Behold The Man (part 2-- repeat) - Mark Pierson

Reflections On John 19:1-5

BEHOLD THE MAN!

Pilate then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!" Jn.19:4-5

There He stood, the embodiment of God's holiness, justice and love. At this point Jesus had only just begun to pay the price for the sins of lost man. The cross was just a short time ahead.

As Jesus came forth, one wonders just what it is that the crowd saw. Let us look to Isaiah who prophecied of this event over seven hundred years earlier:

"Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men". Is.52:14

As Pilate had Jesus scourged we can only imagine what that must have been like. John MacArthur says in his commentary on John 19:1, "Scourging was a horribly cruel act in which the victim was stripped, tied to a post and beaten by several torturers, i.e. soldiers who alternated when exhausted...the prefered instrument was a short wooden handle to which several leather thongs were attached. Each leather thong had pieces of bones or metal on the end. The beatings were so savage that sometimes victims died. The body could be torn or lacerated to such an extent that muscles, veins or bones were exposed".

As it is written in prophecy by Isaiah: " I gave My back to those who struck Me, My cheeks to those who plucked out My beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting." Isaiah 50:6

As our substitute, Jesus received and experienced God the Father's full fury upon our sins. As we read Isaiah 53 we come to realize that it was the Father Who was behind the beatings- " Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief."

We see on display here the holiness of God and the horribleness of our sins. That same God Who told Moses to take off his shoes for he was standing on holy ground is showing the world His hatred for OUR sins-no matter how small-they must be paid for.
Do we ever stop to consider that that "little tiny" sin that we are about to commit is what put Jesus in this horrible situation in the first place? That little lust, that little white lie... " God is light and in Him is no darkness at all". 1Jn.1:5. Sin is the coming short of God's holy standards. It is the crossing over of His boundries. Since the fall of Adam this has been the plight of man - to not measure up to God's standards and to always trespass, step over His boundries.

Man, since Adam's fall, is hostile to God. He loves to rebel against his Maker. He does not understand his Maker nor does he care to do so. He loves to call evil good and good evil. Man does not want to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. He does not want God's rule in his life. Sin is too pleasurable. Oh, that man would be cured from such blindness, such spiritual death! Oh, that man would "Behold The Man" and all that He went through because God is so Holy and can not have sin in His presence!

Look at Him, standing there beaten beyond recognition, bleeding, veins and muscles and bones exposed. The cross was just ahead...

Those of you reading this post who do not know Jesus as your only hope of salvation, I say this: There is no way that you can earn salvation! It is written,"whoever believes may in Him have eternal life." That is right, simply look to the Son of God and you will be saved.

I will continue this series in the days to come.

Mark Pierson

posted by bluecollar at 8:59 AM