John 19:2,3

John 19:2-3. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and placed it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, and they came unto him and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they gave him blows with their hands. All is in mockery of His royal claims: first the crown of thorns, secondly the purple robe, thirdly the coming to Him with mock obeisance, fourthly the ‘Hail, King of the Jews,' fifthly the blows with their hands. We include this last in the same series as the acts preceding it, for the Evangelist, by his peculiar language, appears to mean more than that Jesus was struck. The blows are the mock presents that the subjects bring. They approach Jesus with lowliness and with a ‘Hail;' and then, as if laying their offerings at His feet, they strike Him. The picture of humiliation and suffering is drawn in striking colours, and its advance upon that of chap. 18 must be obvious to every reader. A similar advance appears in the next two verses.