So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
John 19:5
After having been flogged and abused by the soldiers, Yeshua would have made an extraordinarily humble picture. Pilate was mocking Yeshua's accusers for their apparently ridiculous charges as much as he was mocking Yeshua himself. Even when he said "take him yourselves and execute him", he was mocking them. Everyone knew they had already tried and failed, though they had no authority to execute anyone.