Part 26 – John 19

We are now nearing the end of our overview of John’s gospel and here in John 19 we have a very familiar account of Jesus’ trial and imminent crucifixion. 

I am not going to attempt to recount this account but highlight some key phrases, statements, actions and reactions as we go through this chapter.

If you were reading this chapter for the first time you could immediately be put off from reading any further just because of the opening barbaric scene in John 19:1-2, “Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him….. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns, put a purple robe on Him, struck and mocked Him”.

A question here could be why, if Jesus is God’s son, with power and authority, did the all powerful divine God, allow this to happen? This is not what a loving father does to his beloved son. 

This kind of thought process could lead us down a path of rejection of God rather than draw us to Him. 

It appears that the Jewish leaders were desperate to rid their world of this man who claimed to be God, this man who they had witnessed do amazing things, heal the blind, cleanse the leper, cause the lame to walk, even raise the dead to life, yet they failed to see Him as an allie and saw Him as an enemy and in some cases as a devil or evil. 

Pilate, on the other hand, sees things rather differently and brings Jesus before the crowd, who have by now been whipped up into such a frenzied hatred toward him, and says “Behold the Man”. 

This man had stood firm throughout the trial and his afflictions and had not once tried to retaliate or resentfully answer Pilate back, suffice to clarify the facts about himself and the power and authority that had been invested in him from God.

Where did Jesus “the man” learn this kind of attitude? Was it because he was divine and somehow able to be “so perfect” or was it because he learnt obedience, service and love throughout his childhood? Jesus “the man”, scripture tells us, learnt in subjection to his parents, Luke 2:51-52.

Jesus “the man” was a man ‘born of the Spirit’, this man became the representative man for all humanity. Yes he was a man who from the outset was filled with the Spirit of God and many times throughout his earthly life he insisted that he was only able to do the marvellous works and say the inspired words because he consistently acknowledged that all he did was because his Father, the Lord of creation, dwelt in him. He often said “my Father that dwells in me, He does the work”.

Why is it important for us to “Behold the man” Christ Jesus, the man that Pilate could not find any fault with, yet the man that was and is still rejected by the masses as being a fraud and in reality a threat? 

I would like to suggest that the reason why “the man” Christ Jesus was rejected was because the Spirit of the “most-high” dwelt within him. It is the same today, Christ is rejected because the same Spirit is associated with the name of Christ, it is this Spirit which caused and causes the divisions. As Simeon the prophet said to Mary in Luke 2:34 “This child will cause many in Israel to fall, but will be a joy to many others”. It is also this same Spirit which, when captured and understood, causes many to be joyful and hopeful.

Behold the man upon a cross

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection. 

Quoted from “How deep the Father’s love” by Stuart Townend

Behold the man, our representative man. The man who showed humanity that a life lived in and by the indwelt Spirit of the most high was possible. 

All of us are spiritual, we are all created in the image of God and therefore all have the same choice of entering into God’s redemptive plan, a plan that offers redemption and restoration to God the divine Himself. 

Christ, the representative man, filled with Spirit, died once, for all. The eternal sacrifice of a creator God who said “ENOUGH – I will pay the price required so my people need no longer live in captivity but live in ME so they can be a light and an example for all to see”. 

“Behold the man“ – “I find no fault in him”. Do we find fault in him or do we find him to be our source of life for life? 

Behold the man, our representative man.

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