Nature of the Heart

Nature of the Heart

August 24, 2025

John 19:1-16

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This will be a shocking start for today’s passage. I want us to be a bit jolted as to the compromise the world’s most esteemed and respected people made in their lives. In the end, those compromises and attempts for self-preservation proved to be their own greatest failures. According to Gospel Way Press:

THOMAS PAYNE – Leading atheistic writer in American colonies: “Stay with me, for God’s sake; I cannot bear to be left alone, O Lord, help me! O God, what have I done to suffer so much? What will become of me hereafter? I would give worlds if I had them, that The Age of Reason had never been published. O Lord, help me! Christ, help me! No, don’t leave; stay with me! Send even a child to stay with me; for I am on the edge of hell here alone. If ever the Devil had an agent, I have been that one.”

VOLTAIRE – Famous anti-Christian atheist: “…I am abandoned by God and man.” He said to his physician, Dr. Fochin: “I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months of life.” When he was told this was impossible, he said, “Then I shall die and go to hell!” His nurse said: “For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness.”

DAVID HUME – Atheist philosopher famous for his religious skepticism … He cried loud on his death bed “I am in flames!” It is said his desperation was a horrible scene.

GANDHI— At his death, he said, “For the first time in 50 years, I find myself in the slough of despond. All about me is darkness. I am praying for light.”

All of these men were leaders of leaders, influencers of influencers, and all built their lives in opposition to truth for the sake of self, pride, and what they thought was what popular opinion should be. I want you to hear the desperation of some of the greatest minds in human history as they stepped into eternity completely lost and judged.

Today, we continue the study of our Lord’s final hours, and you will see the similar desperation of the hearts of proud men. To this point, Christ has endured three religious trials by the Jews, and two civil trials (one from Pilate, one from Herod), and now this final one.

Through all these trials, He is courageously enduring the undeserved wrath of man and God, and He is demonstrating the commitment of God to redeem His children. Even when darkness looks like it is winning over the light, Jesus reminds us that He holds all power over all things, even when the situation looks like there are no positive outcomes.

Pilate is in a tough spot. If he kills an innocent man to satisfy the crowd, Ceaser (his boss) will surely fire him if not have him put to death. If he does not kill Jesus, the crowd will revolt. What does he do? Before we disconnect and say that it is not our problem, I would caution each of us. You see, our hands are not clean in this. Our sins put us in similar positions. Allow me to show you how.

1.             Attempt to satisfy the crowd.

READ Vs 1-5

Last week, Pat showed Pilate’s attempts to make this problem go away. He was pulling out all the stops to get the crowd to let it go, even to the point of releasing a known murderer and insurrectionist (Barabas). And yet, he could not get them to let Him go. So, instead of doing the right thing and releasing Jesus, he has him flogged.

Let’s review if you were not here for our Easter Sermon on this. The Roman flagrum is a hardened handle with strands of leather at the end. In those strands were sharp bones, metal balls, and bits of other materials. The goal was not just a beating, but also a means to tear flesh. When the lictor (executioners) used this device, it was science and an art form.

When the strands struck the back of the victim, the Lictor would quickly pull the handle, and the sharp object would remove skin and muscle as it tore into flesh. It was horrible. This process was not short. They could not do all 39 slashes because after 5 minutes of this, the victim would go into shock and die. The executioners would have to stop after three to five lashes. It is said that it took 6 men to do this.

I always wondered why the mocking (crown, robe, and extra beatings). Here is part of the answer. It gave Jesus time to recover so the shock would not kill Him; they had to have something to do. So they proceeded to mock Him with the crown of thorns, the robe of purple, and other physical abuses. The point is that these are professionals. They knew just how far to take it, not from mercy, but to keep Him alive long enough for more beatings.

The result is a bloody mess. Christ would be reduced to a pulverized, bleeding heap that barely resembled what He once was. I asked this back in Easter. Why did Pilate do this if he knew that Jesus was innocent? First, it was prophetic (Isiah 53:5 He was wounded for our transgressions” and Isaiah 52:14 “As many were astonished at you- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance…”

But, also, Pilate was desperate. Do you hear the desperation in the passage? He knows that he is innocent. He is trying the best he can to get the crowd to let it go. Maybe, just maybe, they will see the remains of Jesus after the flogging and say, Okay, that’s enough.

He is assuming some level of compassion. Look at verse 5, “Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man!”- The tone here is – “this, this is what you all are fired up about. This heap of exposed flesh, this? This bloody mess is worth all this? Really?

Everything that Jesus had been teaching for three years, compassion, forgiveness, love, and mercy, was being countered. Pilate would have been familiar with Jesus’s teachings, and yet, there was none in the crowd saying, Mercy.

It is safe to say that Satan himself was in that crowd, screaming for murder. Imagine, please, Satan being totally cut loose on this crowd with no restraint.

But, before we give Satan too much credit, he didn’t really need much to get this going. Remember Jesus saying in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning...”

Satan is no doubt a player, but I don’t want to give him too much credit. Human nature was fighting for its own kingdom, the kingdom of death. This is the free will of man on display, acting according to its nature. This is sin unchecked. Remember, we have three enemies: the world, the flesh, and Satan. All three were raging in unison on this day.

Now, before we are quick to say, no way! There is no way that I could ever take part in this. Hold on. You may not be in the physical crowd, but how many times have you hated democrats, republicans, racists, and abortionists? How many times have you thought that it would be just better for all of us if that person was not breathing?

Look, guys, we may say we are above this, but are we? I would argue, we are all here. Maybe not physically, but spiritually, our hands are not clean! We all have our self-preservation and justification just under the surface that is pulling our strings like an evil puppet master.

2.             Attempt to satisfy authority.

READ Vs 6-8

What was at play for Pilate? What did he stand to lose? 1. The crowd had him. We talked about who was really in charge. Pilate had the title but he also knew that the jews that he hated most had the real authority with Ceaser. 2. Ceaser had placed him here to keep peace, but it was slipping from his hands. You can feel the energy building to a fever pitch. The words are more than just ink on a page! You can feel him losing control. 3. His wife even tells him what to do, “have nothing to do with this RIGHTEOUS man! (Mat 27:19).

Then there is one last major contributor to his dilemma. His pride was at stake, what little he had left. And so, we see him say:

Vs 6 “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him for I find no guilt in Him.”

Do you remember what I said about Eeous Gladiei? The power of the sword (life and death) was only to be held by Rome, NOT the Jews. But look what Pilate says. Not only can you kill Him, but you can even use the cross to do it! But look at the frenzy of the crowd. Even that does not change the outcome. There was no pulling this back. Christ was going to die by the hands of Rome, no matter what.

Read Vs 9-11

Jesus gives a powerful truth to Pilate that all power is delegated power. The authority that Pilate had, in his mind, came from Ceaser. But, in reality, that power came from God. Through God’s sovereign plan, Pilate is here for such a time as this. This plan is far above the highest ruler in the land. Even Caesar himself would not be able to stop this.

A bigger decision was before Pilate, and it stands before you and me. On one hand, the kingdom of the world. It promises temporary comfort. On the other hand, the kingdom of God. It promises salvation eternally, but it is delayed. God’s kingdom is often intangible and is always a matter of trust. This is what Jesus is sharing with Pilate, My Kingdom is not this one.

You know, the irony of all this is that Christ’s kingdom is absolutely no threat to Rome or even the Jews. The values of the Kingdom of God are so contrary to those of this world that it makes no sense to the kingdom of darkness. So, because it stands so opposed to the darkness, the kingdom of light is viewed as the enemy.

Here is a real application for us: what authority are you bending to? Many of us would say there is no boss that I answer to. No authority can put me in a position like Pilate. I would challenge you on that. In Romans 13 Paul talks about submitting to the authority God has placed over us. Yes, that means our elected officials, but what about the authority that your sin exercises over you? Have you seen in your life where sin seems like it is in charge of you instead of the Spirit of God? Why does it seem like sin is always in control? We are not so far from Pilate.

Can you feel the tension? Put yourself here, standing with Pilate. What do you do? Now, the big question: did God make Pilate do this? After all, look back at what Jesus says, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above.”

3.             Attempt to satisfy the will.

Read Vs 12-16

The key to understanding how God harmonizes man’s free will and His sovereignty is God’s business. It is God who works that out; we need to be comfortable with it. God is allowing Pilate to do what Pilate does best: be Pilate. God is allowing him to act according to Pilate’s will, allowing him to be himself with all the consequences of his actions. This is God’s justice on display. Pilate is desperately attempting to work himself out of this problem, and in so doing, God is using these actions to fulfill the plan of salvation.

Swindal writes: “Pontius Pilate stood at a critical juncture—for him, a choice having eternal impact. He had to decide which kingdom he would serve. To render a ‘not guilty’ verdict and release Jesus would have certainly destroyed his political career and may have invited severe punishment from Rome. So, instead of submitting to the kingdom of God, Pilate set truth aside for the sake of power, earthly success, and short-term comfort.”

John records that Pilate wanted to “release him (vs12), but the Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar…” Can you feel the hopelessness of where Pilate is? For us, we can see the pre-scripted plan coming together. He is witnessing time and space crashing together perfectly to this point in human history. It is unavoidable.

John does not record useless facts. Look closely at verse 14. It was the day of Preparation, and the sixth hour. This is a critical point. They had beaten Him and tried him for 4 hours! Also, John records that this was the day of preparation. Meaning preparation for the Passover lamb to be killed (an act only done 1 time per year). If you think this is coincidental, I lovingly want to say, you're crazy!

As they were preparing the Passover lamb to be slain in the morning, the real Passover lamb, the Lamb of God, was being prepared for His cross. All of this timing was perfectly executed by the God of the universe to pay the penalty of your and I’s sin.

In an act of the will, Pilate proceeds to cave and, in so doing, perfectly acts according to the will of the Heavenly Father to secure the salvation of His children. Verse 16 records the failure of man and his attempt to satisfy the crowd, earthly authority, and his own pride all the while fulfilling a pre scripted plan.

4.             What would you say to Pilate?

Knowing what you know now, all of the context, all of the history that we have laid out over the last 3 years in John and now the last 5 weeks of studying the 6 trials, what do you say to Pilate right here before he sends Christ to the cross? Pretend that you can say something in perfect Greek or Latin in the ear of Pilate, what would you say?

There are no questions to ask him. You know all the answers! You even know the back story! The plan from Genesis 3 where God first shares the Gospel message to Adam and Eve, all the Law Moses, all of the OT prophecies leading to this point, all of the historical facts over His 3 year ministry as the Perfect Lamb of God standing before an Earthly ruler who is getting ready to pass judgment on the King of the Universe.

God, being presented in the flesh, perfect, innocent of any law of God or man, stands before Pilate as the payment for your sin. He, a heap of bloody mess with the weight of the universe on His perfect shoulders, what do you say to Pilate?

I would argue you have only three options to say to him:

a. You could say: Crucify Him with the crowd. But then you are no different than the kingdom of darkness. You are part of those who hate the light, proving that you only want your own will to rebel. You are saying, I have no king. This is where we find many people, even good church people who say they know Jesus, yet in their sin, want their sin more than their salvation.

b. You could say: STOP, don’t kill Him! Don’t you know who He is? But, if you say this, then you don’t know the gravity of your sin. If Christ did not go to the Roman Cross, you are not saveable. If Christ does not die here, now, by this means, we are dammed like the men in my introduction. The Word of God says, “For the wages of sin is death…” If you stop this, you and I will spend eternity in hell for the cost of our sin.

c. You could say, with tears in your eyes: LORD, I see the plan of redemption, Pilate, please, believe on the LORD. Drop to your knees, Pilate, beg for forgiveness! REPENT! Place your faith in HIM. Recognize the true KING of your salvation. Remembering that Christ must be crucified.

Guys, Pilate had to crucify Jesus or we would not be able to be saved. Would you, knowing the weight of your sin, with tears streaming down your face, tell Pilate, you have to do this, there is no other way.

If Christ did not die, we would die eternally. Our sin places you at a crossroads. On one hand, the Perfect Lamb of God. On the other hand, your destruction. To view our sin correctly, it has us in a corner that we can see no way out of. You and I have no way to fix our sin issues. We are left with the consequences of them. Church, I want each of us to feel this desperation today. Feel this weight!

Conclusion:

Allow me to take you back to my introduction. The names I went over are just some of the many end of life experiences that are recorded. These and many more came to the end and found that to compromise on this is a ticket punched on a highway to hell. I want to leave you with one more.

Fredrich Neitzsche spent his entire life attempting to destroy the institution of the Christian faith. In 1889, he wrote works like “God is dead” and many others. He also mocked the death of many Christian converts and called them “actors”. He went on to say that if they were to recover, it would have been better if someone had put a pillow over their face.

In short, he hated Christianity. But, in 1889-1900 he suffered a massive nervous breakdown. On his death bed he looked at his mother and said "Mutter, ich bin dumm.”Translated is “Mother, I am dumb.” We do not know what this means or what he meant. My point is that his life was one that compromised truth out of hatred for the light.

Maybe you are caught between sin (the easy way) and righteousness. To continue in sin is the easiest choice by far. It would appease the popular opinion, the authority of the world and to be honest your own desires.

Look, speaking as one who has and at times have given in to the option of sin, I can tell you that the easy way only leads to despair, misery and eventual destruction. That despair makes you feel like there is no hope and no way out. But, there is another choice! It’s found in the cross of Christ! He saves!