Who Killed Jesus (Good Friday 2019)

Introduction

For our teaching time this evening we are going to look to discover the answer to one question.

Who Killed Jesus?

But even if we didn’t believe the Bible the be the Word of God, Historically few people argue that Jesus died on a cross, but the question that we are going to briefly look at tonight is who put him there. What was the chain of events that lead up to this kind of end for Jesus?

To

But how did He get there? Who put Him there? What was the chain of events that lead up to this kind of end for Jesus? For Easter this year I have been reading the book “The Cross of Christ” by John Stott and much of what I am sharing this evening comes from similar questions that He was asking. I highly recommend it to you.

Tension

The answer to the question of “Who Killed Jesus” is not at all like tracking down the “who done it” of of one our favorite mystery or detective stories. In some ways, “Who killed Jesus” is not much of a mystery at all. Many would say that it is closer to a matter of public record. They would say that Jesus was executed because the things that he taught and the following that he gathered were seen as a major threat to the leaders in that day. So they conspired together to have him eliminated.

In his book The Cross of Christ John Stott says the following of how these two powerful group of people came into such an alliance.

“So profoundly did he disrupt the status quo that they determined to do away with him. In fact, they entered into an unholy alliance with one another in order to do so. In the Jewish court a theological charge was brought against him: blasphemy. In the Roman court the charge was political: sedition. But whether his offence was seen to be primarily against God or against Caesar, the outcome was the same. He was perceived as a threat to law and order which could not be tolerated. So he was liquidated."

So for some people that is the end of the conversation. No mystery to solve. No questions to be answered. It is simply a matter of historical record now. Jesus was killed by an alliance between the Jewish Religious leaders and the Roman political leaders because He caused a disruption to the way they wanted life to look. End of story…or is it? For readers of the Bible we know that there is much more to the story.

The New Testament begins with the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark Luke and John. These are four biographies on the life of Jesus, each one coming from a different point of view and written to audiences with different points of view. Some of the events of Jesus’ life are covered in some and not the others, and vice verse, but all four Gospels cover events in Jesus’ trial and execution.

In fact, they entered into an unholy alliance with one another in order to do so. In the Jewish court a theological charge was brought against him: Blasphemy. In the Roman court the charge was political: seditions. But whether his offence was seen to be primarily against God or against Caesar, the outcome was the same. He was perceived as a threat to law and order which could not be tolerated.”

The New Testament begins with the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark Luke and John. These are four biographies on the life of Jesus, each one coming from a different point of view and written to audiences with different points of view. Some of the events of Jesus’ life are covered in some and not the others, but all four cover events in Jesus’ trial and execution.

What is interesting, is that in each of these accounts there is always some semblance of order and legality in both the religious and political court proceedings. We read that the prisoner was arrested, charged, cross-examined, witness were brought in to speak against him and he was given the opportunity to speak on the charges himself. And then in each case the judge pronounced his sentence. On paper, it could look like everything was being done “by the book” but each Gospel writer is careful to let us know that this far from the truth.

The truth is all of this is a facade. All the formalities and legal actions that were taken were done so in order to cloak what was really happening. We are going to look at the incentives behind three key players in the final hours of Jesus life in order to try and determine who it was who killed Jesus.

given opportunity to speak on his behalf and there were witnesses brought in to speak on the behalf of the

Truth

The first person we are going to look at is

The Roman Governor Pontius Pilate

Maybe when I asked the question, “Who killed Jesus” your first thought was like mine, the Roman soldiers did. They were the ones who placed the beam on back and forced him through the streets of Jerusalem. They were the ones with the hammer and the spikes. It was their hands that lifted the cross into the air until it slid into place with a determined and excruciating thud. And certainly, that would be the easiest target to aim at because it is much easier for us to distance ourselves from hearts and hands that would do such things.

But we know that enlisted soldiers don’t have a lot of big picture decisions to make. They just get their orders and they follow them or suffer the consequences. If anything we could blame these men for blind loyalty, but they were not particularly aiming at Jesus, they would have killed whoever came down the chain of command.

When we work our way up the chain, we find Pontius Pilate at the top. He gave the order. He handed Jesus over to the soldiers for execution. The Gospel writers don’t seem to attach any blame to the Roman soldiers for Jesus’ death, but that is not true of the Roman Governor Pilot

John 19:16–18 ESV

16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

John

John

The Greek word for “delivered” here is the word “paradidomi” and it means “to hand over, deliver, betray or to give over”. As we work through the events that lead up to Jesus’ death we will repeatedly encounter this word. It serves a link throughout the events of Jesus’ trial and execution so we are gong to follow it backwards to see where it leads. We start here with this character “Pilate”.

The Roman Governor Pontius Pilate (again)

What we know of Pilate from extra-Biblical records is that he was not happy to have been appointed to the the Judean province. Rome was where the action was and He was far from Rome. In addition, the Roman Emperor at the time was somewhat suspicious of him, and he had two or three marks against him already.

What we know of Pilate from extra-Biblical records is that he was not happy to have been appointed to the the Judean province. Like every Roman leader he had a lust for power and glory, and being this far from Rome was hardly a step in the right direction. Not only that but the distance made it hard to communicate his loyalties. The Roman Emperor at the time had become suspicious of all of his distant governors, and Pilate already had two or three strikes against him.

In addition to his reputation issues in Rome, Pilate was not well liked by the people he governed over either. The presence of the Roman government was always being opposed by zealous Hebrews and in true Roman fashion He answered every affront to Roman rule with a swift and violent response. A wave of recent responses like this had made Jerusalem a very tense environment, and with his loyalties already being questioned in Rome, Pilate was working hard to keep criticisms of his leadership from reaching Rome.

It is against that tenuous backdrop that Pilate receives this man Jesus for sentencing. This Jesus is handed over to him by some of the most powerful Jews in the land. He simply could not afford for this to go wrong.

After hearing their testimony on Jesus, Pilate decides to question him on his own. And he found no grounds for a death sentence. He brings Jesus back out and declares him innocent. But now the people change their story saying that this man not only violates their religious laws but Roman ones as well. This was a lie, but when they followed it up by accusing Pilate, saying that if he lets Jesus go then He is no friend of Cesar, Pilate saw the threat to his position and knew he had to take action.

So even though he has determined Jesus to be innocent, he has him brutally flogged. (40 lashes minus one) Then he brings Jesus out again, this time barely recognizable as a human as so much of his flesh has been ripped off of his body. Pilate is certain that this will be enough to satisfy the blood lust of the mob before him. But it wasn’t. So he tries to bargain with them. He offers to release to them either Jesus or a notorious murderer named Barabbas. His ploy doesn’t work. They choose Barabbas. So Pilate, in frustration, asks what is to be done with the innocent man before him - the cry goes out “Crucify Him, Crucify Him, Crucify Him.”

Pilate knows Jesus is innocent. He has declared it three times already, but he cannot afford another hit on his reputation...

Matthew 27:24–26 ESV

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

John

But is there water that is clean enough to wash the hands of a govenor who has knowingly sentenced an innocent man to death just to keep his reputation in tact. He gives into the pressure of the crowd, instead of doing what he knows is right. Do we excuse such a man? I don’t think so. We declare him to be the PRIDE filled man that he was.

Who killed Jesus? Pilate...certainly played a role, but he is not alone to blame. In one the conversations between them, Jesus him so...

. He was unwilling to stand up for Jesus

John 19:9–11 ESV

9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 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?” 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.”

And who was it who delivered Jesus over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate? Ultimately it was

The High Priest Caiaphas

Recently we have been teaching on the establishment of the priesthood in the Old Testament. We have seen how seriously God took the role and function of the Priest. Since the priests are the only ones who can offer sacrifices on behalf of the people, they had to take great care to be ritually and morally pure. With that understanding of the Priesthood, it is hard to imagine that any Priest, let along the High Priest could behave in the ways described in all four biographies of Jesus.

This is exactly the way that the average Jewish person would respond to such allegations. These were the Priests, the Levites, the descendants of Aaron. The people followed their leading because they had heard the stories of how YHWY handled things when the priests didn’t do what they were commissioned to do.

We don’t have time to go into all the historical details of this, but let me just explain quickly that a lot of time has passed between the first books of the Old Testament and the first books of the New. And in that time there was a lot of sin, pain and rebellion on the part of the people of Israel. Because of this, God sent prophets to tell his people to repent or He would remove His presence from there midst. This should not surprise us, as it lines up with what he have repeatedly seen with Moses and the people of Israel.

So at one point both Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophesy that unless the people repent, the presence of the LORD would leave the Temple and Jerusalem and the enemies of God’s people would be able to conquer it. The people did not repent, and their enemies did conquer them. First the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, then the Persians and now the Romans. Even the Temple itself was destroyed and the new modest Temple was built in the days of Nehemiah. The in order to win over the people, Herod the Great had refurbished the Temple closer to original greatness. The building may have returned as it was, but the presence of the LORD did not. (Herod’s name on the bricks?)

All of this is to say that this was a different time than we have been recently studying. The Priests were not motivated by the awe and fear of the presence of the LORD like they were in the beginning. Instead they secured their authority as Priests through earthly means. That is why Jesus was so threatening to them.

He was disrupting the counterfeit system of authority that they had built. They had everything lined up just right and had all their people playing ball and the last thing they needed was someone coming in from the outside and operating in a way that pointed to their being some higher spiritual authority.

This Jesus, this supposed “Rabbi” didn’t work his way up their ranks. He didn’t start with the right parents. He didn’t study at the feet of the right Jewish Rabbis. He didn’t impress the right people with their favorite arguments and points of view. There was nothing in this man that fit the system that they so carefully trying to hold together - and worse than that, the people were following after him in droves.

He kept doing things that they couldn’t do and couldn’t explain. Miracles and healings. He kept teaching with this authority that put them to shame. They would try and trap him up with impossible questions and somehow He always found a way to end up making them look bad for even asking them.

And as always the person who has gained the most, has the most to lose. This position belonged to the High Priest Caiaphas. As a perfect example of how secular the priesthood had become, the acting High Priest Caiaphas wasn’t even a legitimate High Priest. According to the law the High Priest remained such until his death, but because Caiaphas played nicer with the Romans, they appointed him High Priest, even though the former High Priest, his father in law was still alive.

You see the Romans allowed the religious practices of their conquered people to continue to exist, as long as they subjected themselves to Roman law. And it was Roman law that sent Caiaphas to Pilate that day. According to Roman law, only a Roman official can sentence someone to death. Jewish law called for the death penalty in many instances, but now that they were civicly, and one could argue religiously, under Roman rule they were not free to carry out that sentence legally.

Let me read for you Matthews account of Jesus’ before Caiaphas so you can see for yourself how far the Priests have gone from honoring the LORD in any way.

Matthew 26:59–68 ESV

59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

Matthew 26:

Doesn’t sound like the priesthood that God put in place back in Leviticus does it? This is what religion can degenerate into when men take it upon themselves to become mediators with God without the presence of God. They were envious of Jesus. The people were following after him because He had something that they were only pretending to have. Even Pilate recognized their jealousy

Matthew 27:18 ESV

18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.

Matthew 27:

We find our word again, paradidomi... “delivered”. In following the chain of paradidomi we find that it was not just the Romans but also the Jews who killed Jesus...but is that all or is there even more?

but remember that Jesus said that, “He who delivered me up to you has a greater sin”. He did not say has the only sin. Both the Roman

Jewish Crowds & Priest?

Let me ask you, how did the Chief Priests even come to arrest Jesus? Several times in his life and ministry they tried to arrest him or even picked up stones to kill him - illegal according to Roman law - but he escaped. Someone had to deliver Jesus up to the High Priest. Who would that be? Someone on the side of the Romans or on the side of the Jews. From all outward appearances it was neither. It was someone who claimed to be on the side of Jesus. The third key character that we will look to answer our question of “Who Killed Jesus” is one of Jesus’ own disciples:

Judas Iscariot.

Truth is we don’t know much of Judas Iscariot outside of his role in this event. He was one of Jesus’ disciples, chosen by Jesus to personally learn from Him alongside of 11 other men.

Jesus did life with Judas for three years.

He saw Jesus heal the sick, blind and lame.

He saw Jesus cast out demons even into the pig that ran off the cliff.

His cloak was just as drenched and his mouth just as open when Jesus calmed the raging sea.

He heard when Jesus sent the Jewish leaders on their heals because they could not catch Jesus up in one of their traps...and yet still he delivered Jesus up to them.

One of the only other indications that we have of Judas’ character is found in where Mary has come to Jesus and annointed his feet with expensive perfume and wiped them with her hair. In response to this event we find Judas complaining:

John 12:4–6 ESV

4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

John 12:

John 12:6 ESV

6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

As the text says, Judas was recognized as one of the 12 disciples, but He was not following Jesus. His heart was treasuring other things. It is so true of Judas what Paul wrote to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Judas Iscariot?

John 12:6 ESV

6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

John

This is the sad truth of the heart of Judas, the faith that he once had as a disciple he forfeited because He trusted more in what money could do for him than in what God could do for him. So he sets in motion this chain of events where Jesus is delivered all the way to the cross.

Matthew 26:14–16 ESV

14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

What is interesting is that the same root word for “deliver” is actually found twice in these verses. What will you give me if I deliver him…he sought an opportunity to betray him. Judas’s heart was full of GREED.

Unlike many other people who live their lives aimed at the love of money, Judas realized that his greed had brought him to do a terrible thing. He went back to the religious leaders and tried to give back the money, declaring that he had betrayed an innocent man. And you know what the religious leaders said? “What is that to us?”. It was never about innocence or guity for the Priests, it was about their ENVY. It was never about innocent or guitly for Pilate, it was about his PRIDE. It was not about innocent or guilty for Judas either at first, it was about his GREED until he realized how wrong he was.

So have we found the answer to our question tonight? Have we determined “Who Killed Jesus?” We certainly have identified people who played a prominent role in His death, but can we say that we know for sure that these people are the ones that killed Jesus?

Gospel Application

You know some people have tried to make Judas out to somewhat of a hero. That because we needed Jesus to die for our sins, we needed Judas to deliver Jesus over to the High Priest so that He could deliver him over to Pilate so that He could be delivered to the soldiers so that He could be crucified all according to the Scriptures. It is also true that Judas did what he did only after Satan prompted him and then entered him. But that does not really excuse his actions?

John Stott says that

“The fact that his betrayal was foretold in the Scriptures does not mean that he was not a free agent, any more than the Old Testament predictions of the death of Jesus mean that he did not die voluntarily”

You know some people have tried to make Judas out to somewhat of a martyr. That because we needed Jesus to die for our sins, we needed Judas to deliver Jesus over to the High Priest so that He could deliver him over to Pilate so that He could be delivered to the soldiers so that He could be crucified according to the Scriptures.

The reason that Bible believing people like us have such a hard time answering the question, “Who Killed Jesus” is that Jesus was not killed as a martyr to his cause as many historians claim. He was not the victim of circumstances and political tensions that just happened to line up into a perfect storm that made him a unknowing target. Jesus knew that all of this would happen because He came to do this very thing.

Continuing down our chain of

In fact we can trace the chain of paradidomi all the way back to the words of Jesus...

John 10:18 ESV

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Matthew 20:18–19 ESV

18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Jesus told his disciples, including Judas, everything that was about to happen to him, and still he willingly went right into Jerusalem. Sure the evil of these men and their accomplises were used to accomplish this task, but Jesus was not a victim of their evil. Scritpure says that Jesus laid down his life of his own accord. ()

John 10:18 ESV

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus did die on a cross, but he wasn’t exactly killed. He willingly gave up his life.

John 10:17 ESV

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

Landing

We know a lot about the process of crucifixion from the ancient history books, but I find it interesting that none of the Gospel writers really focus on that part. They record some of the conversation that happened, but there is little said about the process of torture agony and pain that the crucifixion was meant to display. Each one of them simply say “And they crucified Him”.

You see I think that the Gospel writers were much more interested in showing us the gruesomeness of the sins leading up the crucifixion then they were the crucifixion itself. Hopefully we are never exposed to anything as gruesome as a crucifixion, but can we say the same thing about these other ugly things?

Can we say the same thing about Pride, Envy and Greed? Can we say that we have never been exposed them? I am guessing we can’t, in fact if you are like me then you know that your picture could go above each one of these terrible sins. These are the kind of sins in our world that led a completely innocent man to be delivered up to a gruesome death. And I can find them in my life, and I am guessing that at some point you have seen them in yours.

And that is what this good Friday experience is all about. The answer to the question “Who Killed Jesus” is not a simple one, but one conclusion that we can come to is that Jesus willingly went to the cross because of sins that you and I have done. So what we are going to do know is to take some time to reflect on the weight of that truth.

John 10:18 ESV

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

It is easier to blame the Romans, the Jews or that Judas - but we have to remember that it was just as much our sins that brought Jesus to the cross as theirs.

Closing Instructions

So this is what we are going to do in closing. First we are going to watch a video on Isaiah’s Old Testament prophecy of Jesus’ suffering of the cross. I would like to invite each one of you to come forward to the cross and take a nail from the pile here on the floor and return to your seats for a quiet time to reflect and if need be repent. After you have done that, I would ask that we each leave the room and the building as silently as we can.

I know that typically we gather in the halls to fellowship and connect after a service, but tonight we are going to do things differntly. My hope is that as you silently make your way to your vehicle with your nail in your hand, there will bring a lingering of the thoughts and ideas that we have handled this evening. And even more than that, my hope is that it grows in you an anticipation of returning here on Sunday Morning to celebrate that the death that we remember tonight was not the end of the story. It may be Friday Night, but Sunday is coming.

I would also ask that as we leave this evening we do so silently. Typically we gather in the halls to fellowship and connect after a service, but I would like to ask you to forgo that this evening and as silently as you can return to your vehicles with your nail in hand in anticipation of returning here on Sunday Morning to celebrate that the death that we remember tonight was not the end of the story. It may be Friday Night, but Sunday is coming.