John 19:2-3

The crown of thorns that the Roman soldiers wove and placed on Jesus’ head probably came from a local date palm tree. [Note: H. St. J. Hart, "The Crown of Thorns in John 19, 2-5," Journal of Theological Studies 3 (1952):71-74; Beasley-Murray, p. 336.] Some Roman coins pictured various emperors wearing such crowns that appeared to radiate glory from their heads. [Note: The article by Hart, cited above, contains photographs of such radiate crowns and palm thorns (plate 2).] However the palm fronds when turned inward instead of outward on such crowns proved to be painful spikes. Perhaps John wanted his readers to connect these thorns with the symbol of the consequences of sin (Genesis 3:18).

Likewise the reddish purple garment, perhaps a trooper’s coat, that the soldiers placed over Jesus’ shoulders, was an obvious attempt to mock His claim of being a king (cf. Matthew 27:28; Mark 15:17). Vassal kings wore purple in Jesus’ day. [Note: D. A. Carson, "Matthew," in Matthew-Luke, vol. 8 of Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 573.] The soldiers also struck Jesus in the face with their open hands (cf. 18:22) contradicting their feigned verbal respect with violent brutality.

The Roman soldiers viewed Jesus as a pretender to the throne of Israel and despised Him as a loser. The Sanhedrin members would have been equally happy to see Jesus ridiculed and beaten for what they considered to be His pretense. The Jews who followed Jesus would have felt outraged and hurt by Jesus’ treatment. The believing reader sees the irony in the situation because Jesus really was the King of the Jews (cf. Isaiah 50:6; Isaiah 52:14 to Isaiah 53:6).