Ecce Homo: Behold the Man

Consummatum est. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Our Lenten meditations continue with posts taken from a Simple Exposition of the Circumstances of the Passion of Jesus Christ (1761) by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori.

I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the end of the relevant paragraph.

Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Tecum tutus semper sum.
Ad Jesum per Mariam.

This grace I ask of thee to-day: obtain for me a continual remembrance of the passion of Jesus, and of thine also, and a tender devotion to them.

Ecce Homo: Behold the Man

Ecce Homo. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them, . . . Behold the man.[1] When Jesus was brought before Pilate after the scourging and crowning with thorns, Pilate looked at him, and seeing him so mangled and deformed, felt persuaded that he would move the people to compassion by merely exposing him to their view. Hence he went forth to the balcony, bringing with him our afflicted Saviour, and said to the people, Behold the man; as if he said, O Jews, be content with what this innocent man has already suffered. Behold the man; behold the man whom you suspected of wishing to become your king: behold him, see the miserable condition to which he is reduced. What fear can you now have of him, when it is impossible for him to recover from his wounds? Let him go and die in his own house; he has but a short time to live.


Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns, and the purple garment.[1] Behold, O my soul, on that balcony.



[1] [4] Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them: Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him.
Exivit ergo iterum Pilatus foras, et dicit eis : Ecce adduco vobis eum foras, ut cognoscatis quia nullam invenio in eo causam.
[5] (Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: Behold the Man.
( Exivit ergo Jesus portans coronam spineam, et purpureum vestimentum.) Et dicit eis : Ecce homo. [John 19]

Thy Lord bound and dragged by a soldier; behold him half naked, covered with wounds and blood, his flesh all torn; behold him clothed with a rag of purple which only excites derision, and carrying that barbarous crown which continues to torment him. Behold the state to which thy pastor is reduced, in order to find thee, his lost sheep. Ah, my Jesus, in how many characters do men exhibit Thee, but all in order to add to Thy pain and ignominy! 

Crucify Him! JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Ah, my sweet Redeemer, Thou dost excite the compassion of the beasts of the forest, and still Thou dost not find mercy. Behold the answer of the people: When the chief priests therefore and the servants had seen Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him; crucify Him. [2] But what shall they say on the day of judgment, when they shall see him gloriously seated as a judge on a throne of light?

But, alas, my Jesus, I too once said: Crucify him, crucify him, when I offended Thee by my sins. But, O God of my soul, I now am sorry for them above all things, and I love Thee above every good. Pardon me through the merits of Thy Passion, and grant that on the last day I may see Thee appeased, and not enraged against me.








[2] [6] When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out, saying: Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him.
Cum ergo vidissent eum pontifices et ministri, clamabant, dicentes : Crucifige, crucifige eum. Dicit eis Pilatus : Accipite eum vos, et crucifigite : ego enim non invenio in eo causam. [John 19]

Pilate showed Jesus to the Jews, saying, Behold the man, and, at the same time, the Eternal Father from heaven invited us to look at Jesus Christ in the miserable state to which he was reduced, and said, Behold the man. O men, this man whom you see tormented and despised is my beloved Son, who, for the love of you, and to atone for your sins, submits to such torments; look at him, thank him, and love him.

My God and my Father, Thou dost tell me to look at this Thy Son; but I pray Thee to look at him for me; look at him, and for the love of this Son have mercy on me.

Seeing that Pilate, in spite of all their clamor, sought to save Jesus, [3] the Jews, by exclaiming that, were he to release him, he would declare himself the enemy of Cæsar, endeavored to force him to condemn the Saviour. The Jews cried out, saying, If thou release that man, thou art not Cæsar’s friend; for whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Cæsar. [3] Unfortunately for them, their efforts were successful. Pilate is afraid of losing the friendship of Cæsar, and therefore he brings Jesus Christ into the hall, and sits in judgment in order to pass sentence of condemnation upon him. When Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment-seat. [4] But stung with remorse of conscience at the thought of condemning an innocent man, he again turns to the Jews, and says to them: Behold your king. [5] Shall I condemn your king? But they cried out, Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. [6]

[3] [12] And from henceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend. For whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar.
Et exinde quaerebat Pilatus dimittere eum. Judaei autem clamabant dicentes : Si hunc dimittis, non es amicus Caesaris. Omnis enim qui se regem facit, contradicit Caesari.  [John 19]

[4] [13] Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha.
Pilatus autem cum audisset hos sermones, adduxit foras Jesum : et sedit pro tribunali, in loco qui dicitur Lithostrotos, hebraice autem Gabbatha.   [John 19]

[5] [14] And it was the parasceve of the pasch, about the sixth hour, and he saith to the Jews: Behold your king.
Erat enim parasceve Paschae, hora quasi sexta, et dicit Judaeis : Ecce rex vester.   [John 19]

[6] [15] But they cried out: Away with him; away with him; crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar.
Illi autem clamabant : Tolle, tolle, crucifige eum. Dicit eis Pilatus : Regem vestrum crucifigam? Responderunt pontifices : Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem.    [John 19]

The Jews exclaim with greater fury than before, What king? What king? Ah, Pilate, you always keep him before our eyes. Away with him, away with him; take him out of sight, and condemn him to die on a cross. Ah, my Lord, incarnate Word, Thou art come from heaven on earth to converse with men, and to save them; but they cannot bear to see Thee any longer among them; they labour with all their might to put Thee to death, and to take Thee out of sight.

Pilate still resists, and says: Shall I crucify your king? [7] The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cæsar. [7] Ah, my adorable Jesus, they are unwilling to acknowledge Thee for their Lord, and say that they have no other king than Cæsar. I acknowledge Thee for my king and my God, and I protest that I wish for no other king in my heart than Thee, my Redeemer. Unhappy me! I have once submitted to the domination of my passions, and have banished Thee, my divine king, from my soul. I now wish that Thou alone reign in my heart; that Thou command, and that it obey. I will say to Thee, with St. Teresa: O lover, who lovest me more than I am able to conceive, grant that my soul may serve Thee more in conformity with Thy pleasure than its own. May this self die, and may another live in me. May he live and give me life. May he reign, and may I be his slave. May my soul wish for no other liberty; My Jesus, Thou art my only king, my only good, my only love.

[7] [15] But they cried out: Away with him; away with him; crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar.
Illi autem clamabant : Tolle, tolle, crucifige eum. Dicit eis Pilatus : Regem vestrum crucifigam? Responderunt pontifices : Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem.    [John 19]