Behold Your King

Well, I'll get you to turn to, well, to return to John 19. And like I said before, we're going to be particularly focused on verses one through to verse 16, the trial of Jesus. You'll see sort of the second attempt by Pilate to question Jesus, to understand some of the charges that have been laid against him. Let's read together from John 19, verse one. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him saying, hail, king of the Jews, and struck him with their hands. 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.

When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law and according to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God. When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.

From then on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, if you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar. So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.

He said to the Jews, behold your king. They cried out, away with him. Away with him. Crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king?

The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. This is the word of the Lord. Three thoughts I wanna share with you this morning from this account of the apostle John concerning Jesus' crucifixion. The first point for us to reflect on is found in verses one through to five, where we see a criminal crowned.

A criminal crowned. Verse one tells us that Pilate takes Jesus and has him flogged. These Roman soldiers then drape Jesus in a purple cloth, and then place a crown of thorns onto his head. We're told that this initial flogging came after Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor of the province of Judea in the Roman Empire. We're told that this happened after Pontius' initial questioning of Jesus in chapter 18.

This flogging before an eventual crucifixion was an unusual practice. Usually, you were either flogged or you were sentenced to death, not both. So some scholars speculate that Pilate was ordered this whipping of Jesus to possibly try and satisfy the crowds of a punishment having taken place, but stopping short of a death sentence. This type of flogging was probably extremely severe. Other gospel accounts will tell us that Jesus had to have someone else, Simon of Cyrene, carry his cross to the place of his execution.

We're also told that Jesus dies within three hours of being placed on the cross, which was remarkably short for a crucifixion. People agonisingly stayed up there for up to days. The flogging had to be severe as well because on the one hand, Pilate wanted to show the Jewish leaders and a feverish crowd that Jesus was being punished. But on the other hand, Pilate couldn't bring himself to give a death sentence to a man that he wasn't sure was guilty of anything punishable by death. And so Jesus, we see, is flogged probably to within an inch of his life with whips made from leather, bone, metal spikes, and lead.

Now this beating isn't enough for the Roman soldiers, however. We see something of their sadistic pleasure coming out when they find a way to get some purple cloth and they drape it over his bleeding body. They, someone has the time to go and find branches of thorns to weave together a crown of thorns, which they crush into his skull. Dressed as a caricature, a cartoon of a king, the soldiers proceed to hit him after his official flogging, taking turns to hiss the words, hail the king of the Jews, as they do so. By now, Jesus is a shadow of a man.

Soaked in blood, face swollen over from the punches, body slumped over in pain. And he is made to hobble out to this ravenous crowd. Despite his purple robe, this thorny crown, you could not find an image further from a king. It's probably for this reason that Pilate then emphatically announces to the crowd. Have a look in verse five.

Behold the man. In Greek, Ecce Homo. With that announcement, we can see that this pantomime orchestrated by Pilate and the soldiers was making a point. This Jesus is not a king. He is a quivering, hobbling fool.

The criminal has been crowned, not as a king, but a clown. Not a king, but a fool. To our Australian sensibilities two thousand years later, this cruel, despising hate, this vile mockery is almost too foreign to imagine as real. In the midst of these inhumane actions lies a steady determination, however, of one who knows the truth. Jesus has just earlier said to Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world.

And while this pantomime rolls ahead, the unwavering hand of God is on the man in the middle. Sarcastically hailed as a clown king, he is, in fact, the king. Behind the scenes, we're starting to be positioned. We see a God making the soldiers' cruel jokes a profound reality that will echo through these scriptures for all eternity. Hail the king of the Jews.

But for now, the criminal hailed a clown is announced to be just a man. Behold the man. And yet, as we will soon see, he is crowned king precisely because of this suffering. But there's a second layer to the scene. Not only is the criminal crowned, but the mortal is feared.

Verses six through to eleven. Ecce Homo, the Anthropos. Behold the man. Pilate says to the crowd, not a king, but a mortal. A pauper, not a prince. And Pilate hopes that humiliating Jesus will satisfy these enemies. But the crowd isn't satisfied. Verse six says instead, when they see him, they cry out all the more, crucify him, crucify him.

Far from having sated their bloodthirst, the crown, the purple robe, may have just enraged them more. Annoyed at their insolence or disgusted by their savagery, Pilate shouts back at them, take him yourselves and crucify him then, for I, whatever you think, find no guilt in him. Now, there's a tantrum in those words. Pilate knows very well that he can't just hand over Jesus to mob justice. He is the governor.

He is meant to keep Roman order. Neither the religious leaders of the Jews nor the crowd have the authority to mete out capital punishment. But now, Pilate, instead of bringing order, only offers an exasperated stalemate. An adult would have said, I'm the boss. You listen to me.

A child huffs, I don't want to play anymore. And that is what Pilate does. Now, in order to break the stalemate, the Jewish leaders decide to go down a different angle. They present a new charge: blasphemy.

He ought to die, they say, because he made himself out to be the son of God. In those words, we should see how clearly the people understood the claims of Jesus. Some people today will tell us or suggest to us that Jesus had no idea that he would later be called the Messiah. Jesus had no idea that he was God as the church would later claim him to be and yet, you see right here that the people actually understood who Jesus was from what Jesus claimed to be. Jesus was crucified not simply for claiming to be the Jewish Messiah.

He was crucified not simply for being a prophet who claimed to reveal the mysteries of God. All of those form part of the hatred, but the final reason is the ultimate reason. He claimed to be God. At this charge, verse eight tells us, Pilate becomes even more afraid. What was he afraid of?

Well, he feared the crowd, obviously. He feared the seething mass of religious zealots in the powder keg city of Jerusalem during the peak of their holiest days, the Passover. But now, Pilate, we are told, becomes even more afraid because he fears Jesus now as well. We'll see very soon that this is not a fear that causes Pilate to bend the knee to Christ as God or king, but it's certainly a fear that causes him to want to save his bacon. Pilate, no doubt a religious Roman, had grown up believing that the gods could come down from the heavens to earth.

We see an example of that, don't we, in Acts 14, when the people of Lystra wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas because they thought that they were the gods Zeus and Hermes. They thought the gods had come to them in Paul and Barnabas and it was, therefore, entirely within the framework, the theological framework of Pilate that the man standing before him could be a god. Indeed, there was something mysterious about this man. All the time that Pilate had him there and was questioning him, Jesus would refuse to plead his case. Jesus refused to plead for mercy.

There was an air of dignity about him. And when Pilate heard the claims of Jesus, he became very afraid. It's because Pilate has a dawning realisation of godlikeness in Jesus that causes him now to ask with a stammering voice, where have you come from? I think again, this is the governor of a province in the Roman Empire. What does he care about the origin of some lowlife criminal from a backwater town in a backwater province.

This question, where are you from, is not to know that Jesus is from Nazareth. The question is, what is your origin? How have you come to us? Who has sent you? But Jesus will not entertain those questions.

He remains standing in silence. And Pilate asks, why on earth won't you answer me? Do you not realise I have the power to free you? Jesus says, you have no authority over me. Your authority has been given from the place where I belong, from above.

Pilate's authority is only enough to do exactly what God will order him to do, to secure the crucifixion of the son for the salvation of many. The one who Pilate declares as simply a man. Behold the man is now instead feared by Pilate to be a god. This mortal man has been assaulted. This son of the gods has been harmed by Pilate and Pilate fears for his life.

And yet, Jesus says that even this appearance of the son of the gods being assaulted is only an indication of him as the divine son being assaulted by God Himself. Why does Jesus not simply explain to Pilate his kingship? Why does Jesus not simply claim his divinity? Friends, the answer is because Jesus doesn't need to persuade anyone that he is king. Pilate knows what he is.

He is the king. Pilate's thinking, Jesus is a god. He doesn't know what that means yet, but Pilate knows. Jesus doesn't need to persuade him of anything. Instead, Pilate should be the one falling down in worship.

Pilate should be the one bending the knee. Jesus doesn't have to persuade us of his kingship. He is king. He is God. Despite his fear that he might have just assaulted a god, Pilate tries to appease both parties again.

On the one hand, he will try to free Jesus. Verse 12 tells us. But on the other hand, we'll see how his decency, his moral integrity melts in the face of what happens next, the imminent threat posed to him. Our final point this morning. The blasphemer is heralded. Again, despite what some people have tried to claim about Pilate, he is not an innocent bystander in the death of Jesus.

On the contrary, he is the man who caught a glimpse of the greatness of Christ, but he does not have the moral fortitude to ensure that justice is done for him. He shares in the guilt of those who fail to listen to what Jesus had been born to reveal. Verses 12 to 16 show us one final attempt to negotiate with the crowds. The response is, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Historical documents show us that this term friend of Caesar was an official title that people had of, usually, ranking officials like governors, like Pilate. Someone who was considered a friend of Caesar was someone that had shown themselves to be very loyal and were often given very plush jobs.

And now, there's a threat to that friendship offered by the crowds. To be a friend of Caesar, however, was a fickle affair. Caesar Tiberius was a tyrant, a capricious, erratic emperor who executed anyone on a whiff of treason. And the situation in Jerusalem is getting quickly out of hand. Pilate fears a revolt now.

If an uprising starts because he had remained stubborn over the case of some nobody from the backwaters, then he could kiss that title of friend to the Caesar goodbye and probably his life as well. And so, Pilate relents one final time, and he brings Jesus out. And now he sits officially on his judgment seat, a place called the Stone Pavement, in order to give his final judgment. And again, the crowd is roiling. Away with him.

Away with him. Crucify him. And Pilate has no more cards to play. The thing he fears most is his status and his life. And so Pilate brings out Jesus one final time, and he announces him to the crowd again, but have a look.

Instead of saying, behold the man, what does he say? Behold your king. Ide Humon Basileus. Behold your king. Pilate here isn't now reverting back to the pantomime of the clown king. No.

Something had changed for him. The announcement, behold your king, isn't sarcastic, and yet neither is it true reverence. It is spite. Pilate never spoke truer words than when he declared Jesus king, but notice how far he is from grasping the truth. He declares Jesus is your king, not mine.

Jesus has no authority over his own life. And so this isn't a moment of faith for Pilate, and yet Jesus is not the clown king either. The main purpose of this declaration is spite. It's a parting shot in a political game that he has lost. But once again, the moment is laden with poignancy.

This blasphemer, this fake messiah is announced by the country's highest court, by the country's highest judge to be the nation's king. Just to twist that knife one final time, Pilate asked the crowd, will you crucify your king? But he knows what the response is going to be. And of all the people, it is the chief priests who respond with the words, we have no king but Caesar, revealing their moral and spiritual bankruptcy. No patriotic Jew would ever have said that, and certainly no faithful high priest.

To a genuinely faithful Jew, there was only one true king of Israel, Yahweh, the God of Israel. We have no king but Caesar, they say. And so finally, Pilate in verse 16 hands Jesus over to the executioners for his crucifixion. And we know the rest of the story. Three amazing twists in the story.

The criminal crowned as a clown is in fact a king. The man feared as an assaulted son of the gods is the divine son that God Himself is assaulting. And the blasphemer is heralded as his accuser's lord in spitefulness when he was, in fact, the Lord being handed over for their forgiveness. Friends, if you've meditated with me on the drama of the crucifixion story this morning and you've noted all the intrigues and the controversies, these amazing twists and turns in the tale, and if you've come out on the other end of that story and concluded what a terribly sad and unfair ending this was, then you've missed the whole point of the story. God has given us these words with all its intrigues to show that behind it all was a mind exposing these ironies to declare to the world today that this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

I have given him as a sacrifice for all that is wrong in this world. The sin that you have seen in Pilate, in the crowd, in the chief priests, the soldiers, is the sin that exists in your heart. And it is for that sin that my son has to pay. Through all the indecisions of Pilate, the insistent demands of the leaders for Jesus' death, the cruel mockery of the soldiers, all the while God's divine will is working its way. The prophet Isaiah writes seven hundred years before Jesus that it would be the will of God to crush him.

And even as he stood there in purple rags and a crown of thorns, God the Father was holding in His hand His son, the instrument of His love and our salvation. But just as true that it was the will of the Lord to crush him, so it's true that it was our sins that put him on that cross. It's not Pilate. It's not the crowd. God sent His son because He so loved me, the sinner.

And God has recorded for all eternity the ironies of Pilate and the crowd and the soldiers so that we will not make the same mistakes that they did. God is telling us today that whoever will humbly trust in Christ as both God and king, they will receive the result of His going to the cross, your forgiveness and your eternal life. We're going to pray in a second. I wanna tell you, if you know this morning that God has spoken to you through these words, perhaps you don't understand everything, but you know that God has spoken. If you realise that you have to make Christ the king and the saviour of your life, not to simply fear him as Pilate did, but to revere him as God.

While we pray, I want you to pray with me and make today a definitive moment where you accept the work of Jesus Christ as work done on your behalf. Today, on Good Friday, we remember the criminal who was crowned a clown when he was in fact the king. The mortal feared as a son of the gods when he was the divine son, God Himself was assaulting. And finally, the blasphemer heralded as his accuser's lord in spitefulness when he was the Lord handed over for our forgiveness. Let me lead you in prayer.

Lord Jesus, risen and crowned the eternal King. We pray to you this morning, and we thank you for the words that come to us with profound and perhaps renewed urgency that we must crown you both God and King. Lord, perhaps there are some of us here who don't understand everything of what has happened here. Perhaps we, we don't realise that we have sinned or offended God. Perhaps we don't understand what exactly had to take place at the cross that will somehow be relevant for us.

But something of these words have spoken to us. Help us to be comforted by the knowledge that that is your living spirit working in our hearts. Help us to understand that you are speaking directly to us. And so, Lord, for those that may have never had the opportunity to confess you as saviour, as king. Lord, I pray that today is that day, and I pray on their behalf that they will confess their need of you, that they will come to increasing understandings of their sin before a holy God and Father, of the great joy, the incredible, eternal happiness of knowing that a sacrifice has been made on their behalf by the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Lord, for others of us, we know this wonderful gospel. We, we rejoice in it again today. We marvel again at the wonderful intrigue and the way that you turn things on its head. And we praise you, and we thank you, Lord, for the truth that we have, and we are strengthened in our resolve, Lord, to be more faithful to you, our King, to continue to daily bow the knee to your lordship over us. Help us, Lord, to carry that banner proudly, and we pledge our allegiance to our King once more.

As we go from this place, Lord, help us to remember this weekend what it all means, and help us to also have the great hope that we will experience again on Sunday of a life that has been given to us. The same way Jesus Christ was raised to life, we have a life that is now eternal and forever perfect because of what took place at the cross. We thank you, Lord, and we praise you. In His precious name, amen.