So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” John 19:1–5
When the various people who witnessed the trials and execution of Jesus beheld Him that day, their responses varied quite widely. The chief priests and scribes cried out that He should be crucified for having made Himself the Son of God (John 19:6–7). Pilate, on the other hand, beheld an innocent man (v 6). When certain women beheld Him as He made His way toward Calvary, they followed after Him and wept (Luke 23:27). The centurion beheld a righteous man (Luke 23:47). When you behold Jesus, what do you see?
When we behold Jesus, we behold the man who created all things. John writes, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). We also behold the man who was born contrary to nature. Mathew tells us that He was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18–23), and John says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). We behold the man whom Herod could not kill. When Herod the Great (a ruler who became very skilled at killing pretenders to the throne) heard of the King of the Jews lately born in Bethlehem, he dispatched soldiers to kill all the male infants of the town (Matthew 2:16). As the angel later told Joseph, Herod is dead (Matthew 2:19), but Jesus lives! We behold the man whom Satan could not seduce. Satan tempted Jesus in every way that he tempts us today (Matthew 4:1–11), with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Paul tells us that our great high priest was tempted in all of the ways that we are, and yet He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). There is no other man of whom this can be said. We behold the man whom the grave could not hold. Speaking of His body, Jesus told the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). When Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must die in Jerusalem, He assured them that even death itself could not prevent the establishment of His kingdom (Matthew 16:18–21). And by His resurrection from the dead He was declared the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4). We also behold the one who will judge the world. Jesus says, “The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). There is coming a day when we will all––including those who condemned Him to die––stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). When we look at Jesus, we behold the one who takes away the sins of the world. This is how John identified Jesus to two of his own disciples (John 1:29). John would also write, “He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).
When we behold Jesus, we also behold a man whom multitudes adore. When the multitudes give honor and adoration to Christ for all eternity (cf. Revelation 5:11–13), will you be among the number in the presence of the Lamb of God? Just as there were differences in the responses of those who beheld Jesus then, so there will be now. As you behold Jesus, will you obey Him or reject Him?