Mark 15:16-20-- Taking Another's Shame

The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him.

 Jesus was whipped (v. 15) and then he was taken into the Roman palace in Jerusalem.  There he was in the hands of soldiers, where he was mocked.  

The soldiers were mocking Jesus—the crucified king— but they had also picked up on Pilate’s mocking tone of the Judeans he was speaking to.  Pilate didn’t understand Jewish concerns, and he despised them, which is why he was so violent to those who broke Roman law.  So when Pilate called Jesus the one whom “you called the king of the Jews,” he was mocking them—but they didn’t respond to the mockery.  Now the soldiers were having their opportunity to mock the Judeans, and they took it out on Jesus.  They figured that if Jesus was called “the king of the Jews” then they would dress him up in the semblance of a king and then beat him and make fun of him, at the expense of the Jews.  

Purple was only worn by royalty and sometimes by the very wealthy, and so they put some of these clothes on him in order to make fun of him.  The crown of thorns wasn’t meant to hurt, so much as to mock.  They gave him praise as an equal of Caesar, “Hail, king of the Jews”.  The reed was supposed to replace a scepter, the symbol of a king’s authority—but they beat him with it.  Even as they were calling him a king, they were humiliating him, beating him and spitting at him.  

Here and throughout the rest of the passion story, Mark emphasizes the humiliation and lowliness Jesus experienced, and that willingly.

Jesus was placed in this position of shame because he identified with the lowly of those who loved God-- women, the sick, Gentiles and sinners.  Because of this position, he is now experiencing the shame of all his people.  The leaders of his people placed him there because Jesus allowed himself to be vulnerable before them.  They have thrown Jesus to their enemies so that he might take on all of their shame for them.

We all will experience shame at times, but it is rare for us to accept shame that isn't ours.  And if we don't have to take mocking or pain, then we will step back quickly and say, "Hey, this isn't about me.  You want to mock them."  We don't want be vulnerable.  We certainly don't want to take someone else's mocking or pain.

But that's why Jesus was in this position, specifically.  To accept that which he did not deserve, at the hands of those who find he is politically expedient.  I hate to say this, but this is at times what Jesus calls us to do as well.  To accept the shame and pain that is not ours, but we take it on because we want to help others get relief.  If we can accept this, head held high, and strong knowing that God will give us release from all this pain, all the better.