Mockery again, from three different quarters.
The rulers "sneer" - a Greek word that has the connotation of turning up (or down) one's nose.
The soldiers "jeer" at him, then offer him wine in jest and say, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself."
But the mockery of a common criminal suffering the same fate is the cruelest cut of all.
How bad can it get? Being ridiculed in front of others is one of the worst things that can ever happen to anyone. It's "vandalism" to the human person - like drawing graffiti on a beautiful painting, or taking a hammer to Michelangelo's Pieta.
Have you ever been ridiculed for trying to do what you thought was right? The Lord knows the feeling.
- Little Black Book, Diocese of Saginaw