Now that Jesus has been sentenced to death, he is now handed over to the Roman garrison. But first, they have a little game they want to play. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. – Mark 15:16-17 Jesus has already been beaten many times, including in the judgment hall of Caiaphas and by Pilate’s guard. Now he is in the hands of the Roman garrison. Part of the process of crucifixion was usually that the condemned criminal was beaten within an inch of his life. This had various purposes. One of them was so that the victim might be weakened to make it easier for the crucifixion process. Also, by removing the skin from the victim’s back, the cross would be more painful to endure as the dying man continuously pulled himself up against the rough timber to breathe. It was also all part of the torture of crucifixion. That’s why the soldiers are savagely beating Jesus. And as they do so, they mock him. They call him the king of the Jews, and so they put a purple robe on him and thrust a crown of thorns onto his head. After all, the more blood, the better. Like the soldiers that morning, the world has a tendency to use the tokens of royalty to mock Jesus. The world calls him “Lord” in vain – as an expletive – and it abuses him for a laugh. And religious people do similarly when they call Christ “Lord” and sing to him and go through the motions yet are unwilling to submit their lives to him and obey him. Decide now to surrender all to Jesus the King.