When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!(Matthew 27:29 NKJV).

Matthew uses the Greek word epitithimi, a word that implies they violently pushed or forcefully shoved this crown of thorns onto Jesus’ head. These thorns would have been extremely painful and caused blood to flow profusely from His brow. Because the thorns were so jagged, they would have created terrible wounds as they scraped across Jesus’ scalp and literally tore the flesh from His skull.

Matthew called it a “crown” of thorns. The word “crown” is from the Greek word stephanos, the word that described a coveted victor’s crown. These soldiers intended to use this mock crown to make fun of Jesus. Little did they know that Jesus was preparing to win the greatest victory in history.