Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 19

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. And said, Hail, King of the Jews!

Just as they would say, "Ave Imperator" – "Hail emperor" – so they imitated that greeting which they applied to Caesar, applying it to Jesus in mockery.

In their use of the title "King of the Jews," the utmost scorn was thrown into its final part, "of the Jews." There had been a general tradition that a king would arise from among the Jews who would subdue the nations. The Romans, therefore, jested at the very thought that they could be conquered by the leader of such a despised race as the Jews, and so they mockingly declared Him "King of the Jews."

And they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

That is the second time he said it. He had declared it before; in the 38th verse of the previous chapter (John 18:38) we read, I find in him no fault at all. And now again, That ye may know that I find no fault in him.

Then came Jesus forth – you can see him going down the steps out of Pilate's hall into that same courtyard – wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them – Ecce Homo – behold the man. He does not call him king; he only gives him the title of man, as if to say, "How foolish are you to think there is any danger from him; look at him in all his suffering and shame."

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

This was one of the most terrible punishments to which a person could be sentenced. The Roman scourge was no trifle. It tore off the quivering flesh of the agonized sufferer, for it was constructed on purpose to do so. It was generally made of the sinews of oxen, intertwined with the knuckle bones of sheep, and small slivers of bone.

This torture our blessed Saviour endured. These are the stripes with which we are healed.

And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

Mockery was blended with cruelty. They might have made him a crown, yet surely it need not have been one of thorns unless they intended to put him to the utmost torment that they could conceive.

By this crown of thorns our blessed Lord was crowned King of the curse, for the earth was cursed through Adam's sin, and part of the sentence pronounced by God in the garden of Eden was, Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. So Christ wore the mark of the curse which man's sin had brought upon the world.

And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

This was the homage which the Son of God received from men; harmless and gentle, he came here with no purpose but that of doing good, and this is how mankind treated him.