Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
After Pilate handed Him over, the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the common hall, also called the judgment hall, and gathered the whole band around Him to begin His humiliation and abuse before He was led away to be crucified. There they mocked His claim to be King with a worn purple robe, a crown of sharp thorns pressed upon His head, a reed in His hand for a scepter, bowing before Him, spitting upon Him, smiting Him, scourging Him and striking His head so the thorns pierced Him and blood ran down. Through wounds, stripes and insults He bore it all with patience and dignity without murmur or retaliation, refusing to use His divine power to escape or punish His abusers, to the marvel of angels. His sinless endurance was part of the sacrifice by which the just died for the unjust to bear the sins of the whole world and by His blood redeem humanity unto God. Those who mocked and crowned Him will behold Him again in kingly majesty coming in the clouds of heaven and recognize Him with terror and remorse, while His descent into such depths measures the self-denial and patient suffering His followers are called to accept.
Setting and Mockery
After Pilate handed Him over, the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the common hall, also called the judgment hall, and gathered the whole band or cohort around Him. This gathering begins His humiliation and abuse at the hands of rude, wicked men before He was led away to be crucified. The scene belongs to His being moved among earthly tribunals and subjected to violent treatment and condemnation. It is the judgment-hall condemnation and public humiliation leading toward Calvary.
There the soldiers mocked His claim to be King with blasphemous mockery, bowing before Him in derision. They put on Him a worn, tattered, old purple robe, pressed a crown of sharp thorns onto His head, and placed a reed in His hand as a mimic scepter. They spit upon Him, smote Him, scourged Him, stripped Him to the waist, and struck His head with the reed so the thorns were driven into His temples and blood ran down His face and beard. Herod jeered at His royal title and bade the soldiers crown Him king, and Herod and his soldiers plaited the crown of thorns for His brow.
He was surrounded by a vast crowd and delivered to the people on the way to crucifixion, while chief priests and elders ridiculed His claim to be the Son of God and sneered at His humble birth and life. Satan gained control by stirring religious frenzy among the leaders that spread to the mob and united them in cruelty. That stirring reveals how deception can turn people into liars and murderers. As the truth, He was scorned as a deceiver, hunted as a criminal, and mocked and derided as a false king. Rejected with contempt by His own nation and denied and forsaken by friends, brethren, and disciples, He was subjected to every cruelty that Satan as an apostate angel could instigate through evil men, being buffeted with temptations, lacerated with stripes, and crowned with thorns on the way to the cross.
He was hurried from Pilate's court toward Calvary with the cross prepared for Barabbas laid on His bruised and bleeding shoulders, with two thieves taken to die with Him. He was displayed beside Barabbas, who with all his crimes was chosen in His place, while His noble character remained clear in contrast. The judgment-hall trial and suffering were preceded by a night of prayer to the Father. They form part of the most trying ordeal of betrayal, agony in Gethsemane, and crucifixion.
Endurance and Sacrifice
Wounded, striped, exhausted and insulted, He bore the soldiers' abuse with patience and dignity and faithfulness to His Father's will, making no murmur or complaint. Crowned with sharp thorns driven into His temples till blood ran, clothed in a worn tattered purple robe, given a reed for a scepter, bowed to, spit upon, smitten, scourged and stripped, He did not retaliate or use His divine power to escape. Through it all He restrained His divine power, to the marvel and mystery of angels, refusing to seal the lips of scoffers, to paralyze the smiting hand, or to flash righteous indignation upon His abusers. Hostile spiritual influence moved chief priests and elders and mob to this insult and violence. Satan hoped the mockery and violence would provoke Him to complain or to use His divine power to escape and thereby frustrate the plan of salvation.
His suffering in the common hall before He was led away to be crucified was part of the sacrifice He made to open the way for humanity's salvation. The glorious Redeemer, beautiful and lovely, left the realms of glory and came to this dark and lonely world to give His precious life and die, the just for the unjust, with the burden of the sins of the whole world upon Him. His sinless endurance under mocking and scourging was necessary for Him to remain an acceptable offering, that by His precious blood He might redeem humanity unto God. The Roman soldiers who gathered around Him to mock and smite Him were hardened and corrupt in cruelty, yet comparatively ignorant, not knowing He was the Sent of God. Without the light so abundantly given to the Jewish nation and unacquainted with Old Testament history, thinking only to please priests and rulers by abusing Him, they would not have treated Him so cruelly had that light been given them, so the greatest guilt and heaviest responsibility belonged not to them, nor to Pilate and Herod, but to those who stood in the highest places of the nation and basely betrayed their sacred trusts.
Though Pilate declared Him without fault, He was given up to those who hated His reproof and sinless character and were determined to get Him out of the way. He was beaten with rods and crowned with cruel thorns that pierced His brow, and His noble character remained clear in contrast with Barabbas beside whom He was displayed. He bore the heaviest humiliations anyone can bear, so He knows how to sympathize with poor fallen humanity. Angels were present during the cruelty in the judgment hall and could scarcely bear to witness His suffering.
Witness and Example
Those who mocked Him, struck Him with a reed, and set a crown of thorns upon Him will see Him again in kingly majesty and glory, coming in the clouds of heaven and sitting on the right hand of power, and will recognize Him as the One they crucified. Those who put on Him the purple robe, set the thorny crown on His brow, put the mimic scepter in His unresisting hand, bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery, and smote and spit upon Him as the Prince of life will be speechless before that glory. They will turn from His piercing gaze and seek to flee from the overpowering glory of His presence, beholding His marks with terror and remorse.
The sight of Jesus in the hands of wicked men as He approached the cross, crowned with thorns and treated with derision, insult and mockery while His own nation clamored for His blood, deepened the grief and anguish of the disciples. People who had hailed Him as king hissed at Him, reviled Him, and cried for His crucifixion, and the whole band gathered against Him. He was the One in whom the disciples had centered their hopes of eternal life, whom they thought would take His place on David's throne and deliver Israel, so their worldly hopes were shattered and their faith, hope and courage were tested and failed. Herod and his soldiers plaited the crown of thorns for His sacred brow, clothed Him in the purple robe, bowed before Him in mockery, struck Him with the reed they had placed in His hand, and scourged Him as the worst of criminals, while the murderous Barabbas with all his crimes was chosen in His place before He was lifted upon the cross to die as a malefactor.
This scorn of the hooting rabble toward Him who was doomed to the cross, and this turning of professed friends in the time of His trouble, had been foreseen. The faithful few had been prepared for it beforehand by a testing crisis while Jesus was still present to comfort and strengthen them. Thus they were not to be overwhelmed with surprise, sink beneath fear and disappointment, or be carried away by the example of faint-hearted apostasy, but to remember the fickleness of those who once followed Him and not hang their faith upon the opinions of others. That taking away of the Bridegroom gave them cause to mourn and fast.
His suffering in the judgment hall, where He was derided, mocked and insulted, clothed in an old purple kingly robe, crowned with thorns upon His noble brow, and smitten with a reed so that the thorns penetrated His temples and blood flowed from His holy brow, is the measure of the self-denial His followers are called to accept. It shows what Christ gave up for sinners and proves He demands all, undivided affections, entire consecration and separation from the world and from dead, heartless professors. Anything believers call self-denial fades into nothing beside it, and proves the strait, narrow, self-denying way is not too hard. That cruelty endured there teaches self-sacrifice, patience under affliction, solemn consecration to God, and preparation for holy work.
Though Pilate declared Him without fault, He was given up to those who hated His reproof and sinless character and were determined to get Him out of the way, beaten with rods and crowned with cruel thorns that pierced His brow. He bore the heaviest humiliations anyone can bear, so He knows how to sympathize with poor fallen humanity. Believers can go to no greater depths in humility than Christ went. Those who partake of His divine nature must be partakers of His sufferings when placed in hard places, not seeking to be honored, but looking to Jesus for grace to go through trials and see Him in His kingdom.
After Pilate handed Him over, the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the common hall, also called the judgment hall, and gathered the whole band around Him to begin His humiliation and abuse before He was led away to be crucified. There they mocked His claim to be King with a worn purple robe, a crown of sharp thorns pressed upon His head, a reed in His hand for a scepter, bowing before Him, spitting upon Him, smiting Him, scourging Him and striking His head so the thorns pierced Him and blood ran down. Through wounds, stripes and insults He bore it all with patience and dignity without murmur or retaliation, refusing to use His divine power to escape or punish His abusers, to the marvel of angels. His sinless endurance was part of the sacrifice by which the just died for the unjust to bear the sins of the whole world and by His blood redeem humanity unto God. Those who mocked and crowned Him will behold Him again in kingly majesty coming in the clouds of heaven and recognize Him with terror and remorse, while His descent into such depths measures the self-denial and patient suffering His followers are called to accept.
Setting and Mockery
After Pilate handed Him over, the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the common hall, also called the judgment hall, and gathered the whole band or cohort around Him. This gathering begins His humiliation and abuse at the hands of rude, wicked men before He was led away to be crucified. The scene belongs to His being moved among earthly tribunals and subjected to violent treatment and condemnation. It is the judgment-hall condemnation and public humiliation leading toward Calvary.
There the soldiers mocked His claim to be King with blasphemous mockery, bowing before Him in derision. They put on Him a worn, tattered, old purple robe, pressed a crown of sharp thorns onto His head, and placed a reed in His hand as a mimic scepter. They spit upon Him, smote Him, scourged Him, stripped Him to the waist, and struck His head with the reed so the thorns were driven into His temples and blood ran down His face and beard. Herod jeered at His royal title and bade the soldiers crown Him king, and Herod and his soldiers plaited the crown of thorns for His brow.
He was surrounded by a vast crowd and delivered to the people on the way to crucifixion, while chief priests and elders ridiculed His claim to be the Son of God and sneered at His humble birth and life. Satan gained control by stirring religious frenzy among the leaders that spread to the mob and united them in cruelty. That stirring reveals how deception can turn people into liars and murderers. As the truth, He was scorned as a deceiver, hunted as a criminal, and mocked and derided as a false king. Rejected with contempt by His own nation and denied and forsaken by friends, brethren, and disciples, He was subjected to every cruelty that Satan as an apostate angel could instigate through evil men, being buffeted with temptations, lacerated with stripes, and crowned with thorns on the way to the cross.
He was hurried from Pilate's court toward Calvary with the cross prepared for Barabbas laid on His bruised and bleeding shoulders, with two thieves taken to die with Him. He was displayed beside Barabbas, who with all his crimes was chosen in His place, while His noble character remained clear in contrast. The judgment-hall trial and suffering were preceded by a night of prayer to the Father. They form part of the most trying ordeal of betrayal, agony in Gethsemane, and crucifixion.
Endurance and Sacrifice
Wounded, striped, exhausted and insulted, He bore the soldiers' abuse with patience and dignity and faithfulness to His Father's will, making no murmur or complaint. Crowned with sharp thorns driven into His temples till blood ran, clothed in a worn tattered purple robe, given a reed for a scepter, bowed to, spit upon, smitten, scourged and stripped, He did not retaliate or use His divine power to escape. Through it all He restrained His divine power, to the marvel and mystery of angels, refusing to seal the lips of scoffers, to paralyze the smiting hand, or to flash righteous indignation upon His abusers. Hostile spiritual influence moved chief priests and elders and mob to this insult and violence. Satan hoped the mockery and violence would provoke Him to complain or to use His divine power to escape and thereby frustrate the plan of salvation.
His suffering in the common hall before He was led away to be crucified was part of the sacrifice He made to open the way for humanity's salvation. The glorious Redeemer, beautiful and lovely, left the realms of glory and came to this dark and lonely world to give His precious life and die, the just for the unjust, with the burden of the sins of the whole world upon Him. His sinless endurance under mocking and scourging was necessary for Him to remain an acceptable offering, that by His precious blood He might redeem humanity unto God. The Roman soldiers who gathered around Him to mock and smite Him were hardened and corrupt in cruelty, yet comparatively ignorant, not knowing He was the Sent of God. Without the light so abundantly given to the Jewish nation and unacquainted with Old Testament history, thinking only to please priests and rulers by abusing Him, they would not have treated Him so cruelly had that light been given them, so the greatest guilt and heaviest responsibility belonged not to them, nor to Pilate and Herod, but to those who stood in the highest places of the nation and basely betrayed their sacred trusts.
Though Pilate declared Him without fault, He was given up to those who hated His reproof and sinless character and were determined to get Him out of the way. He was beaten with rods and crowned with cruel thorns that pierced His brow, and His noble character remained clear in contrast with Barabbas beside whom He was displayed. He bore the heaviest humiliations anyone can bear, so He knows how to sympathize with poor fallen humanity. Angels were present during the cruelty in the judgment hall and could scarcely bear to witness His suffering.
Witness and Example
Those who mocked Him, struck Him with a reed, and set a crown of thorns upon Him will see Him again in kingly majesty and glory, coming in the clouds of heaven and sitting on the right hand of power, and will recognize Him as the One they crucified. Those who put on Him the purple robe, set the thorny crown on His brow, put the mimic scepter in His unresisting hand, bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery, and smote and spit upon Him as the Prince of life will be speechless before that glory. They will turn from His piercing gaze and seek to flee from the overpowering glory of His presence, beholding His marks with terror and remorse.
The sight of Jesus in the hands of wicked men as He approached the cross, crowned with thorns and treated with derision, insult and mockery while His own nation clamored for His blood, deepened the grief and anguish of the disciples. People who had hailed Him as king hissed at Him, reviled Him, and cried for His crucifixion, and the whole band gathered against Him. He was the One in whom the disciples had centered their hopes of eternal life, whom they thought would take His place on David's throne and deliver Israel, so their worldly hopes were shattered and their faith, hope and courage were tested and failed. Herod and his soldiers plaited the crown of thorns for His sacred brow, clothed Him in the purple robe, bowed before Him in mockery, struck Him with the reed they had placed in His hand, and scourged Him as the worst of criminals, while the murderous Barabbas with all his crimes was chosen in His place before He was lifted upon the cross to die as a malefactor.
This scorn of the hooting rabble toward Him who was doomed to the cross, and this turning of professed friends in the time of His trouble, had been foreseen. The faithful few had been prepared for it beforehand by a testing crisis while Jesus was still present to comfort and strengthen them. Thus they were not to be overwhelmed with surprise, sink beneath fear and disappointment, or be carried away by the example of faint-hearted apostasy, but to remember the fickleness of those who once followed Him and not hang their faith upon the opinions of others. That taking away of the Bridegroom gave them cause to mourn and fast.
His suffering in the judgment hall, where He was derided, mocked and insulted, clothed in an old purple kingly robe, crowned with thorns upon His noble brow, and smitten with a reed so that the thorns penetrated His temples and blood flowed from His holy brow, is the measure of the self-denial His followers are called to accept. It shows what Christ gave up for sinners and proves He demands all, undivided affections, entire consecration and separation from the world and from dead, heartless professors. Anything believers call self-denial fades into nothing beside it, and proves the strait, narrow, self-denying way is not too hard. That cruelty endured there teaches self-sacrifice, patience under affliction, solemn consecration to God, and preparation for holy work.
Though Pilate declared Him without fault, He was given up to those who hated His reproof and sinless character and were determined to get Him out of the way, beaten with rods and crowned with cruel thorns that pierced His brow. He bore the heaviest humiliations anyone can bear, so He knows how to sympathize with poor fallen humanity. Believers can go to no greater depths in humility than Christ went. Those who partake of His divine nature must be partakers of His sufferings when placed in hard places, not seeking to be honored, but looking to Jesus for grace to go through trials and see Him in His kingdom.