John 19:4-6

The soldiers mockingly arrayed our Lord, cladding Him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe and parading Him in front of a taunting, blood–thirsty crowd. Surely Jesus suffered many indignities and much scorn at the hands of these arrogant Romans. Though Jesus was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor – mocked, beaten, falsely accused and crucified so that through His poverty we might be richly benefitted. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians:

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Cor 8:8-9 (NIV)

It easy to get caught up in the sin of mocking particularly when we believe we are far above what is being mocked. Folly is loud and undisciplined as well as lacking of judgment and knowledge. People fall into this trap by continuously seeking to feel better about their lot and by falsely believing they are above someone else. This is done in a myriad of ways – mocking, snobbery, shunning, etc. We would do well to remember that while salvation is exclusively through faith in Jesus all are included in the call. Not only that, what do we have that we did not receive and if we did receive, what right have we to boast? Proverbs tells us:

12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer." Prov 9:12 (NIV)

"People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher or better than themselves." Tryon Edwards

Yet Pilate calls out to the angry mob -"Here is the man!" Instead of looking at His high standard they were consumed at gawking at His presumed low station. We would all do well to gaze upon Him with correct vision. Look upon His humiliation, look how He suffered for us. Gaze upon His wounds that brought us healing. Look upon Him who suffered and died in our place so that we might take hold of the life that is truly life.

Pilate once again states he finds no basis for charge against Christ considering Him only a weak and harmless fanatic who made no claim to an earthly kingdom - only a heavenly one. Seemingly in Pilate’s eyes Jesus was a poor contemptible person worthy of scorn but not death. Pilate hoped that upon seeing Jesus’ miserable condition the Jews would be content to allow Him to be set free. Yet his scheme for avoiding the condemnation of the Lord Jesus went awry. The sight of the bleeding and despised Prisoner had no such effect on His cruel enemies. They were content with only His death as demonstrated by their fierce and continuous cry: "Crucify! Crucify!" Surely, mobs can be stirred to an extraordinary degree of blood-thirstiness as shown in our verses for today.

Pilate’s interview with the Lord Jesus had satisfied him – he had found no fault in Him – no basis for a charge against Him. Interestingly, Pilate states this three times in John – twice in our verses for today and once in the verse below:

38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him. John 18:38 (NIV)

Convinced of our Lord’s innocence and even warned by his wife to have nothing to do regarding this Man, Pilate does not release Him but weakly chooses to succumb to the angry mob’s wishes and shuns the hard right embracing the easy wrong. Sadly for him, he had not the courage to act according to his conscience. Matthew’s gospel gives us the following insight expanding our depth of knowledge on this subject:

19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." Matt 27:19 (NIV)