Behold the Man, Lifted for You

4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
John 19:4-7
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Behold the Man, Lifted for You
Pilate brings Jesus out, bruised and mocked, and unknowingly preaches a sermon. Here stands the true Man, bearing the curse of Adam, crowned not with gold but with thorns. Though declared innocent, He is rejected by those who insist on the law. Ironically, they appeal to God’s law to condemn the very One who gave it. The Law always accuses, and here it accuses unto death. Yet this is no tragic misunderstanding. Jesus is not a helpless victim but the willing Savior. The rejection is part of His mission. The cries for crucifixion drive Him toward the cross where justice and mercy meet. There, the Law does its full work, condemning sin, while the Gospel is revealed in blood and wood. “Behold the Man,” Pilate says. And faith replies: Behold your Savior, who takes your place, bears your guilt, and reigns from the cross for you.