Behold the Man!

Behold the Man!

Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold, the Man!"  John 19:5

It is impossible to enter into the Lenten Season and journey through it and arrive at Easter with its message of Resurrection without coming face to face with the Man Christ Jesus. As we think of that Old Rugged Cross which has a wondrous attraction for me, the Christ of the Cross must become the theme of our song. As we meditate upon the meaning of the empty tomb which has removed the sting of death and robbed the grave of its victory, we cannot divorce from our thinking from Him who said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” As we take our stand in the courtyard of the Roman Procurator’s Palace, we must “Behold the Man!”

Here is the man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down from the cross and laid in a barrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the center piece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned – put together – have not effected the life of man upon this earth as has that one Solitary Life.

Behold this man as He stands in Pilate’s Judgment Hall. Pilate the Roman Procurator is there. This was Pilate’s moment of opportunity, the greatest opportunity that ever came to a human being. He knew that for envy this man had been delivered unto him. He was pledged to uphold the Roman law which was predicated upon this ideal: “To crush the world and give justice to the weak.” The Man Christ Jesus stands before him, “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Pilate judged Him and proclaimed to the mob, “I find no fault in this man.” Then one comes to him and says, “Pilate of you let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend.” Because the Roman would be the friend of Caesar rather than the friend of Christ, he had this man scourged – scourged with whips intertwined with jagged pieces of metal – and then handed over to be crucified. Pilate had not the courage of his convictions.

How many are there today who “Behold the Man,” they examine Him, they try Him and find no fault in Him. They know that His teachings are true and that His ways are right. But friendship with Him may mean, as it would have meant for Pilate, loss of employment, loss of riches, and loss of place in society. How we need in America today men of high places and low, men in business and government who have the courage of their convictions. Men who will say, “This is the way and I’ll walk in it; this is the truth and I’ll live by it; this is the life and I’ll live for it.”

Standing by Him in the Judgment, not because they wanted to be there but because it was their duty, were the Roman soldiers who “had platted the crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe, and said, “Hail, King of the Jews.” The mantle of royalty was thrown upon Him in derision, and the crown of thorns was jammed upon His head in contempt, and the title was hurled at Him in mockery.

Sad to say the soldiers are not without their counterpart in contemporary history. There have always been those who have made fun of the Christ and His followers. They jeer and sneer, laugh and mock at a belief in the supernatural. They claim religion to be the opiate of the people. They maintain that the Church has done more harm than good. They feast upon the bounties of God; morning by morning they receive anew His mercies and yet live their life as if there was no God in the heavens. If they would honestly consider the claims of this man who stands in Pilate’s judgment hall they would by the force of reason and logic admit with the centurion, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

Two infidels once sat in a railway car discussing Christ’s wonderful life. One of them said, “I think an interesting romance could be written about Him.” The other replied, “And you are just the man to write it. Set forth the correct view of His life and character. Tear down the prevailing sentiment as to his divineness and paint Him as He was – a man among men.” The suggestion was acted on and the romance was written. The man who made the suggestion was Colonel Robert Ingersol; the author was General Lew Wallace; and the book was “Ben Hur.” In the process of constructing it he found himself facing the unaccountable man. The more he studied His life and character the more profoundly he was convinced that He was more than a man among men; until at length, like the centurion beneath the cross, he was constrained to cry, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

Crowding the Judgment Hall is the populace – men and women from all sections of Palestine gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Passover. Standing in judgment before them is Christ, their eternal Passover the people are aware of His claims. They know that He claimed to be their Messiah, promised by God through the prophets, a yearning for whose coming beat in their breast. They had witnessed marvelous works preformed in support of those claims. Perhaps in that angry, howling mob were men from Galilee whose hungry bodies had been fed one eventide by this same Jesus. Mothers were there whose children had sat upon His lap and who had been blessed by Him. Perchance there were nine men there, who had been lepers and had been cleansed by Him but had never turned to thank Him. They knew Him to be Jesus of Nazareth who went about doing good; “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs.” Unto these people Pilate said, “Behold the Man!” and the reply, “Crucify Him.” They denied the Holy one and the Just, and they desired the murderer instead.

This was a fateful moment. A nation’s fate was hanging in the balance. These people, this nation would not have this Man to rule over them. In forty short years this Judgment Hall, the Temple, the homes of the people, the walls that surrounded the city were in ruins. The cities inhabitants became homeless and kingless and for nineteen centuries have been vagabonds upon the face of this earth – all because they knew not the time of their visitation.

In our day we have seen nations of the earth laid in ruins because they have said, “Crucify Him … we will not have this Man to rule over us.” We picked up our newspaper the other morning and read that the security council of the United Nations on a flimsy technicality refused to investigate the case of Czechoslovakia. This organization of the nations which was to have led us into an era of peace has been powerless and has apparently accomplished little in significance. Why? Because on the day of its inception it lifted its voice and said, “We will not have this man to rule over us.”

This is the hour of America’s visitation. What will America do? God grant that America will turn and say, “Away with Barabbas, Release the Christ.”

“Jesus is standing in Pilate’s hall,

Friendless, forsaken, despised by all.

Hearken, what meaneth this sudden call,

What will you do with Jesus?”

Jesus stands this morning in the Judgment Hall of your experience. Behold Him standing there. He is alone because:

There was no other good enough

To pay the price of sin;

He could only unlock the gate

Of Heaven and let us in.

He stands there beaten and bruised and bleeding for “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”

What will you do with Jesus?

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick