Behold

Behold- Draw your attention to something

Over 1500 instances of this word in the OT and NT and its always used to focus the attention of the hearer

Genesis 1:29 KJV 1900

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

1 Samuel 9:17 KJV 1900

17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.

Revelation 22:12 KJV 1900

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

But Before we read the Scripture lets take a look at the Crucifixion and who was there that day.

It is believed that The Greeks were the first to use crucifixion but that the Romans perfected it.

Lets talk a little about Crucifixion

The Romans soldiers developed crucifixion as a punishment to maximize pain and suffering. It wasn’t about killing somebody — it was about killing somebody in a really horrible way.

There were many ways in the process to attach someone to a cross and things associated with crucifixion that you may not know.

1. They didn’t always carry their cross to the place of crucifixion but it was clear that not only did Jesus but also the two thieves that hung on His left and on His right.

2. Not every criminal was beaten as Jesus was. Many would be on the cross for 2-3 days before they died.

3. Three nails were used, two for the hands and a longer one for the feet.

4. A small piece of wood was placed where the victim could push up to get some air.

5. They would have been tied to the cross, lifted into place and then the nails inserted.

6. The cross rail was most likely what Jesus carried from the city to Calvary.

7. Most victims in the Roman world were crucified naked but those near Jerusalem had a loin cloth.

8. Also those crucified near Jerusalem were not left on the cross past Sundown on Friday evening. This was not permitted due to the Sabbath.

9. To hasten death the victim's would have their legs broken which caused them to suffocate.

10. Tradition says there was a Jewish group that brought a drink that had certain ingredients that numbed the body

Crucifixion was cruel and was meant to inflict the most possible pain to its victims and was reserved mainly for enemies of the state. It’s recorded in one particular year 3000 Jews were crucified and in a battle around 72 AD around 6000 were crucified.

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So from this we see Jesus on the cross and John 19:25-27 tells us what happens next.

John 19:25 NKJV

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Lets identify who was at the cross

The Three Mary’s

Jesus Mother

Mary’s sister, Mary who was the wife of Clopas

Mary Magdalene

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John (The beloved servant)

Other Scripture tells us of three others

The Mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matt 27:56)

Salome (Mark 15:40-41)

The Mother of James and Joses (Matt 27:56)

John 19:26–27 NKJV

26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

Lets look at the four occurrences of that word Behold

A. Behold the Man (vs 5)

At this moment on good Friday Jesus was making His final appearance before Pilate.

Pilate had attempted, any way possible, to not be involved in this decision.

Pilate’s own wife had told Him to avoid anything to do with Jesus.

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There were several declarations made by this statement.

1. That Pilate had punished Him enough physically. He had been beaten

2. That He had been humiliated (His crown of thorns)

3. That Pilate was taking to denouncing himself Jesus claim to Deity.

B. Behold the King (vs 14)

Look at this moment

1. Pilate is backed into a corner

John 19:12 NIV

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

2. Pilate takes his place as the judge (Praetorium)

He sat him before the judgement seat. (Bema)

3. He takes one last swipe at shaming the Jews for such a unsubstantiated claim.

4. They denied their Eternal King.

John 19:15 NKJV

15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

The chief priests were Sadducees, who had no Messianic hope like that of the Pharisees.

So to carry their point against Jesus they renounce the principle of the theocracy that God was their King and say the only King they have is an earthly one.

The next two are within our text for today and speak to Jesus the Man. His Humanity… His love for humanity.

Matthew 16:13 NKJV

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

C. Behold your son, Behold your mother.

This isn’t Jesus implying that John, and by association all humanity, is the child or children of Mary.

This isn’t Jesus implying that that Mary is the mother of all creation.

Luke 1:28 NKJV

28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

Mary experienced God’s undeserved, unmerited grace in a special way. This does not change who Mary is or give her a status beyond other people.

Many people in the Scripture experienced this special Blessing.

Abraham

Moses

David

So what can we learn from this passage???

1. That Jesus loved His family (always even though they didn’t always understand Him.

Jesus had felt the hurt of misunderstanding from his family --  even his mother. It's apparent that during part of his ministry, at least, his family didn't understand him.

At the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), Mary pushed Jesus to change the water into wine, even though he tells her, "My time has not yet come."

His family thought, "He is out of his mind," and went to take charge of him (Mark 3:21, 31-35) --  his brothers apparently along with Mary.

"Even his own brothers did not believe in him." (John 7:5)

2. That Jesus was going to care for His mother even from the cross

It would have been his brothers responsibility to care but we know fairly certainly that they had abandoned and relationship with Jesus and seeing Mary is with Jesus they may have returned to Galilee.

But instead he ask the beloved disciple to care for His mother.

We really don’t know but highly suspect that the beloved is John .

But known of that changes what Jesus did and that was to show His love

In coming from Heaven He loved us

In living a perfect life He love us

In being tortured and beaten He loved us

On the cross He loved the thief

Now as one final act He loved!