John 19:5 - Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
Do you ever read a book or watch a movie and imagine yourself in one of the scenes? How would you react in the same situation? What would you say under the same circumstances? Imagine for a moment you are in the crowd as Jesus stands trial before Pilate.
You are in the throng of people outside Pilate’s palace. It’s Passover and you’ve come to Jerusalem to celebrate with your friends and family. You’ve heard about this Jesus, the One some have called the Messiah. But it appears to you He’s just a man. You’re disappointed; He appears to be a man of only skin and blood (and quite frankly you see a lot more blood than skin now that he’s been flogged).
The soldiers have whipped Him and lacerated His skin. They’ve mocked Him, placing a crown of thorns on His head, and adorning Him in a purple robe. And now He stands before you, before Pilate, before the crowd, and Pilate says those words: “Behold the man!” Hold that picture in your head for a moment.
On a Friday morning two thousand years ago, the second Adam was beginning the process of undoing the first Adam’s sin. Adam was always meant to wear a crown; now Jesus would wear one. Adam had been sentenced to toil among the thorns; now Jesus would have thorns twisted into His brow. The hands of humanity that reached out for the forbidden fruit were now the fists that beat the face of the precious Savior.
“Behold the man!” Pilate didn’t know what he was saying, but the Apostle John did. Jesus is the perfect Man. The image of the invisible God, the beginning, and the end, the One in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He is the One who takes our shame and bears our sin. He is God! He is Savior! He is Messiah!
Behold the man!