27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27)
Roman soldiers had a rough life. They were underpaid, spent most of their time away from home, and were greatly disliked by people. They got no respect. That, however, does not excuse the great disrespect shown from some of them here toward Jesus. To be sure, they probably had great disdain for the self-rightousness of some of the Jews they had met, so being in this position of control over one of them may have given them great pleasure. But they went "above and beyond" their responsibility in punishing this prisoner. But lest we go to far in accusing them, we also can assume a place as "judge, jury and executioner" towards others we really do not know. Many times we feel it is our job to "punish" others for what they have done, especially toward us. In then end, we too hurt Jesus - not physically, but where it really matters. So let us be very responsible, and respectful, in whatever we are called to do today.
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