Listen here.
Treasure God’s Love:
Behold the Man
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The painting on the screen
is one of my favorites as I ponder Jesus’ suffering. It is call Ecce Homo – Latin for “Behold the Man” –
and was painted by Antonio Ciseri in 1871. I love the colors, the crispness of
the image, the vantage point, and the drama in the scene. You can almost
imagine the crowds in the courtyard beyond Pilate replying, yelling, “Crucify
Him!” However, this painting isn’t quite accurate, is it?
Jesus looks awfully clean
and neat for everything he has been through. He should be bruised, beaten, and
bleeding.
Pilate might protest that
Jesus was not guilty, but he had no problem having Jesus punished with a
beating. His wife may have suffered much in a dream about Jesus, but Pilate had
no issue with having Jesus flogged. Jesus would have been in much worse shape
than Ciseri depicted Him here.
Frankly, Jesus would have
been in worse condition than any artist that painted a version of Ecce Homo portrayed Him. This moment
where Jesus stands with the crown of thorns on His head has been depicted in
Christian art sins the 800’s A.D. None of them approach a realistic depiction
of this moment – probably because – who would want to look at it?
Isaiah says, “he
grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he
had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should
desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted.” (Isa. 53:2-4 ESV)
We esteemed him stricken,
smitten and afflicted by God because He was. Nevertheless, it is important to
look at Jesus in this moment. He stands silent and strong. He is the king who
bears witness to the truth. And Pilate might say, “Quid est veritas?” What is
truth? But we know the truth is that Jesus was bearing our griefs, carrying our
sorrows. “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his
wounds we are healed. (by his blessed wounds!) 6 All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned-- every one-- to his own way; and the LORD has
laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 53:5-6 ESV) That’s the truth!
You see, this is love.
Love that bears all things, hopes all things, and endures all things for the
sake of our salvation.
To treasure this love, we
look at this moment – even if we sanitize it a bit for public consumption. We
look and see the love that moved God to give his Son to be pierced and crushed
for us. We behold the love that kept Jesus standing regally and firmly even as
He was crushed, chastised, and wounded for us. It was love that moved Jesus to
accept this burden for us.
We know where this is
headed. If you’ve thought ahead, you know that next week we will read about
Jesus’ crucifixion and His death.
In John 15:13 Jesus said, “Greater
love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
There is more to the
laying down of Jesus’ life than the nails and the spear. He also endured the
beatings, the mockery, the embarrassment, and the rejection that is all summed
up in the moment when Pilate says, “Behold the Man,” and crowds cried, “Crucify
Him!”
But we behold the man
differently, don’t we. Behold you Savior! Behold His love! Treasure it. And as
he laid down His life for you, we now are privileged to live our lives for Him.
And as we live our lives for Jesus we lay down our lives as we love God and
love our neighbors. We live in service of our Savior, sharing the love He has
shown us by talking about Him, conforming our lives to His will, confessing our
sins, and joyfully receiving His forgiveness. We live lives that display our
faith and hope so that our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors, and even
our enemies might behold the man – Jesus Christ – in us. Amen.
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