Sermon - Good Friday 2024

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Ecce Homo, Caravaggio, 1605


Behold your King!

  1. His kingdom is not of this world

  2. His glory is His crucifixion

  3. He rules by bearing witness to the truth

Out stepped Jesus, wearing a crown of twisted thorns and a purple robe, while soldiers spit on Him, hit Him, and mockingly paid homage to Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” Pilate brought Him before the people, declaring: “Behold your King!” Stripping Him naked He was nailed to the cross, and above His head a sign was posted: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Soon the veils will be removed from the crosses here, and we too will gaze upon the cross. The words of Pilate ring out into our ears: “Behold your King!”

Christ is King! This notion brought great anger to the crowd of Jews. “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes Himself a king opposes Caesar.” They went so far as to confess: “We have no king but Caesar.” For them the only kingdom they wanted was an earthly kingdom. They wanted the riches and prestige of the Greeks and Romans, if they could get it. If they couldn’t get that, then they wanted insurrection and a different worldly king. Either way the only kingdom they wanted was one found on earth.

Yet this was explicitly the type of kingdom Jesus wasn’t going to deliver. Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” It is true, Christ is King, but He is not a worldly king. He certainly has power upon the earth, since He created it and sustains it, nevertheless His kingdom isn’t temporary and worldly.

Since His kingdom is not worldly, King Jesus’ goals are also not worldly. Rather, His goal is to rule us as our King so that He may lead us from this temporary world to His heavenly and eternal kingdom. The way to His kingdom goes through the cross. The glory of Jesus is His crucifixion, because there on the cross His power over sin and death are made manifest. The glory of kings is not their crown and their robe, like the soldiers mistakenly assume in their mockery. Instead, the glory of kings is in their leadership at war.

Kings go out to battle with their armies, they fight alongside their men and lead them into and out of the darkest valleys so that they might win the war. It was shameful and embarrassing when king David stayed in his palace while his soldiers were at war. But Jesus does not sit in a luxurious palace while His soldiers are fighting, instead He is at the front of His troops and plunges Himself into the heart of the battle. The war Jesus fought was against Satan, sin, and death, and the heart of the battle was located on Golgotha. So there it is that King Jesus fought, and His victory over evil was only accomplished through His miserable suffering and death. There on the bloody cross is our King in all of His glory!

As our King He rules, not with worldly power and glory like worldly kings, but with truth. “Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Jesus came to rule over the power of the Deceiver, the Devil, by bearing witness to the truth. Perhaps like Pilate you wonder: “What is truth?” But don’t be blind and deaf like Pilate, since Pilate himself showed you the truth: “Behold your King!”

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, through whom alone we go to the Father. Jesus’ voice is the voice of truth, which cried out from the cross: “It is finished.” The sacrifice is complete, the offering has been rendered and accepted, and the promised Savior has fulfilled His great work of your redemption. All is forgiven and salvation is yours through King Jesus. That is the truth which your King speaks and with that truth He reigns supreme. Christ is King! Behold your King!

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