Mark 15:16-20--Jesus Is Mocked

Mark 15:16-20
English Standard Version
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Jesus Is Mocked
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.

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Jesus had been outside for His public trial, but after the people chose to release Barabbas and have Jesus crucified, Jesus was taken inside the palace to be mocked, beaten and humiliated.  The soldiers did this in many ways.   First, they got the whole battalion of guards together and dressed Jesus in purple robes (probably royal robes that belonged to Pilate).  They then twisted together a crown of thorns, and they put the crown on His head.  Then, they began to salute Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews."  They also struck him repeatedly on the head (remember, they had put the crown of thorns there already, so this drove the thorns into His skull), and they were pretending to kneel and bow down to Him all while spitting on Him to show Him disrespect.  There was no homage being paid by them, they were just mocking and abusing their prisoner.

Jesus didn't respond to any of this, and they decided after a short time that it was no fun to mock someone who wasn't going to get upset about it.  So, they stripped Him of the royal robes they had put on Him and they dressed Him in His own clothes for now--He would be stripped of those soon enough too, as they would divide and gamble for His garments, including His undergarment while He was being crucified.

At some point they also flogged and scourged Him, whether it was before this mockery and humiliation or part of it (I'd assume the flogging happened outside so as to not get the governor's palace all bloody, unless they had a room set aside for this kind of thing).  I say that because by the time they turned Him over for crucifixion, He was already half-dead and had lost so much blood and was so beaten, bruised, and exhausted, the He wouldn't be able to carry the crossbeam all the way up to the place where He would be crucified.  (We'll read about that tomorrow when someone else from the crowd is compelled to bear His cross for Him).