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Sunday, October 25 · Cities Church

Behold the Real Man

Pilate parades a flogged and mocked Jesus before the crowd and declares he finds no guilt in him, and John tells it so that you might believe that this man on trial is the Christ, the Son of God.

The passages

So Pilate then took Jesus and flogged him. The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment. They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him. Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!” When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid. He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.” At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!” When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.” Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at 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 then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.

John 19:1–16

…but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:31

He who blasphemes Yahweh’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name.

Leviticus 24:16

For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

John 5:18

The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

John 10:33

He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him.

John 1:11

He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

…and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?” So they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver.

Matthew 26:15

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”

Matthew 20:18–19

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses.

Acts 3:13–15

…who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.

Romans 4:25

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today.

Genesis 50:20

“For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your counsel foreordained to happen.

Acts 4:27–28

Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.

Isaiah 53:10

Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God. For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God. For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps, who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.” When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.

1 Peter 2:18–24

Go deeper

If God is in control of everything, how am I still responsible for the wrong I do?

Jesus tells Pilate his authority was handed to him from above, and in the same breath tells him the one who handed Jesus over carries the greater sin. Both are true at once. Judas handed Jesus over for money and is not excused by the fact that God had planned it. Pilate washed his hands and is not excused either.

Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”

John 19:10–11

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today.

Genesis 50:20

“For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your counsel foreordained to happen.

Acts 4:27–28

…and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?” So they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver.

Matthew 26:15

Why did Jesus stay silent when he could have defended himself?

Pilate expects panic and gets nothing. Jesus stands before the governor who will send him to the cross and does not open his mouth, and Pilate is unnerved by it. The silence is not weakness; it is a man who knows who holds the final verdict.

He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?”

John 19:9–10

…who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.” When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.

1 Peter 2:22–23

When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many things they testify against you?” He gave him no answer, not even one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

Matthew 27:12–14

How do I keep going when I am treated unjustly and there is nothing I can do about it?

Peter writes to servants under masters who treat them badly and points them to Jesus, who endured and kept entrusting himself to God rather than taking justice into his own hands. It is not passive resignation; it is a person handing the verdict to someone they trust. Jesus did it not once but again and again.

Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God. For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God. For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps,…

1 Peter 2:18–21

When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.

1 Peter 2:23–24

Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this: he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun. Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.

Psalms 37:5–7

Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:19–21

Does it actually mean anything that I was part of this, two thousand years later?

The sermon does not leave the crowd at the pavement. It puts the reader in the courtyard. Paul says Christ was delivered over for our transgressions, and the hymn the church sings says the mocking voice among the scoffers is mine. The good news is that the one who delivered him over is the one he came to save.

…who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.

Romans 4:25

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses.

Acts 3:13–15

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:5–6

He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him.

John 1:11

What does it mean that Pilate said "Behold the man" and did not know what he was saying?

Pilate trots Jesus out bleeding and robed in purple to make the crowd look foolish, and unknowingly points at the word made flesh. He also says three times he finds no guilt in him, which is truer than he knows. The man on display is the one John wrote his whole gospel to show you.

Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”

John 19:4–5

The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

…but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:31

Just as many were astonished at you— his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men— so he will cleanse many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for they will see that which had not been told them, and they will understand that which they had not heard.

Isaiah 52:14–15