“Behold The Man!”
John 19:4,5
Introduction: This world has had many examples of men that others have looked to as the epitome of perfect manhood. History is full of examples of men that people looked up to, followed, and wanted to imitate because of their manliness. In our time with the proliferation of photos and Hollywood, there are many men that the world has deigned as examples of manliness. In most of these cases the parameters used to determine who can make it into this exclusive club are not the ones that God would have us use.
This AM I want us to look at this second of three word sentences that Pilate uttered that day so long ago when he had the life of the Son of God in his hands. Remember, the first three word sentence that Pilate uttered was “What is truth?” Sadly, Pilate did not wait around long enough to get an answer to that question. Now, after having Jesus scourged, placing a purple robe upon him, crowning Him with a crown of thorns, spitting on Him, ect - Pilate now brings Jesus out to the jeering crowd with the hopes that by humbling their so-called “king”, they would turn away from the path they had chosen - to kill Jesus. I was going to preach a message entitled “The No-Fault Judge”, for several times in these verses, as in chapter 18, Pilate tells the people and himself, that this man Jesus is without fault and does not deserve what is happening to him, yet Pilate still had Jesus scourged and humiliated. But after looking at this three word statement by Pilate “Behold the man!” I felt led to a message that deals with the manhood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We will see more about the truth of Jesus being the Son of God next week in verses 7,8, but is not interesting that in a matter of a few minutes on the very day that Jesus was crucified - Pilate and all those there are given one more opportunity to come to a true understanding of Who really stood before them - Jesus the Son of man, and Jesus the Son of God - one and the same - even as Jesus had claimed throughout His earthly ministry.
Let’s take a closer look at what this statement, “Behold the man!” really means, even though Pilate did not have a clue as to the deeper things behind his statement. In understanding what the Word of God teaches us about Jesus being human, we then can fully understand why he had to come and why only He could do the job.
I. BEHOLD THE MAN - JESUS
In this statement is the fulness of the humanity of Jesus Christ. In this part of the message I want to lay out for you what the scriptures teach about the truth of Jesus’ humanity. His humanity is first shown:
A. By His human parentage
1. Made of a woman
Gal. 4:4 says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” and Matt. 1:18 says, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”
There are a number of other passages we could go to that prove this conclusively, but all these passages are a fulfillment of what it says in Gen. 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
As Matt. 1:18 says, Jesus’ birth was a natural birth as well as a miraculous birth - it was miraculous because when Mary gave birth to Jesus she was still a virgin - an impossibility in the natural order of things.
Thus, Jesus’ entrance into this world was no different, other than his conception, than that of any other male, other than Adam, since the beginning of the human race. He was born of a woman; he had a human mother.
I am not going to take the time in this message to deal with all the objections that have been raised concerning the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, but suffice it to say that every one of those objections “holds no water.”
The fact is, that the OT taught that the Messiah would be conceived and born of a virgin. Isn’t that what Isaiah 7:14 teaches? “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
But Jesus’ human parentage is not only proven by His being born of a woman, but also that he was:
2. Made of the Seed of David
Listen as I read these verses that clearly show that Jesus, the Messiah, must come from the seed of King David. Matt. 1:1 “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”; Romans 1:3 “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;”; Acts 13:22-23 “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus:”
The Messianic line can be traced through the Scriptures from Shem through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. At this point a careful look at the Messianic line reveals specific evidences of the exercise of the grace of God. The line of Judah was carried on by the illegitimate son, Pharez, who was born to Judah’s daughter-in-law. According to the Mosaic law, as it is given in Deut. 23:2, illegitimacy carried a curse until the 10th generation. An examination of the genealogy, as it is given in the gospel of Matthew, shows that David was the 10th generation removed from Judah and thus free of any taint so far as the sin of Judah was concerned. Even during those 10 generations God’s grace was at work. We see the grace of God at work in redeeming Rahab the harlot and placing her in the Messianic line. She married Salmon, and their son was named Boaz. Boaz married Ruth, the Moabitess. Ruth was the great-grandmother of King David. Not only were they part of the kingly line, they were also a part of the King of kings line. What a picture of God’s grace.
Application: In a similar and just as wonderful way, each sinner who places their faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ is placed into the family of God and called a child of God.
But why was the line of David so important? It hearkens back to the Davidic Covenant that God made with David in 2 Samuel 7:5-16. It was reaffirmed to Mary by the angel Gabriel in the annunciation which is recorded in Luke 1:26-37, but especially in verses 32,33 - “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” In this one passage the two lines of prophetic truth concerning the Messiah are perfectly blended - Christ was born of the virgin (Is. 7:14) and was of the seed of David (2 Sam. 7).
Not only is Jesus’ humanity seen in his early parentage, it is also seen
B. By His natural growth and development
The proof text verses for this truth can be found in Luke 2:40,52 “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
Every parent here has watched or is presently watching the development of their child or children through the various stages of growing up. It is a wonder to quickly rewind back to the day they were born and were so little and then hit the fastforward button of their life and watch all the changes that take place until they reach adulthood. What a joy to be a part of that who process and to have a part in molding it. Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, passed through all the various stages of growth like any other member of the human race. He went from infancy to youth, from youth to manhood, there was a steady increase both of His bodily powers and mental faculties. It is true that Jesus was also sinless through all this, but that would not have changed his actually physical growth to manhood.
C. By His personal appearance
You might be wondering right now, has Pastor Reeves found some picture somewhere that shows us what Jesus looked liked? Well, the answer is no he has not. I’m glad we don’t have one for it would be worshipped by people rather worshipping God Himself. So what do I mean by mentioning Jesus’ personal appearance as a proof of his humanity. It’s easy - remember the woman at the well in John 4? Notice what she says in John 4:9 “Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Remember Mary at the tomb speaking to Jesus but not knowing it was Jesus in John 20:15 - “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have born him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.”
Both of these examples show us that people saw Jesus as simply a man, like any other man. When they looked upon his physical appearance they saw a man. In the case of Mary at the tomb, He could be mistaken for somebody else until He spoke in a way that Mary recognized.
D. By the human and sinless limitations
One man put it this way: “There is not a note in the great organ of our humanity which, when touched, does not find a sympathetic vibration in the mighty range and scope of our Lord’s being, saving, of course, the jarring discord of sin.”
In this section of the message we will look at some of the limitations that the Word of God teaches us that Jesus had while here on this earth. You’ll understand what I mean after we look at them.
1. Physical limitations
a. He was subject to bodily fatique - John 4:6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
b. He was subject to the necessity of sleep - Matt. 8:24 - And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
c. He was subject to hunger - Matt. 21:18 - Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
d. He was subject to thirst - John 19:28 - After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
e. He was subject to physical pain and suffering - Luke 22:44 - And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
f. He was subject to physical death - 1 Cor. 15:3 - For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
2. Intellectual limitations
In His humiliation, the Son of God laid aside the independent exercise of His omniscience, as well as the other attributes of Deity, making use of His infinite intelligence only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
a. He was capable of increasing in knowledge - We already looked at Luke 2:52
b. He was capable of obtaining knowledge by observation - Mark 11:13 - And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
c. He was capable of being restricted in knowledge - Mark 13:32 - But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
E. By the human names given to Him by Himself and others
I won’t stay long on this point - only remind you of some of those names: Jesus, the son of man, Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet, the carpenter, and the man Christ Jesus. Jesus had names that connected Him with this earth, with the people of his homeland.
I have spent the lions share of this message laying out for you all the points from God’s Word that teach us that Jesus was in fact completely human. Pilate was not a bit wrong when he declared - “Behold the man!” but I’m certain Pilate did not understand Jesus to be the man that we understand Jesus to be a man. Pilate was simply pointing out that Jesus was just a man, he was not a king - he had humiliated this man who was said to be a king.
We know that without Jesus becoming fully man, he could not have been a proper and fit substitute for the human race in regard to the sin question and God’s decision to make a way of escape for sinners. If Jesus was anything more or less than fully man when he lived on this earth, he would not have really been one of us. It could be claimed that He was less than human so what He did was useless for true human beings. It could also be claimed that He was more than human and totally beyond us so what He did really has not connection or identification with us. Both of those ideas are false. Jesus was fully man - Let us behold Jesus in all His manhood for He came for us.
II. BEHOLD THE MAN - PILATE
In many of the same ways that Jesus was a man, so too was Pilate. He had parents, was born of a woman, grew up, had an appearance that helped people know he was Pilate, had limitations. But if we were to really behold the man - Pilate - we would see that he was a man filled with sin; a man filled with pride; a man mainly interested in advancing himself up the ladder of Rome; a man who knew what was right and wrong but could not bring himself to make the right the decision because Pilate himself was in the way.
You know, as we behold the man, Pilate, we sure can see much of ourselves in him, can’t we? Why? Because Pilate was a sinner just like all of us. He was desperately in need of the redeeming and healing blood of the Man that stood next to him that day - the man he told the people to look at. It is sad that no one there that day really and truly looked at Jesus, not even Pilate who told them to. If you are here and do not know the Lord as your Saviour, I encourage you to “Behold the man - the Son of God who taketh away our sins.” Believers, we too ought to proclaim the message that Pilate proclaimed - “Behold the man, Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and arose from the grave for your justification.” We need to tell sinners to look to the lamb of God that was raised up for all to see, even as the brazen serpent was raised up for all the Israelites to look upon in faith and be healed. As the old gospel song says, “Look to Jesus and be saved.”
