“You’re The Man!” We say this colloquial phrase when we are congratulating someone who has accomplished a great feat or completed a great work beyond all others.  We say this when a friend has crossed the finish line of a great race of endurance and strength.  We also say this to those who have done a great favor for us or given us a gift beyond our wildest dreams. 

Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd in almost the same way; Jesus, the Man.  In Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of John, Pilate remarks, “Here he is: the Man,” as if to say I’m giving you what you asked for.  (But it also seems he is like those investors on Shark Tank who say, “I’m out”! when they want no part of what is being sold.)

Jesus is indeed The Man, but He is also the Son of God who God sent as the greatest gift to mankind.  The gift, when accepted and believed, is Life forever!  But the Jews in charge rejected The Man who claimed to also be Messiah, Son of God.  The leaders instead used what He said as evidence to kill Him—just as the prophets said centuries earlier.  Claiming to be Son of God was against The Law.

John 19, The Message

The Thorn Crown of the King

^1-3 So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.

^4-5 Pilate went back out again and said to them, “I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime.” Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe.

Pilate announced, “Here he is: the Man.”

⁶ When the high priests and police saw him, they shouted in a frenzy, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate told them, “You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him.”

⁷ The Jews answered, “We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

^8-9 When Pilate heard this, he became even more scared. He went back into the palace and said to Jesus, “Where did you come from?”

Jesus gave no answer.

¹⁰ Pilate said, “You won’t talk? Don’t you know that I have the authority to pardon you, and the authority to—crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus said, “You haven’t a shred of authority over me except what has been given you from heaven. That’s why the one who betrayed me to you has committed a far greater fault.”

¹² At this, Pilate tried his best to pardon him, but the Jews shouted him down: “If you pardon this man, you’re no friend of Caesar’s. Anyone setting himself up as ‘king’ defies Caesar.”

^13-14 When Pilate heard those words, he led Jesus outside. He sat down at the judgment seat in the area designated Stone Court (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was the preparation day for Passover. The hour was noon. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king.”

¹⁵ They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said, “I am to crucify your king?”

The high priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”

^16-19 Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned him over to be crucified.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

No one on earth could claim that he is the Son of God, it’s against The Law—but Jesus did—because He was. This pain of rejection by His own was felt as the Son of Man.  They could have had Life but the religious establishment chose death offered by the enemy of God.

As we continue John’s telling of how Jesus, Son of God, was beaten beyond recognition, spit on by all his accusers, mocked as “king of the Jews,” used as a human pawn in a torturous game played by Roman soldiers before being nailed to a cross of shame, we must center our thoughts on Jesus, the Man. 

Jesus the Man felt every blow of the strap with metal spikes at the end as it ripped the flesh from his bones.  He endured the pain every human feels when slapped and pushed back and forth while being bound by bullies enjoying their momentary “power” over another human.  The Man endured the abusive mocking meant to humble Jesus, in front of all who shouted, “crucify him!”  Yes, Jesus was indeed, “The Man.”

Jesus, also the Son of God, had the power to stop it all—but He did not.  Instead, Jesus, “who knew no sin” willingly took the blame, bore the shame, and endured the excruciating pain for the punishment we desire.

The Son of God obediently completed the mission God sent Him to do with all the love of God in Him.  This Love of God in Him as Son of God pleaded from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”  This is what Jesus meant and now demonstrates when he said, “Pray for your enemies.”  We are to pray for those who hurt us and sin against God; because a heart like Jesus prays for their salvation, too.  (All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.)

And they didn’t know.  They did not and would not understand the gift God had sent.  They chose ignorance over knowledge of God.  They chose death over life eternal.  When we choose what is the worst for us, God grieves for us because He knows what could be—His best!

However, do not pity Jesus for that would lessen the importance of what He did for us.  Jesus sacrificial act provided hope and a future!  Indeed, the cross involves much more than an exhibition of innocent suffering. On that cross, the Son of God paid the price for the sins of the world and thereby declared the love of God and defended the holiness and justice of God. We are not saved by feeling pity for Jesus. We are saved by repenting of our sins and trusting Jesus, the sinless substitute.

From the human standpoint, the trial of Jesus was the greatest crime and tragedy in history. From the divine viewpoint, it was the fulfillment of prophecy and the accomplishment of the will of God. The fact that God had planned all of this did not absolve the participants of their responsibility. In fact, at Pentecost, Peter put both ideas together in one statement—

“This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.”         Acts 2:23, NIV

Jesus—Son of Man felt the pain while the Son of God paid the price for our redemption.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Be the one who knows, accepts the gift, and believes, really believes Jesus as you declare Him as Savior and Lord!  He is God’s best for you and for me.

Lord,

You took the blame and shame for my sins and then endured the pain for the punishment I deserved.  How can I thank you enough or praise you enough for what you did to save me and the rest of the believing world?  I can live for you, even as imperfect as I am, for I am perfectly forgiven. Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I pray even now for our enemies who do not know you and still reject your gift of love, mercy, and grace.  Give me the right words at the right time in the right spirit so they will know you, too. 

In Jesus Name, Amen