The Crown of Thorns
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Can you imagine a friend gifting you a Fully Paid cruise
to the Caribbean.
30 days of Rest, Fun --- all your expenses paid in full
amazing huh ---- all your bills at home are paid in advance as part of this gift. your cellphone and email will be fully taken care of
You can just rest and know that everything is taken care of...
Your friend arranged to stay at your house, feed your pets, pay your bills and do your job.
Everything possible is handled. All paid in Full
BUT
You received the gift and then do nothing with it. You accepted the gift card but haven’t done a thing with it.
Your friends keeps calling to help make it happen and you give excuses and blew it off
You don’t explore the experience
and you totally just keep putting it off.
How would that make your friend feel?
Could you imagine if that friend gave everything to the pay for the trip?
That you friend gave every penny of their savings
That you friend Gave UP their earthly possessions
to ensure that you would have a peace and a rest
Today our text should challenge us to examine the Depth of Our Faith.
Jesus paid it all for YOU and for ME
Do we live our lives in appreciation of that Gift for Him?
Jesus suffered through it all for YOU and me
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Our lesson:
Jesus is in His Last Hours prior to the CROSS
Pilate has tried to wash his hands of the matter
Passing the buck back to the Jewish Leaders
Seeking to use the Jewish tradition of releasing one prisoner
Pilate is seeking to placate the situation
and it is NOT WORKING
The whole situation rebounds to him
so he seeks to mollify them
with having Jesus flogged
Pilate ---Likely did not understand at all the
INTENSITY of the JEWISH hatred for JESUS
The Message of John ((ii) 19:1–16a)
The Romans had three levels of flogging:
the fustigatio, a lighter beating for lesser offences;
the flogellatio, a brutal flogging for more serious crimes; and
the verberatio, the most terrible of all, which was administered as part of the preliminary to crucifixion.
The verberatio has been described as follows: ‘the victim was stripped, bound to a post or pillar, and beaten by a number of torturers
until the latter grew tired and the flesh of the victim hung in bleeding shreds.
Jesus is flogged and then becomes a plaything for the Roman Guards
There was an intense hatred of the Jewish in General in Culture
So it is likely that the intensity of the evil games
was due to having the KING OF JEWS in their hands
They chose to vent their frustration and anger
on the JEWISH through JESUS
The mockery was to arraign HIS coronation
All Kings need a CROWN --- RIGHT?
Crown of Thorns
Crown of Thorns
Kings wear crowns
We have seen the bejeweled ones in TV shows
and the crown of laurels presented to a winning athlete
Kings wear robes
again our images are likely determined by TV or movies
Jesus was ask by Pilate if he was the King of the Jews
The hatred for the Jews, fueled the mockery ---fueled the events
it is likely that Jesus received the lighter flogging
the attempt for Pilate to appease the Jews
Flogged, bleeding, he is taken by the soldiers
and dressed with a purple sheet
and a crown of thrones placed upon his head.
The crown was likely made of date palm branches with spikes up to 12 inches in length.
Woven quickly together and rammed on to his head
Jesus in the last hours has been mocked, tried, moved, tested and tested, physically slapped
and
Then flogged likely by Pilate himself --- [history notes a cruel streak in Pilate]
Now a play thing for the soldiers
Brought to Pilate - judged to be flogged — mocked and ridiculed —
Dressed up in mockery --- and paraded back in front of the Jews
This fails to appease the Leaders of the Jews see him
Crucify Crucify HIM
Blood lust and hatred
Pilate seeks to hand him over ---wash his hands again
Pilates wife had horrible dreams and advised her husband Pilate
to have nothing to do with this innocent man
Matthew 27:19 (ESV)
19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”
Pilate hears the statements of the Jewish leaders ---
Pilate hears the words of his wife --- from a dream
Pilates self protection is yelling --- GET OUT OF THIS SITUATION
The leaders go back to the LAW to push their agenda forward
Leviticus 24:16 (ESV)
16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him.
The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
Pilate hears the Leaders and fears insurrection --- is worried about his Position
Pilates wants it over --- wants to free Jesus --- and walk away
Remember there is a trading of Jesus with Herod in our timeline also
And Pilate walks away closer friends with Herod
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
AND SELF PROTECTION arises it evil head.
The Leaders seek now the argument that
Jesus is a threat to Caesar
Pilate is overwhelmed now ---
Pilate pleads to Jesus one last time
10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”
and finally Jesus answers Pilate
John 19:11 (ESV)
11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.
Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
IT is LIKE JESUS is so INTENT of DOING THE WILL OF GOD
that he gives Pilate the OUT that he has been seeking
Pilate now given the OUT ---
Takes our LORD and Saviour back outside to the MOB
and
PILATE HANDS JESUS OVER TO BE CRUCIFIED
He is heading for the Cross
To PAY THE PRICE OF THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE
To BE THE GOOD NEWS TO THE WORLD
All so that We could have a place of peace and rest.
Generational Drift
Generational Drift
We all know, and thank God that
God made us to lesser the remembrance of Pain
I can remember situations and remember the amount of pain
but i don’t have the capacity to remember the actual pain
thank the Lord.
This is such a wonderful thing
the physical or even emotional pain is not lived in the future in real time,
but in terms of memories and consequences
A blessing for sure
One of the bad things that can come from this blessing
Is we don’t relive the intensity so we reduce or dilute the history.
This gets worse over generations
The followers of Jesus responded to the events we are studying
we deep emotional responses
the went ALL IN
Giving up theirs for a new life with and In Christ
I told you before, i deeply believe that Paul was one of the Jewish leaders that participated in the mochery and trial of Jesus
I deeply believe it is one of the factors of his commitment to Christ for the rest of his life.
We live the results of the GENERATIONAL DRIFT daily.
We forget the price our fathers and grandfathers paid
a good example is the Civil War --- major happenings would be in the American History Bible
but we forget the price that was paid because we did’t experience it ---
we read
we read conflicting reports
the experiences of the Great Depression, or the horror of WW2
We live with memories and records of past events
but thankful we live in our memories
This is our challenge in our Christian life
To live our life differently based on the traumatic and emotional events that we see in the Bible
Friends —THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD --- and WE SHOULD HONOR THIS HISTORY
We must LIVE DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE HE DIED FOR US
We must be reminded of the DEPTH of the SACRIFICE
so that we NEVER FORGET
the reality of the DEPTH OF LOVE Christ has for us
DEPTH OF SACRIFICE
DEPTH OF LOVE
The deeper appreciation is NOT that he died for us
John 15:13 (ESV)
13 Greater love has no one than this,
that someone lay down his life for his friends.
YES WE HAVE A FRIEND IN JESUS
But that HE SUFFERED AND DIED FOR US
Jesus gave it all so that you could have
that LIFE of REST,
TO EXPERIENCE PEACE,
and LIVE in the PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE.
the Pharisees Plotted
Pilate Placated
and Jesus was Punished
and Jesus will be the Propitiation for our SIN
So we return to the opening story
Can you imagine a friend gifting you a Fully Paid cruise to the Caribbean.
30 days of Rest, Fun --- all your expenses paid in full
Imagine with me that all your other cares for this trip were taking care of also
Your friend arranged to stay at your house, feed your pets, pay your bills and do your job.
Everything possible is handled. All paid in Full
You received the gift and then do nothing with it.
You don’t explore the experience
and you totally just keep putting it off.
How would that make your friend feel?
Could you imagine if that friend gave everything to the pay for the trip?
That you friend gave every penny of their savings
That you friend sold their earthly possessions
to ensure that you would have a peace and a rest
Will you live your LIFE differently TODAY?
Our encounter with the Word of GOD is MEANT TO Change US
I Pray that you yield to the change today.
