Humanity
Here's The Man! John 19:1-7, 8 September 2013
Big Idea: Jesus is the ultimate man, the ideal human.
Introduction
We have been looking at the life of Jesus through the lens of John, one of His best friends. We are in the nineteenth chapter of his Gospel or “good news.” We will spend five weeks in this chapter exploring the final hours of His pre-resurrected life.
Last week Jonathan Hurshman taught on Jesus’ first encounter with Pilate in chapter eighteen. The Jewish leaders bring Jesus to the Roman governor’s palace and…
Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” (18:31)
Later, Pilate asks
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” (18:38-39)
They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (18:40)
Pilate wants to punt. Clearly Jesus is no threat to his authority and wants the Jewish leaders to go away and leave him alone. Hoping to satisfy them
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. (19:1)
There were three types of flogging done by the Romans.
This flogging is believed to be the first and least severe punishment. Pilate sees nothing wrong with Jesus and wants to pacify the Jewish leaders.
Flogging was typically done with a whip of several strips of leather with bone and lead imbedded. The Jews had a limit of forty lashes, though they usually did thirty-nine in case of a miscount. The Romans, however, had no limit and their flogging often resulted in death.
The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. (19:2a)
The crown of thorns was possibly taken from a Sayla Tree with long, thick spikes, not small thorns from a rose stem. The thorns would not only cause bleeding, they would distort a person’s face as they sunk into the victim’s skull.
In Genesis 22, a ram’s head was caught in a thornbush and was offered up instead of Isaac as a sacrifice, a moving parallel to Jesus’ crown of thorns as He becomes our sacrifice.
They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. (19:3)
Purple dye was rare and expensive, usually drawn from shellfish. It signified royalty. Note they repeatedly mocked Him, again and again.
If His body was not in enough agony, the emotional abuse He took was unimaginable. They say that sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you. What a lie! Words are sometimes more powerful and painful than sticks and stones. Jesus is experiencing it all, and He’s totally innocent…and He is the King of the Jews. He is being mocked with the truth.
He did it all for you and for me.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” (19:4)
Again, Pilate says, “Not guilty.”
Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” (19:5)
His intent was likely, “Look at the poor man? How can he be a threat to the government or anyone, for that matter?”
John repeatedly shows the humanity of Jesus and this is another example. Here is the man. Jesus is the man. He is the Son of man. He is the ideal man. He is the ultimate example of what it means to be human.
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” (19:6)
Pilate offers a third “not guilty” verdict (see also Luke 24:4, 14,22). He is sarcastic in his response for he knew the Jews lacked the authority to crucify but he was desperate to get them out of his sight. He just wants the whole situation to go away.
The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” (19:7)
Leviticus 24:15-16 states blasphemy as a capital offense.
Who is the real man in this account? Is it Pilate with power and authority or the humble Jesus who actually possessed all authority? Is it the politically correct, people-pleasing Pilate or the Biblically correct, God-pleasing Jesus? Which best describes your life?
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.
Introduction
We have been looking at the life of Jesus through the lens of John, one of His best friends. We are in the nineteenth chapter of his Gospel or “good news.” We will spend five weeks in this chapter exploring the final hours of His pre-resurrected life.
Last week Jonathan Hurshman taught on Jesus’ first encounter with Pilate in chapter eighteen. The Jewish leaders bring Jesus to the Roman governor’s palace and…
Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” (18:31)
Later, Pilate asks
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” (18:38-39)
They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (18:40)
Pilate wants to punt. Clearly Jesus is no threat to his authority and wants the Jewish leaders to go away and leave him alone. Hoping to satisfy them
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. (19:1)
There were three types of flogging done by the Romans.
- the fustigatio, a beating that served as a warning for smaller offenses
- the flagellatio, a more brutal punishment for more serious crimes
- the verberatio, the most heinous punishment
This flogging is believed to be the first and least severe punishment. Pilate sees nothing wrong with Jesus and wants to pacify the Jewish leaders.
Flogging was typically done with a whip of several strips of leather with bone and lead imbedded. The Jews had a limit of forty lashes, though they usually did thirty-nine in case of a miscount. The Romans, however, had no limit and their flogging often resulted in death.
The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. (19:2a)
The crown of thorns was possibly taken from a Sayla Tree with long, thick spikes, not small thorns from a rose stem. The thorns would not only cause bleeding, they would distort a person’s face as they sunk into the victim’s skull.
In Genesis 22, a ram’s head was caught in a thornbush and was offered up instead of Isaac as a sacrifice, a moving parallel to Jesus’ crown of thorns as He becomes our sacrifice.
They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. (19:3)
Purple dye was rare and expensive, usually drawn from shellfish. It signified royalty. Note they repeatedly mocked Him, again and again.
If His body was not in enough agony, the emotional abuse He took was unimaginable. They say that sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you. What a lie! Words are sometimes more powerful and painful than sticks and stones. Jesus is experiencing it all, and He’s totally innocent…and He is the King of the Jews. He is being mocked with the truth.
He did it all for you and for me.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” (19:4)
Again, Pilate says, “Not guilty.”
Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” (19:5)
His intent was likely, “Look at the poor man? How can he be a threat to the government or anyone, for that matter?”
John repeatedly shows the humanity of Jesus and this is another example. Here is the man. Jesus is the man. He is the Son of man. He is the ideal man. He is the ultimate example of what it means to be human.
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” (19:6)
Pilate offers a third “not guilty” verdict (see also Luke 24:4, 14,22). He is sarcastic in his response for he knew the Jews lacked the authority to crucify but he was desperate to get them out of his sight. He just wants the whole situation to go away.
The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” (19:7)
Leviticus 24:15-16 states blasphemy as a capital offense.
Who is the real man in this account? Is it Pilate with power and authority or the humble Jesus who actually possessed all authority? Is it the politically correct, people-pleasing Pilate or the Biblically correct, God-pleasing Jesus? Which best describes your life?
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.