Behold the
Man
Then Jesus came out,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them,
"Behold the Man!" (John 19:5)
Jesus promised that if he was lifted
up, he would draw all men to himself. (John 12:32) So close your eyes. Take a moment
from beholding your business, or consulting your calendar. Rest, if even
briefly, from your cares and from your duties. Suspend whatever’s absorbing your
attention and, for just a short time, behold the Man, Christ Jesus. If you’ve never
stopped long enough to behold the Man, the Lamb of God, the One who loves you
more than any earthly spouse, family or friend can, or ever will do, then close
your eyes and, perhaps for this instant, behold him now.
If you could only get one glimpse of his
face, the fairest among ten thousand (Song of Solomon 5:10); if you could only
catch the lilt of his voice, sweet as the rushing of many waters (Rev. 14:2);
if you could only gaze for a moment into the depths of those tender eyes filled
with understanding, compassion, sympathy and love (Heb. 12:2), tears of
gratitude would fill your own, and your heart would fill with praise until you’d
never want to stop beholding and adoring and worshiping the Man, Christ Jesus. And
as you behold the Man, just as the shades of darkness and unbelief are driven
back by the light of the sun of his righteousness, you’ll find new beauties,
new attributes, new graces – each unfolding themselves before your astonished
and adoring eyes. (Isaiah 29:9)
As the curtains of time before are pulled
back and expose the undimmed corridors of the past, we behold the Man seated
with His Father upon His throne. He was with His Father from the beginning (John
1:2) – the brightest jewel in heaven, the joy of the Father, the delight of the
angels, the light of the temple, the only begotten Son, worthy of the praise of
angels falling prostrate at His feet as he sat in His kingly splendor in their
midst.
But behold the Man filled with sorrow
on that memorable day; when Adam and Eve gave into sin, and because of their sin
were banished from the sight of God under the penalty of death. And when there
was no eye to pity, and no arm to save, when there was none that could pay the
ransom for their redemption, we behold the Man saying, "Father, send me; I
will pay the price. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of
sins; so I will shed mine, Father; I will be the bridge to span the gulf between
us and man that we created," (1. Tim. 2:5) and so we read that "God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
So behold the Man standing up to
leave the presence of the Father, to leave the songs and the adoration of the
angelic hosts, to lay aside his royal robes, his scepter, and his crown, to
step down from the throne and come from heaven to the earth he created; to come
just for you and me, his creation, that we might not perish but have the everlasting
life he’d promised.
Behold the Man living and growing up
with Mary, his mother, and Joseph, his earthly father, in a carpenter shop
among his siblings. Behold him at the age of thirty, baptized by John in the
river Jordan, ready to commence his ministry. Behold the man rising from a
watery grave as the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and the
voice of God speaks out loud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased." (Matt 3:17) And so he entered into ministry with divine
authority, and the power of the Godhead resting upon him; abiding in him.
Behold the Man tempted in the
wilderness for forty days, tempted in all points like as we, but without sinning.
(Heb. 4:15) Behold the Man turning water into wine, preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, opening the
eyes of the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, feeding the hungry, calming
troubled seas, weeping over Jerusalem, forgiving the sinner, giving water to the
thirsty, and healing to the brokenhearted.
Behold the Man – the King of glory –
walking in humility upon this earth, footsore and weary. See him praying alone,
night after night on the mountainside; praying for you and for a sleeping world
that would neither appreciate nor understand him. The birds had their nests, the
foxes had their holes, but the Son of Man had nowhere to even lay His weary head.
(Matt. 10:24)
Behold the Man at his Last Supper, when
even though His heart was aching, even though he knew Judas would betray him,
and that Peter would deny him . . . even though he knew that all would forsake him
and run away, his thoughts were for you and for me when he vowed that he would not
drink the fruit of the vine until he drank it anew with us in His Father's
kingdom saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people – an
agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink
it.” (1 Cor. 11:25)
And then behold the Man praying in the
garden, alone, while his disciples slept. See the agony and the heartbreak of his
soul as he cried, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of
suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine …. But, in
the surrendering of himself, was in such agony that his sweat fell to the ground
like drops of blood.” (Luke 22:42, 44)
Behold the Man bending low over His
disciples in his sorrow, craving just one understanding heart to watch with him.
But he found them sleeping, instead, and said, “Why are you sleeping? Get up
and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. But even as Jesus said
this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas
walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss.” (Luke 22:46-47)
Behold the Man led like a sheep to a
slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearers was dumb, he didn’t even open His
mouth. (Isa. 53:7) Behold him despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. (vs. 3) Behold him bearing our griefs, carrying our
sorrows, wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. (vs.
5) He was taken from prison and from judgment (vs. 8) to be summarily murdered,
instead.
Behold the Man condemned to die by the
very multitude he loved and longed to gather in his arms. See him beaten with whips,
and then nailed to the very cross he was required to carry to the place of his
execution. See a crown of thorns placed on his head; a Roman spear rammed into His
side. But hear him cry, "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they’re
doing.” (Luke 23:34) And then, when the debt had been paid, when he’d borne our
death-penalty in his own body on the cross, hear the glad, triumphant words
that rang through the sky that hour, and still resound through the universe
today: "It is finished.” (John 19:30)
Behold the Man whose death moved
stones and darkened the sky; who forgave a thief and provided for his mother; who
thirsted and was shunned by the Father into whose hands he would eventually commend
his own spirit by bowing his head and giving up his life as the atoning
sacrifice for your own. (Luke 23:43; John 19:26-27; John 19:28; Mark 15:34;
Luke 23:46)
Behold the Man lying wrapped in the
cold silence of death in a borrowed tomb. Then, in the early dawn of the third
day, as the first gold and purple rays of morning rose in glad triumph above the
hills of Jerusalem, an angel swept down from heaven, rolled the stone away from
the mouth of the tomb to behold the Man resurrected, rising and coming forth
again to look upon the world – his world, purchased with his own blood. Behold the
Man again, living and loving, walking and talking with his people, feeding the
hungry and encouraging the downhearted. (Matt. 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20)
Behold the Man leading a crowd of
captives, ascending on high to give gifts unto men (Eph. 4:8) saying, "It’s
best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I
do go away, however, then I will send him to you.” (John 16:7) The very same Man
who reassured us that “if I go away, I will come again and take you unto myself,
that where I am there you may be also." (John 14:3) Then behold the Man,
received into the clouds and taken from our sight.
Behold the Man seated again at the
right hand of God, the Father. Behold him standing now at your side as revealed
by the Spirit. Hear him whisper to you, "Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man will open to Me, I will come in and dine with him and he with
me." (Rev. 3:20) Behold the Man. Knocking. Let him in. Because if you draw
near to him, he will draw near to you; to receive the Holy Spirit which he has
sent to lead you into all truth; to be faithful just a little while longer. Then,
soon enough, you will behold the man coming in the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory to take you to himself where, in the midst of joys like the waves
of the ocean, you will behold the man by the glassy sea (Rev. 15:2), and
worship him. Forever.
Behold the Man. Your Redeemer. Your
Savior. Yours to behold.
Grace,
Randy
Behold the Man - Audio/Visual
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