King Jesus
John 19:1-7
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
Pilate has been questioning Jesus inside his headquarters; Pilate has also been going outside to hear the charges from the Jewish leaders who arrested Jesus. If you read the whole passage beginning at John 18:28, the imagery is of Pilate running back and forth --- inside to question Jesus; outside to tell the Jewish leaders he finds no crime committed by Jesus. Pilate goes “in” and “out” seven times. According to Roman rule, Pilate is in charge here; but the scene suggests otherwise. While the Jewish leaders discredit Jesus, telling Pilate that Jesus is a threat to the emperor by claiming to be the king of the Jews, Pilate eventually relinquishes Jesus to their demands and hands him over to be crucified. Though intended to be a mockery with a crown of thorns and a purple robe, Pilate and the soldiers reveal the truth of Jesus, that he is indeed a king, the King. The inscription that Pilate has written to be placed on the cross says it plainly in Hebrew/Aramaic, Latin, and Greek for all to see: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
The gospel writer John has declared who Jesus is from the very beginning of the gospel - that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Even at Jesus’ arrest in the garden, his questioning before the high priest, and now his trial and death sentence before Pilate and the Jewish leaders, John uses all the characters to help reveal who Jesus is. During the trial, Jesus essentially has Pilate on trial, offering an opportunity for Pilate to see the power of Jesus’ Kingdom, but in the end, Pilate turns away from the invitation. Even so, with the inscription that Pilate has written, he declares the truth of Jesus: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
The story isn’t over, but once again, each scene is written so that you may come to believe who Jesus is, and believing, you may have life in his name. Here Jesus is beaten, whipped, and about to be crucified. It is gruesome; it is the worst that humanity can do to another human being. But God is here; God is in this moment; God is revealing the kingdom, and God is revealing Jesus as King.
Prayer: Lord God, heavenly king, Almighty God and Father - help us, we pray, to see you in the darkest hour, to know your eternal presence through every trial and time of suffering. Help us to cling to your promises revealed to us through your own dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who gave his life on the cross so that we might believe in the power of your salvation. In your most holy name we pray. Amen.