John chapter 19. Want to begin our reading at the opening verse of the chapter, so it's John chapter 19 and the verse number 1. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple robe and said, Heal, King of the Jews, and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate saith unto them, hold the man. When the chief priests, therefore, and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he hath made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid Went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not to me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that hath delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from henceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. Amen, and we'll end our reading there at the 12th verse of John chapter 19. Let's briefly please unite in prayer. Let's seek the Lord. Our loving Father, we come to these most momentous events in the life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We bless Thee for Him. We think of what Pilate will go on to say in coming verses, Behold your King. And we bless Thee that He is King. He is King of kings and He's Lord of lords. He is the sole head and He is the King of His church. We pray that he may dispense his power into this building today. We might know a sense of the divine presence among us. Encourage these, our souls. May we behold our God and grant, O Father, these are waiting souls to be blessed, challenged from thy precious word. We offer these, our prayers, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. Some weeks ago when we began our studies on the beholds of Scripture, I referred to a doctrinal error that had entered and crept into the Church of Colossae, namely the denial of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a heresy that had spread itself by false teachers among the membership of that particular congregation. I did say that that doctrinal error seemed to not only infiltrate the church in Colossae, but also the church in Laodicea. That's why the one speaking in the book of the Revelation is referred to as the Amen, the first and the last, the eternal. Son of God. The doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ is one of those non-negotiable tenets of the Christian faith. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is upon this doctrine that all cults err. All deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They deny that He is the eternal Son of God. Now while the church of Jesus Christ must ever emphasize the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ, we must never do so at the expense of the humanity of Jesus Christ. Not only was Jesus Christ God, but He was also man. Theologians speak of Him as being fully God and fully man. It would be better to say in this way that he was truly God and truly man. He was the God-man. Now repeatedly throughout Scripture we have passages that remind us that the eternal Son of God, who existed before the worlds were ever created, who was eternal as the Father and the Spirit, yet we read that He took on flesh at His incarnation, that He became a man. We think of those great biblical declarations like the one found in John 1 in the verse 14, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Or the one in Galatians 4, verse 4 and 5, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Philippians 2 verse 5 to 8 is another passage that speaks of the Christ of God, the eternal Son, becoming a man. Let this mine be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made In the likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Paul would speak about this great event in the life of the Son of God there in 1 Timothy 3 verse 16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Hebrews 2.14, the last verse, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the same. Through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. In today's reading, a crowd was asked by a non-believing Roman governor to consider the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, Pontius Pilate, with the Son of God now standing before him, crowned with that crown of thorns, declared to the baying masses beneath, who were calling for the Saviour's death, behold the man." Behold the man. Now while Pilate may have said that sarcastically, yet I believe that we need to do that. We need to behold the man that we meet in John chapter 19. because he is the only object worthy of our beholding. Every Christian should come to the house of God with this desire burning within their soul to behold Christ. The petition that was on the lips of those Greeks who came to Philip there in John chapter 12 ought to be the petition of every church attendee. Sir, we would see Jesus. Every other object of contemplation is worthless when we come to consider him. And so that is what we want to do today. We want to do what Pilate exhorted these people to do many years ago in John chapter 19 and the verse number five. We want today to behold the man, behold the man, the man Christ Jesus. As we behold the man, Christ Jesus, we want to firstly behold the true man. Behold the true man. I'm not speaking about his truthfulness when I speak of him being a true man. The following question is asked in the shorter catechism, how did Christ being the Son of God become man? Won't you listen to the answer? Christ, the Son of God, became man. by taking into himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost and the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her yet without sin." Now, the phrase that you need to focus on in that answer is the opening phrase, Christ the Son of God became man by taking into himself, taking onto himself a true body, a true body. The humanity that Jesus Christ took into union, that he took into union with his deity was a real humanity. This is what the West Ministers mean when they speak of him taking to himself a true body. It was a real humanity. We are reminded of that in Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2 in the verse 16 and 17 where we read these words, the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. When the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, stepped into history, he did not come as an illusion. He did not come as a phantom. He did not come as a ghost. He came into the world in full possession of a real humanity, a true humanity that was made of material substance like our humanity is. He had eyes, he had feet, he had bones, he had skin, he had muscles, just like any other human being. Hebrews 10 verse 5, wherefore when he cometh into the world, he said, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared for me. This body was like our body with the distinction that it was without sin. It was a body that experienced thirst and hunger, a body that grew tired that would make him sit on a well or place his head upon a pillow at the hinder side, part off a ship whilst the storm was raging around him. This is a true man. A real man, we're trying to say. The one that's standing before Pilate is not some type of phantom or ghost, but rather this is a true man with flesh, that would suffer in the flesh. Now you may ask, well, why is this an important point to emphasize? Why is it important that Jesus Christ came into the world with a true body? Well, if you want to turn, please turn not too many places today. 1 Peter, and to chapter 4, and you'll find the reason there. 1 Peter, chapter 4, the verse number 1. For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that has suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. Pays the emphasis there, Peter in verse one, chapter four, for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, the flesh. This is the primary reason why the Son of God became a true man so that he might suffer that he might die for us. And such suffering, such suffering could only take place in one who possessed a human nature. Brethren and sisters, God had to intervene. God had to step into human history in order to provide a mediator of the new covenant and in order to become the reconciler, the one that would reconcile sinners on to God. And a mediator in the truest of senses must be related to both parties, to the offending party and to the offended party. therefore by becoming a true man the Lord Jesus Christ could become then man's representative and by his death he then could reconcile man to God. Matthew Henry wrote, no higher nor lower nature than man's that had sinned could so suffer for the sin of man as to satisfy the justice of God and raise man up to a state of hope. He became a a man he suffered in the flesh. That death that he would die required him to take such a body unto himself. Becoming a man, brethren and sisters, a true man, the Son of God would then face every temptation that we face in this world. Though he never succumbed to the temptation, yet he was tempted in all points such as we are. Hebrews 4 verse 15, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. And thus he can identify with us in our temptations and in our trials. For the man Christ Jesus suffered all of the ills of life when he was here on earth. He hungered. He thirsted. He experienced cold and poverty. Yes, and he experienced reproach and buffeting and all of the infirmities of man. And therefore, his compassionate heart is touched by our sorrows. He feels deeply, and He deeply sympathizes with all of our distresses. William Bacon Stevens put it like this, how cheering it is to the Christian, bowed beneath some burdensome sorrow, to know that he has the compassion and sympathy of his Savior. His Savior, He is a true man, a real man. one who experiences what we have experienced, sorrow, abandonment, being forsaken by others, disappointment, I'm sure, weariness, tiredness of the body, and therefore, brethren and sisters, we can confide in Him. We can trust in Him, He who has taken on flesh, who took on flesh. He knows the stresses and the strains that we go through in this 21st century. He knows our infirmities. He's aware of our needs. He's touched with the feelings of our own hearts. He knows our sorrows. He feels for us in our bereavements. He sympathizes with us in our adversities because He is the true man. The real man, behold the true man. In the second place, as we behold the man, Christ Jesus, I want you to behold the divine man, the divine man. Only one who was divine could have performed the miracles that Jesus Christ performed when He was here on earth. Jesus Christ of Nazareth raised the dead and healed the leper and caused the blind to see. When he enabled the dumb to speak, when he walked in the water, when he fed thousands with a mere handful of loaves and fishes, when he forgave sinners their sins and raised himself from the dead, he was demonstrating to all who would witness such miracles that he was God. He was God, not that He was like God, but that He was God. In Mark chapter 2, we read about the man who was sick of the palsy. The Lord Jesus Christ, before ever healing the body, would say to that man, son, my sins are forgiven me. That caused great consternation among the scribes who were present in the house that day. They thought, well, who can forgive sins but God only? And Christ, being omniscient and being God, read their very thoughts. And so he turns to them and says, is it easier for me to say to this man, arise, take up thy bed, and walk, or is it easier for me to forgive sins? But I will prove, and I paraphrase, I will prove that I have power to forgive sins as I will tell this man to arise, take up thy bed, and walk. What power, what power to forgive sins. He was simply demonstrating that he was God. You see, those individuals who witnessed such things would come to understand that this is a unique man. This is not like any man who has ever come out of history or will ever come out of history. This one is a divine man. God is not only with him, as Nicodemus said in John chapter 3. He was almost there, but not fully there. No man can do these miracles except God be with him. Ah, but he was more than simply a man whom God was with. He was God. He was God and man, the God-man. You see, to be simply a man was not enough. God or Jesus Christ had to be both God and man to reconcile God to man and man to God by the sacrifice of Himself, to be a finite man. would not be sufficient, and thus being God, His sacrifice was going to be sufficient to put away sin. A divine person of infinite worth can save a people from their sin. One preacher put it like this, if Jesus were man only, His satisfaction could not be sufficient for God. If God only, it would not be sufficient for man. And therefore, to be capable of suffering for men and able to satisfy God, he must both be God and man. And yet he is no ordinary man. Oh yes, he's a true man. He's a real man. But there's something about him. He is a divine man. He is the God man. He who was God becomes a man. yet never ceases to be God whilst being a man. Oh, no wonder Paul said, great is the mystery of godliness. Jesus Christ is truly God and He is truly man. Why the need for the mediator to be God? Well, our larger catechism gives us the answer. It was requisite or necessary. that the mediators should be gods that He might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God. You think of it, no mere man could have endured what Christ endured upon the tree. No, his human nature is upheld, undergirded by the divine nature. The divine nature will not sink beneath the load of sin that is placed upon the soul and the body of Jesus Christ as the Father bruises him. Any other individual, their life would have left them They would not have been able to endure the sufferings. This is the miracle of the cross, the divine nature upholding the human nature, so that Christ exhausts, He exhausts sin for night wrath against sin for us. Catechism goes on to say, yes, to do that, but also to give worth and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience and intercession. He had to be God to satisfy God's justice, procure his favor, to purchase a peculiar people, to give his spirit to them, to conquer all their enemies and to bring them to everlasting salvation. Eight things the larger catechism identifies. Why the mediator had to be God, not just a man. but to be the God-man. Oh, what a Savior we have in this man. What a Redeemer we have in this man. What a mediator we have in this man. What an advocate we have in this man, in the man Christ Jesus. The God-man offered himself as a sacrifice for sin. What did the hymn writer say? Oh, love divine, what hast thou done? The immortal God has died for me. The Father's co-eternal Son bore all my sins upon the tree. The immortal God has died for me, my Lord, my God. My love is crucified." Behold the divine man. There is another thought that jumps out off or spins off from this thought that he is a divine man and that is that he is the perfect man, the perfect man. Now you ladies know that there's no perfect man. And you men know that you're not the perfect man. I have a little mug at home that my wife, on a fit of sarcasm, decided to buy me. It's called Mr. Perfect from the Mr. Man series. Well, she lived with me for about a day and understood maybe she had made the wrong purchase. There's no perfect man, no perfect man, apart from this man. In Psalm 37, in the verse 37, we read these words, Mark, the perfect man. Who is that? Who is that? It's Christ. It's Christ. There is no one that can lay claim to this title to be the perfect man, but the man Christ Jesus. We've already noted in the message the Son of God assumed a real human nature. However, that nature was not fallible. That nature was not peccable. It wasn't mortal, that nature. Rather, it was a sinless, it was an impeccable, it was an immortal, nature. Because of his unique birth, the Son of God was born into this world without sin. His birth by the Virgin, with no human father involved, meant that Christ was preserved from inheriting original sin. Being truly God while at the same time being truly man, the Savior did not sin. He could not sin. He couldn't sin. So the Lord Jesus Christ in every way was the perfect man. He was the perfect child. He was the perfect teenager, adolescent. He was the perfect young man. He was perfect in all that He did, in the way He behaved, and what He said, and how He conducted Himself, and how He thought, and the secret thoughts of His mind. Everything about this man, this man, Christ Jesus, was perfect. It was perfection to the infinite degree. He is the perfect man. Frederick William Robinson, he was a 19th century English preacher and he said the following about the Lord Jesus Christ, once, think of this, once in the world's history was born a man, once in the rule of ages out of innumerable failures from the stock of human nature, one bud developed itself into a faultless flower. One perfect specimen of humanity has God exhibited on earth, and it is in Jesus Christ that perfect specimen is found. After 33 years of living on this earth, He comes to the end of his earthly journey. And we find that having been examined by this man Pilate, he declares that I find no fault in this man. One of the thieves who hung beside him would say that we indeed justly, for we receive the due rewards of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. The Roman centurion would say, certainly this was a righteous, the word is innocent, faultless, Surely, certainly this was a righteous man to have lived anything less than a perfect life would have caused his work for us on the cross to be unacceptable and unsatisfactory to God. You know well that an imperfect Savior is no Savior at all. It thus requires a sinlessly perfect Savior to save a sinful people, and such is found in the man Christ Jesus. The hymn writer penned it well. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied to look on him Then to pardon me, behold the perfect man. Go a little further, brethren and sisters, and I want you today to behold the suffering man, the suffering man. Though the sufferings of our Savior commenced when he was born in this world, born in lowly estate, And while His sufferings continued throughout His earthly pilgrimage, the Son of God's sufferings climaxed when He came to die for sin upon the cross of Calvary. That death involved tremendous suffering. Hebrews 2 verse 9 speaks of that suffering. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angel, speaking of Him becoming a For the men were made lower than the angels. The psalmist tells us of that. And why was he made a little lower than the angels? For this purpose, for the suffering of death. For the suffering of death, not just death, but for the very suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. We read in Hebrews chapter 13 that Christ suffered without the gate. He suffered. The man who stands before Pilate will soon suffer. and all the depths of suffering that Christ would endure upon the tree. We think of His physical sufferings, the brutality, the death that He suffered by crucifixion. Upon His head there now rests this crown of thorns, having been beaten into His brow by wicked and sinful men. Yes, His hands will be driven through with nails. His back is going to be lacerated as if it resembles a ploughed field. His face becomes It becomes a human punch bag for the Jewish Sanhedrin and the target for their flame. And then he's kneeled to the tree, a spear is driven into his side, and his heart is ruptured by the very piercing of that spear. Ah, but then those sufferings are compounded by the sufferings of soul. Beginning in Gethsemane's garden, he would say, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even on to death. And therefore he goes with soul suffering to the tree. Sufferings much greater than his physical sufferings. He suffers the forsaking of his father. He suffers the full wrath of God against sin. He suffers becoming a curse for us. And why did he suffer? Why did he suffer? Daniel tells us. Daniel 9, 26, and after threescore and two weeks, shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself. Now, if the Messiah was not cut off for himself, then we have to but only conclude that he was cut off for the sake of others. And that is verified in Scripture, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, for he hath made him to be a curse for us, for us. who knew no sin. Galatians 3, 13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us, for us, for you, for me. As sinners, we are condemned to shame and everlasting contempt, but He hid not His face from shame and spitting. We are condemned to die under the curse, but He died the accursed death for us upon the cross. His vicarious sufferings, thank God, have paid for my sins, and all who believe on Him are delivered from their sin, because He is the suffering man. I wonder, sinner, are you aware today that Christ suffered for you? If so, then why continue on the road of sin and play fast and loose with that soul of yours? Why not this day come to trust in the one who died for sin upon the tree? I tell you, look to the suffering man, bow the knee, accept what he has done for you, rest your soul upon his finished work today. And child of God, child of God, as you behold the sufferings of the Son of Man, may you come to love him again as you once did. as you once did, as you remembered him when you fell in love with him, the first time, oh, that you would fall in love with the God-man again, the one who suffered and bled and died for you upon the cross of Calvary. And may you remember his sufferings in a few moments around this table. Behold the man. We've beheld today the true man, we've beheld the divine man, we've beheld the perfect man, we've beheld the suffering man. Let me conclude on a note of victory and triumph, and let's today behold the risen, the reigning, and the returning man. The risen, the reigning, and the returning man. Paul gave a synopsis of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3 and 4. where Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. On the third day, Jesus Christ, having been placed in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, on the third day before dawn broke, Jesus Christ is raised from the dead. And he came forth out of that tomb in his true humanity, in a true humanity. We know that because in John chapter 20 and the verse 27, we find the resurrected Christ inviting Thomas to touch and to handle his very body. Spirit does not have flesh and bones. He was proving to Thomas and to the disciples that this is still a true humanity. What did Christ do in the upper room? He ate. He ate a piece of broiled fish and also a piece of honeycomb, again proving to those that His body was a true body. Though he went through the sufferings of death and though he was buried, he comes out of the grave in the body, in the body that he was crucified in. This now glorious body, this resurrected body, yet this body that still bears the marks of Calvary. The Westminster Confession of Faith in the chapter concerning Christ the Mediator makes this statement, on the third day he rose from the dead with the same body in which he suffered, with which also he ascended into heaven and there sitteth at the right hand of the Father making intercession and shall return to judge men and angels at the end of the world, the same body. Christ not only was raised from the dead, but he returned to heaven in that very body to take his rightful station, the Father's right hand, to be seated there in order that he might rule and reign from that exalted position. Hebrews 10 verse 12 tells us about this man, this man. after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. And this is why in the book of Psalm, Psalm 24, that the gates lift up their heads. They see a man coming, a man coming in the God-man fresh from the fight of Calvary, and they're astonished. He comes and he takes his position at the Father's right hand. Who is this King of glory? Who is it? Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. This is a man who has the right, who has the authority to be seated at the Father's right hand. What a sight! See the sight victorious. See the sight, child of God, as Christ ascends to the throne and He's reigning today. He's reigning today. He's ruling over all of our affairs, your affairs, my affairs. He's ruling in all of these things. Yes, and He's not only ruling, but He's going to return. He's going to come to this world to judge the world. righteousness what did the two angels say to the disciples as they gazed up into heaven as the son of god returned to heaven and back to his father's right hand acts 11 verse acts 1 verse 11 ye men of galilee why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven, this same Jesus. The very nature that he left earth with is a nature that he will return. He will come in bodily form. He will burst the eastern skies. The Son of God is coming personally. He's coming visibly. He's coming gloriously. And we will see Him if we do not come with Him. Are you ready for His coming? For coming He is. Are you ready for His coming? Coming to gather His loved ones home and coming to judge those who know not God and those who have not obeyed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 17 verse 31 reminds us that God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. By that man. Make sure you savingly know that man before you're going from this world. for His coming to this world takes place. Behold the man, the true man, the divine man, the perfect man, the suffering man, the risen man, the reigning man, the returning man. Do you know the man? The man Christ Jesus. Oh, may you come to know him today, and may you behold him. May you behold the man. What a man he is. What a man he is. May God bless his word to our hearts for Christ's sake. Let's bow our heads in prayer, please. Let's pray. Our loving Father, He blessed thee for the man, the man at thy right hand. He praised thee for one who suffered for us in the flesh and took to himself our humanity. And thou hast raised that humanity to a place that even Adam's humanity was not taken to, a place where the humanity cannot never feel, never fall. We shall be made like unto him, like unto his glorious body. What a day that will be. We will never fall from sin, because of sin. Oh, we thank thee for the man at thy right hand. May all today who know not Him, may they come to trust Him. May they come to believe on Him, the saving of their souls. Answer prayer and bless us soon as we meet around the table. We offer prayer in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen and amen. Let's turn in our hymn books, please, to the hymn 657. 657, and as we sing this hymn, if you wish to leave, you may do so. Please do that as safely as you can. And we're singing three verses, the odd verses, one, three, and five. We remain seated while those remaining will stay for the communion service. 657, verses one, three, and five. Remain seated, please.