The Humility that Astounds Us

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid (John 19: 1-8).

Although he found “no guilt in Him” Pilate had Jesus flogged and presented to the clamoring crowd. He hoped they would be appeased at the undeserved punishment so he could set Jesus free and be done with this troublesome matter. But something about the severely beaten man with the bloody “crown of thorns” dressed in a blood spattered “purple robe” incited the unruly crowd to even higher levels of anger, and they intensified their demand to “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”. Pilate’s heart was pierced by the accusation of the leaders of the Jews, that Jesus “Made Himself the Son of God”. We, like the angels in Heaven look on in amazement as the Son of Man is abused and molested by men and our Teacher, the Holy Spirit reveals to us the humility that astounds us.

Understanding and practicing humility clearly defines us as true disciples and not mere Christ followers. In today’s reflection on Jesus’ mistreatment by Pilate, we note the large crowd of Christ followers. They all were following Him to the cross, though the overwhelming majority of them were His enemies, in the crowd to accuse Him and speed His journey toward an early death. There were some true disciples in the crowd. Among them was John the Evangelist, used by the Holy Spirit to record these events. Here Christ continued His strategy of confronting the crowd of followers with truth in order to prompt followers to step away from the crowd, embrace the truth revealed by the Living Word, and become His disciples. Every time we read God’s word we are confronted by His truth and invited by His Spirit to mature from Christ follower into disciple… “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

In today’s text, the crowd is confronted by an astounding illustration of humility. The bloody crown of thorns on Christ’s head echoed the truth He taught about servant leadership… “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). The purple robe covering the abused body of Christ illustrated the truth Jesus taught about true authority being submitted to the purpose and will of God… “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17-18).

The crowd of followers was confronted by a bloody crown of thorns and a purple robe. Pilate was confronted by the crowd-inciting accusation of the Jewish leaders… “He has made himself the Son of God”. This was not a totally strange declaration to Pilate. As a Roman governor he was aware of the rich tradition of his culture that maintained a history of myths and fables of human beings born of gods. But this Man was different. He was not the typical arrogant, prideful son of a god. Jesus was humble to the point of silence… “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). The encounter with this humble King greatly troubled Pilate’s heart.

As we grow up into Christ we should become more like Him, reflecting to others…

The Humility that Astounds Us.