Behold The Man

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is called Behold The Man.  

It was the Passover; the time of the deliverance from the horror of darkness which the Children of Israel had suffered, being in bondage in hard labor in Egypt 400 years. Moses instructed them to choose a lamb without spot, faultless, and to roast it in the fire, placing the blood of the spotless lamb on their doorposts, that the angel of death would not come into their houses. The Lord said to them, And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you when I strike the land of Egypt. 

It was the Passover, and Jesus and His disciples gathered together in an upper room to eat the Passover meal together. That same night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, He brake it and said, Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup saying, This cup is the New Testament in my Blood; this do, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

It was the Passover, and Jesus travailed in prayer, that He might take the cup which the Father had given Him, to become the Lamb of God, and to be slain for the sins of all of us; to bear our sins in His body on the Cross, and to wash us from our sins in His own Blood. It was His love for the Father, and their love for us that enabled Him to overcome His own flesh and go to the Cross.

It was the Passover, and they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Hall of Judgement. Let’s turn to John 18:28-40, Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this Man? They answered and said to him, If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you. Then Pilate said to them, You take Him and judge Him according to your law. Therefore the Jews said to him, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die. Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, Are You the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore said to Him, Are You a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. Pilate said to Him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, I find no fault in Him at all. But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews? Then they all cried again, saying, Not this Man, but Barabbas! Now Barabbas was a robber. John 19:1-18, So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him. Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, Behold the Man!  Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him! Pilate said to them, You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, Where are You from? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You? Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin. From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar! Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 

Behold the Man!; Jesus, the Son of God; conceived in the Virgin Mary’s womb; the Word was made flesh, therefore that Holy Thing that was born of her is called the Son of God. He is a man, in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Jesus was tempted, yet He never yielded; He never sinned. If He could be tempted, then He could have sinned. He was a man! Because He loved the Father, because He loved us, He never yielded. He overcame every temptation with fasting and prayer, speaking the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. He overcame in the Garden of Gethsemane to offer Himself a perfect sacrifice on the Cross, and shed His Blood, His sinless life, to deliver us all from so great a death: eternal separation from God and all His goodness, in eternal torment, receiving the full reward for our own evil deeds. The Father is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and be saved from His wrath that will consume all the wicked; those that reject the sacrifice of his Beloved Son on the Cross for their sins. Jesus died for our sins, without fault, as Pilate confirmed, and He rose again to justify us, and to give unto all of us who believe in Him eternal life, to serve Him and the Father in His glorious Kingdom. Because He humbled Himself to the death of the Cross, the Father has given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in Heaven, on the Earth, and under the Earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Confess Jesus as your Lord, and believe that He rose from the dead, and you shall be saved! For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, His name is Jesus, shall be delivered.  

Behold the Man!, mocked and spit upon, beaten and scourged with a Roman lash, a crown of thorns on His head, in a purple robe, giving Himself for you, a living sacrifice for your sins; your sins, not His! He was without fault; the only man that never sinned!

Behold the Man!, on the Cross, every bone out of joint, His body marred more than any man, for you!; for your sins! There He cried out, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do! This is love!; not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and gave His Beloved Son to die for our sins; mocked, scorned, rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; surely He has borne our sorrows and carried our pains, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed! The Father saw the travail of His soul for us and was satisfied. He died for our sins!

Let’s turn to John 20:19-31, Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, Peace be with you. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. So he said to them, Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace to you! Then He said to Thomas, Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. 

Behold the Man!, risen from the dead!, victorious, glorified, justified from all the sins that were laid on Him: our sins; He was crucified for our sins and raised again for our justification; Rev 1:5-18,...Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the Earth; to Him who loved us and who washed us from our sins in His own Blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen! Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the Earth will mourn because of Him; even so, Amen! I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End says the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come; the Almighty. I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and, what you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen!