Episode 126 - "Behold your King!" - John 19:12-16
John 19:12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 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.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
In the text preceding this, the mob told Pilate that according to their law, Jesus ought to die because he “made himself the Son of God.” (v. 7) John says that when Pilate heard this he was even more afraid. I wonder how John knew that. Is it possible that someone close to Pilate was or became a follower of Jesus and reported this to the apostles? Perhaps Pilate was required to provide reports of his actions, including executions he authorized and he recorded his hesitancy to condemn Jesus. However this became known, Pilate seems to be looking for an escape from this situation. He either wants evidence that will make it easy for him to condemn Jesus and satisfy the crowd or for the crowd to give up on their demand.
Verse 12 reveals that Pilate is convinced that Jesus should be released. But, the crowd will not listen and they played the political pressure card on him suggesting a threat to Pilate if he does not concede to their demands. This ploy had its desired effect. Yet, not without Pilate exacting his own kind of retributive pressure upon the Jews.
He brought Jesus out and said to the crowd, “Behold your King!” Does either Pilate or the Jews believe Jesus is their king, their Messiah? No. Yet, as so often in John’s gospel, we see people making statements from an errant perspective that is ironically true from God’s perspective. (“It is better for one man to die than for the whole nation to perish.” - Caiaphus, John 11:50 ) This is no exception. Jesus is truly their king. But, the crowd rejected him and responded with “Crucify him!”
I can’t help but suspect that this is where Pilate sees an opportunity to set a trap for them. He asks, “Shall I crucify your king?” The answer is, “We have no king but Caesar.” (v. 15) Let’s consider the significance of this statement.
The leaders of this crowd are the religious leaders including the high priests. These were the people who identified themselves as Abraham’s children and appealed to Moses. They believed they were the most obedient of Jews to the LORD. John mentioned in verse 14 the nearing of the Passover. They were under a measure of pressure to get this over with so they could observe Passover as good Jews did. Therefore, these were people who should be looking for their Messiah, their king. The very last thing they should be doing as Jewish adherents of the Law is committing murder and saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” (A pagan, gentile leader) Yet, it was the chief priests themselves who responded, confessing that Caesar was their king. It makes me wonder if, at the utterance of this confession, Pilate gave a simple smile knowing he had put them on the hook as they had with him. They had used pressure to control Pilate. But, Pilate was willing to condemn Jesus in order to turn the table on this crowd.
What stands out to me as a spiritual principle and a challenge to us is Pilate’s command, “Behold your King!” Think about that. How do you and I view Jesus? As we read and reflect upon the gospels and the life of Jesus, do we see Jesus as a great teacher, an amazing miracle worker, a wonderful philosopher, or our King? Does the thought of Jesus invoke within me a need to submit completely to his authority over my life or do I have another king?
The same man who penned this book also wrote the final book in the Bible, Revelation. In that book, Jesus returns as the conquering and eternally ruling king over us all. Perhaps we ought to get used to the idea right now. Fortunately, he is a good king and one in whom is no guilt, no fault, and no deceit.