Behold the Man!

You're standing in a large open courtyard. Though it's large and open, you find yourself shoulder to shoulder with a large mob. You look around you see what's going on. You came late because you went to work and no one was there except the faithful administrative assistant. You had asked her where everyone was. "They've all gone to the court house to see what's going to happen with the new guy in town that's caused such a stir," she said. Off you hurried, thinking this would be a great story to publish in your paper, and thus you find yourself at the back of the pack of people, squinting toward the Roman architectured court house, as the hot sun is just beginning to unveil its fury as dawn slips into morning.

You ask the lady next to you, "Where has the judge and the accused gone?" "We're not sure," she says, "and that's why the crowd is getting so restless." Just at the time you're sure a riot will break out, the judge emerges with the defendant through the door, and stands between the two columns at the top of the stairs. An eerie hush falls over the crowd. The man has been beaten nearly to death. Thirty-nine times with a Roman whip. On his head was a crown of thorns. He was a bloody mess, and barely recognizable as a man. He was slumped over sightly as if his blood soaked coat was made of lead. Somehow he was able to stand, though it was obvious he was in shock from the lashing that sometimes killed the victim.

Amidst the silenced crowd the judge declares, "Behold, the man!" You watch to see what will happen. Perhaps the people will take pity on this scourged one who's fame in the city and country side for good works would surely get him off the hook for any crime he's done. The calm and stillness of the people lasted seemingly hours. The people looked at one another, stunned at the sight.

Then you hear the voice of the high priests, "Crucify him!" More voices joined in the call, "crucify him." The call becomes louder until everyone is shouting at the top of their lungs, crying out for the death by crucifixion of this man. You watch as they take him, and lead him away down a narrow street towards the place of the skull, Golgotha. You stay behind as people rush past. "The end of the story, just another of many Roman crucifixions," you think. Little did you know, that the morning you took off work would change the past, present and future of humanity. Nor could you have guessed that you would experience three hours of darkness from noon till 3 p.m., which would conclude with an earthquake. This was the day that Jesus Christ was crucified. This was the day that Jesus bore away the sins of the world.

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It's a pretty gory scene when we think about it. The words of Pontus Pilate, the judge, would have been scarred in the minds of many that day, "Behold the man!" (John 19:5) He in fact was not just a man, but the Son of man and the Son of God, yet He was brought so low as to be beaten by the creatures He created. This pre-cross scene was all necessary as a fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 129:3). This one Jesus Christ was brought so low, and yet this was not the first time these exact words were said of Him.

In Zechariah 6:12, three words jumped out of the page at me: "Behold, the man..." Here is a prophecy given by Zechariah to Joshua the High Priest, as the prophet explains to the priest that his crowning is symbolic of a coming day: The day when the priesthood and the throne will be united (2 in 1). The words describe one in glory and majesty on the throne, a ruler of the world and of the nation Israel. He is one who sprung up (the Branch) from among the Jews, and yet instead of being crowned He was rejected. The phrase, "Behold the man," was not what the Lord Jesus deserved as Pilate displayed Him to the audience; instead they should have seen Him as king and as John did when he could say that he, "beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

We can be thankful that we can forever dwell and behold this man Jesus someday. It will either be when we meet Him in the clouds or when we die, since ours sins have been covered by His blood. To the Christian, when we think of both scenes as very beautiful: "the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20), and the Millennial kingdom of peace where Christ will reign supreme as the Branch (Isaiah 11).