John 19:13-16

¹³When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. ¹⁵But they shouted, "Take Him away! Take Him away! Crucify Him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. ¹⁶Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified.

Pilate’s mental torment reached the boiling point long ago in this encounter with Jesus and the Jews. He must have been stressed beyond measure. We’d like to think that we would have done the right thing had we been in Pilate’s shoes, but the reality is that we have been in similar circumstance and failed just the same. Can you think of an example where you had to choose to let your light shine before men or choose to keep your light hidden under a bushel? Lord, forgive us, like your servant Peter, for the countless times that we’ve failed You. We do love You, and we want to show it. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We are so glad to be called Your children, for we know that You – the faithful One – will never abandon us.

When John details the location of Pilate’s sentencing of Jesus, he does so for an illustrative purpose. “Gabbatha” meant “the lofty place,” and of course, it is fitting that innocent Jesus would be condemned to die from on high. For on the last day, He will come from the lofty place not to condemn but to acquit us, the guilty ones who deserve what He suffered on our behalf. Isn’t the unity of Scripture amazing! The portraits are so vibrant (Hebrews 4:12). Next in v14-15, we are once again reminded of how the wicked actions of men, unintentionally to them, are used by God to display His own plan. When the Jews shout that Caesar is their only king, they show their disdain for God. And Pilate, with a sarcasm designed to display the hypocrisy of the Jews who claimed that Jesus should be crucified because Caesar was their only king, cries out to them, “Here is your king!” In Pilate’s ironic rebuke of the Jews, God the Father proclaims to all those watching that this Man, whom they are crucifying, is indeed their King and Lord.

The gospel writers appear to differ, and even contradict each other, in the computation of time. The synoptic gospels say that the darkness came on about the sixth hour, while Christ was hanging on the cross (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). Mark 15:25 says that it was the third hour when the sentence was pronounced on Jesus. But this may be explained like this: The day was at that time divided into four parts, as the night also contained four watches; in consequence of which, the authors sometimes allot not more than four hours to each day, and extend each hour to three, and, at the same time, reckon the space of an hour, which was drawing to a close, as belonging to the next part. According to this calculation, John relates that Christ was condemned about the sixth hour, because the time of the day was drawing towards the sixth hour, or towards the second part of the day. Hence we infer that Christ was crucified at or about the sixth hour; for, as John mentions v20, the place was near to the city. The darkness began between the sixth and ninth hour, and lasted till the ninth hour, at which time Jesus died.

We see from this passage that Jesus is despised by the world – just as prophesied. And we were once part of that “world” that despised Jesus. Maybe we didn’t do anything violent, like scourging another man, but the reality is that we did it – because we’ve done it in our heart. We’ve hated. And by evidence of our sin, we’ve hated Jesus. We’re the ones responsible for His suffering and painful death. But amazingly, this was all according to God’s eternal plan. And Jesus fulfilled that plan and purpose of God to perfection. Pilate reveals Jesus’ identity twice: v5, “Here is the Man,” and v14, “Here is your King.” And finally, the Man, our King, is pronounced repeatedly, “Not guilty!” Yet He is ultimately condemned and crucified on the basis of two charges: treason and blasphemy. What’s the significance? It’s that these are precisely the charges that are leveled by God against you and me. Treason – because we have refused to have Him as King; and blasphemy – because we have made ourselves to be God. It’s what Martin Luther called the great exchange: the innocent for guilty.