Behold the Man! (John 19:5)

Christ stands before Pilate.  Pilate has no idea what to do with Christ.  is this man delusional?  is this man a king?  Is he someone who will negotiate?  Pilate sees Christ as a man, but John’s gospel makes clear that Christ is the lamb of God.  He is God tabernacling among us in the flesh.

Christ has made strong claims.  When he rode into Jerusalem, people tried to make him a king, and here Christ stands before Pilate.  Pilate can only declare that Christ is the man.  He does not see Christ as the Son of Man, or the one who enters history to confirm God’s promises.

Pilate can only pass Jesus around like a rag doll.  The soldiers dress him in a purple robe.  They pound a crown of thorns on his head.  They beat him.  Pilate can only say, Behold the man!  He has him flogged, hoping that Israel will show some compassion.  However, they will only crucify Christ.  They chant and continue to chant.  They would rather release the son of Abba or son of God.  A man named BarAbbas, an insurrectionist and murderer, rather than the true Son of God, Son of man, and Lamb of God.

Pilate pronounces Christ innocent twice.  He would rather miscarry justice than risk a riot.  He does not see any relevance to Christ.  Pilate sees Christ as a delusional idealist at best who is fighting for truth.  Pilate hands him over to death, thinking that he can go about his day.

Little does Pilate know that Christ goes to the cross as the son of man bearing creation’s curse that Adam secured.  Christ endures mocking like the Psalmist in Psalm 22.  There are many parallels throughout the Psalms, but how Christ lives out the details of the fourth servant song in Isaiah 53.  He lives this out even as he makes his grave with a rich man.  The beauty of this story and the fourth servant song is that Christ does not end as the suffering servant, but the triumphant king who lives to make intercession for his people.  Truly, Good Friday is only good as it ends with the resurrection on Easter morning.