Daily devotion – Behold the Man
(Matt. 27:27–31; Mark 15:16–20 )
John 19:1 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
4 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.”
Pilate’s Decision
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
6 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.”
Pilate had Jesus whipped brutally, his attempt to bring a compromise to the cries of” crucify Him” from the crowd urged on by the religious leaders. Maybe a little blood might appease them he thought.
But such Roman whippings usually killed the person being scourged such was the violence of the beating. The soldiers mocking Jesus with a crown of thorns pressed down on His brow and a purple robe draped over Him. This with the beating that the soldiers relentlessly carried out on Jesus face.
And in all this Jesus utters not a word nor reviles His attackers!
The prophet foretold all these events some 700 years before Christ was born – Isa 50:6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
After this savagery on Jesus, Pilate once again attempts to free Jesus by appealing to the crowd, but missed the mark. The crowd’s appetite for blood was beyond recall!
Pilate presents the beaten bloodied figure of Jesus to the mob – “Behold the Man!”
He indeed was the man, the Son of God, God incarnate, God in the flesh and Jesus continues in these preordained days to be the Sacrifice to end all sacrifices!
When we see Jesus’ face to face, we will see the scars that Jesus bore as the Lamb of God – the only man-made things existing in Heaven.
Rev 5:6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
I am sure part of the reason we will have new immortal bodies will be so that we may be able to ‘take in’ all that we will behold on that fateful and glorious day.
Call on the Lord while He may be found…..