What Evil has He Done?

Introduction

Text: Matt 27:11-26

In our text today, Jesus stands in a court room on trial for crimes He was accused of by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Pilates job is to determine if he is guilty or not guilty; just like in our courts today. I have never been in a court room for a crime that I have committed, but I have seen them on TV. The only time I was ever in a court room was when I received my concealed carry licence in VA. After a thorough background check, I stood before a judge and promised not to use my gun in an unsafe fashion and to uphold public safety. Then I was taken in a back room and finger printed. But I have seen enough Perry Mason shows to have a probably skewed view of how this thing works. But in our text we can glean how the legal proceedings were supposed to work.

He must examine the accused vs 11, hear the testimony of witnesses against Jesus vs 12, weigh the evidence vs 18-21 and come up with a charge vs 24-26.

But as the trial progresses, Pilate notices that there does not seem to be enough evidence to try this man. All the grievances that the Jews had against Jesus were matters of their teachings and not Roman legal issues. Pilate knows this and asks the crowd “Why, what evil has He done?

John Bowyer writes a fictional account of one who observes the trial of Jesus and describes it from a Roman perspective:

Jesus of Nazareth was executed today on the orders of the Roman State. Method of execution: Crucifixion. The charge under Roman law was treason, and under Herodian law blasphemy against the Temple. The evidence against this anarchist was so strong that authorities of both the Roman State and the Kingdom of Herod concurred with the arrest and execution, and he was subjected to trial by both governments. And in a rare uprising of spontaneous collective justice, the mass of people who were gathered for Passover called for his execution as well. The mob affirmed their loyalty to the state, chanting, "We have no king but Caesar."

Friday's execution ended a career as an anti-government agitator with a long history of lawlessness. The family was in possession of falsified, illegal, and unsanctioned genealogical records which claim to indicate that Jesus was of royal lineage, and undermined the legitimate claim of Herod to the throne. The malicious claim, which has been spread widely among the people, is that the King is an Idumean and not a Jew. The king is tormented by this claim, and laments that shortly after his father's rise to power the genealogical records (which would certainly have proven his legitimate right to reign) perished in a mysterious fire, likely set by anti-government agitators.

His execution was swift and merciless, and his disciples have been scattered. Authorities are confident that his name will quickly be forgotten, while Rome, the eternal city, will last forever. The temple built on the power of the Roman state and Herodian kingship will stand forever. Authorities assure the people that the ultimate punishment on which all state power rests, death by execution, is the final word on this short episode in Roman history.

In this fictional account you can see the irony of Rome’s attack on Jesus. Here was a man everyone thought they could snuff out and He would be forgotten. But Jesus’ name, authority and power has outlived that of Rome. Pilate even then saw no guilt in this man and asked What evil has He done? This is the same question we are going to ask today. We will take a look at the charges made against Him by His accusers.

I. Was it evil for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath?

To an American, this question may seem totally foreign because we have no regulations about days of rest. We don’t even require businesses to be closed on holidays like Christmas and Easter. But we need to understand why the Pharisees would have thought this was a big deal. In Exo 20:8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” God had commanded as part of the 10 commandments that the Jews keep the Sabbath. These were God’s commands; the Jews were expected to obey them. one basic definition of sin is disobedience to God. so when we get to the life of Christ, and Jesus violates the Sabbath; it is natural for the Pharisees to accuse Him of sin.

In the life of Christ, Jesus broke the Sabbath many times; but there were two types of circumstances where He did this. Both are found in our text:

Matthew 12:1-13 “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there…”

The Sabbath could be broken when there was an extreme need vs 1-8

David when he was starving

Service of the priests to God vs 5

God is Lord of the Sabbath- God has the right to do whatever He pleases on the Sabbath

The Sabbath could be broken to save life vs 10-13

While this is a court of law, this isn’t just an academic discussion of the Sabbath. What we are truly asking is “Did Jesus sin by breaking the Sabbath?” If Jesus committed sin, then He deserved to die and He is not able to save anyone from their sins.

2 Cor 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

If Jesus had sin, then we have no hope of forgiveness of our sins. If Jesus had sin, He was a liar and not God; but if He is innocent, we must seriously consider His claim to be the Messiah.

Jesus did not break the Sabbath; rather He fulfilled the Sabbath Matt 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”

II. Was it evil for Jesus to cast out demons from those in bondage?

In the very same chapter, the Pharisees attack Jesus once again. They are doggedly determined to take down this man Jesus because He is a threat to their authority. Matt 12:14 “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.”

Matt 12:22-30 “Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; …”

The Pharisees couldn’t get Him on the Sabbath charge at the time; so they switched gears. Now they are trying to say that He is Demonic. If you saw the things that Jesus had done, water to wine, deaf made to hear and blind made to see and now a demon possessed man who is liberated from his bondage to Satan; you would have to come to terms with that as well. Either this is the power of God or it is the power of Satan. The Pharisees had already concluded it couldn’t be the power of God; so Jesus must be casting out demons by the power of Satan.

Jesus refutes this argument:

If this was the work of Satan, then Satan is tearing down his own kingdom.

If this is the work of Satan, then who gives other Jewish exorcists the power to cast out demons. Jewish tradition teaches that evil spirits could be cast out. The closest thing we have in the old testament is David southing Saul’s evil spirit; but this is not an exorcism. The apocrypha has some stories of exorcism and Josephus records stories of Jewish exorcism. Jewish exorcisms included smoke and incantations along with finding out the demons name, rebuking Him and then ritually baptising the person. Whether Jesus is acknowledging the legitimacy of Jewish excorcism or not, He challenges them to consider that their accusation could also be leveled against their own people. Why is it so strange to think that Jesus would cast out demons, when other Jewish rabbis claim to do the same thing?

Jesus casting out demons shows that He has power over Satan. vs 29

This charge is also serious because their are false teachers and false prophets out there who are energized by the Devil. Jesus ministry set people free from the power of sin and Satan. If He was really Satan’s messenger, then He is not the Messiah.

III. Was it evil for Jesus to claim to be God?

The next accusation of the Pharisees against Jesus comes from the book of John 8:24 “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” Jesus was clearly claiming to be the Messiah in these earlier verses, but Jews didn’t necessarily understand the Messiah to be God Himself. Jesus later goes on to not just claim to be Messiah but to claim to be God.

John 8:53-59 “Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”

Jesus statement Before Abraham was I am worded in exactly this way was an affirmation that He was God. He didn’t say, Before Abraham was, I was. He said I am, thus identifying Himself as God. If you doubt the meaning of this phrase look at the Pharisees responce.

A couple chapters later the same thing occurs. John 10:30-33 “I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”

Bart Ehrman is a name that many of you probably do not know. He was a textual critic who who worked under Bruce Metzger. He had been raised a Christian, went to bible college and seminary and then became one of the most well known names in the field of textual criticism. Somewhere along the line Bart decided he was not a Christian now and has dedicated his life to trying to prove that Christianity is false.

One of his main arguments has been that Jesus never claimed to be God. He acknowledges the passages from the book of John that we just read, but says that John was a later book and so it was all made up. What Bart fails to see is the multitude of evidence throughout the other gospels that Jesus was God.

The name of Son of Man was a term used in Daniel for a Divine being who would sit on the throne of the Ancient of Days for all of eternity to rule.

Jesus accepted worship.

Jesus was called God’s beloved Son by the Father at His baptism and transfiguration.

Jesus forgave sins. “who can forgive sins but God?”

Again to claim to be God is a serious crime. If you were to claim to be god, we would all look at you strange. Jesus is either a lunatic, a liar or He is Lord.

Conclusion

2,000 years ago we saw the greatest injustice committed in a court of law ever throughout the history of mankind. Jesus stood in a court of law accused of guilt and even the judge couldn’t find any guilt in Him. Here was a man who only ever did good and healed people. A man that even the judge couldn’t find fault in Him and would have let Him go. A man who only ever loved people and came to save them from the sin which is destroying our world. And yet what did they do?

They cried out crucify Him? Matt 27:22 “Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.”

They beat Him. Matt 27:26 “Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.”

They stripped and mocked Him. Matt 27:28-29 “And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!”

They spit on Him. Matt 27: 30 “And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.”

They gave Him vinegar to drink. Matt 27:34 “They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.”

They hung Him on a cross to die by suffocation. Matt 27:35 “And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.”

As He died He cried Matt 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Pilate asked the question we should all be asking, Why did Jesus die? Jesus did not die for any sins that He had committed. He died for our sins that we had committed.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

1Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Romans 5:9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Jesus died so we could be justified. Justified means to be declared righteous in a court of law. Jesus death on our behalf allows God to declare us innocent. Not on our own merits, but only because of His.