John 19:4-5

Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”  So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.  Pilate said to them, “Behold the man.”

There’s an ominous parallel between this event and what takes place every day.  Pilate brings Jesus out again and he once more lays to waste any pretense the religious leaders have made that this is a fair trial.  Pilate finds no guilt in Him and yet He is to be put to death.  This is essentially a murder.  So,  Pilate says to them, “you have brought these charges, which I’ve found to be baseless.  But I will abide by your determinations in this matter alone.  Here He is.  What will you do with Him?”

This is the basic question confronting all of mankind everyday.  What will you do with Jesus Christ.  Now we see Him, meek and humble, that twisted and painful manifestation of mockery pushed down onto His head and wearing a royal robe of ridicule.  This is how Jesus comes to us today.  Behold, the Man!  You wake up and go about your day in a world He made, with gifts and talents He provided.  It’s the choice before you every day to do away with Him and His claims of authority over you and your life – or to repent of your sin, which is your treasonous rejection of the universe’s God.  Yes, indeed, behold the Man.  

The religious authorities might represent the apostate church today but that is certainly not the sum of it.  They represent the mass of souls that have convinced themselves that they don’t need a savior at all.  That is the root of our conflict with God.  Set aside our earthly sins for a moment and ponder the deep, deep root of it.  Behind adultery, fornication, theft, murder, strife, envy, greed, and our other horrible sexual sins too, there is this: an angry, bitter soul shaking their fist at God.  The unrepentant want to be God so, as a matter of course, they hate Him.  They despise His guiltlessness and perfection, his divine nature and eternal power, which is all obvious even to the unsaved.  No matter.  They hate Him because He is what they pretend to be: sovereign – the decider of right and wrong, true and false.  There is no other issue but this one and all others flow from it.  Thus, should you be a pretender to the throne, you shout with the rest of fallen humanity to crucify Him.  You are a murderer and a hater of the true and living God.  That is what that crowd represents.  It shows us that sin is the attempt to murder God.  

Pilate found no guilt because Jesus was sinless.  Yet they murdered the Son of God for their sin.  This is the most critical point of history and certainly in our own personal lives.  Will we go to Jesus now and repent or will we face Him as Judge?  Will we see His vast love as He endures all for us – for us! – or will we continue to live our lives of make believe?  Today is the day of salvation, my friend.  Don’t delay.  Behold the man and repent.