“When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said, “You take him and crucify him! Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him!” The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God!””, John 19:6-7 NET
• Just because you are innocent doesn’t mean you will not be punished! Jesus experienced this to the most extreme degree possible. He was the most innocent person to ever live and yet He was punished severely (at a time when they just happened to master the art of punishment!)
• I wonder if it was hard for Jesus to not take it personally when people were demanding He be killed in the cruelest way available at the time. I know He knew it was God’s will, and that Satan was the one really working through these men, but still, it had to be hard (even for Jesus) not to take it personally (because it obviously was personal).
• Many scholars say that Jewish leaders were referring to the following part of the law:
“Whoever blasphemes the name of Yahweh is to be put to death; the whole community must stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the foreign resident or the native.”, Leviticus 24:16 HCSB
• Interestingly, even if they thought they properly applying the law to Jesus (since they did not believe He was the Son of God), they still disobeyed God by demanding that He be crucified! The law specifically says to stone someone not to crucify them. Yes they could not kill someone under Roman law but still, does that mean that they could replace stoning with crucifixion to obey the law! They following the “must be put the death” part but not the stoning part.
“Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation against him.” So Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look, here is the man!””, John 19:4-5 NET
• So this is what Pilate did to those he found no accusation against: Jesus came out mutilated from the flogging and subsequent beatings, and wearing a thorn of crowns and a purple robe (being mocked).
• According to the notes of the NET Bible, when Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”, he was unwittingly fulfilling a messianic prophecy:
“Then take some silver and gold to make a crown and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Then say to him, ‘The LORD who rules over all says, “Look – here is the man whose name is Branch, who will sprout up from his place and build the temple of the LORD.”, Zechariah 6:11-12 NET
• Here is the quote from the NET Bible notes:
“14sn Look, here is the man! Pilate may have meant no more than something like “Here is the accused!” or in a contemptuous way, “Here is your king!” Others have taken Pilate’s statement as intended to evoke pity from Jesus’ accusers: “Look at this poor fellow!” (Jesus would certainly not have looked very impressive after the scourging). For the author, however, Pilate’s words constituted an unconscious allusion to Zech 6:12, “Look, here is the man whose name is the Branch.” In this case Pilate (unknowingly and ironically) presented Jesus to the nation under a messianic title.”
• Unrelated to that, the verse that popped at me from Zec 6, is: “‘The LORD who rules over all says” God rules over all! All people. All the physical laws of the universe. All situations.
“The soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. They came up to him again and again and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly in the face.”, John 19:2-3 NET
• Words can powerfully impact us when we truly care about the people saying things to us (which I am sure Jesus cared about these people because He cared about everyone). That combined with the physical beating Jesus had already received and these soldiers hitting him in the face again and again must have been unbearable!
• I truly believe the spiritual forces of evil were just going after Jesus with everything they had and because Jesus and the Father loved us, God allowed them to do so.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.”, Ephesians 6:12 NET
• I know I keep repeating myself but it is because it is sometimes so incredibly difficult for me to remember this in the midst of suffering and so I keep ministering to myself with these passages.
• So on the surface, the battle looked like it was the Jews, the soldiers, etc. versus Jesus, but in reality, the battle was Jesus, the Jews, the soldiers, etc. versus the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm even though the Jews, the soldiers, etc. did not realize it. Only Jesus knew this.
“Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation against him.” So Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look, here is the man!””, John 19:4-5 NET
• Think about how humiliating it could have felt to Jesus to be brought out to the people He opposed in the shape He was in. You would think that the Jews would have pity on Him but as we will see tomorrow, that was not the case.
“The soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. They came up to him again and again and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly in the face.”, John 19:2-3 NET
• Like I said at yesterday, these men were under the control of the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms:
“Now in a wealthy home there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also ones made of wood and of clay, and some are for honorable use, but others for ignoble use. So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But reject foolish and ignorant controversies, because you know they breed infighting. And the Lord’s slave must not engage in heated disputes but be kind toward all, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance and then knowledge of the truth and they will come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap where they are held captive to do his will.”, 2 Timothy 2:20-26 NET
• (I know in context Paul is referring to the false teachers, but this can also be true of anyone the spiritual forces of evil have taken captive.)
• We live in this physical world were the spiritual battle is raging all around us. The battle is for our very souls! That’s a depressing reality to have to deal with but as anyone who has been a Christian for any amount of time knows, it is the reality we live in (whether we choose to believe it or not). The evidence is everywhere. How do the spiritual forces of evil take control of people? Sin!
“What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.”, Romans 6:1-14 NET
“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged severely.”, John 19:1 NET
• Really Pilate? That was your solution?
• I found this with a google search:
Beginning of Quote:
“Flogging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution, and only women and Roman senators or soldiers (except in cases of desertion) were exempt. The usual instrument was a short whip with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals. For scourging, the man was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by two soldiers (lictors) or by one who alternated positions. The severity of the scourging depended on the disposition of the lictors and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death. As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim’s back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock. The extent of blood loss may well have determined how long the victim would survive on the cross. After the scourging, the soldiers often taunted their victim.”
End of Quote
• As I read that, I started wondering about what would happen to the person if the muscles in his back were torn. Even if he wasn’t crucified, would this cripple him for life because of the muscles cut in the back?
“The soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. They came up to him again and again and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly in the face.”, John 19:2-3 NET
• How could you see someone go through being scourged and in so much pain and than mock them and hit them in the face? The soldiers were not required to mock Jesus. The truth is that the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms were using these soldiers as their instruments:
“Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.”
Ephesians 6:10-12 NET
“So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked, “What is truth?” When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders and announced, “I find no basis for an accusation against him. But it is your custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. )”
John 18:33-40 NET
• So more than likely, Barnabas was very much like today’s terrorists.
• As it always seemed to be the case, Jesus focus, His heart, seemed to be on eternal things and not on things of this world. “My kingdom is not from this world”.
• What exactly does it mean that Jesus’ kingdom was/is not from this world? Who was/is in Jesus’ kingdom before humans even existed? How many different kinds of celestial beings are there in the heavenly realms?
• We don’t know for sure what Pilate meant when he asked, “What is truth?” He could have been asking incredulously or he may have been asking inquisitively. I tend to think the former makes more sense. Regardless of his motives, It is a deep question! What is truth? Not what is your truth…what is truth?
