Introduction
"Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe.
And Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man!’” John 19:5
When Jesus of Nazareth stood before Pontius Pilate nearly two thousand years ago, about to be condemned to death by crucifixion, Pilate uttered what are perhaps among the most profound words ever spoken: "Behold the man.” It is supposed that Pontius Pilate, felt little compassion for his subjects, and it is difficult to detect or judge whether his words were spoken with what many would assume was scorn for the man he was compelled to condemn[1] under the unsavory circumstance which he found himself.
It may strike you as peculiar that these words issued from the mouth of a pagan ruler such as Pilate. Such is God's way. God's ways are not our ways, and using someone like Pontius Pilate fits the pattern that we find throughout the scriptures. Granted, Pilate most likely had no clue as to the implication of what he had said.
Today, just as it was then, Pilate's words seem to hold little meaning, even to those believers who claim the truth of the scriptures. The scriptures, where we find the words “behold the man,” are no longer considered relevant to what people understand Christianity to be or what the Church has become.
There is a reason for the lack of depth among believers (Christians) in the answers to the questions of what, exactly, they do believe, and believe in. The scriptures have been either disregarded in favor of forms of worship, and /or replaced by the commandments and teachings of men. And this neglect or abandonment of the scriptures began well before the last of the apostles was laid to rest.
What people today perceive as Christianity—one of the great religions of the world—is just that, another religion which binds the hearts and minds of men with the misuse or abuse of the scriptures.
The scriptures were used in much the same way when Jesus walked among us and dealt time and again with those considered the religious elite. To those of Jesus’ time, he often spoke in words which might appear unfriendly to us today, such as, "you know not the scriptures neither the power of God."[2]
But to those who believed in him, "Jesus said, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."[3] If you are to be truly free, it is and must be through knowledge of the scriptures, the revealed Word of God.
In searching the scriptures, a man will discover, “God has commanded all men everywhere to repent" [4] and “to believe the gospel."[5] Without the Word of God, and without the repentance God commands concerning His word, a man is destined to return and to remain in the dust from which he emerged.[6] Multitudes of the unrepentant have already done so without the hope of resurrection.[7]
The resurrection from the dead was the great Apostle Paul's reasoning when challenged by the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, where he laid before them the idea that the crux between life and death was based upon whether a man believes or rejects the God of the scriptures.[8]
In the beginning, it was God's decreed intent to create man in His image and likeness. Are you and I that man?[9] Or was there something profound in Pilate's words when he presented the condemned Jesus to the people?
According to the Apostle Peter, Jesus was "a man approved of God."[10] Has there been another man in the history of the world to whom these words could definitively apply? The Apostle Paul spoke of Jesus as the man who mediates between God and men.[11] In another place, Paul described Jesus as the man whom God has appointed to judge the world in righteousness.[12] Throughout the New Testament scriptures, both Paul and Peter affirmed that God raised the man Jesus of Nazareth from the dead. It was this message that held both the power and the hope driving Christianity out into the world.
The man who stood before Pilate on that fateful day is the basis for this discussion. His coming is what redemptive history embodies. In truth, he has been coming since before Adam was expelled from the garden. In the reality of space and time, he has come, appearing to us the first time, with the promise that...he is yet to come again.
The true children of God believe the promise, with the hope that, although it has not been revealed what we shall be, yet "we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him,[13] because we shall see him as he is."[14] Simply stated, Jesus is the Son of man, declared the Son of God, having been made “the express image of God.”[15] If Jesus of Nazareth, the man who lived and walked among us bringing the good news of God’s kingdom, has become the express image of God, with the hope and promise that“…we shall be like him,” then Pilate's words do indeed have the profoundest of implications.
The core essence of this book is about the God known to the Hebrews as Yahweh. In the scriptures, we discover Yahweh determined to create man in His image and likeness. The answers to questions man has asked since the first man looked into the heavens, and wondered with the cognizance our species possesses, "who am I?” and “what is the purpose of my existence?” -all those answers are there, waiting to be found, in the Scriptures, the Word of God, much to our profound benefit.
The purpose of man, as well as the answers regarding our purpose and existence, is encapsulated of all places in the words of Pontius Pilate, “Behold the man.”
If we hold Pilate’s words up against the prevailing assumptions, both in philosophy and especially in the religious community, that man, each and every one who comes into this world, is the image of God already, then how can the promise “we shall be like Him,” the One who has been declared “the express image of God,” be valid?
The quintessential purpose of God for man was embodied in the despised and condemned man who stood before Pontius Pilate. What we find, what we discover and are meant to see in the man who stood before Pilate, is the manifestation, the complete expression of Yahweh’s desire to create man in His Image and likeness.
In short, what Pilate beseeched us to behold is the Glory of God.
On the more personal side, God designed man to love. All men love something in this world. In light of the one whom God ordained as the object of perfect love, the question is put forth, what is your heart’s desire? What are you looking for?
I am certain of this: No man, woman, or child, has, or ever will achieve, true satisfaction, unless the heart attains the perfect love for which it was designed. More vital to our being is that call from God which beckons toward the object of perfect love. His name is Jesus, the One who was dead but ever lives.[16] You may already be familiar with his words, for he said, “Many are called but few are chosen.”[17]
In these seven words is found the fulcrum between the life which is God, and the death which awaits those who are not found in Him.[18]
May God bless as you follow the call…as you “behold the man.”
And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:9
Next Chapter
Are-you-the-one.htm
[1] From the context of the story, Pilate was anxious to free Jesus because his wife had also been troubled by a dream.
John 19:4, 7-8 Matthew 27:18-19, 24[2] Matthew 22:29
[3] John 8:31-32
[4] Acts 17:30b
[5] Mark 1:15
[6] Genesis 3:19 Job 34:15 Psalm 104:29 *Ecclesiastes 3:20
[7] 1Thessalonians 4:13
[8] Acts 17:16-34 Paul met with the Greeks Philosophers on Mars Hill while in Athens.
[9] According to the scriptures, the man God created included the woman God made from the side of the man, and "the two were of one flesh." Genesis 2:21-24, *5:1-2 "And He called them Adam."
[10] Acts 2:22
[11] 1Timothy 2:5
[12] Acts 17:31
[13] When first starting out, I wanted to use Upper case with the pronouns when they referred to Jesus …all the time. Thought I could get people’s attention this way (my way to yell at people.) Two things to consider: First, there is the aspect of pious enhancement, when referring to Jesus. The translators are forever guilty of capitalizing many of the nouns and pronouns for Jesus. I would like to get away from the pious enhancement (scheme).
Second, the New Testament, both in the Greek and the English translations of the Greek… in many cases do not use upper caps with the nouns and pronouns referring to or describing God or Jesus. It’s inconsistence to say the least. Some translations are better than others. The quote here taken from 1John 3:2 is a prime example. I’m hoping people won’t be to put off… The sticklers will just have to deal with it. And I’m sure the sticklers will have their say![14] 1John 3:2 EVS
[15] 2Corinthians 4:4 Colossians 1:15 Hebrews 1:3
[16] Revelation 1:18
[17] Matthew 22:14 Revelation 17:14
[18] "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." John 14:20 ESV, - see also 1John 2:24
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