, where his permanent headquarters were."
Praetorium: "Called so from the praetor, a principal magistrate among the Romans, whose business it was to administer justice in the absence of the consul. This place might be termed in English the court house, or common hall."
"The soldiers of the governor were auxiliaries, not Roman legionaries, and would be recruited from non-Jewish inhabitants of the surrounding areas (e.g. Phoenicians, Syrians, perhaps Samaritans)."
Garrison: "The detachment is called a speira; in a full speira there were six hundred men. It is not likely that there were as many as that in Jerusalem. These soldiers were Pilate's bodyguard who accompanied him from Caesarea, where his permanent headquarters were."
Praetorium: "Called so from the praetor, a principal magistrate among the Romans, whose business it was to administer justice in the absence of the consul. This place might be termed in English the court house, or common hall."
Everything about this was intended to humiliate Jesus. The Jewish rulers had already mocked Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 26:67-68). Now the Roman powers mocked him as king.
They stripped Him: When a prisoner was crucified, they were often nailed to the cross naked, simply to increase their humiliation. Jesus hasn't been crucified yet, but His humiliation had begun, and He was publicly stripped.
Put a scarlet robe on Him: Kings and rulers often wore scarlet, because the dyes to make fabrics that color were expensive. The scarlet robe was intended as cruel irony.
They had twisted a crown of thorns: Kings wear crowns, but not crowns of torture. The specific thorn-bushes of this region have long, hard, sharp thorns. This was a crown that cut, pierced, and bloodied the head of the King who wore it.
A reed in His right hand: Kings hold scepters, but glorious, ornate scepters that symbolize their power. In their mockery of Jesus, they gave Him a scepter - but a thin, weak reed.
They bowed the knee before Him: Kings are honored, so they offered mocking worship to this King.
"Hail, King of the Jews!" Kings are greeted with royal titles, so in their spite they mocked Jesus with this title. It was meant to humiliate Jesus, but also the Jews - saying, "This is the best King they can bring forth."
They stripped Him: When a prisoner was crucified, they were often nailed to the cross naked, simply to increase their humiliation. Jesus hasn't been crucified yet, but His humiliation had begun, and He was publicly stripped.
Put a scarlet robe on Him: Kings and rulers often wore scarlet, because the dyes to make fabrics that color were expensive. The scarlet robe was intended as cruel irony.
They had twisted a crown of thorns: Kings wear crowns, but not crowns of torture. The specific thorn-bushes of this region have long, hard, sharp thorns. This was a crown that cut, pierced, and bloodied the head of the King who wore it.
A reed in His right hand: Kings hold scepters, but glorious, ornate scepters that symbolize their power. In their mockery of Jesus, they gave Him a scepter - but a thin, weak reed.
They bowed the knee before Him: Kings are honored, so they offered mocking worship to this King.
"Hail, King of the Jews!" Kings are greeted with royal titles, so in their spite they mocked Jesus with this title. It was meant to humiliate Jesus, but also the Jews - saying, "This is the best King they can bring forth."
We might say that in contrast, Jesus says to the kings and rulers of this age that their crowns are false and their scepters are reeds.
We can also decide to do the opposite of what these did to Jesus. "Oh, that we were half as inventive in devising honor for our King as these soldiers were in planning his dishonor! Let us offer to Christ the real homage that these men pretended to offer him."
We can also decide to do the opposite of what these did to Jesus. "Oh, that we were half as inventive in devising honor for our King as these soldiers were in planning his dishonor! Let us offer to Christ the real homage that these men pretended to offer him."
They now shifted from mockery to cruelty. They seized the ironic scepter, took off the mock-royal robe, and began to hurl their spit and their fists at the head of Jesus.
"They spat on him and used the staff, the symbol of his kingly authority, to hit him on the head 'again and again' (cf. the imperfect tense of the verb)."
Even the hands that drove the nails into His hands unto the cross did only what they were commanded to do. Yet they spat in His face just for the pleasure of doing it. "But, my brethren bad as man is, methinks he never was so bad or rather, his badness never came out to the full so much as when gathering all his spite, his pride, his lust his desperate defiance, his abominable wickedness into one mouthful he spat into the face of the Son of God himself."
Even in this, Jesus stood in the place of sinners. Rebellious man wants to be a king, yet he is a sorry kind of king. Even so, Jesus endured the mocking kind of royalty that man, left to himself, is capable of.
Even the hands that drove the nails into His hands unto the cross did only what they were commanded to do. Yet they spat in His face just for the pleasure of doing it. "But, my brethren bad as man is, methinks he never was so bad or rather, his badness never came out to the full so much as when gathering all his spite, his pride, his lust his desperate defiance, his abominable wickedness into one mouthful he spat into the face of the Son of God himself."
Even in this, Jesus stood in the place of sinners. Rebellious man wants to be a king, yet he is a sorry kind of king. Even so, Jesus endured the mocking kind of royalty that man, left to himself, is capable of.
The march to the place of crucifixion was useful advertising for Rome. It warned potential troublemakers that this was their fate should they challenge Rome. Normally a centurion on horseback led the procession, and a herald shouted the crime of the condemned.
The criminal was led to the scene of crucifixion by as long a route as possible, so that as many as possible might see him and take warning from the grim sight."
As Jesus was led away to be crucified, He was - like most victims of crucifixion - forced to carry the wood He would hang upon. The weight of the entire cross was typically 300 pounds. The victim only carried the crossbar, which weighed anywhere from 75 to 125 pounds. When the victim carried the crossbar, he was usually stripped naked, and his hands were often tied to the wood.
The upright beams of a cross were usually permanently fixed in a visible place outside of the city walls, beside a major road. It is likely that on many occasions, Jesus passed by the very upright He would hang upon.
When Jesus said, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24), this is exactly the scene He had in mind. Everyone knew what the cross was - an unrelenting instrument of death and only death. The cross wasn't about religious ceremonies; it wasn't about traditions and spiritual feelings. The cross was a way to execute people. But in these twenty centuries after the death of Jesus, we have sanitized and ritualized the cross. How would we receive it if Jesus said, "Walk down death row daily and follow Me"? Taking up your cross wasn't a journey; it was a one-way trip. There was no return ticketing; it was never a round trip.
As Jesus was led away to be crucified, He was - like most victims of crucifixion - forced to carry the wood He would hang upon. The weight of the entire cross was typically 300 pounds. The victim only carried the crossbar, which weighed anywhere from 75 to 125 pounds. When the victim carried the crossbar, he was usually stripped naked, and his hands were often tied to the wood.
The upright beams of a cross were usually permanently fixed in a visible place outside of the city walls, beside a major road. It is likely that on many occasions, Jesus passed by the very upright He would hang upon.
When Jesus said, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24), this is exactly the scene He had in mind. Everyone knew what the cross was - an unrelenting instrument of death and only death. The cross wasn't about religious ceremonies; it wasn't about traditions and spiritual feelings. The cross was a way to execute people. But in these twenty centuries after the death of Jesus, we have sanitized and ritualized the cross. How would we receive it if Jesus said, "Walk down death row daily and follow Me"? Taking up your cross wasn't a journey; it was a one-way trip. There was no return ticketing; it was never a round trip.
It's amazing to me that Jesus didn't lose His temper, as He did in the Temple with the money changers, and summon His Angels.
He knew what was going to happen.... yet He let it happen.
