John 19:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Had anything of this sort perhaps been found in Christ the Savior, it would have subjected Him to just condemnation and made Him liable to Satan’s accusations. Therefore, as in Adam alone Satan conquered the whole nature of man, making it a bearer of sin, so now he himself is conquered by that same nature.

For the Savior was man, although God by nature, and He had no sin. As condemnation through the transgression of the one first man came upon all, so in exactly the same way the blessing through the justification of Christ, the one Second Man, extends to all.

Paul bears witness to this when he says, “As through one man it came upon all men unto condemnation, so through One it came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom 5:18). Thus through the first Adam we fell under disobedience and the curse because of him. Through the Second we were enriched with obedience and blessing because of Him.

This is because the Lord of the law, as God, became with us a keeper of the law as man. Therefore we find Him saying to us, “He who loves Me will keep My commandments, as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (Jn 14:23; 15:10).

See how, as Lawgiver and God, He commands us to keep His commandments. Yet as one who keeps the law together with us, He affirms that He Himself has kept the commandment of His Father.

Comfort Him with sighing, the shedding of tears, humble beating of the breast, tender inward sympathy, sincere contrition for sins, and such persuasion toward holy repentance as you are able.

Pilate shows Him to the people like some wonder, unseen before. He is so tortured, blood-drenched, wounded to the very bones by deep wounds, and without "form or beauty" because of inhuman torment (Is 53:2).

Pilate says, "Behold, the Man!" The Romans had a feast on which they displayed portraits of their ancestors.

Bringing their children to them, they showed them and said: this is your ancestor, who remains in people's memory to this day as glorious for his virtues.

This is your forefather, wise and prudent in words, graceful in deeds. This is your friend, worthy of remembrance and praise from his disciples.

The Roman Pilate does the same in Jerusalem. From a high place he shows the people, as it were, a portrait painted in blood, the wounded Christ the Savior, saying, "Behold, the Man!"

Behold your King. Do not envy Him His kingdom, for instead of royal chambers a tomb has been prepared for Him, and instead of royal insignia, the signs of burial.

Behold your Forefather, listener, so renowned. Be zealous for Him and follow His good works. "He left us an example, that we should follow in His steps" (1 Pet 2:21).

When the clothing of the Roman Caesar Gallius, bloodied and pierced with swords, was displayed in the Roman forum, there was great weeping, cries, and sobbing throughout Rome.

Behold the Man, whose Body is like a net riddled with wounds and floating in blood. Why then has your heart turned to stone, O man?

Why do you not grieve and weep as you behold so pitiful a sight? "Behold, the Man!"

Behold Him, the joy of Angels, the wonder of Cherubim, the dread vision of Seraphim, made into an instrument of fearful disgrace. "Behold, the Man!"

God the Father, "with rebukes for iniquities You instructed man, and You crushed His soul like a spider's web" (Ps 38:12). "Behold, the Man!"

"How long will you assault a man? You all kill him, like a leaning wall and a fallen fence" (Ps 61:4). "Behold, the Man!"

"A man was born in Him, and the Most High Himself established Him" (Ps 86:5). "Behold, the Man," who, while restoring the human image, destroyed His own.

"Behold, the Man!" You prayed, O man, "I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred" (Jn 5:7).

Behold, you have God and Man, who heals us in the pool of His Blood. "Behold, the Man! Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29).

"Behold, the Man," and a good Man, as He says to the apostle: "He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38).

And He Himself proclaimed, "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see" (Lk 10:23). Abraham would have rejoiced to see My day (Jn 8:56).

But the accursed assembly cries out, We cannot see Him. Away, away, crucify Him (Jn 19:15).

"Behold, the Man!" "A worm, and not a man; the reproach of men and the outcast of the people" (Ps 21:7).

He pleads with Job: "Have pity on Me, have pity on Me, O friends!"

When Pilate saw Jesus, he must have been horrified. “The hard-hearted soldiers have been far too zealous! But what is to be done now?” Pilate thought. “Should I not show Jesus in this condition to His embittered enemies? Surely their malice will be sated by such torture and mockery. Surely even after this they will not regard Him as dangerous and deserving of death. No, their hearts too will tremble, and they will surely be satisfied with this undeserved punishment of the Righteous One.”

So reasoned a pagan who did not know the true God and did not know the commandment given to the Jews to love one’s neighbor as oneself. But, alas, the servants of Jehovah, who were impatiently awaiting Pilate’s appearance, did not reason so.

At last Pilate came out and said, “Behold, I bring Him out to you, that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”

Leaving the Lithostrotos, Pilate entered the praetorium to the soldiers, to see how his command had been carried out. Alas, it had been carried out with too much zeal. It had been carried out, in all likelihood, in a way the Roman, who was not indifferent to the Prisoner’s condition, did not expect.

The sight of the Prisoner’s pitiful state, the inhumanity shown toward Him, and the meek divine appearance of the Sufferer convinced the procurator still more that, if some punishment was unavoidable for the Accused because of the circumstances, He had already been punished far too much.

But how could he save Him? Should he show Him to the people in this very condition? “Surely,” Pilate thought, “even this pitiful sight will touch His enemies, especially those Jews who have no personal hatred for Him.”

With these thoughts the procurator leaves the praetorium, ordering Jesus to follow him. “Behold,” he said to the people, “I bring Him out to you, that you may know again that I find no guilt in Him.”

Surely he was filled with still greater reverence and fear toward Him when he had the opportunity to learn personally from his wife Claudia the cause of the disturbing perplexities she had felt concerning the “Righteous One.” Therefore he had a stronger desire than ever to defend innocence being trampled underfoot.

But how was he to defend it? On the ground of formal trial, the case was in essence already lost. According to the order of Roman criminal procedure, the scourging and mockery themselves were a sign that the accused was acknowledged guilty and had entered the threshold of the punishments he deserved.

Blessed Jerome, in his explanation of Matthew chapter 27, says: “It is known that Pilate acted in accordance with Roman laws, which prescribed that a man condemned to crucifixion should first be beaten with scourges, prius flagellis verberetur.” This was how both the legionaries and the Jewish assembly understood it.

Pilate tried in vain to give this act another, as it were, expiatory meaning. Yet having lost the case on legal ground, he still did not lose hope of saving the Prisoner whom he believed innocent.

Having recovered from his agitation, he again went out onto Gabbatha and, gathering all his courage, repeated his acquitting sentence: “Behold,” he said, “I bring Him out to you, that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”

The crowd, of course, did not expect such a declaration and had not yet recovered from its bewilderment when Jesus “came out of the praetorium wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.” He was torn and wounded. Blood flowed from His brow down His face.

Yet the same majestic calm shone in those wondrously kind and all-forgiving eyes. A victorious royalty was evident in His whole figure and in His movements. Even a heart of stone should have softened at the sight of this humiliated and trampled royalty of an innocent suffering man.

Pilate, taking advantage of the favorable moment and appealing to simple human compassion, exclaimed, “Behold the Man!” Think, for He too is a man. Does He not deserve simple human compassion?

He says that he finds in Him no guilt worthy of being delivered to death, and therefore wants to release Him. But he met such resistance from the accusers that he lost command of himself and sentenced to death the innocent One, by his own confession.

“No guilt” means no guilt of such a kind as would subject Him to death. Pilate punished the Lord partly to satisfy the accusers, and partly because perhaps he considered one who called himself King deserving of punishment. He considered this sufficient, however, to release the Lord afterward.

With this in view, while bringing the Lord out before the accusers, he declares directly and decisively that he finds no guilt in Him. This is the force of the words, “so that you may know.”