Turn back with me in your Bible,
John 19. The first thing I want us to
consider in light of Pilate's declaration of, Behold your King,
is that the Lord Jesus Christ is there alone. He was there
alone. He had no help from any man. He was there in the midst of
all of his enemies and he was there alone and he was there
only. And he was there as the great
sovereign God of the universe. He was there as the great suffering
servant. He was there as the great representative
of all of his people. He was there in his sovereignty
as the King of Truth. He says, I have a kingdom and
my kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom was of this world,
my servants would fight. God's servants don't need to
fight. Our God has accomplished the victory all by himself. Here there he was, bound before
these people and listen to how they arrayed him. He had a crown
of thorns, verse 2. plaited and they put it on his
head and they put on him a purple robe and they said, Hail King
of the Jews. The other Gospel accounts said
that he had a reed in his hand. They gave him the scepter of
the king and mockingly they gave him a reed rather than the scepter
of the king. You might recall from the book
of Esther that she went in to see her husband And she was nervous
because you were only accepted when the scepter was raised to
you. She was looking at her husband,
but she was also looking at that scepter. And Jeremiah 49, as
we looked at some little time ago, Jeremiah 49 says that the
scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. That's the promise. The scepter
was the right to put someone to death, the right to reign,
the right to have rule over life and death. And therefore, with
that gone from them as they admitted, they should have been looking
around for the Messiah to come. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God
Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ has power over all flesh and
I'm so thankful that he did all this alone. I'm so thankful that
in these very events he's saying, I am doing all of the redeeming. I am shedding all of the blood. I am ruling and reigning. I am bearing in my body all of
what your sins deserve and I'm doing it alone. Don't you love
the fact that the salvation is by sovereign grace alone? That God does it all, and he
does it all for his people, and he does it all for these people
who are in union with him. And I want us to look just quickly
at all of the elements of the Lord Jesus Christ being a King
here as we look through this, but I just want to spend most
of our time just looking at what it is for him to be the King.
When Pilate said, Behold your King, God was saying, Behold
your King. When Pilate said, Behold the man, God was saying,
Behold the man. Behold your King. So what do
you see? What do we see in the Lord Jesus
Christ? This is eternal life, is knowing
Him. And knowing Him involves seeing
Him as He's declared in the scriptures to be. is this king here. And he's the king of truth in
the previous chapter. And he's the king, as we saw
a couple of weeks ago, he's the king of the substitute. He's
the king who stands in the place of all the Barabbases of this
world. And he takes Barabbas' place
on the cross of Calvary and Barabbas goes free. It's a glorious picture
of substitution. That's exactly what was happening.
That's how he is a king here, is the substitute. We see him,
as we saw last week, in verses 1 and 2, we see him scourged,
his back ploughed with the furrows of that scourge. and we see him
scorned and we see last week we looked at the fact that his
stripes are the stripes that we deserve for our blasphemy
and our wickedness against God Almighty and he was bearing in
his body all of the wrath against them. And last week we remembered,
I trust, that the The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
is infinite blood and eternal, and the wounds of the Lord Jesus
Christ are infinite. They're infinite because of who
bore them. They're infinite because He was bruised by His Father. There was an infinite, eternal
transaction between God the Father and God the Son that was being
enacted here when the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin. And they're
infant and eternal because for the rest of eternity the Lord
Jesus Christ, when seen in his glory, will be seen. his scarred
feet. This same Jesus is coming back
now, according to Revelation. He's on his way back to gather
his church. What a Saviour, what a King we
have bearing those scars. And they said, Hail King of the
Jews. We have him as the substitute. We see him, also we see him,
Pilate declared him, three times in John's Gospel he's declared
him, I have found no fault in him at all. Seven times in the
Gospel accounts it's recorded, and I know there's repetition
in them, but seven times in the Gospel accounts, Pilate declares
there's no fault in him. There's no fault in him. There's
no fault in him. There's no fault in him. Behold
your King, the Lamb. Behold your King, the Lamb, declared
innocent by all the power of Rome. Declared innocent. He is the Lamb without spot and
blemish. He was a lamb who was examined
for those three and plus years of his earthly ministry. He's
examined in every minute detail and examined. And they even had
Judas to help them examine him. And they turn around and say,
we find no fault. And Pilate says, I find no fault
in him. He gave himself, he gave his
back to the smiters. He gave himself. He was sovereign
in all of these events, in all of the stripes, in all of the
scorning. Behold your king, and we'll look a bit more at this
before we close today, but behold your king in his royal attire,
and homage paid to him, his crown, his robe, his scepter. They were saying hail, king of
the Jews. And it was in this state as him
being declared the king that they punched him in the face.
That is where the heart of man's enmity against God is. God being God. God being King. And that's what they say in verse
7. He's made himself the Son of
God. He is. Behold your King, who is the
Christ. Behold your King, who is the
Son of God. He's the King of all eternity.
Pilate asks him in verse 9, where have you come from? Jesus has
already told him, I've come from heaven, my kingdom is not of
this world. I'm a king, but I'm not a king of this world. And
then in verse when Pilate says, why don't you speak to me? He
said, Pilate declares what people think they have is that I have
the power. to crucify thee, and I have the
power to release thee. And Jesus answered him, listen
to the omnipotent, behold this king, you could have no power
at all against me, except it was given thee from above. You're
not powerful, Pilate. The Roman Empire's not powerful.
You read about the empires of this world in Isaiah. They're
a bit of dust on the scales, no matter how big we see them
to be. You don't have any power over
God. God has power over all flesh,
all the time. He's a king. Verse 12, Pilate
sought to release him, and the Jews cried out, if you let this
man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself
a king speaketh against Caesar. He's the King of Passover. In verse 14, it was the preparation
of the Passover. This was the time, isn't it?
It's extraordinary, isn't it? I think I said it last week,
that we have this word Easter in our Bibles. And I don't know
why, but out of the 29 times that word is in the New Testament
Greek, there's only one time it's ever translated Easter.
But you think of what's happened because of that one mistake that
our translators made all those years ago. We've turned the Passover
into Easter bunnies and Easter eggs and all sorts of other paraphernalia. He is our Passover. And it's
on account of that, the pilot said, behold your king. He's the king of Passover, but
also he's the king who in this event, is revealing humanity. He reveals, and listen to what
these chief priests said. They cried out in response to
him being the king, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall
I crucify your king? Listen to what God Almighty caused
to come out of the mouths of these people who thought that
they were the most religious, self-righteous people this world
has ever seen. They could look down their nose
at the rest of humanity. They could call almost all of
humanity dogs in their presence. They are the ones who thought
themselves so righteous and holy they were blameless before the
law. What does God do in revealing the Lord Jesus Christ? He's revealing
us, brothers and sisters. We have no king but Caesar. What
an extraordinary thing for them to say. I keep thinking when
I have conversations with people and they get very sort of hairy
that they will go away and think about some of the words that
they've actually said in the conversation in the heat of the
moment. I wonder what these people, how
they prepared their sermons for the next morning, having those
words on their lips. We have no king. We have no king
but Caesar. Our God is the King who is the
revealer of people, but he's the revealer of all humanity.
And in verse 18, obviously we'll
look at more of this in the next few weeks, but they crucified
him and two other with him on either side, one and Jesus in
the midst. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
divider of humanity. He divides humanity left and
right, saved and lost. He is the one who does the dividing. He divides all humanity. And he's the King who caused
Pilate to write a title and put it on the cross. Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
King over what is written. These are Pilate's words, but
who had power over all flesh for Pilate to utter these words?
What I have written, I have written. Aren't you thankful of the Word
of God? You can declare that over all
the Word of God. What I have written, I have written.
And it's unchangeable. It's set in stone, isn't it?
Our God changes not, and His Word doesn't change. His Word
has no contradictions in it. All of the problems with us understanding
His Word are in us and not in God Almighty. Aren't you thankful
that it's an unchangeable, eternal Word? Aren't you thankful? When Pilate said, it's what I
have written, I have written, God is saying, what I have written
about my Son, I have written. What I have written about you,
I have written. And no one's gonna change it. It's written,
it's eternal in the heavens. The word of God that we have
before us, how precious is it. Behold your King. So in all of
those aspects and many more no doubt the Lord Jesus Christ is
there as a King and let's not forget that he's not there as
a victim, he's there as a sovereign almighty reigning ruler. He set
his face like a flint, he came to heaven for this hour. He came
from heaven's glory for this hour and for this purpose and
in the midst of it all he has one desire doesn't he? Father
glorify your name. Glorify who you are. Glorify
who you are in all of this punishment that I'm being afflicted with.
Glorify your name as holy and righteous and just. Let's go
back a little bit to verse 5. I know I'm jumping around but
I want us to try and get something of the picture. We've looked
at him as the king, as the substitute, the king as the one who bore
the scorn and the spittle and the lashes of men. But the Lord
Jesus Christ is caused, Pilate is caused to say in verse five,
when the Lord Jesus Christ went forth wearing the crown of thorns
and the purple robes, and Pilate saith unto them, behold the man. I find no fault in him. He's no threat to Caesar. Look
at this man with his face marred more than any other man. Pilate
thought Genuinely thought, having had all that was done to the
Lord Jesus Christ, he might be able to raise a little bit of
sympathy from those religious leaders. When the Lord was brought
forth, scourged, don't forget he was scourged and beaten within
an inch of his life, and then they adorned him in this mock
kingship. No sympathy. Write it down according
to the word of God the most hardened people in this world We often think that the nasty,
nasty things that go on in the world are the sign of the most
wickedness that is to be seen. This is where the greatest wickedness
is, because this is wickedness against perfect innocence. This
is wickedness against perfect love. This is wickedness against
perfect humanity. This is wickedness that is brought
out of the heart of men when God says, We've read it often
in Luke Chapter 4 when he declares himself to be God Almighty in
Nazareth. And then he explains what it
is for him to be God Almighty. God Almighty has the right over
all humanity all of the time. He's the One. He's the Lord,
isn't he? He has the right. He has the
right to do with all of his creation as he sees fit. And those people
who'd known him for 30 years nearly took him off and wanted
to kill him. In a heartbeat! In a church service! The other aspect of the Lord
Jesus Christ when Pilate says, Behold the man, he's saying,
Behold the man. Behold this one man who has lived
on this earth, who is the only man who's lived on this earth
for the glory of God. He's the only man. Eve said when she got Cain, I've
gotten a man from God, and we know what happened to Cain. He's the one true man who glorified
God as a man. In every moment of his life,
from his conception till his death, he lived in perfect faithfulness
to God Almighty. Listen to what Isaiah 43 says
about this man and all those who are in him. This man, Isaiah
43 verse 7. He says, even. Everyone, he's
talking about his elect in the Lord Jesus Christ, how he's going
to gather them from the north and the south and the east and
he's going to bring them to himself. And he'll say, bring my sons
from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Everyone
that is called by my name, for I have created him. So he's talking about all of
the ones he's created for his name, and I have created him. Where is our origin? Where? He's
speaking about the eternal glory of the union that he prayed about
in John 17. The union between him and his
bride. Everyone that is called by my name, for I have created
him. for my glory. Yea, I have formed
him. I have made him. Don't misunderstand
that the Lord Jesus Christ was God Almighty from all eternity.
He's speaking about the incarnation, the body that God the Father
prepared him. Behold the man. Behold the man. There is just one man. There's
just one man that God looks to for all of the honour of his
name in this world. There's just one man that God
looks to for all the satisfaction of his holiness and his justice. There is just one man that he
looks to for all holy obedience to his law. God says in Leviticus,
it must be perfect to be accepted. This is the perfect man. Seven
times Pilate says, there's no fault in him, there's no fault
in him. The Lord Jesus Christ is exposed as a king who is a
revealer. And he reveals the religion that
dwells in the heart of all natural men. Our sins and what we are
before God is on display in these events. And unless we see that,
we'll look down our noses and say about those Pharisees and
the Sadducees who were there crying out, crucify, crucify
him. Well, if I was there, I wouldn't
have done that. You've heard people say that. It's a shocking thing, isn't
it, to think that in those very words they're declaring that
if they were there, they would have done that. Because they're
declaring that these people are doing it in the pride of their
belief in themselves. He is the one true man. The rest
of humanity is sin. The rest of humanity is sin. Sin is what we are. And that's
why sin flows out of us so readily and so easily and so unprovoked. He is the one man. He is the
one alone lamb without spot and blemish. He's the one that was
not only the man, but he was the King who was able to bear
all of the wrath of God Almighty. I'll just read one of my favorite
poems from Mr. Hart. And why, dear Savior, tell
me why, Thou thus would suffer, bleed, and die. What mighty motive
could thee move? The motive's plain, t'was all
for love. For love of whom? Of sinner's
base, a hardened herd, a rebel race, that mocked and trampled
on thy blood, and wantoned with the wounds of God. When rocks
and mountains rent with dread, And gaping graves gave up their
dead, When the fair sun withdrew his light, And hid his head to
shun the sight, Then stood the wretch of human race, And raised
his head and showed his face, Gazed unconcerned where nature
failed, And scoffed and sneered and cursed and railed. Harder
than rocks and mountains are, More dull than dirt and earth
by far, Man viewed unmoved by thy blood's rich stream, Nor
ever dreamed it flowed for him. Such was that race of sinful
men that gained that great salvation then, such and such only, still
we see. Such were they all, and such
are we. The Jews with thorns his temples
crowned, and lashed him when his hands were bound. But thorns
and knotted whips and bands by us were furnished to their hands. They nailed him to the accursed
tree. They did, my brethren, so did
we. The soldier pierced his side,
tis true, but we have pierced him through and through. a love
of unexampled kind that leaves all thought so far behind. where length and breadth and
depth and height are lost to my astonished sight. For love of me, the Son of God,
drained every drop of vital blood. Long time I after idols ran,
but now my gods are martyred men. Behold your king. Behold the man. Behold your king. Ultimately, there is just one
issue, isn't there? The kingship of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Is he the king that he describes
himself to be? Man in religion will talk about
a sovereign God, even a God who elects and predestinates, a God
who performs miracles, a God who does all he can on the cross
to show how much he loves everyone. But a King on the cross saving
only those given him, a King on the cross loving only a king on the cross in union
with a particular people. Man will love a king, a god and
a saviour who creates a possibility of salvation and makes an offer
of salvation to all humanity. But a king who reigns as an absolute
sovereign, To reveal His glory and not man. A King who reigns
absolutely sovereignly to reveal what we are in our natural hearts. To reveal our depravity. To reveal what our religion outside
of Christ really is all about. It's all very easy, isn't it,
for people to say, oh, how I love Jesus. And I have decided to
follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. That's not the Jesus that's here
displayed. What is at the heart of natural
man's religion? crucify him, crucify him, away
with him and let us have our idols. See, Christ as a king
dethrones men and he robs men of all of their glory. He's exposing
these religious leaders. He's exposing all humanity. God
on the cross is exposed naked before all humanity. God on the
cross goes to the cross bearing this emblem of the kingship. The one thing that they found
so deeply offensive about him, I'm a king, I come to the temple,
and this is my temple, I have the right to rule and reign over
the worship of God in this world, and I don't have to give you
any reason whatsoever why I'm doing it. I am God. This is God's
house. And that is why, that is why
the greatest efforts of men in religion has been to attack what happened
on the Cross of Calvary. All of the barbs of men's hatred
against God the King are against God the King on the Cross of
Calvary. They wanted to distort it, distort
the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ in all sorts of ways,
openly and subtly, again and again. But when we shut up to
the real redemption, the real redemption that's in Christ Jesus,
that atonement we read about in Romans 5.11, the atonement
we receive, we're receiving the atoning one by his grace. God does all the saving and he
does all the keeping and he does it all alone. You go back and
read John 17, that prayer of John 17 is still echoing, should
be echoing through our thoughts as we look at the Lord Jesus
Christ on his way to Calvary. He says, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Is that complicated? I lay down
my life for the sheep. Other sheep I have, I had them
from eternity, them I must bring in. Other sheep I have. It's in this state and under
this claim that he went to the cross. These men say we have
a law. What right do they have to make
laws about God? What right do men have to make
laws about life and death? God reigns. Lord, he is the Lord. He owns everything and he is
the one who has the power of deciding. This is the state in
which the Lord Jesus Christ excited this hatred and this enmity. It's in this state that the Lord
Jesus Christ exposed and revealed all humanity. It's in this state
that I see the religion that I had revealed and exposed what
I naturally am. Behold your king. That's the parable in Luke chapter
19 that you can go and read for your homework. The citizens of
that nation where he sent, sent him a message. We will not have
this man to reign over this. We will not have this man reign
over us. That's the issue of the cross. It's the issue in the salvation
of your soul. What's the confession? Lord Jesus
Christ. If you confess with your mouth,
Lord, that he is the one who owns everything and he has the
power of deciding over everything about salvation. if we confess,
if we confess the Lord Jesus Christ. I love what the Ethiopian
eunuch did. You might recall that Philip
preached to him out of Isaiah 53, and this man was a man who
was humbled. He was an honest man before the
word of God. He says, how can I know what
this means unless someone tells me? What an amazing, that's very
rare. That's a glorious grace gift
that he reveals. And then he says, what hinders
me from being baptised? And Philip said, if thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And this is the answer of this
saved man, led by God Almighty. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot
to stand still, and they went down both into the water, and
both the Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when
they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. And what did
he do? He had a word from God about
a king on a cross out of Isaiah 53, and he had no other earthly
helps from men. And he went on his way rejoicing. It's not about what we believe
about ourselves, it's what we believe about him, that's salvation,
that's confessing, that's saying the same as God. May we be able
to rejoice and in the words of Romans chapter 5 that we began
our service with, may we joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ by whom we have now received the atonement. May the Lord be
pleased to bless his words to our hearts and cause us to go
like the eunuch away rejoicing, not confessing what we've done
or what we are, but confessing who the Lord Jesus Christ is.
Salvation according to God. Amen.