Jesus Before Pilate
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
What is brown and sticky?
A stick
I want to thank everyone who prepared or brought something for our Thanksgiving meal today. We have so much to be thankful for today! We serve a great God!
I want to thank all who came out and helped hand out bags and soup yesterday!
Last week we talked about Peter’s denial of Jesus. He denied Jesus three times that night in the span of about 2 hours. The first denial was a gut reaction to being noticed while deep in the enemies territory. The last two, they were different. Peter had time to leave, he had time to think about where he was and what was happening. He chose to deny Jesus the last two times. What really got to me about last weeks message was the look! The look that Jesus gave Peter. It was not a look of condemnation or judgement. It was a compassionate look of forgiveness and love. I think Peter wept because of the look that Jesus gave him. Peter saw Jesus, His face beaten and bruised and He was being lead away bound to be killed. With all that was going on with Jesus, He took the time to look at Peter and let him know that He still loved him and that it wasn’t over. There was so much compassion in the look that Jesus gave to Peter that it broke Peter. Peter realized what he had just done. All that Peter had seen Jesus do, the healings, the teaching, the casting out of demons! The raising people from death! It all came flooding back to Peter in that moment when Jesus looked at him and Peter broke! He wept bitterly!! It wasn’t the same brokenness as Judas. Judas in his brokenness, he turned to the Sanhedrin and tried to make it right and then killed himself! Peter later came to Jesus for forgiveness. He turned to the only one who could put him back together, The Christ! That is the gospel, that in our brokenness, Jesus died so that we could be made whole again. Jesus died so that all who are broken can come to Him and be made whole. Not all will go to Him, but those who do, forgiveness awaits. Wholeness is just a turn away!
Today we are going to look at the Roman trial of Jesus and Him being delivered to be crucified. We are going to see that the Sanhedrin are up to their games again. They are going to lie and cheat and do whatever it takes to get Rome to kill Jesus. They had to get Rome to do it because not to long ago, they had their ability to put people to death taken away. The Sanhedrin could no long execute any one, Rome took that away from them. So they needed to convince Pilate that Jesus was worthy of the death sentence that they had given to Him. That was the only way that they could complete their plan. Some may say that they killed Stephen. Yes, that was a crowd that stoned Stephen to death, it was not the Sanhedrin. If Stephen would have been brought before the Sanhedrin, they would have had to take him to Pilate also. Stephen’s death was not a ruling from the high court, it was a mob action taken by some of those on the high court. So with that, they needed to convince Pilate to crucify Jesus. They stooped to some new lows for them to get what they wanted.
Please stand as we prepare to read God’s Word.
1 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Pray
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your holy Word
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory
Teach us, Lord, full obedience
Holy reverence, true humility
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity
Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority
It is now morning and we can see that the Sanhedrin are meeting to officially sentence Jesus to death. They are trying to show some sibilance of following the rules. No one know that they had already met in the middle of the night and convicted Jesus in an unlawful trial. Remember that anyone who is sentence to death is supposed to have a waiting period of one day before they are put to death according to Jewish law. This is to allow more evidence and more thought and reflection to go on before someone is put to death wrongly!! We can see that none of this is going to happen for Jesus. He will be executed in a couple of hours.
In all of this, Jesus has never reacted, gotten angry, attacked anyone. He hasn’t even tried to defend Himself. Yet they find it necessary to bind when they take Him to Pilate. Jesus was no flight risk and they knew it. It would not look right for them to walk someone into Pilates place and accuse them of a crime punishable by death and they not be bound. They were making Jesus look like a dangerous criminal!
Pilate had heard of Jesus, everyone in Jerusalem had! He had made quite a name for Himself and with the cleansing of the Temple and the teaching that He was doing, people knew who He was. We can see that Pilate asks a very important question, “ are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate is asking Jesus who He is! We all have to answer this question at some point in our lives. Of all the charges that the Sanhedrin brought against Jesus, this is the only one that Pilate took seriously. Someone who was claiming to be a king would be guilty of rebellion against Rome. The main job of Pilate was to keep the peace and collect the taxes! So anyone claiming to be a King was a big deal. Jesus answers this question with, “You have said so!” Not in a mocking way, but in a confirming way. We can see in John 18:34-37
34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
Jesus tells Pilate that He is a king, but not in the sense that he thinks of a King. Jesus’ kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it was an earthly kingdom, He would have spoken a word and all this would have stopped. Jesus came to be obedient and to serve, this time. When He comes back, it will be as the King that He is. He will come in all His power and Glory. When He returns, it will be to late for repentance then. When He returns, every knee will bow and every tongue confess His name! That is when His kingdom will be setup! In the new Jerusalem and the new heaven, that is His kingdom. Not in the fallen, sin cursed world. He will do away with the old and He will create a new world. Just like He does in us. When we truly repent of our sins and believe in Christ, the old us passes away and we are a new creation. When Jesus comes back, He is going to rule in His new Kingdom.
After this answer, they accuse Jesus of many crimes. Just like in the other trials, Jesus remains silent to all these false charges. He doesn’t need to answer to them. Pilate doesn’t need answers we will see shortly. Pilate was amazed that Jesus was silent will the numerous charges that were brought against Him. Normally the accused will adamantly deny all charges when they are in front of the judge, not Jesus. He remained silent.
We can see in Luke 23:4
4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”
and in John 18:38
38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”
And after saying this, he came out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no grounds at all for charges in His case.
that Pilate believes that Jesus is innocent. He has found no guilt in Jesus. Pilate realized that the Sanhedrin brought Him to Pilate because they were jealous of Jesus. They didn’t like that Jesus was a threat to their power and money. The Sanhedrin would not allow this to stand. They are going to stir up the crowd that has gathered.
Pilate had a tradition that during the feast, he would release one prisoner of whom they asked. The Sanhedrin began to get the crowd riled up and asking for Pilate to release a prisoner. Pilate asked if they wanted him to release the King of the Jews? He was mocking them!
The crowd was shouting for Pilate to release the man named Barabbas! He was a murderer and an insurrectionist. He was part of a group of men who tried to rise up against the Romans recently. The Romans didn’t believe in a long sentence. If you were found guilty, they carried out the sentence quickly. So the fact that Barabbas was still alive meant that the rebellion was recent. More than likely it would have happened with a week or two.
Remember me talking about how there are so many small details that are easily overlooked if you don’t look deep into the study of the Bible? We have one here with Barabbas! His name literally means son of the father! There is a very good chance that that middle cross was actually meant for Barabbas. So the middle cross was meant for a man whose name meant son of the father!! But the man that was crucified on it was THE SON of THE FATHER! We serve such a great God!!
So the crowd is calling for Pilate to release Barabbas instead of Jesus, and they are getting rowdy, they are getting loud. That is not good in the sight of Pilate, he does not want things to escalate. So Pilate asks the second very important question, What do you want me to do with the king of the Jews?
Another question we all have to answer. What are we going to do with Jesus? What are you or what have you done with Jesus? This is the most important question we all have to answer! Eternity hangs in the balance of how we answer this question.
In our verses today we have two of the most important questions that we all have to answer. Who do you say Jesus is and what are you doing with Him. Hopefully none of you have answered those questions the way the Sanhedrin did! They got it wrong!!
So did the crowd that they stirred up. They begin to shout crucify Him! Pilate tries to talk them out of it, he asks what has He done to deserve this? But they shouted all the louder, crucify Him!!
Pilate not wanting another uprising, releases Barabbas and sends Jesus to be scourged and then crucified!
On that day, the only time in history, we can say that a truly innocent man was sentenced to death. We are all guilty of something, some sin. Jesus had no guilt, yet he quietly went to the cross, like a lamb to the slaughter! He could have stopped it with a word, but He was obedient to His Father.
The Son of The Father to the place of Barabbas.
How have you answered those two questions?
Is Jesus the King?
What are you doing with Jesus?
You have not answered Yes and He is king of my life, then you are in a dangerous place.
Where you spend eternity is hanging on how you answer those questions.
Just answering those questions is not enough. Is you life showing the fruit of the answers you just said in your head. We all answered those question in our heads when I said them. I want us to think about our lives. Are we truly living out those answers? Can someone answer those questions right for us just by watching how will live our lives?
Answering them is not enough.
You only mean the answers if you life reflects those answers!
Are you living as a secret agent?
Are you an undercover Christian?
Jesus doesn’t call anyone to any of those?
We are called to be bold in our witness and our faith!
We are to leave no doubt about how we answered those questions. If someone can not easily tell how you answered those questions, did you really mean those answers?
If you haven’t answered those questions yet, I urge you to not wait to long to answer them! One day it will be to late. Do it while you still can
If you have answered those questions, does your life reflect those answers? If not, ask Jesus for forgiveness and begin today to remove all doubt from everyone. Live like you are not ashamed! If we are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of us. Luke 9:26
26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Don’t leave any doubt, sell out for Christ. He is the only one worth selling out for!
What ever your need is today, please pray and get it right with God today!
Let’s pray
