Mark 15:16-20
Soldiers
sometimes do silly things. They are, after all, people just like us, and we do
silly things sometimes! We think of soldiers being disciplined and regimented,
and they are. They train to win wars. The practice what they will do in
hundreds of situations until their actions and reactions become almost
automatic. Surviving and winning requires a commitment to training and the
military is one of the best training organizations.
But
one thing the military does not do is train what to do when there is down time,
time when they are not fighting, time when they are bored, time when they aren’t
training. And these are the times that make the headlines. Those Friday nights
near a military installation are known to be times when trouble happens. But so
are Friday nights around college campuses! In fact, college campuses have
trouble most nights. The military day starts too early in the morning during
the week for too much late night activity.
Unfortunately, the Roman soldiers on duty that
morning in Jerusalem had too much time on their hands. It seems like they were
bored. And their creative, mischievous juices got flowing. They didn’t write
great poetry or compose a symphony. They instead engaged in mockery. They were
on duty around political leaders and in a city filled with religious pageantry.
They had seen how royalty gets treated. Their mischief pallet had been
prepared.
And
here comes a prisoner who is charged with being a king, a king of the Jews to
boot. The Jews were an oppressed people. They were under the thumb of Rome.
They had pretensions of power, but lacked the ability to act on their
pretensions. And the religious leaders in Jerusalem would have caught the
power-to-the-head bug. They had positions that lifted them above their fellow
Jews. But they stayed below the Romans!
So
the soldiers get into mischief. They pretend Jesus is a king. They clothe Him,
and then mock and beat Him. I can almost imagine their laughter as they go
through their morning. One idea leads to another. One suggests the mock
clothing. Another suggests the crown. Another calls out, “Hail.”
But
then it gets out of hand. One of them hits Jesus, then another and another. I’m
not sure if softening up Jesus was part of their job before crucifixion or not.
Perhaps Rome wanted weak people on the crosses. They didn’t want someone with
strength to be defiant hanging in public view making statements, inciting the
crowd. So weakening a condemned prisoner might be part of standard operating
procedure.
In
one way it was merciful. Being weaker would mean that you spent less time
hanging on the cross in agony. And less time was what most people want when
facing an agonizing dying process.