Mark 15 Jesus Before Pilate
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The innocence of Jesus before a guilty world
The innocence of Jesus before a guilty world
There is a generation that curses its father,
And does not bless its mother.
There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.
There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
And whose fangs are like knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth,
And the needy from among men.
The leech has two daughters—
Give and Give!
There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four never say, “Enough!”:
This was not a generation that lived for truth and righteousness but rather fueled by pride feasted on deception. Did not know the works of the Lord nor did they fear Him.
We certainly live in a generation that this proverb is speaking of and we can see it in our streets in the marketplaces and in our homes. It is in the hearts of this generation that produces the deception and
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness.
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the spirits.
This breeds a character of the adulterous woman...
This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wickedness.”
Such a callousness taking place that even the most wicked of things can act like they are a casual everyday occurence.
For the Bible proclaims that God does not judge as man does but looks at the inward parts. The Heart of a man. Not just mere outward acts but the intents of his heart.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the spirits.
And maybe the greatest deception is that found within the church as Jesus told
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
The sad reality is this deception has penetrated the walls of our church buildings as Jesus testified in the judgment to come,
And this leads to one of the greatest deceptions that found within the walls of our church buildings as Jesus told,
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:21-
These were deceived with a false hope of innocence. They had fallen for the lie and had faith in their works. In a world that proclaims no objective truth but rather is subjective to each individual and how we feel, is their any hope? How can we know for certain if the path we tread upon will turn out like we have been told?
For many things would speak into our worldview when it comes to dealing with such touchy waters. For in doing so you are tampering with a mans upbringing, things he holds dear and possibly all that he has ever known. But the bible brings hope that speaks through the fog of uncertainty of day and unveils that there is objective truth and it is found in what God says and not man.
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the spirits.
What if you have been deceived into believing a lie?
What if your friends, family, and maybe even fellow church members have supplied a false hope?
What if what you thought was good was actually evil and what you defined as evil was actually good?
This has been a question men have tried to ask for centuries. Even Pilot in our story said to Jesus what is TRUTH?
Interesting While he asks that (if you did your reading last week) Jesus said He was the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the father except through me.
He is Truth and Pilot ask what is Truth. Right in front of his eyes and he couldn’t see it. How true that is for many of us today.
Gods Word gives is what declares unto us the way that speaks through our lies and makes us wise unto salvation.
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
As we have been walking through the book of think it would be good to turn to Matthew as he goes more in depth with the account of Jesus before Pilate as He is held on trial for false accusations
We see a contrast of Jesus and the rest of humanity from the eyes of God who searches the heart and proclaims of Jesus, this is my son in whom i am well pleased though the world condemned him.
.
Pray.
We see as we have been walking through the book and of Mark and coming to a close that we entering the last moments of Jesus’ life as He is put on trial and sentenced to death. Not just any death but specifically a crucifixion.
There has been a question that has been noted throughout history and that we must deal with as well in our day and it is this...
What we find is in our text that it is testified of Jesus his innocence before all yet condemned to death. This being necessary to fulfill the purposes of God in Jesus’ death that were foretold of the prophets and ultimately to bring redemption to the unjust.
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
Psalm 24
put it this way.
Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
The Bible teaches us that God has instilled eternity in our hearts, so we cannot fathom it being done at death. We cannot comprehend ceasing. For most death brings great fear especially when you consider the pandemic we are in in our world. Death appears to on the horizon.
Before we do move on I want to share that death is not something we can run from. Before the corona virus we were all appointed to die. Death is the equalizer of all men. It will come to pass to all equally. Death does not discriminate.
So with death on the horizon and eternity in our hearts what then lies beyond the corridor of death. This is where David begins his thought. Who can dwell in your Holy place?
This signifies two things. One there will be people who dwell with God and two there will be people who do not dwell with God. So David defines for us who that person is that will dwell with God forevermore.
The just for the unjust.
David’s reply...
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
I don’t know about you but I myself do not add up to this standard. Remember God looks at the heart and not at the outward appearance. Lust after a woman is to commit adultery. To hate is to murder. It is God defines purity and not our world. He truly means pure, undefiled, with no blemish.
It comes to Gods standards because He is creator, pure and holy, just and acts accordingly.
Because of who God is He is able to supply the standards in these areas. The same as a father to a child. Yet as the Bible teaches He does it for our good.
So God says that sex should be saved for marriage. We say na God that is for the birds.
God says that marriage should be between a man and a woman. We say nah God my emotions would tell otherwise.
God says that He hates divorce we say what does He know?
God despises the liar. WE say its just one little fib no big deal.
God detests uneven scales. We say its just business.
God created and loves life. WE say put it in the mothers hands to decide to murder or not.
God says respect your father and mother. We say yeah right.
As David is battling this question he knows that their is no one who meets this righteous innocent standard of God
As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Paul comes to a close as He sums up his thought...
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
David knew this truth when He wrote the psalm.
This means we are all on the same playing field as sinners. There is not one removed from this diagnosis. If there is a pandemic that certainly has deceived the world, it is the fact we are sinners before a holy God doomed for destruction.
WE ARE GUILTY MY FRIENDS and when we stand in Gods court who will judge all the things we have done in secret we will have no excuse.
What could save such helpless and rebellious men and woman as ourselves?
If I may once more allude to psalm 24 he gives us an answer to whom we should set our eyes.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
Selah
Psalms 24:7-
The Lord of Hosts. Jesus Christ. Creator of all that we see.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
This Jesus we describe is God in Flesh who left his heavenly throne and came into the world.
We see a contrast of Jesus and the rest of humanity from the eyes of God who searches the heart. God the Father proclaims of Jesus, this is my son in whom i am well pleased.
Let us fix our eyes upon this Jesus then this morning and what the gospels testify of him as we approach his condemnation by the world.
There is a resounding truth that the gospels make evident and that is Jesus was INNOCENT.
What we find in our text that it is testified of Jesus time and time again... He is innocent…He is innoncent…He is innocent yet condemned to death. This being necessary to fulfill the purposes of God in Jesus’ death that were foretold of the prophets in order to bring redemption to those who are unjust.
Listen to those who testify of Jesus’ innocence while He is on trial.
Interesting to note that the Israelites God’s chosen people to bring about the messiah were waiting for Him expecting Him to bring deliverance from Rome. Yet all the while blinded to the true Messiah while He is right before their face they deliver Him conveniently to Rome that He may be crucified.
SNot even mentioning all the times it says that false testimonies were brought against him yet came to nothing.
Judas who betrayed Jesus for 30 peices of silver
saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”
PILATES WIFE.
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”
PILATE says three times
For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.”
Matthew
PILATE SPEAKING OF HERODS VERDICT.
said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.
He was in even higher position than Pilate still yet found nothing deserving of death. None the less the Jews Gods people sought to put Jesus to death.
While Jesus hung on the cross this is what another man who was with him said
And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Luke
After He died a CENTURION had said
So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”
Luke
After He died
IF there is one thing we see in our text is a resounding proclamation HE IS INNOCENT yet none the less He was condemned to Death as an innocent man. If you ever want to talk about a corrupt judicial system there you have it at its best.
Why is there such importance for us to walk away this morning saying that Jesus was condemned to death as an innocent man?
It was His innocence that brings us hope. This is the message of the gospel…the goodnews.
“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
What I deserve Christ bore. The wrath on my head for my sins Christ absorbed. He stood my place. Not Because He deserved it but because of his pure undefiled Love that was not based on my worth and service but chose to take it.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Not that i so loved God. Remember the law we laid out that there is no one that loves God nor seeks after him. Any mans salvation is because of the abounding pure, undefiled, Love of God that pursues sinners.
This is what brings us Encouragement.
With my stain hands and my unpure heart. The verdict has been loud and clear GUILTY.
But there is hope my friends. For this Jesus who didn’t deserve death who was innocent is able to present you faultless. The KING of GLORY… THE LORD of HOSTS.
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
This is the GRACE of God that Justifies a guilty man by GRACE through FAITH.
And says He who comes by faith believing in the Son of God who stood in the place of sinners will be made Righteous. Will be changed forever.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
We were once enemies of God separated by our wicked works yet Reconciled by the death of Jesus Christ.
Though once guilty now blameless.
Now the praise that should roll from the mouth of the one who has received such Grace.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.
Lord your way not mine. I will serve you and your ways for they are good and wise.
This gives us encouragement this morning.
Though a wretched sinner God can make me clean. Not just clean but an heir in the household of God. Adopted into his family.
So Christian as His child When we face trials and are abandoned by those closest to us let us remember Jesus himself was deserted by all his disciples. Judas one of the 12 sold him into the hands of those who desired to kill him.
His own chosen nation sentenced him to death.
We have a High priest who can sympathize with us. He knows what your going through, not just because He sees but because He has lived in this world yet without sin.
We have a High priest who can sympathize with us. He knows what your going through, not just because He sees but because He has lived in this world yet without sin.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
This is beautiful as you read the next verse...
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The world does not have the final say but God does. Though our world, though our family may desert and condemn us as evil doers when we stand for God, It is Gods verdict that matters.
And says He who comes by faith believing in the Son of God who stood in the place of sinners will be made Righteous. Will be changed forever.
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
There is Hope through the innocence of Jesus, to a world guilty before God, as Christs blood was shed in the place of rebels. Let us hear then the warnings this passage proclaims.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
colossians
Be Weary if you are trusting in Money to satisfy.
Judas was driven by money. When Mary had given a gift of a years wages roughly 30-35,000 dollars of oil she poured over the head of Jesus. He despised the gift saying she should have given it to the poor. Not because He cared for the poor but because He had a key to the money box. This love for money drove him to betray Jesus despite the warnings Jesus delivered and eventually kill himself seeing that money cannot bring what one thinks. You will never be satisfied in chasing riches.
Be weary if you are trusting in morality as your guide to life and security into heaven.
If was the very people that held the standard of Gods morality that put Jesus on the cross.
Morality or good works is an insufficient means of righteousness before God and will condemn a man, for even our best works are as filthy rags.
The law was not given that a man might be made righteous but rather on the contray that he would be condemned. It was by the Law paul says that transgressions were compounded. This for the purpose to see within ourselves the inssufficiency to fulfill it and point us to the hope and righteousness in Christ.
Be weary if you are trusting in mans words to lead you in the right direction.
The white washed tombs
For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
The religious leaders lead the crowds astray in arousing them to crucify Jesus. Don’t just believe because your pastor has said so. Test what they say with the word of God that you may not be led astray by a false teaching.
We have to many in our day that would care more about a pay check than to portray what is true.
Back to the deception that comes with a love for money.
Take Pilot for instance.
Brings me to my last warning…Be weary if position and prestige is your governing authority for Pilot delivered Jesus to be condemned in order to please the crowd.
Faith in Christ will not be popular among our world. This is because Belief in Christ is not a mere intellecual assent but rather an all encompassing enbodyment. All or nothing.
This means now i agree and obey when it comes to Gods view of abortion, homosexual relations, character, speech, marriage, all relationships.
Pilot assented that Jesus was innocent none the less for the sake of his position he condemned Jesus to death. Even the demons believe and tremble but they do not worship the Lord.
Jesus said that I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father except through me.” John
Jesus said that I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father except through me.” John
Christ has the power to condemn and redeem.
He testifies that all who come through him in faith not with accolades, self worth, and merit but stripped of all pride , He removes from the pit of despair, the wallowing hole of sin and washes the filth from us and clothes us in his righteousness, His innocence, his purity.
This is the word the God sends out Repent and Believe.
To the Christian may we press on knowing our high priest and find ourselves continually at his throne of grace.
maybe next week.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John
No Cross
In the context of the whole Bible, perhaps the deepest error and omission of the friends is this: they have no place for innocent suffering. They think that if the righteous were ever to suffer or perish, it would be a blot on the moral landscape. As Eliphaz asks, “Who that was innocent ever perished?” (4:7).
The Bible places against that question a large eternal cross.
On the cross the innocent one perished in the place of the guilty, that we might not finally perish. In a profound sense the sufferings of Job are the cost of grace. Or to be more accurate, the sufferings that Job foreshadows will be the cost of grace. With their tidy impersonal theological code, the comforters miss the heart of the universe.
And yet their speeches are in the Scriptures, all of which are able to “make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). So we cannot just skip these speeches. For each one we must ask ourselves in what way it is intended by God to profit us and to lead us to faith in Christ.
He was pronounced in the court of law as innoncent but none the less He was condemned to death to appease the crowd.
