Behold the Man!

By Jon Peasey

Behold the Man! These words were spoken by a Roman Governor 2000 or so years ago. What is their relevance today? How does it impact on your life? Whether you realise it or not this Man will figure in your life now, or in the future. Why is it necessary for me to know about this Man? Is it because my eternal destiny is dependent on this knowledge? Are you curious or indifferent? Do you need to know more? Then settle in for a look at what the Holy Scriptures reveal to us of this unique Man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jon Peasey
• Release date: Dec 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9780994150837

Jon Peasey

I am a retired male nurse, married with three grown up sons, who have all left home to pursue their own interests in life. My wife and I moved from Toowoomba in south east Queensland in October 2015 to Brookfield a suburb in Brisbane Queensland (QLD). We made the move to be closer to family. In December 2018 we moved to Nundah Queensland to move even closer to family. Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland. Queensland is famous for the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. Brisbane is situated on the Brisbane River and is known as the 'River City'. It is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city. I am a Christian and I fellowship with like minded Christians. I enjoy writing, reading my Bible and Christian books. I tend to read non-fiction books in my spare time. My interests are my family, writing, bible study, beach walking, car touring, gospel preaching and bible teaching.

Book preview

Behold the Man!

By Jon Peasey

Published by Peasey Publications

at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 Jon Peasey

ISBN: 9780994150837

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[Crucifixion graphic on front cover courtesy of pixabay.com ]

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version (NKJV); unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

[An Alphabetical List of Contents is located at the end of the eBook; to access it click on the link below in the Table of Contents. This will redirect you to the Alphabetical List where you can peruse and select the subjects in their alphabetical order. To return to the Alphabetical List click on any actual chapter heading; this will redirect you to The Table of Contents where you can again select the Alphabetical List from the link below.]

Table of Contents

Alphabetical List of Table of Contents

Preamble

Chapter One: His virgin birth

Chapter Two: His perfect life

Chapter Three: His obedience to the Father

Chapter Four: His power over Nature

Chapter Five: His power over disease and afflictions

Chapter Six: His power over demons

Chapter Seven: His power over death

Chapter Eight: Jesus the Messiah - the Christ

Chapter Nine: Jesus - the Son of God

Chapter Ten: His rejection by the Jews

Chapter Eleven: Gethsemane

Chapter Twelve: Gabbatha

Chapter Thirteen: Golgotha

Chapter Fourteen: The Suffering Servant

Chapter Fifteen: Golgotha through the eyes of Jesus

Chapter Sixteen: Resurrection and Ascension

Chapter Seventeen: Jesus - Kinsman Redeemer

Reflections

About the Author

Ebooks by Jon Peasey

Preamble

These three words Behold the Man! are relevant in our day and age: yet these words were spoken 2,000 or so years ago; when the Roman armies ruled the world and Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire.

God wants us to consider and evaluate His Son, Jesus of Nazareth who is the Saviour of mankind. It is my earnest desire to share with you my thoughts via this ebook of the majesty and perfections of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures reveal much about this Man. Let us be like the Psalmist of old. "My heart is inditing [overflowing with] a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer." (Psalm 45:1 KJV).

John 19:5 "...And Pilate said to them, 'Behold the Man!'." This will be the constant theme throughout this ebook.

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Chapter One: His virgin birth

This is a subject that causes much incredulity and scorn. Yet His birth was prophesied in the Holy Scriptures centuries before Jesus of Nazareth was born. Let's look at Isaiah 7:13, 14,

(13) Then he said, 'Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? (14) Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel!' . Immanuel means literally 'God with us'.

Let's also look at Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." These two prophecies were proclaimed about 740 BC. The ancient Israelites understood that these prophecies related to their coming Messiah.

Now let's come forward in time to the New Testament, in Luke 1:26-35:

"(26) Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

(27) to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

(28) And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!'

(29) But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.

(30) Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.

(31) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.

(32) He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

(33) And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.'

(34) Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?

(35) And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God'."

Mary questioned the angel as to how it was possible for her to conceive as she had not known any man (in a sexual relationship). She was betrothed to Joseph but had not had sexual relations with him. She was a virgin. The answer was that God Himself would through the power of the Holy Spirit bring about the conception in her womb. This would be the fulfilment of Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6. No man had anything to do with it - God brought it to fruition.

Let's move on to Luke 2:1-7:

"(1) And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

(2) This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

(3) So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

(4) Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

(5) to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

(6) So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

(7) And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

Now I want to point out a very important fact; Jesus of Nazareth was born sinless! He was not born with a sinful nature like you and me! Human beings are born with a sinful nature which is passed on through the males of our species. In Psalm 51:5 the Psalmist makes this declaration, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. The Psalmist was not saying his conception and birth was a sinful act. What he is conveying to us is the fact that his mother had a sinful nature and that his father had a sinful nature; this meant that via the act of conception the Psalmist was going to be born with a sinful nature.

Hebrews 13:4, informs us that, Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. God honours marriage between a man and a woman; therefore sexual relations between the married couple is undefiled in God's eyes. However, the undefiled bed does not mean that the sinful nature is not passed on to our offspring, whether male or female.

When God created the first man Adam, He put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and to keep it (Genesis 2:15). Then God gave Adam a commandment:

Genesis 2:16, 17, (16) And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die'. The commandment was given to Adam before Eve his wife was created!

So when Adam and Eve sinned by eating from ...the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... sin entered our world and they both became sinners in the sight of God. As the original commandment was given to Adam his sinful nature has been passed on to all his offspring - right down to our day.

Because no male was involved with Mary's miraculous conception her child was not born with a sinful nature handed down via Adam. ...that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. It is important to establish the truth as to the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. He was not born with a sinful nature. Therefore He was incapable of sinning!

Chapter Two: His perfect life

In 1 Peter 2:21, 22 we read these words, "(21) ...Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: (22) 'Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth'." Again in 1 John 3:5 we read, "And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin." Also in 2 Corinthians 5:21 these words, "For He [God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Let's sum up our findings in these verses.

(a) He committed no sin.

(b) In Him is no sin.

(c) He knew no sin.

In the Gospel of John the Jews in chapter 8 contended with Jesus. Let's look at John 8:44-47:

"(44) You [the Jews] are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in