Behold the Man

Behold the Man

Good Friday - 4/3/2026

John 18:1-19:42

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion of God’s holy Word for consideration today is our reading of the Passion of our Lord Jesus according to St. John in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters with special emphasis on 19:5 which reads as follows:

                “So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We do not gather today to admire a noble martyr. We are not here merely to remember an example of courage under suffering. We are not here simply to reflect upon injustice, cruelty, or the tragedy of human violence. No, we are here because our sin required this. This truth, as difficult as it is to confess, is the great offense behind Good Friday and, indeed, the Christian religion. But it is also the source of our greatest comfort.

The offense is this: your sin is so serious before God, so damnable, so deserving of wrath and judgment, that nothing less than the suffering and death of the Son of God could atone for it.

And the comfort is this: that suffering and death have now been offered for your salvation, forgiveness, and life. Good Friday is not sentimental nor is it mild. Good Friday is where God shows us what sin really is and what its cost is. Sinners do not like that. By nature, we always want to minimize our guilt. We want to call sin a weakness, a mistake, a lapse in judgment, a rough patch, a personal struggle. We want to excuse it, explain it, manage it, or compare it favorably to the sins of others.

But the Passion of our Lord strips all that away. Here in St. John’s account, sin is exposed for what it truly is. Look at Judas. He was not merely confused. He as not simply conflicted. He betrayed the Son of God. And before you condemn him too quickly, ask yourself: what have you traded Christ for? For reputation? For comfort? For peace with the world? For lust? For bitterness? For money? For pride? For convenience? Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. And we have often sold Him for less.

Look at Peter. He had sworn loyalty. He had promised faithfulness unto death. He had spoken boldly and confidently. And then, under pressure, he denied the Lord he claimed to love. And what is that but a mirror held up to us? For how often have we denied Christ, not only with our mouths, but with our silence? With our cowardice? With our refusal to confess Him when it would cost us something? For the embarrassment we feel for being tempted to take faith in Him seriously?

Look at Pilate. He knew Jesus was innocent. He said so more than once. And yet he handed Him over anyway. Why? Because truth mattered less to him than self-preservation. And that, too, is not foreign to us. How often do we know what is right, and still fail to do it because obedience would be inconvenient, costly, or unpopular?

Look at the soldiers. They strike Him. Mock Him. Crown Him with thorns. Dress Him up as a joke. And what is mockery of God but the native language of fallen man? For the sinful heart does not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. It despises Him. It resents Him. It would rather have a god who does not command repentance and does not threaten judgment.

Look at the crowd: “Crucify Him!” That cry is not only theirs. It is the cry of the sinful flesh.

It is the cry of Adam’s race. It is the voice of every sinner who does not want the true God to reign over him. This is what the God’s holy Law exposes: not merely that we have done bad things, but that we are by nature corrupt before God. We are not merely wounded. We are dead in trespasses and sins. We are not merely sick. We are condemned. We are not merely in need of improvement. We are in need of redemption.

This is why no mere man could save us. No prophet could save us. No teacher could save us. No example could save us. No moral reform could save us. No sincerity, no effort, no religious devotion, no tears, no resolutions, no works of the Law could reconcile us to God. Because the problem is not that we have failed to try hard enough. The problem is that we are sinners under the judgment of a holy God.

And God is holy. This is the truth that the world cannot endure. The world wants a God

Detail showing the crucifixion of Jesus from the Reformation Altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1547).

who affirms, tolerates, accommodates, and excuses. But the true God is righteous. He is just. He does not clear the guilty by pretending guilt is not there. Sin justly provokes His wrath. Not because He is petty. Not because He is unstable. Not because He is cruel. But because He is holy. And if He were not wrathful against evil, He would not be good.

The great question of Holy Scripture is not how a good God can allow suffering in sinful man, rather, it is, how can God be just and still justify the ungodly? How can He condemn sin without condemning the sinner forever? How can He remain righteous and still have mercy?

The answer is the bloody cross. The answer is the torn flesh and pierced hands. The answer is Jesus crucified and dead.

Jesus does not merely suffer alongside sinners. He suffered for sinners. He did not merely endure human cruelty. He bore divine judgment. He did not merely die as a victim. He was sacrificed as the substitute. Christian truth demands that we confess that Christ suffered and died for us men and for our salvation.

He stands in your place under the Law. He took your guilt upon Himself. He bore your curse. He received in His own holy flesh the judgment that your sin deserves. And this is no accident of history, it is the eternal will of God for your salvation. Even in His Passion, Jesus was not helpless.

When they came to arrest Him in the garden, He stepped forward. “Whom do you seek?” “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I am He.” And at those words, they drew back and fell to the ground. Even then, even there, even in the hour of humiliation, His divine majesty was not absent. He was not dragged unwillingly to His death. He offered Himself. He is the Lamb of God and He went knowingly, willingly, obediently to the slaughter.

He did this not because He deserved it, but because you do. This is the severe and honest truth revealed on Good Friday. Do not look at the cross and say only, “How terrible.” Say also, “That is what my sin deserves.” Those nails are what your sin earned. That crown of thorns is what your rebellion produced. That bitter cup is the cup of wrath justly appointed for you. That darkness is the darkness of judgment against your uncleanness, your pride, your hatred, your greed, your lovelessness, your idolatry, your unbelief.

Christ drank it. All of it. To the dregs for you. This truth is what makes the grotesque reality of the cross precious and beautiful. Jesus was not there for His own crimes. Pilate said it repeatedly: “I find no guilt in Him.”  And that is exactly the point of Good Friday and the Christian religion. The One condemned is innocent. The One Who suffered is righteous. The One Who died is holy. His suffering was not payment for His sin, but atonement for yours.

Only such a sacrifice could save. A sinful man cannot die for sinners. A guilty man cannot justify the guilty. A debtor cannot pay settle another account. But the spotless Son of God can. And He certainly has. This is what St. John places before us so powerfully. “Behold the man!” Yes. Behold the man. Behold the second Adam. Behold the righteous One. Behold the Man who stands where you should stand. Behold the Man under accusation, under scourging, under thorns, under the cross, under judgment. Behold the Man who bears in His body the sin of the world.

And then hear that final word from the cross: “It is finished.” This is not the cry of defeat, it is the declaration of victory. The atonement was finished. The sacrifice was complete. The ransom was paid. The Law stands fulfilled. The wrath was propitiated. The serpent was crushed. The world was redeemed. “It is finished” means there is nothing left for you to contribute to your justification before God.

But the old Adam protests. He wants some part in his salvation. He wants to say, “Surely I must complete what Jesus began. Surely I must make myself acceptable. Surely my repentance, my devotion, my moral seriousness, my religious effort must somehow finish the job.” No. If your works could save you, then Christ died for nothing. If your efforts could justify you, then the cross is empty and meaningless. If your sorrow could atone for sin, then the blood of Jesus was unnecessarily shed.

Only Christ crucified saves. Only His blood atones. Only His obedience justifies. Only His death reconciles you to God. Comfort does not lie in the strength of your repentance, the quality of your devotion, or the consistency of your Christian life. If your comfort lay there, then your comfort will always fail you. No, true comfort lies outside of you. Your comfort lies in this: that the Son of God has died for you. Your sins, real sins, shameful sins, repeated sins, hidden sins, deliberate sins, loveless sins, proud sins, unclean sins, faithless sins, have been laid upon Christ. And if they have been laid upon Christ, then they are not yours to answer for on the Last Day.

This is what it means to say that you are justified. God does not pretend that you are innocent; Christ has borne your guilt and given you His righteousness. Your sins have been imputed to Him. His obedience is imputed to you. He is treated as the guilty one, so that you may be declared righteous before the Father. That is why the Christian can stand before Almighty God not in terror, but in faith. Not because he has no sin in himself, but because he has a merciful Savior. Not because he has satisfied divine justice, but because Christ has. Not because he has made himself clean, but because he has been washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Dear Christian saints, do not explain away your sin. Do not excuse it. Do not sentimentalize the cross. Do not reduce Jesus to a moral teacher or tragic example. See instead what the Passion reveals. See how great your sin is. But then see also how much greater Christ is. For where your sin abounded, His grace has abounded all the more. Where your guilt cried out for judgment, His blood cried out for mercy. Where your conscience accuses, His cross answers. And where death would claim you, Christ has gone first and sanctified even the grave by His holy rest. Do not come before the Lord defending yourself. Come guilty. Come condemned. Come with nothing to offer. And behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

For this is exactly why He was handed over, this is why He was pierced, this is why He bowed His head, this is why He gave up His spirit: for you and your everlasting forgiveness, life, and salvation.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

 The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] John 19:5