27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
The soldiers had no axe to grind in the matter of Jesus' condemnation and execution. Of all the participants in this awesome drama they were naturally the most indifferent. Yet two things stand out clearly. One is that in their obvious desire for some diversion in the context of their grim duty as executors of the Roman decree, and in their brutal and heartless treatment of the, to them, hapless prisoner, they nevertheless inadvertently bore witness to the deepest truth of what was happening. For it was a King they were insulting and about to crucify, and God intended that His kingship should be proclaimed to the world that thus rejected Him. The other point is that simple indifference to Christ, as well as active and diabolical opposition and hatred, is deeply culpable in the sight of God. In the end, the one comes to the same as the other. The mockery of 29- 31 and that of 41-43 have little to choose between them; indeed, that of the chief priests is more understandable than that of the soldiers, and prompts the reflection that indifference to Christ and the things of God may often be only 'skin-deep', and that when probed and exposed for what it is, may reveal an elemental and implacable heart enmity and rebellion against God. When all is said and done, is there, after all, much difference between those who are conscious tools of the devil and those who are unconsciously in his control?