A King, A Thief, and A Soldier

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

One thing is absolutely certain. God will not be mocked, and whatever sins you sow, you will reap. Your sins are going to find you out even though you might be deceived:, God will never be deceived.

It is said that Napoleon gathered all his generals into a big ballroom. Inside that ballroom was a giant map of the world outstretched over some tables.

“Gentlemen,” Napoleon said, “if it was not for that little red spot, I would have conquered the world.” Of course, that little red spot on the map was Great Britain.

I can imagine Satan commiserating with a horde of demons with Satan saying basically the same thing. “If it was not for that little red spot, I would rule the world.” In Satan’s case, however, that little red spot was Calvary.

Because of Calvary, Satan has lost, and do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Your sins are going to find you out, and when your sins find you out, what you do with the One who died on that little red spot will make all the difference.

Today, we are going to look at three men whose sins found them out and what they did with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

I. A King

At the time of Jesus’s death, Pilate was one of the most powerful men in the world. The fate of many rested in his hands, yet as Pilate was judging Jesus, it was Pilate being judged.

Pilate had the opportunity to the right thing as he was confronted with what to do with Jesus. (Matt. 27:24)

Matthew 27:24 “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”

We see a major flaw in Pilate’s character. Pilate tried to claim innocence, but dear friend, no one is innocent.

You miss the point if you think the decision Pilate had to make that day was whether or not to free Jesus. That decision was out of Pilate’s hands.

Romans 5:6 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

The stream of human history had converged on that very moment, and it was time for Jesus to die for the ungodly, including Pilate.

The decision Pilate had to make was whether or not he was going to acknowledge who Jesus was. It was not Pilate who could save Jesus. It was Jesus who could save Pilate.

Pilate had heard the news about Jesus as evidenced by what he asked Jesus.

Matthew 27:11 “And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.”

Pilate knew who Jesus was because all men know. The Holy Spirit had convicted him of Jesus was, and he asked the question. “Are you the King of the Jews? Are you the Messiah?”

John 16:8 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”

Pilate had heard from the Holy Spirit who Jesus was, but Pilate was wanting Jesus to say it. Pilate wanted to hear it directly, but he knew Jesus was sinless.

Matthew 27:18 “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.”

He knew Jesus was innocent. He knew the Jews were lying. It was at this very moment that Pilate’s sins were finding him out. He was faced with the decision that every man, woman, boy, and girl must make. That question is what to do with Jesus.

Yes, the world thought Jesus was on trial, but Pilate knew who was really on trial. His sins were being judged, and dear friend, it is you that is being judged when you get to the point of deciding what to do with Jesus. You are no different than Pilate because the Holy Spirit tells you the same thing that He told Pilate.

Even Pilate’s wife tried to warn him. She witnessed to him about Jesus Christ.

Matthew 27:19 “When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.”

Pilate’s wife had nightmares about Jesus, and I believe those nightmares centered around what would happen to Pilate if he failed to make the right decision regarding Jesus. (Matt. 27:19)

Pilate’s wife knew Jesus was innocent. She wanted her husband to make the right decision concerning Jesus.

Pilate’s wife was begging him, but Pilate listened more to the devil who was speaking through the chief priests and elders who were clamoring for the blood of Jesus.

Faced with all the evidence, Pilate once again acknowledges the innocence of Jesus as the pressure of Pilate’s sins finding him out was increasing every second. (Matt. 27:22-23)

Matthew 27:22–23 “Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.”

Pilate’s question to the Jews was a question he was asking himself. What am I going to do? I know Jesus is innocent. He has done no evil. Do you realize what Pilate was acknowledging?

Mark 10:18 “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”

By admitting that Jesus had done no evil, Pilate was admitting that he knew Jesus was God. The choice Pilate had to make was whether or not to admit Jesus was God. He knew the truth. He knew who Jesus was, but knowing the facts about Jesus is not enough. (Matt. 10:32-33)

Matthew 10:32–33 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”

Pilate was right there, but he would not confess who Jesus was, and as the pressure mounted, Pilate made his choice.

Matthew 27:24 “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”

Pilate knew that Jesus was going to die unjustly, but he refused to admit who Jesus was. He knew Jesus was innocent. He knew it was Jesus finding him guilty that day, and as a result he tried to wash the blood of Jesus away, but dear friend, you cannot wash the blood of Jesus away. As Pilate found out and as you will find out if you do not confess who Jesus Christ is, you will try to wash His blood away for an eternity, but you will not ever be able to do so.

Pilate thought he could escape his sins by washing the blood of Jesus away, but only the blood of Jesus could accomplish what Pilate needed, and that was for his sins that were finding him out to be washed away. Pilate did not need to wash the blood away. He needed his sins washed away.

The lights to Pilate’s soul darkened that very night, and he never got the opportunity to acknowledge who Jesus was again, but he will one of these days. The rest of Pilate’s life he was tormented by his decision. I bet he washed his hands multiple times every day trying to remove the blood of Jesus. His decision led to insanity as he was commited to an insane asylum where he commited suicide.

Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Your sins will find you out. The world thought Pilate was judging Jesus, but it was Jesus who was judging Pilate.

Pilate typifies some of you here this morning. You think you can wash your hands of the blood of Jesus. You think you can delay your decision, but you cannot. As sure as the day is long, as you are waiting to decide, your sins will find you out, and it will be too late for you as it was for Pilate.

II. A Thief

As you know, that day on Calvary, three were crucified. There were two thieves crucified, one on each side of Jesus. The sins of the two thieves had found them out.

Luke 23:39–40 “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?”

The two malefactors hanging on the crosses flanking Jesus to the left and the right were guilty. Their guilt was unquestioned just as your guilt and my guilt is unquestioned. One of the malefactors was unfazed by his sins finding him out and went to his grave spitting and mocking Jesus, and he is awaiting his final destiny which will be hell, but I do want to focus on the other malefactor, and I want us focus on his theology, the theology of a thief.

A. The thief feared God.

In verse 40, this thief asked the other thief if he feared God? By asking that question, what was the thief admitting? He was admitting his own fear for God.

No one will ever get saved unless he or she fears the Holy God of Israel who cannot let sin stand. This thief was at the point that he knew his sins had found him out. He rejected God throughout his life, but at this moment in time, his sins found him out. He knew God was not deceived. He knew God would not be mocked, and that realization brought fear of the judgment that was coming to him.

B. The thief knew Jesus was God. (Luke 23:41)

Luke 23:41 “And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.”

What was this thief saying? He was telling his partner in crime that they were both sinners. They were getting what they deserved, and then he says that Jesus had done nothing amiss. What does that mean? It means that he knew that Jesus was sinless.

By admitting Jesus was sinless, what was he proclaiming about Jesus? He was proclaiming the deity of Jesus.

This thief on the cross confessed what Pilate questioned. Pilate questioned whether or not Jesus was God, but this thief confessed that Jesus was God.

C. The thief knew Jesus was going to rule and reign. (Luke 23:42, Romans 10:9-13)

Luke 23:42 “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

What did this thief do? Have you ever thought about his proclamation? He proclaimed what Paul wrote.

Romans 10:9–10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

This thief did not know how Jesus would accomplish it, but he knew Jesus, even though He was dying on the Cross, would live again, establish His Kingdom, and rule and reign forever. He was stating his belief in the resurrection before Jesus even died.

The thief typifies the person who is given one more chance to acknowledge his or her sins before God and to ask God to forgive him or her.

The Spirit of God will not always strive with man is what we are told in the Book of Genesis. As Pilate teaches us, eventually, your sins will completely find you out, and your opportunities to acknowledge God will disappear. This thief was down to his last few hours on earth, yet he was given one more opportunity to acknowledge God, and he did, but I must caution you, dear friend.

Yes, your sins are going to find you out, but you do not know when the last opportunity to acknowledge God comes. Do not wait like the thief did. Acknowledge who Jesus is today.

III. A Soldier

There was another at that red spot of Calvary whose sins found him out that day, and that was a Roman centurion. (Matthew 27:27-54)

Being a centurion meant this Roman officer had 100 men under his command, and I believe by reading carefully that this centurion and his men were Pilate’s executioners.

This centurion and his men typify a truth for which I am eternally grateful, and that truth is that anyone can be saved.

In a sense, we all are Christ’s executioners in that He died because of us, but this centurion and his men literally crucified Jesus. In Matt. 27:27-31, we read they humiliated Jesus by stripping him naked. We read that they mocked Jesus by putting a scarlet robe on him. They crowned him with thorns. They put a reed for a scepter in his right hand. They beat him, mocked him, and spit upon him. They beat him with the scourge with chunks of skin being ripped off and with blood splattering with every lash. Then they led him away to be crucified.

When they got him to Calvary, this centurion, as they stretched Jesus out on the Cross, ordered his men to nail Jesus through both of his hands and feet. As they slammed the cross of Jesus into the hole they had digged, it made a crashing thud causing pain to pierce every inch of Jesus’s body. These men were treating the execution of Jesus like he was a common criminal. It was a practice at which they were masters.

These men were calloused to their profession.

Matthew 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.”

Their response to inflicting so much agony and pain was to gamble for the possessions of Christ , but the sins of this centurion and his soldiers were about to find them out.

I want you to pay careful attention to this verse as you see their sins finding them out, as they realize that God will not be mocked.

Matthew 27:36 “And sitting down they watched him there;”

They had done their deed, and they sat down to watch Jesus die, and I can see in my head the moment this centurion’s eyes locked eyes with the eyes of God with blood gushing from the face of Jesus. This centurion began realizing that he had crucified the Son of God. He was guilty of Jesus’s death.

While others were mocking, and maybe because he heard the conversation between the thief and Jesus, and as he is being confronted with his sin, this centurion began considering the possibility of Jesus being the Messiah as the Holy Spirit began to convict him.

He heard the people deride Him by saying He saved others, but He cannot save Himself, and do you know what? They were right. Jesus could not save Himself if He were to save that thief, that soldier, and me.

John 10:18 “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

They shouted He said He was the Son of God, and as this centurion was watching, he began wondering about what he was seeing and hearing, and God confirmed to Him who Jesus was. This is incredible.

How did God confirm to the centurion who Jesus was?

(1) The land became completely dark in the middle of the day, and I personally believe it became dark-dark. The light of the world had been blackened by the sin of the centurion and by my sin.

(2) Jesus gave up, surrendered, his own life. He yielded up the ghost. Jesus was in control of when He died. The centurion was supposed to control when the prisoner died, but the man on the middle cross seemed to be in control. Is he God? The Centurion pondered.

(3) Then, suddenly, with a loud tearing and shredding sound that echoed throughout Jerusalem and throughout the ages, the curtain separating sinners from God was torn from top to bottom accompanied by a great earthquake as Jesus yielded His Spirit.

(4) Finally, God sent the final witnesses to the centurions confirming the identity of Jesus.

Matthew 27:52–53 “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

I believe that these resurrected saints walked purposefully by this centurion and his men, and at that very moment, the centurion was confronted by the reality of his sin, and he made a startling realization.

Matthew 27:54 “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.”

Because of the witness he was given, this man confessed who Jesus was. Notice the theology of the soldier.

(1) He feared God.

(2) He admitted Jesus was the Son of God.

(3) He knew Jesus would live again because of the resurrection of those Old Testament saints.

To be saved, what does Romans 10:9-10 say?

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

In the face of irrefutable evidence, the Roman centurion confessed Jesus as the Son of God. You are faced, this morning, with the same irrefutable evidence. Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth as man to die in your place. He was sinless, and because He was sinless, He satisfied God’s righteous demands for those things in your life that could damn you to hell.

Proof that He satisfied God’s demands is that God resurrected Him from the dead. After His Resurrection, He physically appeared to over 500 people.

Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. As your sins find you out this morning, are you going to be like Pilate, like a thief, or like a soldier? You cannot wash away the blood of Jesus. You must make a choice, and be not deceived. Today could be the day that your sins completely find you out.