The soldiers were not part of the judicial decision-making process.  They simply had to carry out the sentence on the prisoner.  Yet they too contributed their heartfelt verdict on the King of Kings. They thought the whole thing was a laugh.  Jesus was a quirky figure who once held the crowd, but now could be mocked and abused with impunity. The robe represented no honour, it was just for ridicule. The crown of thorns was not in their orders, but it came from their hearts.  The call of worship had no integrity: it was an unleashing of Satan's sneer from hearts that also refused to submit to the Truth.

By this time, Jesus was a condemned Man.  Pilate was keen on the description 'King of the Jews'; it made Jesus out to be a treasonous imposter and protected the governor against claims of unlawful sentencing.  A board inscribed with 'Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews' was nailed to His cross (Luke 23:38).  But for the soldiers the King was weak and defenceless – so his sovereignty was a joke.  It was military banter at best, blasphemy at worst.   

Soldiers often defend their actions by saying, "I was just carrying out orders".  But that would not be true for these men.  There was no instruction for them to humiliate Him, but Father God knew they would and King David wrote about it in Psalm 22, and Isaiah in Isaiah 53.  They were sinners with an inbuilt rebellion against the King of Kings. What they did simply expressed their own state before God: they declared themselves to be God's enemies, and did whatever they could to discredit the only one who had come to save them.  But instead their actions validated His as the Messiah.

Alas the saga is not over yet.  Without love for Jesus, apparently respectable and law abiding citizens, and society's office holders, reveal the same heart as those soldiers.  You see it in the blasphemy by celebrities, the godlessness of some law making, the open verbal ridicule of Christ in the media.  You hear it in playgrounds, and the drunken ridicule in university bars.  Any of these characters could fit the soldiers' shoes.  And those of us who love our Saviour will get caught in the cross-fire (quite an apt word, when you think about it).  There will be times when the clouds have no silver lining and when the barrage comes to us, full on, for Christ's sake.  So for His sake, bear it: it is part of 'taking up our cross' (Mark 8:34-38) and following Jesus.