Behold Your King

JOHN 19:14 And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

Pilate was familiar with the Jews and their religion. We don’t know if there was a lot of mockery in what he said. He talked with Jesus about the accusations from the Sanhedrin that he tried to make himself a king.  When he rode the donkey and topped the Mount of Olives Israel saw a king unlike any other. He was not just their king but the king of the world. His was not an earthly throne. Jesus told Pilate his kingdom was not of this world.  He asked “what is truth?” Pilate found nothing he could peg Jesus against the wall for. The more he talked to Jesus the less he found wrong with him.

He decided to appease the crowd and had Jesus scourged. Beat with a whip of rocks and glass 40 times, Jesus was then crowned with thorns and an old purple robe was put on him. Jesus was brought forth; Pilate sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called Gabbatha, the Pavement. It would have been 9:00 in the morning. This place of judgment brought Jesus back before Pilate.

Note the moment this was occurring- the preparation of the Passover. The Passover lambs would have been prepared; the meat was ready to eat. The only lamb worthy to be slain was standing before them. The slow process of dying had begun. God sent him. Jesus chose to come. With a trembling body, his head was bowed down. Looking at the people Pilate said “behold your king.” The people cried “what king?  We have no king but Caesar.” The crowd that yelled “Hosanna” 5 days before was now a mob.

I marvel at how one day I can do well and the next day I’m flat on my face. They should have known him. Isaiah said “he was wounded for our transgressions and by his stripes we are healed.” Don’t fear the scene. The politics, the people and not even the devil were in charge. God Almighty was in charge. The people went from elation to hatred. What would we do? The lamb was there for us; there was no other reason.  He came to save us body, soul and spirit. Every bit of him was given for every bit of us.

Pilate told Jesus he had power to release him or keep him. Jesus told him he had no power except what was given by the Father.  That should have been me on that platform that day. In that moment in time Jesus became my Lamb. He was King forever and will take care of me. He will take care of you. Let him be your king.

The Jews refuted everything Pilate said.  Their first cry was “away with him.” They were saying get him away from me. Don’t we hear that time after time?  People don’t want to be told about Jesus. Get him away from me. God forbid we should ever think that.

Their next cry was “crucify him.” Pilate had not mentioned that word to them. Crucify is a total rejection. It is choosing something else over Jesus. When one rejects Jesus, he is saying “crucify him.” It becomes the execution. He becomes like the people were that day.

The next thing they said was “we have no king but Caesar.” This was the most foolish thing they could have said. Imagine saying no one can help us but our leaders. Imagine saying “I am my king.” The most foolish statement was the most dangerous. It was their final statement before Pilate released Jesus to them to be crucified on Calvary.

I don’t ever want to say “away with him.”  I don’t ever want to say “crucify him.” I don’t ever want to say “I have a king other than Jesus.” I want to say I have a king, and his name is Jesus. Let all the Caesars go. We belong to a kingdom that is not of this world. We must behold his suffering to behold our king.

Be a follower of the Lord. Say to the others around you “Behold MY king!”