Behold the Man

Many a crown has been secured by blood, and so is this, but it is his own blood; many a throne has been established by suffering, and so is this, but he himself bears the pain. --Charles Spurgeon

On first reading, it appears in the biblical account that Pontius Pilate was weak. He appears unable to make a decision, finally washing his hands of the entire process of the prosecution and execution of Jesus. He seems to bow to the will of the people, even though he clearly believed Jesus to be innocent of all charges. As we shall see in our study today, Pilate appears to promote a policy of appeasement rather than take a stand and exercise his authority as a Roman ruler and representative of Caesar. 

History tells a different story. His contemporaries called him "inflexible, harsh, and obdurate." During his ten years as governor of Judea, there were three defining conflicts with the Jewish people that he governed.

The first was on his initial visit to Jerusalem. In Roman thought, the Emperor was considered a god, and the Jews despised all gods but Yahweh. All of Pilate's predecessors had made the soldiers that accompanied them remove the image of the Emporer from their standards. Pilate refused to do so. Commentator William Barclay says, "Pilate was adamant; he would not pander to the superstitions of the Jews. He went back to Caesarea. The Jews followed him. They dogged his footsteps for five days. They were humble, but determined in their requests." Pilate asked the Jews to meet him in the amphitheater. When they arrived, Pilate had them surrounded by armed soldiers, telling them that if they did not stop their requests, that he would have them killed right then and there. In response, the Jews bared their necks and invited the soldiers to strike. "Not even Pilate would massacre defensless men like that," says Barclay. He finally agreed to remove the images from the standards.

The second incident involved the water supply in Jerusalem. Pilate wanted to build a new aqueduct, but he raided the Temple treasury to do it. Though the Jews enjoyed the new water source, they resented Pilate for having stolen the funds from them. The Jews staged a riot. Pilate responded by having Roman soldiers wear plain clothes and disperse themselves among the crowds. When the command was given, the soldiers attacked the people. Many Jews were stabbed or clubbed to death that day. This caused him to be reported to his superiors in Rome.

The third incident was much like the first. Pilate had a number of decorative shields made. On these shields he had inscribed the name TIBERIUS. The decorative shields were devoted to the honor and memory of the Emperor. Again, the Roman ruler was considered to be a god in the culture of Rome; the Jews hated that the name of a false god was inscribed and reverentially displayed in the holy city of Jerusalem. "The people were enraged; the greatest men, even his closest supporters, besought Pilate to remove them. He refused. The Jews reported the matter to Tiberius the Emporer, and he ordered Pilate to remove them" (Barclay).

Given this background, let's take a look at the text in John's gospel. You remember that Pilate had interviewed Jesus, and came out to the people, saying to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

"But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" Then they all cried again, saying, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!" Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." (John 18:39-19:7)

In this passage, Pilate tried three different times to appease the Jews. Why did he go to such lengths? Why didn't he make a decision and stick with it? The answer may be found in John 19:12. "From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend." Remember the background we learned earlier about Pilate, that he had been reported to Emperor Tiberius Caesar twice before for making bad governing decisions. Any new accusation that made its way to Rome would be Pilate's third strike; he could be removed from office, and another would be appointed to take his place.

How did Pilate try to appease the crowd? First, he offered to free Jesus in accordance with Passover tradition. Once a year the governor would grant clemency to a man condemned to die. Pilate offered to grant clemency to Jesus, in honor of this custom.

The Jews would have nothing of it. They demanded the release of a man they called Barabbas. Commentators say that during this time period people did not have surnames like they do now. My last name is Stewart, as was my father's. In the first century, people were known by their fathers' name, as well. In Matthew 16:17, Jesus addresses Simon Peter as "Simon bar Jonah," or Simon, son of Jonah. In this passage, the thief whom the crowd wanted released was either known as "bar-Abbas" or "bar-Rabbas". That is, either he was known as "son of his father," meaning that his dad was also an insurrectionist, or he was called "son of the Rabbi." This second possibility may imply that Barabbas was a Zealot, a member of a militant sect who wanted to see the overthrow of Roman oppression. His acts of insurrection could have been on behalf of the Jewish people, meaning that he could have been a local hero to the Jews. In either instance, it would make sense that the cross upon which Jesus died was originally meant for him.

That, in essence, is the gospel message. Jesus did not deserve such torture, as He was without sin. We, on the other hand, deserve the beatings and scourging and death that He endured for us, because we are sinful creatures.

The second act of appeasement that Pilate tried was to have Jesus scourged. In this process, a man would be tied to a stake, forced into a stooping position with his back to the torturer. The scourge was a leather whip with sharp stones, shaped bones, and jagged bits of metal embedded into the ends. Each time the victim was whipped, he would endure deep lacerations. Barclay wrote, "It literally tore a man's back into strips. Few remained conscious throughout the ordeal; some died, and many went raving mad." It was said that forty lashes with a scourge would surely kill a man, so the punishment would stop at 39 lashes.

Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote, "He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). This does not mean, as some might suggest, that God's will is that His people would be healed of all diseases and infirmities. Instead, it describes the atonement; Jesus took on our punishment, so that we could be saved.

Now, when Pilate brought out Jesus, bleeding from the head and face from the crown of thorns they had pressed down upon His head, and with His back in tatters, he may have thought that the crowd would have compassion on Jesus. Maybe this level of punishment would be enough for them, that they might let Jesus live. Thus, when Pilate said, "Behold the Man," he wanted the Jews to take a good look at Jesus. Hadn't He suffered enough?

The Jews were not satisfied. They wanted Pilate to finish Him off. "Crucify Him," they cried. Their blood lust was not satisfied. Their appetite for revenge had barely been whetted.

Pilate made a third attempt. "I find no fault in Him," he said. "If you want Him crucified, you do it." Maybe putting the responsibility of this Man's death on the Jewish religious leaders would make them re-think their position. After all, was Judaism considered a peaceful religion? Weren't they all preparing for Passover, a religious feast commemorating an animal sacrifice that satisfied the Angel of Death from killing their firstborn sons? Perhaps placing that responsibility squarely on their heads would remind them that Jesus was the firstborn of His mother, that lambs were at that very minute being prepared for slaughter to commemorate the "passing over" of the angel of death, would make them choose life.

Last week we saw that the Jews were hiding their true motives for wanting to see Jesus dead. They brought civil charges against Him, charges that Pilate had already ruled were insufficient for the death penalty. Now, having seen Pilate's willingness to spill Jesus' blood, reveal their true motivation. "He deserves to die," they said, "because He claims to be the Son of God."

God had created man in His image, to remind us that we are His. Man corrupted that image, and God threw him out of the Garden. Did you know that there were no thorns in Eden? Thorns were only introduced as a result of man's sin. And now, God sent a perfect Man into the world, One without sin. Commentator NT Wright says this:

Now at last, with Roman emperors and creation stories in our heads, we find ourselves on a Friday morning, on the sixth day of the week, looking at the Roman governor and his peculiar new prisoner. He lets the soldier dress Him up as a king--of sorts: the crown of thorns, and the slapping about the face, tell you what they thought of such a claim. And Pilate says the words that still haunt us: "Look! Here's the Man!" Here is the true image of the true God. Here is the One who has brought God's wisdom into the world. Here is the living embodiment of God, the One who has made the invisible God visible. Here is the King. Here is the breathing statue of the Emperor-of-All, placed within the emperor's world so that people could see who was their true master. And all his rebel subjects can do is mock, and slap, and scream for His blood. He's made Himself God's Son, they say. Well, John's reader knows by now that Jesus has indeed behaved as the One who, as of right, reflects God into the world. His own intimate knowledge of the Father, and the sharing of that with His friends, is either a pack of lies, or it's true. But--and here's the new thing, the thing not mentioned in Genesis 1--this, too, this misrepresentation, these accusations, this crown of thorns (the sharp bits of creation, we note, drawing blood from creation's Lord), and the rest: all this is part of what it means to be God's image, planted in territory which belongs to God but which is in rebellion against Him. "He was in the world." Now we have learned what John means by "the world", that little sentence says it all.

John 1:10-12 says, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." 

Are you a child of God? Do you believe in His name, in His work, in His saving power, in His forgiveness, and in His mission?