Crucify
Him
John19:1 “Then Pilate therefore took
Jesus, and scourged him.
2 And
the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it
on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews!
and they smote him with their hands.
4
Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto
them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may
know that I find no fault in him.
5
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns,
and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them,
Behold the man!
6 When the chief
priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried
out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith
unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find
no fault in him.
7 The Jews
answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought
to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
8 When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was the more afraid;”
1. The Scourging
2. The Crown
3.
The Purple Robe
4. Behold The Man
5. The Son
of God
1. The Scourging
Verse one: “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.”
[Matthew 27:26] “Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.”
When a person is suspected of a crime, not worthy of death, then the government [Roman] would have that person examined by “scourging” in order to prove him or to correct him.
We find this practice of examination “by scourging” by the Romans when they apprehended Paul in the book of Acts chapter twenty-two. “The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.” [Acts 22:24]
Israel in obedience to the Law of God “scourged” a woman who “was not free”, and was betrothed. “And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.” [Leviticus 19:20]
Now, here is the Son of God who “knew no sin” [2 Corinthians 5:21] taking a beating for NO infraction of any law under the sun.
HE was innocent of all the charges [and someone is laughing].
Now, let me ask you something. Have you ever had endured punishment for something that you did not do? [I myself cannot make any such claim at all.] What about you?
What do we have here? It is a TRIAL of an innocent PERSON.
Job [in Job chapter nine] said prophetically [pointing to SOMEONE else in the future] that “he” would laugh “at the trial of the innocent.” “If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.” [Job 9:23]
2. The Crown
Verse two: “And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head,”
Now, and throughout time, it has been the kings of this earth that have been crowned with crowns. Something else here, these crowns are shown throughout the Bible as having been made of pure gold.
Crowns represent two things, as we shall see.
First, crowns [worn by kings] signify POLITICAL AUTHORITY.
When Israel defeated the king of Ammon, they took his crown from off his head. We see this in the book of Second Samuel chapter twelve, verse thirty: “And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.” [2 Samuel 12:30] They removed his authority!
There is someone else shown in the Bible who wears a crown. It is the HIGH PRIEST of the LORD GOD of Israel.
A crown [worn by the high priest] signifies RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY. We can see this in the book of Exodus in chapter thirty-nine, verse thirty: “And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.”
The NORM for crowns is to be made of gold. However, the crown here, in verse two of our text [of John nineteen] is a “platted a crown of thorns.”
Now, we have heard the saying: “you are a thorn in my side.”
We got that saying from the BOOK. Did you know that?
We got it from the book of Numbers chapter thirty-three, verse fifty-five. God is warning Israel to totally drive out all those nations living in their promised land. “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.” [Numbers 33:55]
When did thorns come into this world? Thorns came into this world when man sinned against God. Thorns and thistles signify the presence of SIN in this world. “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;” [Genesis 3:18]
More than this, the “sons of Belial” in this world are likened to thorns in Second Samuel chapter twenty-three, verse six: “But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:” [2 Samuel 23:6].
Now, they may have crowned Jesus Christ two thousand years ago with a crown of thorns but one day soon, HE will be crowned as a PRIEST and KING with a crown of gold. Look at this in Psalm twenty-one, verse three: “For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.” [Psalm 21:3]
Now, Isaiah twenty-eight, in verse five: “In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,” [Isaiah 28:5].
Here HE is in Revelation fourteen, in verse fourteen: “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” [Revelation 14:14]
3. The Purple Robe
The last part of verse two: “and the purple robe.”
They clothed HIM in a purple robe. Now, a purple robe is the color for a king. They didn’t understand what they were doing because they did not understand why HE came to the Earth the first time. HE came to DIE!
Jesus Christ came to the earth … the first time … [which is called the First Advent of Jesus Christ] NOT TO BE A KING [though HE is THE KING].
HE came to this earth the first time TO BE A PRIEST!
Remember, the color of the high priest’s robe is blue. [Exodus 28:31] “And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.” Only in the hem of the robe was there purple. “And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.” [Exodus 39:24]
Now, consider what Jesus Christ was about to do, as our HIGH PRIEST. “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” [Hebrews 2:17]
One day soon [in the Kingdom of Heaven] the LORD will have Eliakim clothed in the robe of the king of Israel as was prophesied in the book of Isaiah chapter twenty-two.
Turn with me there to verses twenty through twenty-five: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:" [Did you see that?
This implies a “day” in the future.] “And I will clothe him with thy robe,” [here is the robe] “and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” [Isaiah 22:20-22]
[This government will be the government identified in Isaiah chapter nine, verse six and seven: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."]
Eliakim was, therefore, a TYPE of Jesus Christ, as was King David, and as was Melchizedek who was king of Salem.
In the regeneration [Matthew 19:28] which is the coming one-thousand Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus Christ “will commit thy government into his [Eliakim’s] hand” even while “the government shall be upon his [Jesus Christ’s] shoulder:” [Isaiah 9:6].
But in our text, we see for now that Israel is as an enemy as was foretold by the prophet in the Scripture [in Micah chapter two in verse eight]: “Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.” [Micah 2:8]
4. Behold The Man
Verse five: “Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!”
Pilate saw a man. “Behold the man!”
Further, Pilate saw a man who was absolutely no threat to his throne, or to the government of Rome. Pilate said: “Behold the man!”
This is because Pilate saw a man that he could find NO FAULT in.
Jesus Christ was INNOCENT!
We saw that in verse four: “Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.”
The only problem with Pilate’s testimony was this.
He only saw a man. He didn’t see what he ought to have seen. Amen!
5. The Son of God
Verse seven and eight: “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;” [John 19:7-8].
The Jews had clothed themselves in a robe of self-righteousness! They had a perverted view and a perverted implementation of the Law [that was given to them by Moses]. Their whole problem can be described as a HEART problem.
The Apostle Paul by the Holy Ghost said concerning the Jews in Romans chapter ten, verse three: “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” [Romans 10:3]
When a people are perverted, and “have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God”, then the innocent people in their hands will suffer injustices, and even death. It is, as it says, in the book of the Proverbs: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” [Proverbs 29:2]
There is something else here. Pilate’s view of Jesus went from a glib “Behold the man!” to the FEAR of God! Pilate “was the more afraid” when he heard the saying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
This then, is what was needed then. [It was the fear of God.] This is what is needed now. [It is the fear of God.]
Everyone who hears that Jesus Christ is the SON of GOD needs do something in response; either to believe in HIM, or to reject HIM. [John 3:18] “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
The Jews here, in our text, have already made their decision.
Now, Pilate seems to have come close, but what is upper most important to him … was to please the people. This is sad! We see this in Mark chapter fifteen in verse fifteen: “And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.” [Mark 15:15]
What have you done with Jesus Christ?
“And this is his commandment, That we
should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”
[1 John 3:23]