Mark 15:2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it
C.S. Lewis argued that Jesus Christ is not just a good teacher; he is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. If Jesus said He was the Son of God, but knew He was not, He was a liar, and a liar cannot be a good teacher. If Jesus thought He was the Son of God, but was not, then He is a lunatic and not a good teacher. He is either a liar, a lunatic, or is who He claims to be, the Son of God and God the Son. John R. Rice used to say there is no sense in patronizing Jesus as just a good teacher when He Himself claimed to be so much more.
Mark 15 makes it very clear why Jesus died on the cross. It was the same reason for the Jewish people and for the Roman people, for sinners like us and for God Almighty. In God’s perspective, Jesus is the only one who could pay the penalty for all our sins on the cross because He is the only one who is perfect, the only sinless sacrifice, the Son of God and God the Son.
Jesus was accused as king. As to the religious leaders, Mark 15:1 tells us that the whole counsel decided Jesus was worthy of death because in their minds He was guilty of blasphemy because He claimed to be who He indeed is. That wasn’t enough for the Romans, so the accusation they made was that He claimed to be a king, that He was in some kind of insurrection. In Mark 15:2 Pilate, who represented the government over Jewish people, asked Him, “Art thou the King of the Jews?” He answered, “Thou sayest it.” So, Jesus was accused because He claimed to be the Messiah regarding the Jews and He claimed to be the King of the Jews regarding the Romans.
He was condemned as king. In verses 9 and 12 Pilate asked the people, “Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?” He knew “the chief priests had delivered him for envy.” Verse 12 says, “What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?” Verse 13 says, “And they cried out again, Crucify him.” Pilate asked, “Why? What evil hath He done?” Pilate was willing to content the people. The chief priests moved the people. Both were concerned about public opinion, so He was condemned as king.
He was mocked as king. Verse 17 says that the soldiers “clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head.” That was mockery. They began to salute Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews.” They bowed their knees and worshipped Him. Of course, this was not worship; it was mockery. Verse 31 says the chief priests also mocked the Lord Jesus.
Philippians 2 says about God incarnate, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” So, He is king. He is accused as king, condemned as king, and mocked as king.
He was labeled as king. Verse 26 says, “And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” This was what was on His cross. In John 19 Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.” That was hypocrisy. They didn’t care about Caesar. They had just previously asked, “Should we pay tax or not?” and they would not have been warm to paying tax. Jesus is the one who recognized the authority of the one making the coinage.
John 19:21 says, “Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.” The question in contest was “Who is Jesus?” He is the Messiah, the King, sacrifice for sin, the Son of God. From every perspective Jesus is God the Son. He was accused as king, condemned as king, mocked as king, and labelled as king.
He was also accepted as king by some. Verse 39 says, “And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.” He heard what Jesus said, saw what Jesus did, things only God incarnate would and could do, and he came to the conclusion that Jesus is the Son of God.
The takeaway is that only a Jesus who can hurt you can help you. I stated that a bit strongly. Jesus does not wish us harm, but only a Jesus who has the capacity to hurt can actually help. Someone says, “Jesus is called harmless in Hebrews.” Yes, He is. The word harmless means, “innocent or guileless.” That only increases His power; it doesn’t diminish it. This holy, guileless one without sin is God incarnate, God the Son.
So, only a Jesus who can hurt you can help you. We so often patronize Jesus; we pat Him on the head. Everyone loves the Christ child at Christmas because we feel like we can control Him. We might not say that, but that is the point. He is not threatening, yet He would be threatening if people recognized His true identity. In Matthew 2 when the wise men came seeking the one who was born king of the Jews, Herod was troubled because he knew there could only be one king and he fancied himself the king. That is our problem today. There cannot be more than one king and oftentimes we fancy ourselves king, even if we don’t say that out loud. We like a Jesus we can control and patronize. Only a Jesus who has the power to hurt has the power to help, which is indeed His heart.
So, are you living in Jesus or are you living in self? Only a Jesus with the power to withstand has the power to enable. Only a Jesus with the power to condemn has the power to save. Christ came into the world to save sinners. So, only a Jesus with power and the wisdom to disagree with me has the wisdom to lead me. A Jesus who would never disagree with you is not Jesus. A God who would never disagree with you is not God.
My dad often prays, “Give me the wisdom to do what is right and the courage to do it.” Both those things are found in the risen Christ. Only a Jesus with the authority to tell you who you are has the authority to help you be what you need to be. In short, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. He was accused as king, condemned as king, mocked as king, labelled as king, and by some will be accepted as who He is, King of kings and Lord of lords.
How about you? Are your serving and living in submission to the Jesus of the Bible, the Lord Jesus, God the Son and the Son of God. He has power, wisdom, and authority and is willing to provide to those who will submit to Him. Jesus Christ is everything you need and everything you are not. He is the King.