Let's open the scriptures back
to John chapter 19. I approach every message very
seriously and I'm always asking God to enable
me to convey to you that which I believe He's shown to me. Brother Richardson, Brother Scott
Richardson said to me years ago when I was quite young, He said,
Brother Jim, I'll tell you what real preaching is. He said it's when a man receives
a message in his heart, from the heart of God, he's got a
message in his heart from the heart of God, then he delivers
it to the hearts of the people. He said that's real preaching
there. And that's what I seek to do. It's what I try to do. And I tell you, the message today
is I just do approach it with such seriousness. And once again,
I find I'm in deep waters. I'm in waters over my head, waters
to Well, they could drown the man, but I hope we'll swim in
them. As we look at this subject, it's found in verse 5 of John
chapter 19. The words were spoken by Pontius
Pilate. He said to the people, he said,
Behold the man. This is an awesome subject to speak of
the one who is God over all, blessed forever, and yet speak
of him as being a man like us. He's a real man. He was of the
seed of Abraham. He was the root and the offspring
of David. He was of the tribe of Judah.
I say behold a real man. He was born into this world of
a virgin. Therefore he wasn't contaminated
with the sinfulness of Adam. But he did experience a very
real birth. Just as you came into this world
from your mother's womb, Christ Jesus came into this world from
the womb of His mother. And He had a very real body.
This is not make-believe. He wasn't some sort of spiritual
phantom or spirit. He was real. And so we read, and without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. This is one of the great mysteries
of the ages. What is a mystery? It's that
which has to be revealed. Well, what is this mystery? Well,
the apostle tells us that God was manifest in the flesh. God. Invisible God. Everlasting God. Omnipotent God. Omnipresent God. The God who has no past, who
has no future. The God who is the great I Am.
Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God,
in all of His perfections, God in all of His greatness, God
in all of His purity, was manifest in the flesh. In the flesh. We read, in the beginning was
the Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. And then we read, the Word was
made flesh, and He dwelt among us. He had a real body. It wasn't just a kind of a shadowy,
shadowy form of a body, but it was real body. He was a real
man. We read in Romans chapter 8,
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but after the Spirit. We have a real Savior. We have
a real Savior who died a real death in order to save a real
people and satisfy the real demands of God's justice. And this One
who died for us, He could not die unless He was really a man. He had to be flesh and blood. He had to be bones. He had to
have a soul. Even after His resurrection,
He said to His disciples, He said to them, You handle Me and
see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. His was a real body. It was a
real body that bore the weight of that cross. It was a real
body that died on the cross. It was a real body that was pierced
by a spear. And it was real blood and real
water that flowed out. It was a real body that was buried,
anointed with the various spices. And in a real body, that real
body came up out of the grave. And that real body ascended back
to glory 40 days later. I say behold, a real man. The Lord Jesus. And you know,
He even identified Himself as a man. He said to the Pharisees in John
chapter 8 and verse 40, And now you seek to kill Me, a man that
had told you the truth. Did you hear that? The Son of
God spoke of Himself as being a man. A man that had told you
the truth, which I have heard from God. This did not Abraham. In that
verse there in John chapter 8, our Lord asserts both the reality
of His deity and His humanity. He said, I heard the truth from
God. He saw God face to face. He was face to face with the
Father and the Spirit throughout all of eternity. And yet here
He is a man. A real man, just as real as you
and me. He said that which he had heard,
that which he spoke, he received directly from the Father, and
now he was on the earth, there in John chapter 8, speaking to
those people. He said, I am a man. I'm a man. Peter acknowledged the reality
of the humanity of our Savior. He said in Acts chapter 2 and
verse 22, you men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by Him in the midst of you as ye yourselves also
know. He is the man Christ Jesus. In
fact, we read those very words that the apostle wrote to Timothy. He said, Timothy, for there is
one God and one Mediator, and that one Mediator is between
God and men, the man, the man Christ Jesus. He was a real man. And as a real man, he was subject
to the frailties of the flesh. He actually got hungry and he
had to eat. He got thirsty. He had to drink. Even while dying on the cross,
he said, I thirst. God thirsty? God who is invisible,
God who is eternal, can God be thirsty? The God-man was really
thirsty. Really thirsty. He grew weary,
he had to rest. Now I think it's without question
he had unusual strength and stamina. After all, He was the perfect
man. He was not slowed down by sin
like we are. There was no imperfections in
Him. But weariness did come upon Him. As when He slept in the back
of the boat, when the disciples were in the boat with Him on
the Sea of Galilee. As a real man, He wept. He wept. You say, God can't weep. The
God-man wept. He stood at the tomb of Lazarus
and the Scripture says Jesus wept. Jesus wept. Can God be troubled about anything? No. And yet the God-man, it says
in John chapter 12 and verse 27, the God-man said, now is
my soul troubled. My soul is stirred within me. That word troubled, the word
means kind of like the washing machine, you know, when it troubles
the water, it stirs the water, it agitates the water. You have
an agitator in your washing machine. That's what the Savior is saying.
Now is my soul agitated. My soul is troubled. Can God
be troubled about anything? No. But the God-man was. You
see, the Scriptures insist upon the reality of His manhood, of
His deity. As a real man, He was capable
of suffering bodily injury, bodily pain. He felt the pain of the
cross. Those were real pains. When they
whipped Him with the cat of nine tails, when they scourged Him
when the blood came out, He stood there before Pilate having been
beaten and scourged. In chapter 19 verse 1 it says
Pilate scourged Him. That's a real man bleeding and
agonizing. How would you feel if somebody
beat you and your back were bleeding? You're bleeding all over your
body. That's the Savior. That's the
Savior. He was capable of suffering. And he was capable of dying.
Now God can't suffer. And God can't die. But the God-man
both suffered and died. And both of them were absolutely
necessary in order to satisfy the justice of God and save us
from our sins, because the justice of God demands suffering and
death. Had he remained in glory, he
could never have suffered, he could never have died. But in
old eternity, he vowed to the Father. to the Father who chose
Him to be the Savior of His people, to be the Shepherd of the sheep.
He vowed to the Father that He would lay down His life for the
sheep. He is the Lamb slain from before
the foundation of the world and at the appointed time, at the
hour marked out in that Council of Peace, the Son of God came
into this world. And when he was about 33 and
a half years of age, he went to the cross. And before that,
he was beaten, he was whipped, he was humiliated, and he felt
every pain, every drop of blood that flowed from his body, I
tell you, was real blood. It was real blood. All of that
agonizing, it was real. It wasn't make-believe. He wasn't
a spirit or something like that. He wasn't a ghost and a figure
of somebody. He was a real man dying a real
death for sinners to bring in a real salvation. I tell you, this is too big a
subject for me. The reality of His humanity. Now brethren, I'd never take
away from the Deity of God, you know that. The names of Deity
belong to Jesus Christ. They're ascribed to Him. The
Word was God. The Word who is over all God,
blessed forever. Thomas said to Him, My Lord and
my God. The Father said to Him, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. The Apostle Paul wrote, he talked
about the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
We are in Him that is true. John said, even in His Son, Jesus
Christ, this is the true God. This is eternal life. The names
of God belong to Him. The attributes of God belong
to Him. He is the Eternal One. He is
called the Everlasting Father. He's the unchanging one, Jesus
Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever. All my presence
belongs to Him. He said where two or three are
gathered together in my name, met together in my name, there
I'll be in the midst. Omniscience belongs to Him. He knows all things. At the end
of John chapter 2, it says, He knew all men and needed not that
anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
He knows the secrets of men. Omnipotence belongs to Him. His name is the mighty God. Creation
belongs to Him. All things were made by Him and
without Him was not anything made that was made. Divine providence
Belongs to Him upholding all things by the Word of His power. The life-giving power of God
is in Him. The Son quickeneth whom He will. He's to be worshipped. God said,
let all the angels of God worship Him. Yes, He's divine. You see, the Savior of sinners,
He had to be divine. He had to be God to do business
with God. Sometimes people foolishly say,
well you need to make your peace with God. You can't make your
peace with God. Who are you to deal with almighty,
everlasting God? The only one who can deal with
God has got to be equal with Him in every, every way. That's the God-man. The God-man. Only God can deal with God. Our Lord had to be God in order
to bring to God a sacrifice of infinite value. A sacrifice that would render
exact obedience and satisfaction to the law of God. All the blood
of bulls and goats in the Old Testament, rivers of blood flowed
in the Old Testament, none of them could put any sin away.
The only blood that will put sin away has got to be the blood
of one who satisfies God, who is himself equal with God, but
he's got to be a man. Because God can't suffer, bleed
and die. He's got to be God to apply the
fruits of His accomplished redemption to those in whose stead He died.
He's got to be God, but He's also got to be man. Since man
sinned, it was man who got us into this mess. It's going to
have to take another man to get us out of it. Since man is the guilty one,
it was necessary that the penalty for sin be borne by another man. He had to be man because the
paying of the penalty involved suffering of body and soul. Such as only man is capable of
suffering. As a real man, he possessed the
elements of human nature. He had a real material body and
a rational soul. The divine nature, we can't comprehend
this, but the divine nature dwelt in a body which was not only
a physical body but a real soul as well. There are several passages
which show that our Savior was subject to the ordinary laws
of human development, to human needs and sufferings. Go back
to Luke chapter 2. Look with me in Luke chapter
2. Let me show you a most remarkable
passage in Luke chapter 2. First of all, look at verse 40. This is after the birth of our
Savior and after His circumcision when He was named, given the
official name Jesus at His circumcision. This is after the offering of
purification for Mary. This is after he's been presented
into the temple. After Simeon has said, my eyes
have seen thy salvation. After Anna had spoke of and rejoiced
in this one who's the redeemer, she spoke of him. Now look at
Luke chapter 2 verse 40. And the child grew and waxed
strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God
was upon him. I'll tell you, that one verse
sums up 12 years. It does. That one verse sums
up 12 years. It covers from his birth to age
12. You say, well, how would you
sum up the first 12 years of our Lord's life? He grew. He waxed strong in spirit. filled
with wisdom, and actually here is the tense of the word, being
filled up with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon
him. So that one verse covers from his birth to age 12. Now look at verse 52. And Jesus increased in wisdom
and stature, and in favor with God and man. And that verse covers from age
12 to age 30. In other words, 18 years. 18 years. 30 years
of our Lord's life from birth to when he began his
public ministry, two verses of scripture summon up. And both
of them, both of them state this, that he was growing, he was developing. And during these 30 years of
our Lord's life in Galilee, in Capernaum, working undoubtedly
as a lad and then as a young adult in Joseph's carpenter shop,
we would assume. There's just one event that the
Spirit of God draws from. After he's presented in the temple
and until In chapter 3, you've got John the Baptist announcing
his coming. That's when he begins his public
ministry. From there, his presentation
in the temple, after his birth, all the way to age 30, you have
one incident recorded of all those 30 years. And that's when
he was 12 years old. and he goes to the temple. I
would say that incident is important, wouldn't you? It's the only one
the Spirit of God gave us. Notice again in verse 40, it
says, and the child grew. The child grew. Which shows his
was a very real body. Just like your babies, our babies,
grandbabies, they grow in height, they grow in strength, so did
our Savior. And I'm sure He was a hearty,
vigorous little boy. And note the very same thing
was said about John the Baptist. Look over in chapter 1 of Luke
in verse 80. Chapter 1 of Luke in verse 80,
"...and the child grew," this is John the Baptist, "...and
waxed strong in the Spirit." Now go back to chapter 2 in verse
40, "...and the child grew and waxed strong in the Spirit."
Just like John the Baptist. In other words, he looked like,
and for all practical purposes, was at least outwardly like every
other little boy. Except, oh and what an exception
here. No sin. No sin. You see, sin affects every single
thing we do. It even affects our bodily development
due to hereditary traits, due to genes that aren't proper, aren't
correct or whatever the right medical terms are, imperfect
genes. the chromosomes and all of those
things, but this young man, he has no imperfection whatsoever. You see, all of our imperfections
are really due to sin. All of the hereditary problems.
People have diseases. I know the disease that Nancy's
got. So we're discomforted. It's in the genes. It's hereditary. And so much is hereditary. But
with our Lord Jesus Christ, He had no earthly father. He is
Himself absolutely perfect. But outwardly, as people watched
Him grow up, He was the perfect child. And you talk about intelligent. You know, we like to put bumper
stickers on the car and say, my child is an honor student
at such and such a place, you know. You take whoever the very smartest
men in the world are and women in the world are with their high
IQs, they couldn't touch Jesus of Nazareth. Absolutely brilliant. In fact, here's an illustration
of it here when he was 12 years old. And he's matching wits with and
asking questions and giving answers that left the doctors and the
lawyers and the rabbis scratching their heads. And it says in verse 40, and
the child grew. and the child grew. But without
sin, he grew. It shows he had a real body. And his body didn't come to maturity
all at once, but by degrees, just like we do. It says he waxed
strong in spirit. That is, his mental development
kept pace with his physical development. The faculties of his spirit,
of his soul, were far from being weak. They were exceedingly strong. They appeared stronger every
day. His understanding was absolutely clear. His judgment was always
accurate. His memory was strong. He retained
what he learned. His desire was solely to do the
Father's will. And his affections were perfect.
You say, well, how can he learn anything? He's God. Turn with
me to the book of Hebrews. To the book of Hebrews. And I'll
tell you, this is, no wonder the apostles said, if I may go
back to this, great is the mystery of godliness. How can he grow
in wisdom? I understand growing in stature,
but how can he grow in wisdom? How can he learn? After all,
He is God. And as God, He knows everything.
If there is anything to be known, He already knew it. But as a
man, he learned. He learned. He had to be taught. Look at this. Hebrews chapter
5. Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 8. Though he were a son, Hebrews
5, 8. Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience. Learned he obedience by the things
which he suffered. He had to learn obedience. You
see, God is not obedient to anybody. Right? No, everybody obeys God. But here is the God-man who stepped
down from his heavenly throne to this earth to become a real
man and he had to learn something that he didn't know. Obedience. And all of these things which
are too deep for us to delve into, they are said before us
to show us the reality of his humanity. He was a real man. In fact, look back in chapter
4 of Hebrews and look at verse 14. seeing then that we have a great
high priest, that is, passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son
of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not a
high priest which cannot be touched, cannot be sympathetic with the
feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. He was tempted like as we are.
That little boy growing up, In Nazareth, He was tempted in all
points like other little boys are tempted. As a young man,
He was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin. He knew no sin. He did no sin. He never experienced sin. He
never felt sin. Sin was never infused into Him.
He was absolutely the perfect man, therefore the perfect sacrifice
for sin. There were real temptations to
which He didn't yield. You know, our Lord Jesus, He
knew firsthand what temptations are. He was led of the Spirit
into the wilderness and for 40 days and 40 nights, He was tempted
of the devil. Well, those weren't real temptations. They were real temptations. Real
tempting. All these fiery darts coming
forth from Satan. And he felt them. And he faced
them. And he was successful. But they
were real. And the writer says all of these
things, all of these victories made him to be a more thoroughly
knowledgeable high priest. I've had people tell me, nobody knows what I'm going through,
preacher. There's one who knows. There's nothing you have ever
faced in your life. that this real man, our real
Savior, didn't face successfully. This is the reality of His humanity. Guess what Pilate said? Behold
the man! That's what I want us to do.
I want us to behold the man who is our Savior, who stooped down
from heaven. Look at Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. You see, the one who died in
our stead, He knows our frame. He knows that we are dust. He
knows there is nothing to us. Philippians chapter 2 verse 5,
let this mind be in you. which was also in Christ Jesus,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. He took upon
him that very form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient, obedient all the way to death, even the death of the
cross. You see, his obedience during
his life is wonderful, but didn't put Sanway. It was by his sacrifice, the
sacrifice of himself, that he put our sin away, so he was obedient
unto death. even the death of the cross,
wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name which is above every name, that it is the name of Jesus.
Every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." This is our Savior. Scripture said, if you go back
to Luke chapter 2, it says this, that he learned wisdom and knowledge. And to illustrate this, it's Luke alone who gives us
this story of when our Lord is 12 years old and He goes up to
the temple. And I think one of the reasons
the Spirit of God gives us this story of him at 12 years of age
going up to the temple was to show us that Jesus of Nazareth,
he knew who he was and he knew his mission in this world. And
I say that because maybe you've not heard it, but there are those
who say that Jesus really didn't know why he was here. He didn't know what his mission
was. That's wrong. He knew who he was. He knew why
he was here. And so when Mary and Joseph came
after him, and I won't go into this story. You remember how
that he stayed behind in the temple. He's officially a young
adult now at 12 years of age. And Mary and Joseph have left
and then they missed him. He wasn't in the caravan going
back home. And so they go back to the temple
to find him. They find him in the temple.
After three days, look at verse 46. It came to pass that after
three days, Luke 2, 46, they found him in the temple sitting
in the midst of the doctors. both hearing them and asking
questions. And all that heard him were astonished
at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were
amazed. And his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus
dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have
sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is
it that you sought me? Wished you not, don't you understand
that I must be about my Father's business. He knew who He was. You see over there in John 5,
after He had healed that man who had been sick for 38 years,
and the Jews got upset with Him because He healed him on the
Sabbath day, and the Lord said, the Lord Jesus said to them,
listen, my Father worketh hitherto and I work. And then they took
up stones to stone him because he said God was his father, thus
making himself equal with God. That wasn't the first time he
said God was his father. He said it when he was 12 years
old. He knew who he was and he knew what his mission was. He
is here on his father's business. The father gave him a work to
do and to finish. And he was doing that work. He knew who He was. He knew His true identity. And drop down to verse 51, He
went down with them. He went with them to Nazareth.
He was subject unto them. But His mother kept all these
sayings in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom in stature
and in favor with God and man. How is that possible? How could he increase in favor
with God? By his overall continual obedience. And by his obedience he showed
more and more and more This is the only one qualified to be
the Savior of sinners. You remember with the Old Testament
Paschal Lamb, the Passover Lamb. Before that Lamb was ever offered,
it had to be put up from the 10th day of the month to the
14th day of the month. Four days. And inspected. Here is our Lord Jesus. growing in wisdom and stature,
growing in favor with God and with His people, not with every
man, but with His people, with His people. This is a man who had a real
soul. I remind you, he said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful
unto death. In Isaiah 53 verse 10 it says,
Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. It's just like us. Flesh and bones and blood, soul. You know those who perish in
their sins, they're going to be punished body and soul in
hell. Is that what scripture says?
That's a punishment for sin. Well, if our Savior, if He's
going to be punished in our stead, He's got to suffer body and soul. And I'll tell you, in John 19,
when He was scourged and they nailed Him to a cross, His body
suffered. But beyond the sight of men,
deep in His soul. Because God made man to be a
living soul. That's what the Bible says. Our
Lord Jesus is a living soul. Deep in His soul, God afflicted
Him. And God punished Him. Because
sin can't be put away without a suitable sacrifice being punished,
body and soul. And He died. And when he died, what happened
to his soul? I know what happened to his body.
Joseph and Nicodemus, they took his body and embalmed it according
to the embalming of the day, putting the spices and all those
sorts of things on his body. But what happened to his soul?
His soul went to the Father. Now, don't listen to those who
say, well, his soul went to the region of the dam to suffer.
No, all of his sufferings ended when he died. You understand? His sufferings ended. His soul
sufferings and his bodily sufferings for sin ended when he died. And just before he died, he said,
it is finished. It's over. All the Old Testament
prophecies regarding my death, it's over. It's finished. and
my work of redemption and reconciliation and justifying my people by my
blood, it's over. It's ended. And his body died. He committed his spirit unto
the Father and he hung his head down and he gave up the ghost. His life wasn't taken from him.
He said, I lay it down on myself. I got the power to lay it down
and I got the power to take it again. And he laid that life
down. That body died. It's just as
real a death as a death of any of your children or your mothers,
your dads, your brothers, your sisters, your spouse. It was
a real death and people wept at his death. And his soul went
back to God. And right behind him was a believing thief. Because
the Savior said to him, today you will be with me in paradise. That is where he went. He went
to paradise. His soul went to paradise. His
body was buried. And three days later that soul
came back to inhabit that body again. Still a real body. Still a real man. But a glorified
man. But He ate. He ate with His disciples
after His resurrection. And then He took them out to
Mount of Olives. And He ascended up to heaven.
That real man. After He blessed them. Body and
soul, He ascended up to heaven. And the angel said to the disciples,
Why stand ye here gazing up into heaven as if you'll never see
Him again? This same Jesus that you've seen
ascend into heaven shall so come again in like manner as you've
seen Him go. And He was gone out of their
sight, but not out of faith's sight. We still see Him. We still look to Him. But that
real man, He's in glory. And one of these days, this real
God-man, He's coming again. He's coming again to receive
us unto Himself. That where He is, that's where
we'll be in glory. Let me give you one more thing
and I'll quit. Back in John 19, when Pilate said, Behold the
man, let me just show you this, if you go back to John 19. Let me read verse 5 again. Then came
Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,
and Pilate said unto them, Behold the man! And when the chief priests
therefore and officers saw him, when they beheld him, They said,
crucify him, crucify him. Which leads me to say this, we
can't really behold this man in faith unless the Spirit of
God quickens us and makes us alive. Otherwise, we'll just
see a mere man dying on a tree just like these people. Oh God,
open our eyes, open our understanding, open our souls. Give us life, give us life to
behold the Lamb of God that took away the sin of a world of His
people. Look to Jesus Christ, the real
God-man, real God-man. Well, let's sing a final