Sermon Tone Analysis

Let’s pick up the story:

Jesus has washed his disciples feet.

He is showing them radical service and explaining that this is radical new love.

More than the foot washing, he is about to law down his life for his disciples who will abandon him in his most desperate hour of need.

Despite your shortcomings to serve and follow Jesus, he laid down his life so that you could be in a relationship with him.

He pursued you; he called you and he calls you his friend.

Even when we fail to hold up our side of the relationship, Jesus never fails.

He always comes through.

His love and grace have no limits.

Jesus is betrayed by Judas, and is arrested by the Jews.

The disciples flee.

Right after Jesus raises Lazarus, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered and were concerned that if Jesus kept this up, everyone would believe in him, and they would lose what little influence they had in the Roman government.

From here, we need to jump to Matthew because John does not give us details of what went on while Jesus was with Caiaphas:

Make no mistake.

Jesus claimed to be God.

Your acceptance or rejection of that claim has the full weight of eternity resting on it.

What is this?

The irony!

They would not go into the space a gentile was living, yet they plot murder.

They were in the process of committing the most heinous crime ever to be committed in the history of the world.

They condemned to the most brutal of deaths the most innocent man ever to walk the earth.

And they were concerned about being ceremonially unclean for the passover.

The Jews don’t answer the question directly, they answer with snark.

Note: The Jews didn’t have the authority to put people to death.

Jesus said he would lifted up.

Here we see Jesus communicate 3 overarching themes about himself to Pilate: First, that He is indeed a king.

Jesus is king

Jesus’ kingdom is more real than any earthly kingdom

Jesus’ kingdom is more eternal than any earthly kingdom

Jesus’ kingdom is superior to all other kingdoms because Jesus is king

Jesus is king

Jesus is true

There is so much uncertainty in the world, so much mystery, so much pain and lack of understanding.

So ofter our hearts cry out “why God, why?”

There are so many lies about what’s wrong with the world and how it will be fixed...

Jesus words are true.

“WHAT IS TRUTH” - I think this is Pilate’s sarcastic way of say, “whose to say”?

Jesus should have been let free, but was condemned

Barabbas should have been condemned, but was let free

Pilate was trying to get him off the hook by beating him, that maybe the Jews would be satisfied with some blood.

Leather whip with bits of metal woven in.

These floggings would often kill a man.

The crown of thorns pressed into the head of Jesus.

Thorns represent sin.

The sin of man was on Jesus head.

Recall that if is was not for sin, thorns wouldn’t even be in the world.

The curse of man’s sin is literally being pressed into the head of Jesus.

Jesus is king

Jesus is true

Jesus is judge

The irony of this entire situation is that Pilate is acting as judge of the one who will ultimately judge every human soul.

This is absolutely terrifying.

Pilate tries to rebound by referencing his own earthly authority, but he has no idea that Jesus is a willing sacrifice.

That he is giving his life so that a people might have life.

The Jews ultimately got what they wanted by threatening to tattle on Pilate to Cesar.

Jesus is king

Jesus is true

Jesus is judge

Jesus died.

He was buried.

But he didn’t stay dead.

He didn’t stay buried.

Jesus is alive.

And he’s coming back.

He’s coming back in glory to judge the living and the dead.

And if you are not covered by his blood, the weight of your sin will be on you.