November 25

Behold the Man!

Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! — John 19:5

We cannot do better than obey Pilate’s word, “Behold the Man!” and fix our eyes in loving gaze upon Jesus as He is led out from the palace and stands before the multitude. On His head He wears a crown of thorns; around His bleeding body is thrown a purple robe, mock emblem of royalty. He had been called King of the Jews, and the rude soldiers tried to carry out the farce, as it appeared to them.

“Behold the man!” Behold the man enduring shame and contempt, set forth before the people as a spectacle of mockery, in order that at last we may be presented in glory, and honoured before angels and the Father. Behold the man wearing a crown of thorns, that we may wear a crown of glory and of life; robed in mocking purple, that we may wear the white garments of righteousness. Behold the man in the majesty of meekness, — reviled, yet reviling not again; hated, yet still loving on; wronged, yet speaking no resentful word. We should study the character of our Lord as manifested amid the terrible scenes of that morning. How His sublime patience shames our miserable impatience! We fret and vex ourselves with our sickly discontents over the smallest discomforts; let us behold the blessed peace of Jesus in the midst of the sorest trials. We fly into anger and cherish bitter resentments when others slight us or wrong us in merest trifles; let us behold the sweet spirit of Jesus, — loving, gentle, meek under the greatest cruelties and wrongs ever inflicted on any life.

Behold the man, the God-man, divinity manifested in humanity, humbling Himself and becoming obedient unto shame and death that He might save our souls. Behold the man, holy, undefiled, separate from sinners, yet bearing upon His own head, as the Lamb of God, the sin of the world. Let us look and weep, and love and trust, and rejoice.