The Crowns of Christ

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Crowns of Christ. He will be in John 19:1-13

And though you and I might not like our leaders and we may be frustrated with them, we recognize that it is God who has all authority and that in his sovereignty and wisdom, he sets up all the leaders in the world.

Are you ready for Hope Worth Having today? Today, we are going to be in the Gospel of John chapter 19 and we’re beginning a new study on the crowns of Christ. And as we look at the crowns of Christ, we are reminded that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.

And we are watching him as we walk through the Gospel of John together, he face these unjust trials as they try to convict him. But he is the sinless Son of God and he is the one who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord.

I want you to join me as we begin this study on the crowns of Christ. If you have your Bible, I want you to join me in the Gospel of John in chapter 19, verses 1 through 15 is our text. But our main verse is verse 5 in which the Scripture says, then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate saith unto him, behold the man.

This morning, I want to talk to you about the crowns of Christ. As we come to our text this morning, we continue that Jesus is being brought before a trial. But specifically in this passage, verses 1 through 15, it is his third civil trial.

If you have been tracking with us through the Gospel of John. You know that after Jesus was betrayed that he was brought before the Pharisees and the Sadducees Which became a religious? trial and that then he was brought again before the Sadducees and it was a second religious trial and then last week we learned about The civil trial Jesus faced not only religious trials But he faced civil trials two religious trials three civil trials he was brought before Pilate last week and Pilate was so Frustrated because he really didn’t want to deal with the matter.

He didn’t want to get involved He didn’t want to have to deal with this situation that he believed was something the Jews were dealing with and yet He decided that he would send Jesus to Herod So in the gospel of John John does not record, nor does he take time, as the other gospels do, about the trial before Herod.

But now Herod, he didn’t want anything to do with it, so he sent him back to Pilate. And so we’re now in this third civil trial, John chapter 19, and what is so ironic is that Jesus is standing before an earthly judge.

You know him, he is Pilate. We introduced him to you last week. And it is interesting in verse 13 of John chapter 19 that the scripture says that Pilate therefore heard that saying and he brought Jesus forth and he sat him down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gebathah.

This judgment seat was the place where Pilate would often render his official verdict upon those who were brought before him. John, in his gospel, does a lot of contrasting, not comparing, but contrasting.

And as he is contrasting Pilate’s response and Jesus’s response. So as we go through John chapter 19, this is what we see, this ebb and flow. And here, what I want you to get as you see it, I want you to capture John’s overarching message to you this morning, and that is that here, Jesus is standing before an earthly judge, but really Pilate is standing before the judge of all the earth.

That even as Pilate is giving judgment about the future, Jesus on this earth and what would happen it is Pilate who must decide what to do with Jesus and it is the most important decision of his life and that’s the way life is because life brings us to the forks in the road and we have to decide which direction will we go and as Robert Frost said in his poem that it made all the difference the choices and decisions that you are making today determine your future not just eternally but even practically in your life and so it is with all of us this morning that the decisions you make determine your future where you will be five years from now and therefore it is imperative that your decisions and choices align with God’s truth and that he grants you peace in your heart as you pursue his will for your life.

So Pilate is making this decision. He believes that he is deciding the fate of Jesus, but really his future and his fate is being decided as he chooses. Pilate was under pressure while he was making this decision.

Pilate was a guy who wanted to be liked and he was a guy who was a leader who tried to make everybody happy. And when we study history we learned that Pilate struggled in this area and it often got him in trouble as he tried to keep different factions within his province that he was responsible for happy.

And so as we read this text this morning I want you to follow along with me in verse 1. The soldiers planted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and they put on him a purple robe and said hail king of the Jews and they smote him with their hands.

Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them behold I bring him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in this man. Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns in the purple robe and Pilate said unto them behold the A man, when the chief priests therefore an officer saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him.

Pilate sayeth unto them, take ye him and crucify him. For I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid.

And went again into the judgment hall and sayeth unto Jesus, whence art thou, or who are you? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then said Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have the power to crucify thee and have power to release thee?

Jesus answered. Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from henceforth Pilate sought to release him.

But the Jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go, thou are not Caesar’s friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew Gabbatha.

And it was the preparation of the Passover. And about the sixth hour, and he saith unto the Jews, behold, you’re king. But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said unto them, shall I crucify your king?

The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar. As we look at this text this morning, we understand that there are three particular crowns of Christ that I’d like to bring to your attention. And these crowns are different from the crowns that earthly kings wear.

And I want you to see, first of all, the crown of mockery. In verses 1 through 5, we see the crown of mockery. I remind you that Pilate said, I find no fault in him. Again, he does not want to crucify Jesus.

And he is trying to figure out a way to satisfy this bloodthirsty cry of the… Jews that desire for Him to be crucified. Pilate had been advised by his wife in Matthew 27 verse 19, have found nothing to do with this just man.

Everybody was telling him, don’t do this, but the Bible tells us in verse 1 that they had him scourged, or in some translations, flogged. Now Pilate’s strategy was this, that somehow if Jesus was beaten near to death, and He was afflicted near to death, that the crowd would be satisfied.

He thought, boy, if they would just do this, He’d already tried to see if He could bring out another prisoner whom they despised, Barabbas. Pilate’s trying to find every way to get this man, Jesus, to be free.

He doesn’t want to crucify him. And they already shouted that we choose Barabbas to be freed rather than Jesus to be freed. This scourging and flogging was a physical punishment. And it was a cruel act in where the victim was stripped naked before the soldiers.

They were tied to a post and beaten. And each soldier alternated as they became tired. As they beat upon Jesus Christ, they used a wood handle to which several leather thongs at the end of the handle had sharp wooden rocks and pieces of bone and metal at the end of them.

And that once they were whipped upon the body and the leather wrapped around the body, the metal stones and bones would begin to dig into the flesh. And the soldiers would, with all their strength, rip.

The leather straps away from the body, resulting in the tearing of flesh, leaving the victim exposed, their muscles exposed, their veins and bones exposed. But I want you to see the strategy of Pilate.

Because the Bible says there in verse 3, I want you to start there, the Bible says, hail king of the Jews, and they smote him with their hands. therefore went forth again and said unto them behold I bring him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault he’s presenting Jesus after the scourging after the flogging he’s trying to say look I beat the guy until he nearly died isn’t this enough when Jesus was presented there when he was presented he would have been bleeding and he would have been bruised you couldn’t even recognize his face and his body because of what he had already endured in this flogging and scourging the prophet Isaiah reminds us about the suffering Savior and the prophet says I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair,

I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” The Bible says that not only did they flog and scourge Jesus, but look at verse two, that they put a crown of thorns upon him. The crown of thorns was used by the soldiers as an instrument of mockery.

It was a crown that was made with long spikes, sometimes up to 12 inches long. And it was designed to imitate the crowns of kings. And these long thorns would have cut deeply into the skin and the flesh of Jesus Christ as it was placed upon him.

And there would have been blood streaming down Jesus’s face onto his body, which was already bleeding, which was already ripped and bones and muscles and veins already exposed and Jesus could barely stand.

But then here Pilate with this crown on Jesus, with his flesh torn to pieces, there Pilate would have said to the people, here he is, this is your king, here he is. The Bible says in Isaiah 52, 14, as many were astonished at you, his appearance, referring to our suffering savior Jesus, prophetically the prophet says his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that, the children of mankind.

You couldn’t even recognize that he was a human. This is what was presented to them. To add insult to injury, the Bible tells us as we continue to examine the text in verse two that they put a purple robe on him.

We know that the robe of purple was a symbol of royal. and they simply did it the soldiers knowing that he claimed to be a king they did it to mock Jesus because he claimed to be the king of the Jews this infuriated the religious leaders the elite religious leaders not only that he claimed to be God that he claimed to be sent from God and equal with God and that he was the Son of God but that he would claim to be their king the crown the robe that Jesus wore was like no earthly king for when kings of the earth wear robes and crowns and jewelry it is the result of suffering of others.

It is a symbolic message that they are conquerors and victors, that they have overcome others. But our King, Jesus Christ, he did not wear a crown because of your suffering and my suffering. But he wore a crown and robe because of his suffering.

And what does Pilate say? Did you see that in verse five? He says, then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said unto them, Behold, the man! Behold, I’ve humiliated your King earlier.

There’s no fault in this guy. I beat him practically to death. He can barely stand up here. There’s blood streaming from his body, infections all over him. You can see that he’s hardly recognizable. We have made fun of him.

We’ve humiliated him. Look at this man. Isn’t this enough? Isn’t this enough? Look at verse six. When the chief priests, therefore an officer, saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him! Crucify him!

Pilate saith unto them, Take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. In essence, Pilate said, You do it! And the chief priests and the religious leaders said, No way! Because our laws require that he be killed.

And obviously, we can’t kill anybody through a crucifix. I told you last week that if Jesus died according to the law of God He would have been stoned to death, but that’s not what the prophets said how he would die He was going to be lifted up.

Jesus himself said he would be lifted up and he would be crucified so he died a horrendous death a cruel death He is the king, but he wears a crown of mockery but I offer unto you number two that he has a crown of majesty and I want you to follow this Theme this thread that John is teaching us jump back to John chapter 18 and I want you to see this again in verse 33 Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him art thou the king of the Jews And of course,

Jesus’ answers sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee? Meaning that Jesus flipped it, if you will. Meaning that he is not interested in what other people say about him. He’s interested in what Pilate says about him.

And Jesus is interested in what you say about him. And there may be others in your life that mock Jesus, make fun of Jesus, but what do you say after you have examined the Scriptures, after you have looked and read God’s truth, what does your heart say about Jesus Christ?

I want you to look at verse 39 of chapter 18. The Bible says, but you have a custom that I should release unto you. One, at the Passover will you therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

What is their response? Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber, he was a thief. He had led insurrections against Pilate and the Roman government. He was a rebel rouser. People had died as a result of his rebellion against the government.

And so he was in prison and Pilate said, surely they would take this criminal over Jesus who is innocent, but they would not, they desired. He said, he’s the King of the Jews, which only infuriated the religious elite.

And of course, in verse three of chapter 19, he is referred to as the King, the King of the Jews again. But I want you to note again in verse 19, as Jesus is going to be put upon the cross, Pilate wrote a title.

title and put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Yes, Pilate mocked the majesty of Jesus. He made fun of Jesus being the King of the Jews. He flaunted it before the Jews because he was infuriated with them.

He didn’t want to be in this position. But through the whole process, Pilate was not recognizing the authority and the rule of Jesus Christ in his own life. That’s why in verse 10 the Scripture says, Pilate said unto him, Knowest thou not that I have the power to crucify thee, and the power to release you?

And Jesus said, thou couldst have no power, no authority, at all against me, except it were given thee from above.” Pilate did not recognize that his authority came from God, and he tried to convince Jesus to submit to his authority, to give in to him.

And Jesus says the only authority you have comes from God almighty, recognizing that it is God who sets up kings, it is God who sets up leaders and prime ministers and presidents and leaders throughout all of the nations.

And though you and I might not like our leaders, and we may be frustrated with them, we recognize that it is God who has all authority and that in his sovereignty and wisdom, he sets up all the leaders in the world.

I know you’re struggling with that one. But Jesus claims and teaches us that all authority comes from God. It does. And yes, you are called to vote, and yes, you are called to be active in your responsibility as a good citizen, but ultimately God is in control.

And you say, how do we reconcile the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man? I say, don’t try. For hundreds of years, people have tried and they have miserably failed. I say, just live what you know to be true.

There are many things that I believe in the Bible that do not always make sense to me, but I embrace them and I follow them, perhaps like understanding this, that Jesus is 100% man, and yet he at the same time, he is 100% God, that God is one and yet he is three.

And how is it that you and I in our minds can reconcile all this in our hearts. There’s just some things we come to the scriptures and by faith we believe it. We can’t always explain it. We cannot always reason it.

We cannot always give a correct, proper answer that’s sufficient for all the questions that are in this world. But by faith we trust and believe that God is true and God is right. But what I want you to recognize is what the Hebrew writer said in Hebrews 2 .9.

We see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Even though he wore a crown of mockery, hey listen, he wore it for you, he wore it for me, he suffered and he died to conquer death for you and I.

so that you and I would have eternal life in Jesus Christ. He is a true king, a crown of majesty, but it is a personal decision that we must make in that you must see Jesus being made a little lower than the angels.

Though he lived in glory, though he lived in majesty, he stepped down from his throne and he entered into this world as a suffering servant so that he might bring eternal life to you and me. What I want you to know is he’s different from any earthly king, for all earthly kings stay separated from their people.

For all earthly kings are distant and hard to connect with and do not even relate with their people. But what is so amazing about what Jesus has done is that he has not left us in our plight of suffering and sinfulness and selfishness.

He has not left us just in a world of sorrow to try to navigate the best we can in all the trials and tribulations that we experience, but rather as the king of majesty, he came down and he came to each and every one of us and he suffered and he endured.

So that you and I could be set free and one day live with him forever. His kingdom is not of this world. His crowns are not of this world. He is the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Jesus started to wear a crown of thorns that eventually led to his crown and glory.

and it was the thorns that remind us that He suffered for our sins and as we look at the crowns of Christ we are encouraged knowing that even as you and I suffer in this world that there is a crown of glory for all believers who trust in Jesus Christ for those who call upon His name He is our example He is our model and we look to Him for the answers in this world and though we may struggle and we may have difficult times we know that one day our Savior is coming and He is coming in all of His glory and He will have a crown of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

I hope that you’ve been encouraged today you can reach out to us by going to Hopeworthhaving .com, hit our contact button or if you’d like to you can simply write us at Hopeworthhaving 600 Miller Street, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 17201.

And we want to remind you that in Christ, there is hope worth having.