Let's turn in our Bibles again
tonight to the Gospel of John, and tonight verse or chapter
19. John chapter 19. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus
and scourged him, and the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and
put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, and
said, Hail, King of the Jews, and they smote him with their
hands. Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them,
Behold, I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I
find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them,
behold, the man. When the chief priests, therefore,
and officers saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify
him. Pilate saith unto them, take
ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered
him, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because
he made himself the son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the judgment
hall, and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, speakest
thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? Jesus
answereth, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except
it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that delivered
me unto thee hath the greater sin, and from thenceforth Pilate
sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying,
if thou let this man go, Thou art not Caesar's friend, whosoever
maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore
heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the
judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in
the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of
the Passover and about the sixth hour, and he saith unto the Jews,
behold, your king. But they cried out, Away with
him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall
I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We
have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified, and they took Jesus and led him away. The title of my message will
be the words of Pilate in verse 5. Behold the man. Behold the man. And I pray tonight
that God may be pleased by the power of the Holy Spirit to enable
each one of us to behold the man, the man Christ Jesus. If we've never beheld him before,
that God may help us this evening to behold the man. And if we
have before that once again, we may behold the man. There are five truths about the
man that I wish to bring out to us tonight. And remember the
man, for there's one mediator between God and men, the man,
Christ Jesus. It was man who sinned and it
was by man that God delivers men from sin. The God-man. Behold the man. First, behold
the suffering man. In verses 1 through 3. Behold
the suffering man. Now the sufferings that are inflicted,
those that are mentioned here that were inflicted by Pilate's
soldiers upon the Lord Jesus Christ are four. First, they
scourged him. They scourged him. The Lord Jesus
foretold that this would take place. We look back in Luke chapter
18 when he told his disciples what would take place in Jerusalem. This is one of the things he
mentioned in Luke chapter 18 and verse 31. Then he took unto him the twelve,
and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall
be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spitted on, and they shall scourge him, and put him to death. They
shall scourge him. This is the first thing that
we read here in our text tonight concerning the suffering of the
man. Behold the man, the suffering
man. The prophet Isaiah also foretold
that he would be scourged, that he would suffer in this way.
He said, with his stripes we are healed. With his stripes,
the stripes of the God man, we are healed. And those stripes,
we know, were inflicted upon him by the whipping that he took. The way this would take place,
they would strip the prisoner and then these soldiers would
take a whip, sometimes referred to as a cat, and it had chips
of bone woven into it. It was more than one a leather
piece, it was several leather pieces, and he was scourged. With his stripes we are healed. Behold the man. The second thing
we read about his suffering here is they placed a crown of thorns
on his head. It's interesting to remember
that when Adam sinned, God cursed the ground. And he said unto
the man, thorns shall it bring forth to thee. Now it is the
man, the God man, the last man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who to
redeem us from the curse of the law, that he was crowned with
thorns. The third thing we read here
is they humiliated him. And this they did in two ways,
at least. They placed a purple robe on
him and mockingly called him the king of the Jews. Now Matthew, in his account,
tells us that the robe was scarlet, not purple, but scarlet. But
both of these colors are colors of royalty. But when we think
of the fact that they put a scarlet robe upon him, surely the verse
in Isaiah comes to mind, come now, let us reason together,
though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. And we know that He took our
sins upon Himself at this time. So they clothed Him, they humiliated
Him by putting this old robe, probably a soldier's coat, someone
suggested, of scarlet, put it upon Him and then hailed Him
as King of the Jews. And we read there in Luke's Gospel
as well, It was at this time that they spitted upon him. And in almost every society,
I believe it's so, that that's the lowest form of treatment
that you can apply to any person, and that is by spitting on them. The contempt that is showed by
spitting upon a person the greatest contempt. And then the fourth
thing we read is they smote him. They smote him with their hands,
John tells us, but Matthew says they smote him with a reed. The reed that they placed in
his hand. You know, every king, that's
the way the soldiers mocked him. Hail, king of the Jews. Every
king has a scepter. And they took a reed, just a
reed, and tried to place that in his hands to mock him as the
king, as though that was his scepter, as weak as it possibly
could be. But Matthew tells us that they
beat him, or smote him rather, on the head with that reed. As
we tonight behold God's only begotten Son suffering in this
manner. then surely the words of Jeremiah
in the book of Lamentations apply. And we know they apply to the
Lord Jesus Christ. It is as though the city of Jerusalem,
after it was rampaged and ruined by the Babylonian army, sets
desolate. But the picture is of the Lord
Jesus Christ as He was suffering in the stead of His people The
Scripture there says, Is it nothing to you? Is it nothing to me? I might
ask myself. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me. Behold the man,
the suffering man. Man of sorrows, what a name for
the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Now second, not only do we behold
Him the suffering man, but we behold Him the faultless, the
faultless man. Notice those are the words of
Pilate. He says it two times, in verse
four at the very end, he said, I find no fault in him. And then
again at the end of verse six, I find no fault in him. Now, these were the words of
his judge, his judge who would condemn him to crucifixion. His words were, I find no fault
in him. We know we have a greater witness
than the words of this pagan Roman governor. We have the words
of God Almighty. For two times at his baptism
and on the Mount of Transfiguration, there was a voice from heaven.
God spoke and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. I find no fault in him. And you
know, for God to say, the thrice holy God, for Him to say, in
this man, I am well pleased. There was no fault in him. There was no sin in him. And then we have the testimony
of these three apostles of our Lord. Peter and each one of these
men we know were inspired by God the Holy Spirit. Now Peter,
speaking of the Old Testament writers, he said, holy men of
old. That word holy means sanctified. God set these men apart that
wrote the scriptures. They were inspired. And the Word
of God that we have tonight is inspired. And Peter, inspired
of God the Holy Spirit, he said, who did no sin, neither was gall
found in his mouth." That's his testimony. Who did no sin. And remember Peter accompanied
with the Lord Jesus Christ for approximately three, three and
a half years. Traveled with Him, listened to
Him, observed Him both in private and in public, and his testimony
was, who did no sin, neither was God found in his mouth. The Apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul, to whom the
Lord revealed himself that day on the road to Damascus, he too
inspired of God said, of Christ, who knew no sin. who knew no sin. And then the
Apostle John, inspired as he was by God the Holy Spirit, he
said, in him is no sin. The faultless man, the sinless
man, behold him. And then third, behold the rejected
man. We see this by the words of the
mobbed the Jewish leaders, the priest and religious leaders
in verses five and six and also verse 15. They rejected man. Then came Jesus forth wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate saith unto them,
behold, the man. When the chief priests, therefore,
and officers saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him. In other
words, they rejected him. And also down in verse 15, we
have a repeat of the same thing. Pilate saith unto them, shall
I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we
have no king but Caesar. When you read through the account
here of what took place, it seems obvious to me, I believe to all
of us, that Pilate At this time, he thought, he thought that the
sight of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he brought him forth in that
robe, wet with his own blood, crowned with thorns, he thought
that when they looked at him, when they looked at the Lord
Jesus Christ, and remember Isaiah said, his image is more marred
than any man. Pilate was of the opinion, I'm
convinced of this, that when he brought Christ out, that seeing
Him such a pitiful being as He had been beaten and mocked and
humiliated and crowned with thorns, that surely these men would ask
that He be released. out of pity that he be released. But you see Pilate, he did not
know the depths of depravity to which the human heart is capable. These men saw the Lord Jesus
Christ to be a threat to their power. If we look back here in
John chapter 11, These men, these religious rulers,
the priests who instigated the mob in crying for his crucifixion,
they saw the Lord Jesus Christ to be a threat to their power.
In John chapter 11, in verse 47, we read, Then gathered the
chief priest. Now he had raised Lazarus from
the dead. Here's a person who had died
and been in the grave for four days and the Lord Jesus Christ
raised him, delivered him from death. No one could deny it. Everyone was aware of it in Jerusalem
and around Jerusalem in Bethany. No one could deny the power,
the miraculous power of the Lord Jesus Christ in calling someone
who had been dead for four days back to life. Then, we read,
Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council,
and said, What do we? We've got a problem here. We've
got a problem. What do we? For this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take
away both our place and our nation. And one of them named Caiaphas."
Now, Caiaphas was one of these men outside Pilate's judgment
hall, along with his father-in-law, Annas. Caiaphas, the high priest.
Being the high priest that same year said unto them, you know
nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us,
it's expedient for us that one man should die for the
people and that the whole nation perish not. And then John tells
us, this spake he not of himself, but being high priest that year,
he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation, and not
for that nation only, but that also he should gather together
in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. God's
children among the nation of Israel as well as among all the
Gentile nations scattered abroad that he would gather together
in one. Christ has one body, has one
church, of which He is the foundation and the head. And every saved
individual, every one of God's chosen people, chosen from before
the foundation of the world, that we might know Him, that
we might enjoy Him. This is life eternal, that you
might know God. This is life eternal, a relationship
with God through Jesus Christ, the Lord. Gather together in one. You know,
I'm amazed, I don't know about you, but I'm amazed at these
men that come up with different dispensations and different people
fall into this category, into that category. There's been two
dispensations, that old dispensation. Now we're living in a new dispensation,
and every person who is saved, who was chosen by God the Father,
and redeemed by God the Son, and called by God the Holy Spirit,
we're all one in Christ. There never has been but one
way of salvation, and that's Jesus Christ our Lord. Now this
high priest, he prophesied. And John tells us he did so because
he was a high priest that year. He was speaking out of his heart,
but in speaking out of his heart, he was uttering a tremendous
truth. When you look at it, when he
said, it is expedient for us that one man should die for the
people. If we let this man alone, then
the Romans will come and they will take away both our place
and our nation. What an illustration of that
verse in Psalm 76 that says, surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. The remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain. They rejected Christ, calling
for his crucifixion. And it is by that crucifixion,
this one man, it's expedient that he die by his death, that
all of God's children are gathered together in one. And yes, the
Romans did come. In AD 70, the Romans did come
and take away their place and their nation. When they cried,
we have no king but Caesar, they have been dispersed throughout
the world ever since. The one Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, their place, there hasn't been a high priest, I don't suppose,
since Jerusalem was destroyed. Not a legitimate high priest.
Why? Because that whole economy, that whole dispensation was brought
to an end. When Jesus Christ died on the
cross, that veil, that veil that had always been there in the
tabernacle and in the temple that separated men from God,
that veil was torn in two from top to the bottom and the way
into the most holy. was opened unto us, the rejected
man. Fourth, behold the knowing man,
the knowing man. I didn't exactly know how best
to say that, but I wanted to bring this out in verses eight
through 11. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was more afraid when he heard that the Lord Jesus
Christ had proclaimed himself to be the Son of God. When he
heard that, he was more afraid and went again into the judgment
hall and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Before this, the Lord Jesus Christ
had answered him, had spoken. But now he gives him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest
thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Pilate, I imagine, he was baffled. He was baffled by the Lord's
silence. He had judged men, no doubt many
men, over his time as a governor. And he had heard men who had
cried and proclaimed their innocency. He had heard men who promised
that they would do better if he would just give them another
chance. He had heard all kinds of excuses
how that men were really not guilty, innocent, framed, just
let me go and I'll do better. But here stands a man who answers
him not a word, who doesn't beg for mercy, who answers him not
a word. And that's when Pilate, he said,
don't you know who I am? Don't you realize the power that
I have? I have power to crucify you. And I have power to let you go.
Don't you know that? Don't you realize who I am? The Lord Jesus Christ corrected
him. He did answer him then. You could
have no power at all against me, except it were given thee
from above. Notice, and I'm not sure what
the word therefore is therefore, in verse 11, when he said, Thou
couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given
thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me
unto thee hath the greater sin. But I do know this, that the
same sin may be greater or less. depending upon a person's knowledge. The Jews who delivered the Lord
Jesus Christ to Pilate to be crucified, their sin was greater. Why? They had greater light.
They had greater knowledge. And here's this pagan Roman governor
who had less. And we find the same thing in
Luke chapter 12. Concerning eternity, in chapter 12 in verse 46, our
Lord said, the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh
not for him, and an hour when he is not aware and will cut
him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant which knew the
Lord's will, which knew the Lord's will, and prepared not himself,
neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes. But he that knew not, and did
commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. To whom much is given much. shall
be required, of him shall be much required. Those of us who
live in this country with the Bible, accessible to everyone who wants
one, Remember this, men are not only responsible for what they
hear, and I'm talking about myself and you too, all of us here,
we're responsible for what we hear, but men are also responsible
for what they could hear. And people who could hear the
gospel, who could go to a place and hear the preaching of the
word of God, who could buy a Bible, and read the word of God and
pray and ask God to have mercy upon them. People who could do
that will be no doubt punished much more severely in eternity
in hell than people who live in a place where a Bible has
never come, where the scriptures never been translated into their
language, who do not know, have never heard the gospel. I do
not believe there are rewards in heaven. I do not believe that
because I believe that we all, all who are there, will be there
by the grace of God, by Christ, by His work. But I do believe
that in hell there are degrees of punishment. And that's what
our Lord told Pilate. He that delivered me unto thee,
that is the priest, hath the greater sin. Now let me close with this, verse
16. Fifth, behold the delivered man. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified, and they took Jesus and led him away. Pilate delivered him to the Jewish
rulers to be crucified. Did you know the parallel passage
in the Gospel of Luke tells us he delivered Jesus to their will? To their will. Man was now allowed
by God. to do with the Lord Jesus Christ
what He, that is God, had determined before the foundation of the
world that should be done in the saving of His people. And
they took Him, as Peter says on the day of Pentecost, and
crucified Him with wicked hands. He was delivered to their will. When God Almighty allowed men
to do with his darling son what they will to do, you see the
hatred, the depravity of mankind, they crucified him. We crucified
him, our sins. But I like that word delivered,
don't you? In Romans chapter 4 and verse 25, Paul said he
was delivered for our offenses. He was raised for our justification. We hear that special hymn sometimes,
and I should have been crucified. It was us who had sinned against
God. and yet Christ was delivered,
taken in our stead and in our place and crucified and slain. We thank God for his precious
blood that washes whiter than snow. You know, as a child of God,
I'm sure that at times, I know this is true of myself, thoughts and sins come to mind
and the insinuation, how could you be a child of God? How could
anyone be a child of God and have a thought like that or do
something like that? But you know, I'm comforted in
this. No matter how great my sin is,
and I don't try to make any excuses for it. I just don't. It's a hundred times, a thousand
times worse than I could ever imagine. But I know this. that the blood of Jesus Christ
is more powerful yet than any sin that I might be guilty of. And I thank God for that. Let's
sing a few verses of a hymn and we'll be dismissed.