Wednesday in the Word...John 19:1-16...He doesn't look like a typical king

So this picture of a statue of Jesus is pretty typical but put it against what you are going to read today and the historical evidence of what people went through before being crucified by the Romans.  It seems we have desensitized our minds with images made for us to be more appropriate but it hinders our ability to understand the scope of God's love for us.  Sometimes we also give Pilate a "pass" because he is trying to get Jesus off the hook but in the end Jesus takes a place in his life that is less than Lord.  If Jesus is less than Lord in someone's life, no matter how much "they tried" to make it work, the outcome is same.  A sinner without a Savior is a sinner without a Savior.

Today's Wednesday in the Word is covering John chapter 19 and verses 1 through 16 which reads,

v.1-3 - Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him.  And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him slaps in the face.

​Pilate has said that he has found no guilt in Jesus but the crowd demanded Barabbas, a robber, over Jesus to be pardoned as a good will gesture of the Roman government to the religion of Judaism during the Passover celebration.  ​What is Pilate's next move?  What if I rough Jesus up a bit?  Jesus was scourged.  From the John MacArthur study Bible, 

"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.  For victims who were not Roman citizens, the preferred 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.  Such flogging often preceded execution in order to weaken and dehumanize the victim."

Not only was this done but also the mockery of the soldiers to Jesus with the placing of the crown of thorns on His head.  Just think of of the blood of a head wound.  They also placed on Jesus in mockery a purple robe.  Purple was the color that royalty wore.  Next came the mocking addresses to Jesus as king followed by slaps to His face.  If they only knew who they were flogging and mocking, God Himself.  If we would only know what God went through for us and how ugly it looks when we mock Him with our disloyalty at times.  

v.4-7 - Pilate came out again and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him."  Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.  Pilate said to them, "Behold, the Man!"  So when they chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, "Crucify, crucify!"  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 by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God."

Pilate comes out with Jesus in this condition and again states that he finds no guilt in Him.  I am sure that Pilate is hoping the people will see that he has "roughed up" Jesus a bit and that would be enough.  He was probably not expecting to hear, "Crucify, crucify!"  It was probably out of frustration that he tried to pawn Jesus back onto them because his suggestion of the Jews crucifying Jesus was not permitted by law.  

The law the Jewish religious leaders are referring to is probably Leviticus 24:16 which says, 

"Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him.  The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death."  

It is interesting that Jesus made this claim many times but they were not permitted to touch Him because His hour had not come.  It was only when Jesus gave them permission that this could happen.  Luke 22:53 says, 

"While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours."  

Jesus basically saying to the Jewish religious leaders, "Now you can act; you can say your lines; you can come onto the center stage and play your part."

v.8-10 - Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?"  But Jesus gave him no answer.  So Pilate said to Him, "You do not speak to me?  Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?"

Pilate became afraid when the Jewish religious leaders claimed that Jesus said He was the Son of God.  What if He was?  What had Pilate just done to the Son of God?  The deeply superstitious Romans would have seen this title as one addressing a "divine man" like their Caesar.  A person of such could bring curses upon them.  Therefore, Pilate asks for more information that Jesus does not give.

Frustrated, Pilate uses the "authority card."  "Don't you know who I am Jesus?"  "Don't you know I have the power to release You or to crucify You?"  "Jesus, Your life is in my hands."  This is like lobbing that softball right over the plate for Jesus.

v.11-12 - Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."  As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar."

Jesus pulls out His "authority card."  God is in control.  Now Jesus is saying to Pilate, "Okay you can say your line and you can play your part in a play that you did not write."  Who delivered Jesus could refer to Judas Iscariot or to Caiaphas the high priest or Satan himself.  All are sinning, Pilate included and not only does he not have authority over Jesus but he is also deemed a sinner by Jesus along with the rest of them.  The "greater" part could be referring to the others exposure to the evidence given by Jesus, His miracles, and even God's voice that He is the Messiah.  Most likely Pilate would not have been exposed to this evidence.

Pilate again makes an attempt to release Jesus but the response of the people is even stronger and turns into a personal attack against Pilate.  They are twisting his arm behind his back and even doing his job for him.  If Jesus is a king then He is taking Caesar's place.  As I have used this illustration before, Pilate is in a three way pickle between his own conscience, Jesus Himself, and the popular opinion of the people.  Who would win?

v.13-16 - Therefore when Pilate 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 day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.  And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!"  So 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 then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

​Any upheaval in Jerusalem would look bad on Pilate's record before Tiberius Caesar.  He could lose his commission.  The opinion of the people win out and Pilate proceeds to make his judgment to give the crowd what they wanted.   ​Pilate mounts the judge's bench and brings down the gavel of verdict.  Jesus would be crucified.

The sixth hour by Jewish time would be noon by starting at 6 a.m. as the start of the day but the sixth hour by Roman time would be 6 a.m. by starting at midnight as the start of the day.  From other scriptures we have Jesus on the cross at 9 a.m.(the third hour - Jewish time), darkness at noon(the sixth hour), and death at 3 p.m.(the ninth hour) and also the time the sacrificial lamb was slain for the nation of Israel for the Passover celebration.  To harmonize the gospels, John is speaking about Roman time and this trial would have been completed at the 6 a.m. time.  

Jesus doesn't look much like a king at this point.  He looks pretty helpless but the crowd response is to have Him completely done away with.  They also take it one more step and give allegiance to a god called Caesar.  In hypocrisy to their own Scripture, they break the 1st commandment.  "You shall have no other gods before Me."

This gruesome scene is given to us by God and at His expense so that we could see His love and our depravity.  Left to our own conscience, we will say "Crucify Him" so that we can pick our own god(s).  We think we are in control of the overall story of life and the ones determining the final outcome.  Even though Jesus doesn't much look like a king at the moment standing in His own blood, His loyalty to the Father's plan is perfect and in that we should be eternally grateful.

Pastor Adam