One of the best evangelistic sermons ever preached: Ecce Homo . [Behold the man.] Of course Pilate is not being an intentional evangelist in John 19:5. He is a cynical, ruthless political operator who is perfectly happy to have an innocent man beaten and tortured. But then Caiaphas was a cynical, ruthless political operator when he preached brilliant gospel truth: It is better for you that one man should die for the people (John 11:50). And John tells us that in this statement Caiaphas was (inadvertently) prophesying (John 11:51). John loves double entendre and dripping irony. The truth comes forth most powerfully from the mouths of its enemies. So we shouldn’t be surprised when a few pages later we find a report of Pilate also preaching the gospel. So why is “Behold the man” such a great evangelistic sermon? It is pointing to Jesus. “We preach not ourselves but Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:5). The point of preaching is to ‘placard’ Christ before the hearers (Galati...
Living and preaching at the foot of the Cross