Then
he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him. They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. When they had mocked him, they took the robe off of him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27:26-31
Matthew 27 [25.] All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”
Matthew 27 [26.] Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him. They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. When they had mocked him, they took the robe off of him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27 [32.] As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to go with them, that he might carry his cross. They came to a place called “Golgotha”, that is to say, “The place of a skull.” They gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.
Meaning:
The crowd had chosen Barabbas, and Pilate gave in to their shouts. Mark tells the same story: “Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them, and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified” (Mark 15:15), followed by the soldiers’ mockery (Mark 15:16-20). Jesus had foretold exactly this: he would be handed “over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify” (Matthew 20:19).
- “Then he released to them Barabbas”
A man guilty of rebellion and murder walked free, and the innocent one took his place. Pilate had declared Jesus righteous and then condemned him. The scene is a picture of what the cross achieves for every believer: the guilty set free because the righteous one bears the penalty.
- “but Jesus he flogged”
Roman flogging was brutal. Prisoners were stripped and beaten with whips of leather straps weighted with pieces of bone or metal, tearing the flesh. Some did not survive it. Isaiah had foreseen this suffering: “I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). He also tells us why: “He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
- “gathered the whole garrison together against him”
The Praetorium was the governor’s headquarters in Jerusalem. The garrison, or cohort, could number several hundred soldiers, most of them recruited from non-Jewish peoples of the region. For them, a Jew who was said to claim a throne was an easy target for contempt. They turned the King of the Jews into a joke.
- “a scarlet robe… a crown of thorns… a reed in his right hand”
Every detail mocked a royal coronation. The scarlet cloak, probably a soldier’s red cape, stood in for the purple robe of a king. The crown of thorns imitated the wreath worn by emperors, and the reed was a mock sceptre. They knelt and cried, “Hail, King of the Jews!” the way subjects greeted Caesar. Then they spat on him and struck him on the head with the very reed they had given him as a sceptre.
The soldiers meant it as a cruel joke, but they spoke more truth than they knew. Jesus was indeed a king, and his crown of thorns would become the sign of his reign. The one they mocked bears the name “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16). One day every knee will bow to him in true worship, not in mockery (Philippians 2:10-11).
- “led him away to crucify him”
When they had finished, they put his own clothes back on him and led him out. Already exhausted from the flogging, he was soon unable to carry his cross, and Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry it for him (Matthew 27:32).
The Significance of Matthew 27:26-31
- He bore shame for us
Jesus endured not only pain but humiliation. He was stripped, spat upon and laughed at. Hebrews says he “endured the cross, despising its shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Those who carry shame of their own can know that their Lord understands it and has carried it to the cross.
- True honour for the true King
The soldiers knelt in mockery. Believers are called to kneel in truth, honouring Jesus as King with their whole lives. Every act of worship, obedience and love is a reply to that scene in the Praetorium.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 50:6: "I gave my back to those who beat me," The Servant who accepted suffering.
Isaiah 53:5: "and by his wounds we are healed." Why Jesus was flogged.
Mark 15:17: "They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him." Mark’s parallel account.
Hebrews 12:2: "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame," Jesus’ endurance.
Conclusion: Pilate released Barabbas, had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to the soldiers, who dressed him in scarlet, crowned him with thorns and mocked him as King of the Jews. In all this Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s words about the suffering Servant. The soldiers’ cruel joke spoke the truth: the one they mocked is the King of kings, whose wounds bring healing and peace.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible