Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 19:5
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And [Pilate] saith unto them, Behold the man!
5. Then came Jesus ] Better, Jesus therefore came. The Evangelist repeats the details of Joh 19:2; they are details of a picture deeply imprinted on his memory. Whether or no he went into the Praetorium, he no doubt witnessed the Ecce Homo.
wearing ] Not simply ‘having’ or ‘bearing’ ( phorn not phern). The crown and robe are now His permanent dress.
Behold the man! ] In pity rather than contempt. Pilate appeals to their humanity: surely the most bitter among them will now be satisfied, or at least the more compassionate will control the rest. No one can think that this Man is dangerous, or needs further punishment. When this appeal fails, Pilate’s pity turns to bitterness ( Joh 19:14).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold the man! – It is probable that Pilate pointed to the Saviour, and his object evidently was to move them to compassion, and to convince them, by a sight of the Saviour himself, that he was innocent. Hence, he brought him forth with the crown of thorns, and the purple robe, and with the marks of scourging. Amid all this Jesus was meek, patient, and calm, giving evident proofs of innocence. The conduct of Pilate was as if he had said, See! The man whom you accuse is arrayed in a gorgeous robe, as if a king. He has been scourged and mocked. All this he has borne with patience. Look! How calm and peaceful! Behold his countenance! How mild! His body scourged, his head pierced with thorns! Yet in all this he is meek and patient. This is the man that you accuse; and he is now brought forth, that you may see that he is not guilty.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 19:5
Pilate saith unto them, Behold the Man
Ecce Homo
Behold the Man
I.
FROM PILATES STANDPOINT.
1. He was a Roman, and apart from the interests of the empire, cared little for the creed or worship of the Hebrews. It was no part of his duty to interfere with the religion of the people he was ruling. Provided it did not lead to sedition he was content to let it contemptuously alone. What is truth? he asks, What is it worth? What has it done? Is it worth any ones while risking anything for it? It is power, and not truth we need. Let us have something practical, tangible, and not vain and idle discussions about abstract questions.
2. Pilate is a type of a vast multitude. Like the compilers of an encyclopaedia, they cannot avoid becoming acquainted with the titles of religious subjects, parties, men. Yet if pressed would deliver themselves very much after Pilates fashion. To offer Christ to men of this character is to cast pearls before swine. What is the truth in Christ to them? He may be chief among ten thousand, and able to give pardon, and righteousness, and grace, and glory. But He is not money, business. He cannot give social rank, political success; and so they spurn the offer. This man is a sample of Satans workmanship–the devils masterpiece. But what shall it profit a man, &c.
II. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE JEWS.
1. The guilt of Pilate was great, but it is not for a moment to be compared with that of the high priest. He that delivereth Me unto thee hath the greater sin. They saw the light and hated it. They knew the truth and rejected it. They could not resist the evidence that Jesus was the Christ; but He was a Christ so different from Him whom they desired that they cried, Crucify Him!
2. Here is another and far more perilous standpoint: to look upon Christ and His religion as something to be hated and banished. Let me speak faithfully of the danger of this class. The sin that will banish the perpetrators from the presence of the Lord at His coming is not the sin of Adam. That has been atoned for by the second Adam. It will not be the sin of ignorance. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. It will not be any word or deed too heinous to be forgiven; for there is no exception to the gracious offer: If we confess our sins, &c. But it will be that of rejecting–calmly, wilfully, and persistently–the greatest offer which God has made to us: His Son as our personal Saviour. He that believeth not, &c.
III. FROM BELIEVERS STANDPOINT. During the Reign of Terror an old French gentleman walked up to the gate of the prison in hope of getting a brief interview with his son, then lying under sentence of death. His name was Loiserolles. As he stood there, the dreaded cart arrived at the prison door. Loiserolles was one of the names shouted; and Here I am, Loiserolles! was answered suddenly from the crowd. The voice was not that of the young prisoner–asleep at that moment in his cell–it was older, feebler, and a trifle more eager than a prisoners might be supposed to be. But there was no time or care to make investigation. The father was taken for the son, bound, hurried off, and executed. He died for his boy who was asleep. Not till long afterwards did the younger Loiserolles know at what a sacrifice his life had been purchased. And if we may be allowed to compare small things with great, I would say that the day of our trial and judgment was passed; the morning of our execution had arrived. We, as prisoners of sin, were summoned to receive the death penalty; the sons of men were called. But I am the Son of Man was the answer given to the challenge. If, therefore, ye seek Me, let these go their way. The central truth of our Christianity is the Saviour that died for us and rose again. Can you look upon Jesus in this light? Do you see Him to be your Substitute, Intercessor, Prince, and Saviour? Then you have beheld the Man. (R. Balgarnie D. D.)
Ecce Homo
See
I. HIS HUMANITY attested. His flesh was lacerated, His body bruised.
II. HIS INNOCENCE confirmed. Scourging had elicited no secret crime.
III. HIS MAJESTY revealed. He endured without complaint.
IV. HIS LOVE proclaimed. He suffered stripes that sinners might be healed.
V. HIS DIVINITY suggested. Only a Son of God could have borne Himself so. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Eece Homo, or perfect humanity
When you point to any object or event you never know what the witness really sees. Hold a picture before a score of people, and they all see and value it differently. In a wild district I saw a rude stone wall. To the simple builder and passers by it was just so many stones held together by mortar. But an instructed eye saw in succession blocks of quartz, trap, schist, sandstone, conglomerate, and other suggestive monuments of the worlds history. Point out the stars to a multitude. All see the same objects, and yet not the same.
I. WHAT THE ACTORS IN THAT TRAGEDY BEHELD. All the world was in that crowd.
1. Pilate; or what worldliness beheld. A mysterious man–no ordinary criminal. Superstition is never far from worldliness. There was fear in the mind of Pilate at something supernatural at the back of demeanour so strange, placid, and holy.
2. The priests; or what bigotry beheld. Jesus has not respected their traditions and echoed their dogmas; therefore, He is an imposter and blasphemer. There is no hate like priestly hate. Bigotry in the midst of revealed religion is farther from God than heathen worldliness. There was some lingering susceptibility in the breast of Pilate; in the Hebrew priest, none. Pilate saw something which excited both awe and pity. The priests nothing but the hideous creation of their own malignant passions.
3. The mass; or what ignorant resentment beheld. The Christ of their desire was only a more vulgar rendering of the political Messiah of the infuriated priests. Scarcely a week ago, they greeted Him as their King. But there is Jesus, weak, bound, silent, and trampled upon. They saw one who raised their expectations to the highest, and disappointed them. A mob is never so savage as when it conceives itself to be imposed upon by one whom it has made its idol. They therefore join ix the cry, Crucify Him!
4. The soldiers; or what heathen brutality beheld. A hardened Roman in the ranks could feel nothing but contempt for a Jewish criminal. Such men could admire and adore a Caesar who could lead them through fields of slaughter to the fame of a Roman victory. They understood that He was a sham king from a district in fanatical and turbulent Galilee.
5. Nicodemus; or what unavowed discipleship beheld. Lack of courage and decision brought no consolation in this dread hour. Little has he risked to avert this tragedy, and he is beginning to feel it.
6. The centurion; or what heathen piety beheld. The Son of God.
7. Peter; or what the unfaithful apostle beheld. Jesus cast one look on him, but the apostle could encounter that eye no more.
8. Judas; or what the traitor and apostate beheld. From that eye, so downcast, he has often seen look forth the love of God. The memory of that sight is fire unquenchable, the writhing of the worm that never dies.
9. John; or what the disciple whom Jesus loved beheld. He could not look for his tears; but yet he saw what few eyes there witnessed, but what we need to see to-day–our Incarnate and Redeeming God.
10. Mary; or what the mother and the believing woman beheld. How her motherly love and her religious reverence are wounded by the suffering and shame heaped on her Son and Saviour! There are other holy women here. Shame on the men among His followers! Where are they?
II. WHAT WE BEHOLD IN THE MAN OF SORROWS.
1. A man.
(1) He was born of a woman. He passed through the life of a little child.
(2) In the home of Joseph, at Nazareth, there were many boys and girls. It was no unimportant contribution to the development of our Saviours wide and sympathetic manhood, that brothers and sisters were the companions of His first years. The temptation in the wilderness was not our Saviours first nor last trial. His young life had its tests.
(3) Our Lord, too, was born in circumstances favourable to the culture of a true manhood. Among the humble poor, and inured to a lowly calling. Men who begin their career at the summit of society do not uncommonly acquire much real fellow-feeling with classes which lie farther down. Men from the ranks, who have lived through the grades in their ascent, develop human sympathies deeper and broader. Every great worker for God and humanity has to be brought by some means or other into personal contact with the multitude. Galilee was a more important school than the halls of the Rabbis at Jerusalem.
(4) Jesus had His personal friendships. He is beneath a man or above him, who is without human friendship.
2. A tempted man (Heb 4:15). One with the form and the faculties of a man, is yet not a man if without temptation.
3. A suffering man. That pain is allotted to sinful creatures is not surprising. But here is one who never transgressed a precept. He suffered with the race and for the race which He came to save. But the ministry of suffering must come to every man. We bring into the world only raw materials. The discipline of life must weave the precious fabric. The suffering Jesus garnered in His sinless humanity the precious fruits of trial and sorrow (Heb 2:10). When your soul is bowed down, to which friend would you go in your sorrow? You could not repair to inexperienced amiability and to goodness unruffled by trial. A bosom so smooth has not treasured the balm of fellow-feeling for which the smitten heart aches to its very core.
4. THE MAN. Jesus is the only one who can be so styled. He is the perfection of humanity. Human beings at the best are a mixture of good and evil. Jesus Christ was separate from sinners. He belonged to a totally different classification. He has more than every mans excellence, and exhibits no mans defect. Qualities seemingly opposite and irreconcilable were habitually blended in Him. The extreme of ease and dignity, loftiness and condescension, gentleness and severity, manly firmness and womanly sympathy, &c.
5. Is He man only? Nay, verily. Standing alone as a creature, no one can be complete as a man. One only perfect Man has been in our world, and He was the Incarnation of God. (H. Batchelor.)
Behold the Man
I. THE FALSE AND IMPIOUS ASSUMPTIONS RESPECTING THE LORD, WHICH THE JEWS, IN CONNECTION WITH HIS EXHIBITION TO THEM, INDULGED. They regarded Him
1. As mean, when He was eminently dignified.
2. As guilty, when He was absolutely innocent and holy.
3. As being hostile to their interests, when He was infinitely kind and benevolent.
II. THE RIGHTFUL TRIBUTE WHICH THE EXHIBITION OF HIM IN HIS TRUE CHARACTER MUST ALWAYS SECURE. Behold the Man! and there ought to be
1. Homage.
2. Penitence.
3. Trust.
4. Love. (J. Parsons.)
Behold the Man
I. WHOM THE WORLD DESIRED. This is He of whom the prophet spake–the desire of all nations shall come. At the Fall, preparations were begun for the advent of the Deliverer, and continued without intermission.
1. We all know in general what forms these preparations assumed: how the early promise of Eden was brightened and enlarged; how sacrifice was instituted at the very gates of Paradise; how a great system of type and shadow succeeded pointing to Him; how the law became a schoolmaster leading unto Him; how prophets foretold His sufferings and glory.
2. While thus instructing them so carefully in spiritual things, He was also conducting them providentially, and was making the lessons of their outward life–the mercies and the judgments, the wars and the captivities, the declensions and revivals of their national history–to co-operate with the things more expressly gracious, in preparing a way for the Messenger of the covenant, and in preparing the mind and heart of the Church, to give Him a loving and loyal welcome. Accordingly, we see a grand procession of joyful worshippers at the opening of the New Testament history–angels, shepherds. Simeon and Anna, and the wise men.
3. In the outer world, also, God was working by Him providence and Spirit to prepare the nations for the coming of His Son. We behold a succession of rising and falling monarchies, of dreadful battles, the building and the burning of cities, the terrors of superstition, constant strange movement, but never to any dawning of the day, and man, as man, felt more deeply as time rolled on the moral hopelessness of his condition without celestial help. There was thus a yearning for deliverance, a longing in the hearts of men for relief, and liberty, and higher life–for recovery of long-lost fellowships, and for returning presence of God. Then, in the fulness of time, He comes to answer the worlds questionings, to relieve its sorrows, to meet its deepest wants, Behold the Man whom all other men in their best moments were yearning for and inly pining to see! How strange then that we have to say
II. WHOM THE WORLD CRUCIFIED.
1. If ever there was an act in which this whole world was united, the crucifixion of the Son of God was that act. It was the fair outcome and expression of its moral dispositions, and its spiritual state before God. It was not without a struggle that it was done; there were many relentings and misgivings, just as there are now to men when they sin. In following the steps of His pilgrimage and ministry, we sometimes think that the world is going to open its heart and receive Him at once. But how fallacious such appearances! The world, thus put on its solemn trial, failed to prove itself truer and brought out before other worlds the most conclusive proof of its depravity and guilt. The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. One who did no sin, who missed no opportunity of doing good and glorifying God–was not suffered to live. There was much to attract in His life and character, but, as the event proved, there was more to repel; and humanity, which had fallen before in the first Adam, fell again just before it rose in the second. Christ was the desire of all nations before He came, and that proved that man had not fallen into an irretrievable degradation–that seeds and elements of good were working in him still, and that the great Father was not forgetful of His prodigal children. Christ was the rejected of all nations when He came, and this proved that our fall was not a temporary and a trifling circumstance, but that it had rent the most sacred bonds, and filled human nature with guilt and sin.
2. But oh the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! The world crucified His Son, and He made that very crucifixion the means of the worlds life. The same event which proved the sinfulness of our nature as nothing had ever proved it before, turned full upon the world in sudden revelation the love and mercy of God; and what to our natural judgment would have seemed the most impregnable of barriers in the way of our return to God, was made the means of our repentance, and the gate of everlasting life. He vindicated Divine righteousness while proclaiming Divine mercy; He honoured the law by making the gospel.
III. WHOM THE WORLD WILL CROWN. Heaven has crowned Him already.
1. But earth must crown Him too. And she will. He must be honoured in the very scene of His humiliation. He must gather joys where He sowed tears and sufferings. He must claim a kingdom where He shed His blood. And not a murmur of dissent will be heard from shore to shore as proclamation is made through every land that the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ.
2. We neither know exactly how nor when this great result is to be brought about; the times and the seasons are reserved in the Fathers power. But what of that? If I cannot tell the length of the prophetic days, am I to hope or labour any the less earnestly for that blessed day of millenial peace and joy which, when they have elapsed, will come? It I cannot interpret aright the sound of one angels trumpet, am I not to speed another angel who flies in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Behold the Man!
I. WHOM? The Man–perfect humanity.
1. Physically, Christ was perfect
(1) In form. It is not without significance that He is the principal figure in art, and that the worlds great painters have depicted Him as the altogether lovely. We have no portrait of Him extant, but it is difficult to believe that the genius of eighteen centuries has nothing corresponding to its ideal.
(2) In health. He bare our sicknesses, but was never ill Himself. No disease could prey upon a sinless body. What vigorous health must Jesus have had to have maintained such unruffled calmness and nerve, through these protracted proceedings, after the agony of Gethsemane; and then after such sufferings to have survived to die on the Cross.
2. Intellectually.
(1) He was without doubt. He had perfect intuitions of God and Divine things. Hence the perfect confidence with which He moved towards each of the phases of His great career.
(2) He was without error. He had perfect knowledge of all things that pertained to His mission. Hence He never made a mistake, or failed to deliver a necessary truth.
(3) He was the Truth personally. Compare Him with others.
3. Morally.
(1) He was without sin, as confessed by Himself, Pilate, Judas. Peter tells us He did no sin. John, that He had no sin.
(2) He was entirely holy. Not only was there no law broken by Him: He fulfilled all righteousness.
(3) He was utterly self-abnegating and benificent. He went about doing good. Greater love hath no man than this, &c.
II. IN WHAT CHARACTER.
1. As a Saviour. Had He not been a man He could not have qualified Himself for this office by death. Had He not been the Man, the Man appointed, perfect, Divine, His death had been of no avail. But being without blemish, He was the accepted Lamb of God that taketh away, &c.
2. As an example. Students require the best models in art, music, literature. Perfect imitation may be beyond reach; but the study of imperfect models infallibly ensures imperfection. So with man. But there is only one perfect Model–Him who left us an example that we should follow His steps.
3. As a Friend. Who possesses such qualifications for friendship as Christ?
4. As Lord.
III. WHERE.
1. Under conviction of sin–To whom shall we go?
2. In trouble.
3. In difficulty.
4. In the hour of death.
5. In the day of judgment. (J. W. Burn.)
The mind directed to Christ
The hour of the Saviours sufferings was come–Judas had betrayed Him–His disciples forsaken Him–His enemies apprehended Him–but Pilate seeks to release Him; hence the scene before us. Let us inquire
I. WHAT WE SHALL BEHOLD IN THE MAN CHRIST JESUS.
1. The perfection of purity, meekness, and benevolence.
2. An amazing work for the redemption of mankind.
3. The boundlessness of the Fathers grace.
II. THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH WE ARE TO BEHOLD THE MAN CHRIST JESUS.
1. That our hearts may be melted into contrition.
2. That wavering faith may be established.
3. That Christian principle may conquer carnal policy.
4. That love may be cherished towards all His followers.
5. That believers may be comforted in suffering and in death.
(Congregational Pulpit.)
The appeal of Pilate
Weakness is sometimes not much better than wickedness. It places a man at the disposal of other weaknesses–Ahab, Pilate. We have here
I. AN APPEAL FOR PITY FOR CHRIST. It was this; not a mocking. Pilate was anxious to get Christ off. It was not to aggravate Christs misery, but to excite the compassion of His foes. Pity
1. For a prisoner.
2. For a prisoner unjustly accused.
3. For a prisoner whose sufferings and shame men enhanced by cruel mocking. Dressed up as a king. And yet He was one. Men can only caricature the reality of Christ and Christianity.
II. AN APPEAL FROM PILATE TO THE JEWS.
1. From Pilate.
(1) An old soldier.
(2) A heathen.
(3) One who despaired of truth.
2. To the Jews
(1) To whom He came.
(2) Who had opportunity to test His claims.
(3) Who were convinced of them, but rejected Him, because He was not the rebel they wanted.
III. AN APPEAL FROM ONE WHO NEVERTHELESS PUT CHRIST TO DEATH. Pilate did his utmost to save Jesus, with one exception, his own interest. He tried by expression of his own conviction, by delay, by solemn acts, by appeal to justice and to pity. He would not endanger self. So now men may feel for Christ–do much for Him–reprove others, and yet stop short at sacrifice
1. Of worldly interests.
2. Of sinful lusts. (A. J. Morris.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. And Pilate saith] The word Pilate, which we supply in our version, is added by one MS., the later Syriac, later Arabic, and the Coptic.
Behold the man!] The man who, according to you, affects the government, and threatens to take away the empire from the Romans. Behold the man whom ye have brought unto me as an enemy to Caesar, and as a sower of the seeds of sedition in the land! In him I find no guilt; and from him ye have no occasion to fear any evil.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He therefore, after Jesus had been scourged, and dressed up in this mock dress, brings him out again to the people to move their pity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Then Jesus came forth, wearingthe crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them,Behold the man!There is no reason to think that contemptdictated this speech. There was clearly a struggle in the breast ofthis wretched man. Not only was he reluctant to surrender to mereclamor an innocent man, but a feeling of anxiety about His mysteriousclaims, as is plain from what follows, was beginning to rack hisbreast, and the object of his exclamation seems to have been to movetheir pity. But, be his meaning what it may, those threewords have been eagerly appropriated by all Christendom, andenshrined for ever in its heart as a sublime expression of its calm,rapt admiration of its suffering Lord.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then came Jesus forth,…. Out of the judgment hall, or place where he had been scourged, as soon as Pilate had said these words:
wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe; with his temples scratched and torn with the thorny crown, and the blood running down from thence, and his face and eyes swollen with the blows he had received from their closed fists, and all besmeared with his own blood, and the soldiers’ spittle; his body appearing to be almost of the same colour with the purple or scarlet robe, through the stripes and lashes he had received, when that was thrown back.
And Pilate saith unto them, behold the man; not their king, that would have provoked them; though he did say so afterwards, when he found he could not prevail upon them to agree to his release; but the man, to move their compassion; signifying, that he was a man as they were, and that they ought to use him as such, and treat him with humanity and pity; and that he was a poor despicable man, as the condition he was in showed; and that it was a weak thing in them to fear anything with respect to any change of, or influence in, civil government from one that made such a figure; and therefore should be satisfied with what had been done to him, and dismiss him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Wearing (). Present active participle of , an early frequentative of , denoting a continual wearing, though not true here (only temporary). Jesus bore the mockery with kingly dignity as part of the shame of the Cross (Heb 12:2).
Behold, the man ( ). Ecce Homo! by Pilate. This exclamatory introduction of Jesus in mock coronation robes to the mob was clearly intended to excite pity and to show how absurd the charge of the Sanhedrin was that such a pitiable figure should be guilty of treason. Pilate failed utterly in this effort and did not dream that he was calling attention to the greatest figure of history, the Man of the ages.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Came Jesus forth. From the Praetorium.
Wearing [] . Not ferwn, bearing, but the frequentative form of that verb, denoting an habitual or continuous bearing; hence, wearing, as though it were His natural dress.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then came Jesus fourth,” (ekselthen oun ho lesous ekso) “Then Jesus came outside,” of Pilate’s judgment hall, where He had been questioned by Pilate, harassed and abused by the war soldiers of the Romans, beaten, spat upon and smitten, or slapped in the face, Joh 19:1-2.
2) “Wearing the thorns, and the purple robe.” (phoron ton akanthinon stephanon kai to porphuroun himation) “Wearing the thorny wreath (as if it were a crown) and the purple garment,” also referred to as a scarlet robe, and as a gorgeous robe, when before Herod’s soldiers, Mar 15:17; Mar 15:20; Luk 23:11; Mat 27:28; He is thus brought out before the Jews.
3) “And Pilate saith unto them,” (kai legei autois) “And he (Pilate) said to them,” the Jewish accusers who thirsted for His blood, to those who milled about the street near the judgment hall, being stirred up or incited against Jesus by the ruling Jewish rabble of chief priests, elders, scribes, and the whole council of Israel, Mar 15:1; Luk 23:1.
4) “Behold the man!” (idou ho anthropos) “Behold the man,” innocent and helpless, He was the Lamb of God, Joh 1:29. He was now being “led as a sheep to the slaughter,” Isa 53:7; Act 8:32-33. Though spoken to ridicule, it was a manifestation of the true love of God, and of Jesus, for their enemies.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) Then came Jesus forth.The verse describes the scene as the writer remembers it. The figure of the Lord whom he had himself followed and loved, and of whom he thinks as ascended to the throne of the King of kings, led in the cruel mockery of royal garments, was one which left its mark for ever in his mind.
Behold the man!Pilates Ecce homo! is an appeal to the multitude. That picture of sufferingis it not enough? Will none in that throng lift up a cry for mercy, and save Him from the death for which the Sanhedrin are calling?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(5) That St. Johns narrative is that of an eyewitness, relating what he himself saw and remembered. (Comp. Chronological Harmony of the Gospels, p. 35)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Behold the man Ecce Homo! This solemn presentation of Jesus before the world, preceding his final delivery to death, has produced the most solemn impression upon the minds of the Church of all Christian ages. The pencils of the great masters of Christian art have selected it as a choice subject. Pre-eminently he stands forth the Man, the representative of the race, the memento of our sin, the exhibition of our misery.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 19:5. Behold the man! While thesoldiers were acting their impious buffooneries, Pilate entered, and, seeing the humiliating condition of the suffering Jesus, he thought that now at least the rage of his enemies would be satiated, and that the most envenomed heart would relent at the appearance of so sad a spectacle; he therefore brought Jesus forth, and, shewing him to them, said, Behold the man. He added no more, concluding that the deplorable condition to which Jesus was reduced would plead sufficiently on his behalf, and extort compassion from the most obdurate. And indeed no sight could be more moving:-his sacred body torn with scourges, his head pierced with thorns, and the blood flowing from so many wounds down his face and hair, rendered him an object of the greatest pity.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1721
PILATES FURTHER ATTEMPT TO SAVE JESUS
Joh 19:5. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
IT is common to speak of our fallen nature as altogether corrupt, and destitute of any good thing. But this must be understood with caution: for though it is true that there is nothing really and spiritually good in the natural man, (as Paul says, In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,) yet there is a principle of conscience, which, in proportion as it is enlightened, deters men from evil, and prompts them to what is good. Of this we have many examples in the Holy Scriptures; and a very striking one in the passage before us. Pilate was persuaded in his mind that Jesus was innocent, and therefore could not endure the thought of putting him to death. He strove by every means in his power to pacify those who sought his life: a great many different times he bore witness to his innocence; and, when that would not succeed, he laboured in a variety of ways to release him. He offered to inflict upon him the punishment of scourging, under the idea that his enemies would be satisfied with that: and now, after having inflicted that punishment, and permitted him to be treated with every species of indignity, he had recourse to one more device, in hopes that he should at last prevail upon them to spare him. He brought forth Jesus, arrayed as he was in mock majesty, and his face defiled with blood and spitting; and said unto the people, Behold the man!
This may be viewed,
I.
As a political expedient
Pilate, not daring absolutely to refuse the demands of the Jews, yet still bent on effecting the release of Jesus, had recourse to this,
1.
To excite their pity
[He well knew that the most savage heart, however insensible to the cries of misery when heard only at a distance, is apt to relent, when the suffering object is presented before the eyes. He therefore set Jesus before them in this state; hoping thereby, that they would be moved with compassion at the sight of his unmerited distresses. Pilates address to them was probably to this effect: Behold the man whose crucifixion you have demanded: I have already repeatedly told you that I could find in him nothing worthy of death: but, as I take for granted that you have some cause for your complaints, I have examined him by scourging; yet I am still constrained to renew my testimony, that I can find in him no fault at all. Supposing however that he has in some respect offended against your law, I can assure you he has already suffered severely for it; and therefore I hope you will be satisfied, without urging me to proceed any further against him. Look, and see what a pitiable object he is: and let your anger give way to the nobler sentiments of pity and compassion.
Well might Pilate adopt this expedient, because Christ himself is represented as pleading in this very manner with his relentless persecutors [Note: Lam 1:12.], though, alas! without attaining the object of his desires [Note: Psa 69:20.].]
2.
To shame their enmity
[The nation had accused Jesus of stirring up rebellion in the land. Now Pilate hoped, that a sight of him in his present deplorable state would convince them, that there was nothing to fear from him on this head: for the meekness with which he had borne all his sufferings shewed clearly, that he was not of a turbulent disposition; and the circumstance of his not having a single friend or partisan to speak for him, proved, that, whatever his inclination might be, he had not the power to do harm. Look at him, we may suppose Pilate to say: see what a contemptible appearance he makes! Is this a man of whom the whole nation has cause to be afraid? Is this a man of whose power and influence you need to be so jealous, that you cannot rest till he is put to death? Supposing that he has had some influence, what will he have in future? Only let him alone, and in a little time it will scarce be known that such a poor despised creature exists.
Such were the arguments with which David had repeatedly appeased the murderous wrath of Saul [Note: 1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20.]. And Pilate might reasonably hope that they would have weight, especially when addressed to them by the judge and governor, whose exclusive duty it was to watch over the interests of the state. But, alas! the chief priests and scribes, who had acted covertly before, now took the lead in clamour and tumult, and bore down all before them. Nothing but the crucifixion of Jesus would satisfy them; and they gave Pilate to understand, that, if he did not comply with their wishes in this respect, they would denounce him as an enemy to Csar, and a traitor to his own country [Note: ver. 6, 12.].]
There is yet another view in which we may regard the words of Pilate; namely,
II.
As a prophetic intimation
It is well known that Caiaphas, when intending nothing himself but to recommend the execution of Jesus as necessary for the good of the state, unwittingly uttered a prophecy respecting the saving benefits of his death, and that not to the Jews only, but to all the world [Note: Joh 11:49-52.]. Now the words of Pilate bear much more of a prophetic aspect than those of Caiaphas, since they accord with many acknowledged prophecies, not in spirit merely, but almost in the express terms [Note: Isa 40:9; Isa 45:22; Isa 65:1 and Zec 12:10.]. Moreover, Pilates wife had had somewhat of a revelation respecting Jesus that very morning, and had sent word of it to Pilate, whilst he was yet upon the seat of judgment [Note: Mat 27:19.]: and he himself had invariably, and with great constancy, borne testimony to the innocency of Jesus: so that his words on this occasion might well bear that kind of construction which God himself has taught us to put upon the words of Caiaphas. But, as the Scripture affirms nothing respecting this, so neither do we: we may however, with great propriety, put these words into the mouth of a Christian preacher, and take occasion from them to lead you to the
Contemplation of your suffering Lord. 1 say then, Behold the man! Behold him,
1.
To engage your confidence
[To a superficial inquirer, all these humiliating circumstances would appear to justify a doubt whether Jesus were the Son of God. But to one who examines thoroughly the prophecies relating to him, these very circumstances afford the most satisfactory proof that he was indeed the Christ. Was he treated with the utmost contempt, and that too by the whole nation? Was he mocked, reviled, spit upon? Was he beaten with scourges, so that his flesh was even ploughed up with stripes? Then I see that he was the Christ; for not only the ancient prophets, but he himself expressly told us that it should be so [Note: Compare Isa 49:7; Isa 50:6; Isa 53:3-5 and Psa 129:3. with Mar 10:32-34.]. Did he endure all these things without one word of murmur or complaint? Then I am sure that he was the Christ [Note: Isa 53:7. with 1Pe 2:25.].
But it is not in this view only that his sufferings afford us grounds of confidence. Whilst they prove him to be the true Messiah, they prove also, beyond a possibility of doubt, his willingness to save all who come unto him. In enduring all these things, he submitted willingly. He could, if he had chosen, have had more than twelve legions of angels for his defence: but then the Scriptures would not have been fulfilled, nor would the work of our salvation have been accomplished. If then be willingly submitted to these indignities for us when we were enemies, what will he not do for us when we throw down the weapons of our rebellion, and implore his mercy? Surely no person, whatever he may have been or done, shall ever apply to him in vain ]
2.
To inflame your gratitude
[It is well said by the Apostle, that the love of Christ passeth knowledge. It is not possible for any finite mind to comprehend it. Something of it indeed every saint may comprehend [Note: Eph 3:18-19.]; but its full extent can never be explored. That however which we do see of it, should operate with irresistible energy upon our minds. Brethren, behold the man! See the royal robe, which they have put upon him; the cane in his hand, for a sceptre; the crown of thorns upon his head; and the blood issuing from his lacerated temples: see him ready to faint through the severities inflicted on him; and then say, These are the fruits of his love to me; these things he endures, to rescue me from everlasting shame and contempt. Then ask yourselves, What returns he merits at your hands? Surely to compliment him with the name of Saviour, will not be thought sufficient: there must be a tribute, not of the lip only, but of the heart; in the heart a flame of love should be kindled, which, like the fire upon the altar, should never go out ]
3.
To stimulate your exertions
[There is no one so blind as not to see that our acknowledgments to Christ should shew themselves, not in sentiment only, but in action. Indeed he himself tells us, that it is by obedience to his commands we are to prove our love to him [Note: Joh 14:15; Joh 14:21; Joh 15:14.]. What then shall we do, to evince our love to him? What? Let us follow the example of his love to us. When the people sought him to make him really a king, he refused their services, and hid himself from them: but when they arrayed him in mock majesty, and put a crown of thorns upon his head, he submitted willingly to that, because it would conduce to our benefit. Thus let us be regardless of all personal gratifications, that we may exalt and honour him: and if we are called to suffer for his sake, let us suffer willingly and meekly. As he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, sustaining the cross and despising the shame for us, let us follow him, bearing his reproach. If we be made a gazing-stock and a spectacle to the world, let us be content to be loaded with every species of ignominy for his sake. Let us remember, that he gave himself for us, to purchase unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works; and let it be our fixed determination to answer in this respect the end of his sufferings## and, provided he be magnified in our body, let it be a matter of indifference to us whether it be by life or by death.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
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; (9) And went again into the judgement hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. (10) Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? (11) Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. (12) And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Cesar. (13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgement seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. (14) And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King? (15) But they cried out, Away with him, away with him; crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar. (16) Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. (17) And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha: (18) Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
I beg the Reader to notice with particular regard, his Redeemer coming forth with his thorny crown and purple robe, his sacred body lacerated with stripes, and the blood streaming in every direction, and ponder well the cause. Isaiah, ages before, proclaimed the cause, and here the history confirms it; He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. Isa 53:5 . Without an eye to this, as the surety of his people, how impossible would it be to reconcile the wonderful appearance on any principles of common justice. But, beheld as the Sponsor of his Church, and what a ray of light shines at once upon the whole, to explain the cause, and to endear such love to every heart.
If the Reader will read with attention the first verse in this paragraph, he will perceive, that in our translation it is said, when Jesus thus came forth, Pilate saith, behold the man! But if he observes, the name of Pilate is in Italics, by which is meant that the word is not in the original. And though I do not mean to speak decidedly upon the subject, I venture to think that it ought not to be there. For if it be supposed, that it is Jesus himself that saith, behold the man! it would be in conformity to the analogy of scripture. In the Old Testament Christ is introduced as calling upon his Church in like manner; Behold me! Behold me! Isa 65:3 . Look unto me, and be ye saved. Isa 45:22 . And God the Father proclaims him to the Church in like manner, and bids the people to behold him. Isa 42:1 with Mat 12:18 . And so doth God the Holy Ghost. Joh 1:36Joh 1:36 . Hence, therefore, when the Lord Jesus came forth before the high priests and rulers, , having given his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, as the Prophet described him, Christ calls upon them to behold the man! And their cry at the sight of Christ to crucify him, becomes a yet further confirmation of this prophecy, which said, that he would be despised and rejected of men. Isa 53:3 . Lord! grant to me grace to eye thee with that melting look described by the prophet, until the whole heart goeth out in desires after thee, and every affection is awakened into love to thee. Zec 12:10 .
I stay not to make long remarks upon the conduct of Pilate. It would keep us from higher subjects. But, it is interesting in some measure to observe, what different passions of fear and guilt, and the contending conflicts of this man’s conscience, operated upon his mind. But I more particularly request the Reader to keep in view that most precious answer of the Lord Jesus, when after long silence, he reproved the unjust judge for his insolent assumption of power, which he said he had, either to crucify Christ or to release him. Thou couldest have no power, said Jesus, at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Jesus looked over the heads of all his foes, to eye the hand of Jehovah in this appointment. And, Reader! it would be always well for you and for me, and for all the Lord’s people to do the same, in all the lesser considerations we meet with in life. See Gen 45:7-8 ; Act 2:23 .
On the subject of Christ bearing his cross, I have already taken notice in the former Evangelists, to which therefore I refer.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
Ver. 5. Pilate saith, Behold the man ] q.d. If ye be men, take pity upon a man so miserably misused; and if ye be good men, let him go who is innocent. But these monsters, like those beasts at Ephesus, had put off manhood; and for good men among them, it fared with Pilate, pleading for Christ, as it did with him at Nola in the story, who when he was commanded by the Roman censor to go and call the good men of the city to appear before him, went to the churchyards, and there called at the graves of the dead, “O ye good men of Nola, come away, for the Roman censor calls for your appearance,” for he knew not where to call for a good man alive.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 19:5 . Still wearing ( ) the mocking symbols of royalty, an object of derision and pity, Jesus is led out, and the judge pointing to Him says, , Ecce Homo, “Lo! the man,” as if inviting inspection of the pitiable figure, and convincing them how ridiculous it was to try to fix a charge of treason on so contemptible a person. is used contemptuously, as in Plutarch, Them. , xvi. 2, “the fellow,” “the creature”. Other instances in Holden’s note in Plut., Them . The result is unexpected.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Then = Therefore.
crown of thorns; literally the thorny crown. Not the same expression as in Joh 19:2.
the purple robe. To the horrible torture of the flagellum had been added the insults and cruelties of the soldiers. Compare Isa 50:6.
Man. Greek. anthropos. App-123. Pilate hoped the pitiable spectacle would melt their hearts. It only whetted their appetite.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 19:5. , wearing) Pilate did not check the wanton insolence of the soldiers. There was here a rare mixture of jestings and of serious acts.-, saith) viz. Pilate. For it is to Pilate that they answer in the sixth verse.- , Behold the man) So in Joh 19:14, Behold your King: A gradation, or ascending climax. A similar nominative (exclamatory) occurs in Joh 19:26-27, Woman, behold thy son ( )-Behold thy mother ( ).
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 19:5
Joh 19:5
Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.-Jesus was serious, solemn, earnest; bore the buffetings and the ridicule of the soldiers; and with the crown of thorns and the mock robe Pilate brought him out and showed him to the Jews.
And Pilate saith unto them, Behold, the man!-He no doubt said this, thinking to appease their wrath, excite their sympathy, and induce them to be satisfied to let Jesus go free. [Look at him in this pitiful condition! Does he look to be dangerous to you or to me, to your ecclesiastical or my secular power, thus to be treated, and no friends to speak for him?]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Behold: Joh 1:29, Isa 7:14, Isa 40:9, Isa 43:1, Lam 1:12, Heb 12:2
Reciprocal: Jdg 8:26 – purple Psa 52:7 – Lo Isa 53:2 – he hath no Zec 6:12 – behold Mar 15:9 – Will Luk 23:11 – arrayed Joh 19:2 – the soldiers Joh 19:14 – Behold Heb 9:19 – scarlet
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
LESSONS FROM CALVARY
Behold the Man.
Joh 19:5
Jesus said, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me. Year by year we see these words more perfectly fulfilled. The power of the Cross is seen in the increased observance of Good Friday; and although there is yet much to deplore in the carelessness or unbelief of the many, yet we must believe that at last the crucified Jesus will draw all men unto Him.
I. Jesus crucified draws us to Calvary.We go with the crowd, we turn aside from the events of everyday life to behold this great sight. With what feelings do we come to the Cross of Jesus? Amongst us, doubtless, there are some careless ones as there were among the crowd on the first Good Friday; those who come to the Cross and go away unsaved. There are many in the world to-day who will pass by Calvary with a jest, and mock before the face of the dying Son of God. But there are many also whose hearts are full of love and full of sadness for the sufferings of their Lord; let them pray for the scorner and the careless one and the unbeliever, that they may be drawn to the Cross and find pardon. There were some who went to Calvary on that first Good Friday perhaps scarcely knowing why they went; sad-hearted, troubled folk, whose lives were wrong, and who knew not how to cure them; and who, kneeling beneath the Cross, and feeling the precious Blood of Christ drop on them, found light and joy and peace. Oh! if there be any such here to-day, who have cried for the light and never found it, who are conscious that there is something wrong with them which they know not how to mend, let them come to Calvary now, let them fall prostrate in prayer before the Cross, let them go down into the grave of repentance to-day.
II. And now that we stand in the presence of our Redeemer dying for us, let us stand in awe, and sin not, let us be still, and know that it is God. Let us strive to realise that we have crucified Jesus, that our sins, no less than those of others, have given Jesus to the Cross. Let us try to feel that as the voices in Pilates hall cry Crucify Him, our voices are among them.
III. Behold the Man, and beholding, cry with the centurion, Of a truth this was the Son of God. They part His garments among them: and there again His enemies unconsciously teach us a lesson. Adam by his sin lost the robe of innocence, and hid himself from God, ashamed of his nakedness. Jesus suffers His garments to be divided that He may clothe us sinners with the robe of His righteousness. They have pierced His side with a spear. Ah! not only the spear of steel, but the spear of mans ingratitude pierced Him, even to His broken heart. And mark the result. Then came forth from that broken side streams of love, streams of water to cleanse us from our sin, and of blood to strengthen us for ever in His sacraments. Thus in His death are the prophecies fulfilled. I am poured out like water, said the Psalmist, and now from the side of Jesus is poured out a river which goes forth out of Eden to water the garden of the Church.
Rev. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton.
Illustration
There is a beautiful legend which tells us that the crown of thorns, preserved in a certain shrine, blossoms every Easter Day, and fills the whole Church with its perfume. For the faithful that thorny crown has indeed blossomed like the rose, and filled all our lives with its sweetness. For the sin of the first Adam this earth was cursed, and it brought forth thorns. Jesus, the second Adam, died to remove the curse of sin, and so He wore the thorns, the fruits of sin, as His crown.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
5
With this “introduction,” Jesus appeared on the scene, wearing the crown of thorns with its thousands of prickles having been pressed down pon his head, and robed in the colors that only belonged to Roman kings. His appearance was plainly visible to all the mob, yet Pilate thought to arouse their pity by a pointed phrase, behold the man. The first word is from IDE, and Thayer defines it, “see! behold! lo!” He then explains it, “as the utterance of one who wishes that something should not be negelected by another.” Robinson gives the same definition as Thayer, then follows with the comment, “As calling attention to something present.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Verse 5
Behold the man! He hoped that they would have been satisfied with the sufferings which he had endured, and would consent to his release.