Conclusion of "Look! The Man!"

After this torturous beating, Jesus is taken into the governor's palace, and the whole body of troops is called together. There the soldiers heap further abuse on him by braiding a crown of thorns and pushing it down on his head. they put a reed in his right hand, and they clothe him with a purple garment, they type worn by royalty. Then they say to him mockingly: "Good day, you King of the Jews!" Also, they spit on him and slap him in the face. Taking the sturdy reed from his hand, they us it to hit him on the head, driving even further into his scalp the sharp thorns of his humiliating "crown."

Jesus' remarkable dignity and strength in the face of this maltreatment so impresses Palate that he is moved to make another attempt to redeem him. "See! I bring him outside to you in order for you to know I find no fault in him," he tells the crowds. Possibly he imagines that the sight of Jesus' tortured condition will soften their hearts. As Jesus stands before the heartless mob, wearing the thorny crown and the purple outer garment and with his bleeding face etched with pain, Pilate proclaims: "Look! The man!"

Though bruised and battered, here stands the most outstanding figure of all history, truly the greatest man who ever lived! Yes, Jesus shows a quiet dignity and calm that bespeak a greatness that even Pilate must acknowledge, for his words are apparently a mingling of both respect and pity. John 18:39-19:5; Matthew 27:15-17, 20-30; Mark 15:6-19; Luke 23:18-25.

Next time: Handed Over And led Away

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, 1991