Counted Among the Rebels

Intro: The Story of Dwayne Dail

On Sep. 4, 1987, a man broke into a home in Goldsboro, NC and attacked a 12-year-old.

Dwayne Dail, who was 20 years old at the time, was sentenced to two life sentences plus an extra 18 years for the crime.

Right here in our backyard, Dail began his prison sentence at Central Prison in Raleigh, NC.

While in prison, Dail himself was attacked by other prisoners on numerous occassions, and by his best estimate he was transferred to 16 different prisons.

The only thing is, Dail was an innocent man. Trying his best to prove his innocence he said “I wrote my attorney continuously. I wrote the governor every day. I wrote the President. And I got no response, no help, no one was willing to do anything.”

Then, in 2007, after finding previously lost DNA evidence from the crime scene, Dail was proved to be innocent of the crime and immediately released from prison.

After nearly 20 years in prison, Dwayne Dail was a free man.

Stories like this one are very bittersweet.

While it’s a good thing that justice was served and an innocent man was released from wrongful imprisonment, it also helps us recognized how wrong it feels for an innocent person to face punishment.

In fact, the whole idea of an innocent man taking the penalty for someone else’s crimes seems backwards to us.

But, if someone who is innocent willingly steps in to take the punishment of a guilty person, our entire perspective on the story changes. If this were to happen, even though we may be confused, we’d probably call that innocent person a hero.

Transition: In our study of Mark ch. 15-16 tonight, we will see a heroic gesture of Jesus just like this.

Main Idea: The innocent Jesus was condemned guilty by mankind so that mankind may be treated as innocent by God.

1. Jesus is the rightful and righteous King (Mark 15:1-5)

Expl:

“Are you the King of the Jews?” (v.2a) - What is Pilate really asking?

The Roman worry of insurrection - their swiftness to kill anyone attempting to rebel against Roman rule - Pilate was notorious for this

Pilate is asking if Jesus is a political leader that threatens the authority of the Roman government and his authority as governor

“You say so.” (v. 2b) - What is Jesus really telling him?

Jesus doesn’t answer in the positive or the negative; He doesn’t say yes or no. But in this answer He’s hinting to at least two things.

He’s not saying that He isn’t the King. He certainly knows and believes that He is the True King - not only of the Jews, but the rightful King of the entire universe (Phil. 2:10-11). In one sense, He’s acknowledging that what Pilate has just said is true.

BUT, He is saying that He’s not the King the Pilate thinks He is. He is no insurrectionist, no rebel leader. He’s not a political figure or a king that’s come to build His kingdom through force and overthrowing Rome... We know He and His Kingdom are different when we look at what happens in v. 3-5.

“Jesus did not answer” (v. 5)

The Jews falsely accused Jesus of all kinds of things:

False teachings about God

Teaching against paying taxes to Rome (Luke 23:2)

Claiming that He would destroy the temple (Matthew 26:60-61)

But to all of these things, even in front of the political leader who could decide whether He lived or died, Jesus made no argument for His innocence. This is important for 2 reasons:

Jesus had no need to justify His innocence; it was obvious. The Pharisees knew it, and even Pilate knew it as we see in v. 10.

In His silence, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah that described how the Savior would suffer.

Illus: Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmond who are the rightful kings and queens of Narnia who find the White Witch ruling when they arrive.

Arg:

Philippians 2:10–11 (CSB)

at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Isaiah 53:5–9 (CSB)

But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

***Pilate and the Jews accuse Jesus as if He were a rebel king attempting to rule a kingdom that is not His, when it’s really they who are the rebels attempting to rule the Kingdom which belongs to Christ.

Appl:

We must radically re-evaluate the way that we think about and respond to Jesus.

C.S. Lewis’ Liar, Lunatic, or Lord argument: “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.” (Mere Christianity)

Jesus is the King, and if we fail to live as if He is our King, we are in rebellion against God.

Transition: Now having seen Jesus’ trial, lets look to the scene of His being sentenced.

2. Jesus the Righteous stands in the place of the Rebellious Sinner (Mark 15:6-15)

Expl:

While there is so much that we could unpack in these verses, I want to focus in on this person that we’re introduced to named Barabbas (v. 7).

Barabbas: Pretty much all we know about this guy is in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Also imprisoned, awaiting his death sentence.

Murderer

Caused a rebellion

He was “notorious”, or well-known, for being a real problem causer (Matt. 27:16)

There is not a single doubt that Barabbas is guilty of every single thing of which he is accused… but when the opportunity arises to release a prisoner, the crowd chooses the criminal and demands that Jesus be killed in his place.

v. 9: I didn’t notice until this morning that Pilate asks to release the King of the Jews “for you”

“here’s your king! I will give Him to you! You may serve Him, and He may rule you! All you have to do is say the word!

And what did they say?… “Kill him”

The people

Because Jesus stood in our place, He welcomes us to sit with Him in His (Rev. 3:21)

3. Because Jesus came to us, we go for Him (Mark 16:15-16)

Expl:

What is the gospel? This whole story!

Jesus the innocent, perfect Savior died in the place of every rebellious sinner, and we are saved through faith in Him!!

And what is it that we preach? Look at Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

And if you don’t believe Jesus, maybe listen to Paul in Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Appl:

There is a world outside of these walls that is filled with people that if they died tonight would be separated from God forever because they have not surrendered to Jesus as King and believed that He died in their place to save Him.

We have the message of salvation for the whole world here in our hands and written on our hearts, and Jesus has tasked us with making it known to those who are still guilty in their sin.

What will you do about it? Stay quiet, keep it to yourself? Or will you listen to the command of Jesus and go to your neighbors and the nations because He died for you?

I’ll end with the words from one of my favorite hymns:

“Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me!”