John 19:15 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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John 19:15

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But they are untouched, unmoved, and that vast crowd containing so many people who have been wonderfully healed by him cry out, ‘Away with him, crucify him.’ Can you imagine that? Pilate makes one last effort: ‘Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.’ Well that is an amazing statement. They held Caesar in contempt. But in a way he suits them. They are reasonably happy with him. The common people may be poor and suffer from the Roman boot as it were, but the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees didn’t mind Caesar and Rome (even though they held Roman authority in contempt) because it left them free to function. And they could strut about and be special and enrich themselves. And their ritual and their self-righteousness was in place. So in a way they actually meant that. They certainly did not want Christ. They did not want his authority. They did not want to repent; they did not want their lives to be reformed. Caesar was preferable to that. Here then is the ultimate rejection of Christ. The chief priests, no less, answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ The great formal rejection of Christ as their Lord. So there is outright rejection on Calvary’s cross. Christ paid the price of our rejection of him. He took our corruption.

Application

We are just the same. You may not have been healed by the Christ to your knowledge, but your very life comes from him. You have received so many benefits from him - your life, your gifts, your aptitudes, your mind, everything comes from him and yet you are ready to shout against God and to sneer at him and to reject him. Even Christians can be like this. I am a Christian, I have believed in Jesus Christ. I have sought his forgiveness. I believe he has saved my soul. I believe I am going to heaven. But I really frankly would rather have the authority of this world than the authority of Christ. Some only worship on Sunday morning when they could worship on Sunday evening too. Why is that? Because really they would rather be largely worldlings than Christians. They believe their souls are safe but they don’t want to be under the full authority of Christ. The Lord’s Day is a great test of our hearts. If we keep the Lord’s Day, and of course there are some people who are cruelly prevented from doing so, we devote ourselves on this day to seeking Christ, serving Christ, worshipping Christ. If you don’t and you are a partial Christian, and you are really saying, I don’t want the authority of Christ. I am glad I’m saved but I don’t really want to obey and serve him.’

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John 19:15 Commentary and Bible Study