Pilate's next move was to take Jesus and have him scourged. The soldiers then wove a crown of thorns and fixed it on his head, throwing around his shoulders a cloak of royal purple. Repeatedly, they came up to him and said, "All hail, King of the Jews!", slapping his face as they did so. Pilate went out a second time and said to the crowd: "Observe what I do. I am going to bring him out to you to make you realize that I find no case [against him]." When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak, Pilate said to them, "Look at the man!" As soon as the chief priests and the temple police saw him they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said, "Take him and crucify him yourselves; I find no case against him." "We have our law," the Jews responded, "and according to that law he must die because he made himself God's Son." When Pilate heard this kind of talk, he was more afraid than ever.
Then they place a reed in his hands for a scepter, and with mock solemnity they do many things as if to honor a king. They drop to their knees before him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" They press a crown of thick plaited thorns down upon his forehead and scalp. Blood runs from these new wounds and trickles into his eyes, blinding him. The soldiers and bystanders spit on him, laugh, jeer, and hurl insults. Jesus is consumed with a fever caused by his total exhaustion and by numberless open wounds. His mouth is parched. They beat him on the head with rods. Finally, when they have finished making a fool of him, when they think he has been utterly humiliated and degraded, they strip him of the royal cloak and dress him in his own blood-spattered, muddy garments, and lead him off to crucifixion.
Meditation:
Consider the meekness and mercy of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus; Mary is called the Mother of Mercy - do I seek Her help in imitating the
virtues of Her Son or am I stubborn in my sinfulness? Do I implore His
Mercy for myself and for all souls through the intercession of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary?
