In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” (John 19:5)

The words and actions of the Roman judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus are interesting: by the time he uttered the famous words ‘Behold the Man’ he had already tried to get out of passing judgment: “You take Him and judge Him” (John 18:31) and he had declared publicly the innocence of the Lord Jesus “I find no fault in Him.”(John 19:4)

We might try to guess what was in Pilate’s mind as he uttered these words “Behold the Man.” One reasonable conclusion would be that it was a last ditch attempt to elicit the compassion of those who had brought the Lord Jesus before him by appealing to their humanity and inviting them to see another human being on whom they might take pity. If that was Pilate’s intention it was in vain for there was no pity given to the Lord by His accusers.

The truth is that the Lord Jesus was no ordinary other human being. He was indeed a Man, a true, real Man with flesh and blood and emotions; He is also God: “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16) and He is singled out in the Bible as being exceptional in that “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5) This is the very quality that gave Him the unique qualification to complete His journey to Calvary, to suffer, bleed and die there and take the punishment due to us for our sins – “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3)