The Gospels reveal Jesus' status as a servant-king in part by revealing how unlike a king the world thought him to be: if Jewish opponents ridiculed his claim to be a prophet (26:68), Roman opponents mocked his pretentious claim to royalty (27:29). Auxiliaries stationed in Palestine might be happy to ridicule the notion of a Jewish king—thereby also ridiculing the people among whom they were stationed (Malina and Rohrbaugh 1992:163). Those in the East who worshiped Caesar or Hellenistic rulers would kneel and cry, "Ave [Hail], Caesar!" (Blinzler 1959:227; R. Brown 1970:2:875). The soldiers here offer the same to Christ, but the narrative inverts their irony: he is the rightful ruler whom they sarcastically claim him to be.

The scarlet robe (v. 28) is undoubtedly a faded red soldier's cloak, the staff or scepter probably a bamboo cane used for military floggings, and the crown of thorns probably woven from the branches of an available shrub like acanthus (Blinzler 1959:227). The long thorns may have turned outward to imitate contemporary crowns rather than inward to draw blood (Blinzler 1959:244-45). After the mockery the soldiers turn to abusing Jesus physically (though the blows are also insulting; see 5:39; Dupont 1992:126-27).