THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 27 - Verse 29

Verse 29. Had platted. The word platted here means woven together, or having made a wreath of a thorn-bush.

A crown. Or perhaps, rather, a wreath. A crown was worn by kings, commonly made of gold, and precious stones. To ridicule the pretensions of Jesus, that he was a king, they probably plucked up a thorn-bush growing near, made it into something resembling, in shape, a royal crown, so as to correspond with the old purple, and to complete the mockery.

Of thorns. What is the precise species of shrub denoted here is not certainly known. It was, however, doubtless one of that species that has sharp points of very hard wood. They could therefore be easily pressed into the skin, and cause considerable pain. Probably they seized upon the first thing in their way that could be made into a crown, and this happened to be a thorn: thus increasing the sufferings of the meek Redeemer.

And a reed in his right hand. A reed is a straight slender herb, growing in marshy places, and abundant on the banks of the Jordan. It was often used for the purpose of making staves for walking; and it is not improbable that this was such a staff in the possession of some person present. The word is several times thus used. See 2 Ki 18:21; Isa 36:6; Eze 29:6. Kings commonly carried a sceptre, made of ivory or gold, as a sign of their office or rank, Es 4:11; 8:4. This reed or staff they put in his hand, in imitation of a sceptre, to deride also his pretensions of being a king.

And they bowed the knee. This was done for mockery. It was an act of pretended homage. It was to ridicule his saying that he was a king. The common mode of showing respect or homage for kings was by kneeling or prostration. It shows amazing forbearance on the part of Jesus, that he thus consented to be ridiculed, and set at naught. No mere human being would have borne it. None but Him who loved us unto death, and who saw the grand results that would come from this scene of sufferings, could have endured such cruel mockery.

Hail, king of the Jews! The term hail was a common mode of salutation to a king, or even to a friend. It implies, commonly, the highest respect for office, as well as the person, and is an invocation of blessings on the person. Here it was used to carry on what they thought to be the farce of his being a king; to ridicule in every possible way the pretensions of a poor, unattended, unarmed man of Nazareth, as if he had been a weak impostor, or had been deranged.

{a} "mocked him" Ps 69:19,20