Jesus or the World?

WELCOME:

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend! I can’t remember a fourth where it was stormy and rainy but we were thankful for it to cool things off.

SCRIPTURE READING:

Psalm 33:6–12 NASB95

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“The Goodness of God”

Words and Music by Hillsong’

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord, thank you for your constancy. For never turning Your back on us, for never getting frustrated with us, for forgiving our sins, for allowing us to be part of Your plan. We ask that You would look down upon this gathering of people and fill our hearts with great joy today as we focus on You. Amen!

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord, give us ears to hear Your voice and eyes to see Your glory. Would you this morning illuminate Your Word and make it known to us? Help us no to make application to others peoples’ lives, but to apply every Word to our own lives. Amen

SERMON

INTRODUCTION:

We are beginning chapter 19 this morning and the main character and our main focus in these verses is Pilate. Now we do not know a whole lot about Pilate, but let me give you a few details to help us grasp this story:

Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea and was already in some political trouble with the emperor Tiberius for his ruthless tactics in Judea.

Pilate was married to Claudia who had a dream the night before Jesus’ trial and sent a message to him the next day that He was a righteous man and that he should not be involved in His condemnation

Pilate’s character was ruthless. Unlike previous governors who served in his role, he showed no mercy to the Jews and used his Roman power to force his will among the people.

But here in these verses we see a Pilate who seems to conduct this trial with integrity and a real desire to Dow shy is right. He seems to understand what is going on, demonstrates some religious convictions and tries repeatedly to release Jesus.

As the Roman’s governor, the power to crucify ultimately lies within his hands, and although he is the one who has the power to make that call, it will be him who is seated on the judgement seat at the end.

He must be the one to choose to side with Jesus or side with the world.

And the same is true for us. This is not just a story about the Roman governor Pilate, it is a story about mankind, who will at some point for forced to choose to side with Jesus or to side with this world.

I’m going to pull out some principles this morning as we walk down through these verses in regards to choosing or rejecting Jesus:

1) There is no middle ground with Jesus

John 19:1–5 NASB95

Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!”

Explanation:

Just one short verse is all we have here to tell us of the beating Jesus received.

In fact, just one word: “scourged” which was a flogging with a whip made out of leather that had pieces of bone or rock sewn in the leather strips.

Now a whipping by grown men was bad enough, but this device was designed not only to whip, but to rip the skin from the body causing open wounds and extreme pain and blood loss. It was not uncommon for men to die during one of these scourgings.

Jesus was most likely stripped down and tied to a post or thrown on the ground and whipped without restraint by Pilate’s soldiers.

Jewish Law only allowed 39 lashes, but the Romans had no laws to the punishment they would afflict. And from the behavior of these soldiers, who mocked Jesus and slapped him, they appear as men with no mercy.

But it wasn’t just the scourging, but a crown of thorns was twisted and placed upon Jesus’ head. Undoubtedly, in a brutal and very painful way to inflict more damage. And what a display of mockery and punishment to present to the crowd.

And then the added shame and mockery by wrapping him in a purple robe and bringing him out as the so called king of the Jews.

Bridge:

And I want you to notice who initiated all this punishment: Pilate. (v 1) “Pilate then took Jesus and had Him scourged”. This was not the cruelty of the soldiers, nor was it a suggestion of the Jews, but by Pilate’s command he had Jesus scourged.

And why would Pilate initiate such a violent beating upon a Man whom he believed was innocent? Three times Pilate says, “I find NO guilt in Him”.

What he was trying to do was find some middle ground in this situation. He doesn’t want to crucify Jesus. He doesn’t want that blood guilt on his hands. And at the same time, he doesn’t want this crowd to turn on him and run to the emperor and him lose his status as governor.

And so by beating Jesus, he tried to meet these opposing forces in the middle:

I don’t want to crucify this innocent man so beat him so bad that they crowd will see him and have some remorse.

And when he comes out and says, “Behold the Man” it’s as if he saying to the world, here this is what I have come up with… “Look at this poor, bruised, bleeding creature! Look at this mess of a man! Can you possibly want this poor to be subject to further punishment by going through crucifixion?

I will meet you somewhere in the middle. He’s not dead, but I did not let him go free either.

Application:

And that way some of us approach Jesus. We know what the demands are to follow Jesus. We know what the costs to follow Jesus. We hear the sermons, we have read the verses, and we cannot bear the thought of completley siding with Jesus and doing all that we know we ought to do.

Yet on the other hand we like Pilate know that it is absolutely wrong to reject Jesus. To do that would be to forfeit one’s soul. To choose to spend eternity in hell. To stay an enemy of God. No fool who BELIEVES in Jesus would just walk away and choose not to be saved

So people do like Pilate and try to find comfort in some kind of middle ground…

Middle ground is somewhere between absolute faithfulness and outright disobedience.

Middle ground is when we pick and choose what we will obey and disobey according to the circumstances in our lives.

Hey Jesus, these demands are too hard. Its too much. Let’s do some negotiating. Let’s meet in the middle somewhere about this.

It’s an attempt to reconcile the world and Jesus together somehow on middle ground and make them friends

Middle ground is when we want to keep both sides happy!

I can’t be completely faithful to the church, I have obligations to my family. I’ll come most of the time and make both sides happy.

I can’t live that way or my friends will call me a fool, OR my spouse will leave me if I do that

Or like Pilate, if I side with Jesus completely I may lose everything, my standing as governor, my reputation, my power….I will be ruined!

Or the pressure in ministry to try to keep everyone happy or make the focus completely about pleasing Jesus

So people search for middle ground. Not all the way in and not all the way out

And this also happens in the church as well

Hey this Great Commision is too difficult. For people to be born again is a rare thing. So churches try to meet people on some middle ground.

Well you don’t have to give up everything for Jesus. Just give Him some of your life.

Just try to do the things that Christians do and then you’ll be one

Let’s not be so biblical…if we are then no one will ever come!

Does that work?

(v 6)

John 19:6 NASB95

So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!”

Nope. Not even a dent. Pilate’s right back where he began before he had Jesus scourged.

Why?

Matthew 12:30 ““He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”

There is no middle ground with Jesus. There is no part time obedience. Jesus said it’s all or nothing.

2) To choose not to choose is still a choice

John 19:6–8 NASB95

Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.” Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;

Explanation:

“take Him yourself and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him”. In other words, I’m washing my hands of this whole thing.

You want to kill Him, here you do it, Im stepping away

In fact, in Matthew’s gospel that’s exactly what Pilate does:

Matthew 27:24 “When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.””

But to NOT decide is NOT an option. See Pilate condemns his own decision here by saying, “I find no guilt in Him” and will yet rather stand by and watch all of you men put this man to death when the power to stop this injustice is in my hands but I choose to opt out!

When I was a paramedic, and we were going through training there were laws after laws that we had to learn because when it comes to dealing with people’s lives you can get into some serious trouble quick…even out of ignorance.

For instance, you must do what is best for the patient according to your protocols and level of training or you could be sued for malpractice and even be criminally prosecuted.

Once a patient is in your care, you cannot just stop giving care. You must provide care until you pass them off to another health care provider or equal or greater training.

But there was also the duty to act. And that is the law that states you must render care because if you have been trained to help, And you are available to help, you must help or be found guilty of breaking the law

That’s what Pilate was trying to do here. The power was in his hands to set Jesus free or crucify him. He had the authority in this matter. He knew what was right and wrong. Yet he tried to opt out of the whole thing and have no part in it

To NOT choose is a choice in itself.

Sometimes we think that we can avoid the pressure of choosing by simply ignoring it altogether.

We think in ignorance that we will become exempt. If we simply avoid the choice altogether.

When faced with a decision (especially regarding faith or truth), deciding to put off a decision is effectively a decision to reject it.

Others say well I don’t know what I really believe so I’m not deciding upon anything

But to claim ignorance on this issue does not excuse us because what we are ultimately choosing is to continuing doing what we have always done!

Or we think we can be like Pilate and put the decsion on another person

Pilate said, I’m not doing this, here you do it as if he could side step the responsibility

A spouse cannot curb their responsibility on their wife or husband because they are unfaithful and say well they were the leader in the home….or well I had to or my wife would make my life miserable

The choice to choose not to choose is still a choice

3) There are no exceptions to what God has already said

John 19:9–11 NASB95

and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

Explanation:

Pilate is cornered here. He cant meet them in the middle. He cannot curb the responsibility on the Jews. So now he turns back to Jesus in hopes that he will find some way out of this mess.

And he asks Jesus, “where are you from?” And Jesus does not give Him an answer.

When he asks where are you from, he is asking if He is from heaven or from earth, not what region He is from.

They claim to have have said you are the Son of God are, so tell me if you are really from heaven or not.

Clearly Pilate has some religious convictions here that this he does not want to violate.

He is now afraid, and he is not afraid of the Jews, but he is afraid of Jesus

Jesus does not answer Pilate.

And the reason He does not answer Pilate is because Pilate has already questioned Jesus in chapter 18…And Jesus has already told him the truth and what he needs to hear

John 18:36 NASB95

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

Pilate doesn’t need to know where Jesus is from, because Jesus has already told Pilate where he is from!

What Pilate is looking for here is not clarity but clearance!

He wants a different answer from Jesus than he got in chapter 18. He cannot bring himself to think about what it might mean for him to crucify the Son of God.

Hey Jesus, tell me something different this time. I don’t like that first answer you gave me.

Hey I don’t like what you said over there in the gospel of Matthew, I don’t like that statement in the book of Romans….can you summon me up another truth that will fit my desire?

Hey this Great Commission thing is too hard and makes us look like failures…we’re just going to ignore that whole “born again thing” and make up our own definition of what salvation is so we can look successful.

I’ve prayed about this and I haven’t heard an answer so the answer must be yes!

What a dangerous thing it is church, to know what Jesus has said about something, something in our life, something in the church…or know what the Bible teaches explicitly, and yet to bow our head and begin to ask Jesus again in hope for a different answer

See if we know what to do and yet keep asking what to do, our answer may be the answer Pilate got: “but Jesus gave him no answer”

This is what I’m saying church, we are accountable for what we already know!

And there is no changing the mind of Jesus, there is no changing the Word of God, there is no option 3…there is only obedience and there is disobedience…

What God has said must be what our desires are to obey.

4) Pilate is forced to sit down on the judgement seat

John 19:12–16 NASB95

As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.” Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

Explanation:

Now we may argue, he wanted to free Jesus. He wanted to do the right thing, but those nasty Jews pushed him to the limits until he broke.

But that still does not excuse Pilate and Scripture makes that clear here.

The Bible paints this picture of a man who has the whole world in front of him, and the decision literally rests in that moment that will determine everything:

“he brought Jesus out and (he) sat down on the judgement seat”

He is forced to choose: the ruler of the world or the King of heaven and earth.

Caesar or God.

The world or Jesus.

Heaven or hell.

And that is all of us at some point in our lives, no matter how much we try to avoid it, we must all sit down on the judgement seat and decide once and for all, are we going to put everything on the line for Jesus, or will we cave into the pressures of this world.

There’s no doubt many of us in this room have already sat down at that very judgement seat and have chosen: Some have chosen to risk everything and side with Jesus.

And some very likely have sat down right where Pilate is and for whatever reason, however they rationalized it, they have chosen to keep everything under their control and side with this world.

But then there are others here who may be right now where Pilate was that day, and your future, your eternity, your very soul depends upon what you will choose.

And you feel the very pressure of this world. I’m sure you do. Make no mistake it cost to follow Jesus. It may cost you everything to follow Jesus just like he proposed to the rich young ruler…

You will feel pressure from other people. Maybe is the pressure of being embarrassed or the pressure of everyone you know calling you a fool if you to turn to Christ completely. But you will have to choose.

1) There is no middle ground with Jesus. There’s no compromise. There is with Him or against Him, those are the only options!

2) There is no curbing the responsibility to choose on someone else. The responsibility belongs to us, the judgement seat belongs to us.

Do you remember the story of Ananias and Sapphire? Ananias conspired that whole thing up and all Sapphire did was go along with it, but she was judged just the same as Ananias was.

If a friend or spouse your or child or fellow church member friend or even the pastor Himself would convince you to choose anything other than Jesus, you will still be held accountable for that decision.

3) There is no changing what God has said.

Seeking different answers from God to fit our life circumstances may only result in His silence toward us.

Whom will you choose?

~PRAYER~