Pilate and Jesus - Mark 15:1-15

Mark 15:1-15 Pilate and Jesus 2020-06-07 Entrust yourself to God who judges justly Crowds crying out, a murderer, an innocent man, political leaders taking their stands, a trial, a conviction, and a failure of justice. Type any one these phrases into an online search engine today and you’re sure to get headlines from recent events. But I didn’t pull these phrases from headlines. These come from the study of our passage. Scripture Passage: Mark 15:1-15 In our passage this morning we’re going to see people acting out of envy, we’ll see decisions made for selfpreservation, we’ll see the innocent punished and the guilty set free. But while we see the messiness of the human situation, over it all we see the lovingkindness and redemptive plan of our God at work. The one guilty of the most heinous of crimes is released as Jesus dies in his place. Entrust yourself to God, who judges justly. Pilate’s Trial (vv.1-5) 1. v.1a “And as soon as it was morning…” - If you remember back a few weeks when Jason taught, he pointed out several ways that the so-called trial of Jesus was actually illegal. From having the trial before a Feast, to holding the trial at night, inconsistent witnesses. Now, before they take this case to Pontius Pilate and the Roman government they need to try and have some semblance of a legal proceeding, so they quickly hold a consultation and get everyone’s rubber stamp so they can take this to Pilate first thing in the morning. 2. v.1b “…and they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.” - What was the purpose for this? Why didn’t they just convict him and sentence him themselves? Because they were limited in their power, and they couldn’t accomplish what they wanted to accomplish without the assistance of the Roman government. They wanted Jesus executed, but the Jews didn’t have this authority. 1. Mark 3:6 “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” 2. John 18:28–32 “Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” 3. So they brought Jesus to Pilate. Pilate was prefect of Judea, also referred to as governor. He lived in Caesarea, but during Passover he would come to Jerusalem to watch over the large crowds that would gather there and have a visible presence for his authority. In my study of Pilate I see him as a conflicted man. He was put in a difficult position, but he didn’t make it any easier for himself by simply doing what was right. He refused to act according to right convictions and instead was swayed by the emotion of the crowd. 1. In AD26 Pilate, upon being placed in his position as governor of Judea, had soldiers carry Roman standards with images of Caesar into Jerusalem, which the Jews viewed as idolatry. They rebelled, and marched to Caesarea to protest. After 6 days Pilate decided to stop the protests by sending soldiers into the crowd with swords, but the Jews fell down together and pulled down their shirt collars, exposing their necks. Pilate, rather than sparking a revolution, backed down and removed the standards. On another occasion Pilate, needing to fund a public works project and build an aqueduct, decided to steal the money from the sacred treasury of the Jews. When the Jews protested on this occasion he sent soldiers into the crowd in civilian clothing, and at his signal they began beating the protestors with clubs. 2. He was a brutal and selfish man; hardly one to admire. The Jews didn’t think much of him either, but in this case he was the channel for accomplishing their devilish plan. 3. vv.2-5 “And Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’” - Jesus seems to be deliberately unclear in his answer to Pilate’s question. He indeed was a king, but not as Pilate and the priests supposed. Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world, and he wasn’t looking to overthrow Caesar or establish a physical throne in Jerusalem. 1. Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” Like a lamb led to the slaughter is silent, so he opened not his mouth. This is a fulfillment of prophecy, and gives reassurance that what was taking place wasn’t any surprise to God. Jesus, unlike Peter, did spend the time in the Garden in prayer. He was committed to the will of God, which meant terrible suffering. But he knew this was God’s will for him, and he wouldn’t try to talk his way out of it. 2. v.5 The result was that Pilate was amazed. Jesus didn’t plead his innocence or talk about the guilt of his accusers or their illegal trial. In this case he didn’t kneel down and begin writing in the sand and see the accusers all disperse like happened in John 8. No, Jesus regularly came to the side of those suffering injustice and supported and defended and helped them, but in his own greatest trial he didn’t defend himself. He was being mistreated, but this was the gospel being lived out before his accusers and before Pilate. 1. I know Jason took us here a few weeks back, but I want to revisit 1 Peter 2-3, beginning in v.13. Peter instructs the believers to be subject to authority, even the corrupt governmental authority in Peter’s day. He then moves on to instruct believers to be subject to their bosses, even if they’re treated unfairly and their boss is unjust. He says, “this is a gracious thing” in vv.19, 20. Then in chapter 3 he instructs wives to be subject to their husbands, even if they’re unbelieving, and that the gospel conduct of the wife can win the soul of the husband. Then, husbands are to live with their wives with understanding. Then Peter summarizes this all in vv.8-12. The key to this all is 1 Peter 2:23, entrusting yourself to God who judges justly. There’s no shortage of injustice and evil in this world. We’re called to entrust ourselves to God, our just Judge, and to live and act and behave from that place. Not exchanging reviling with reviling, or responding to suffering with threats. The Priests’ Sin (vv.6-11) 1. vv.6-9 There was a tradition to release one prisoner during Passover, and Mark tells us that one of the prisoners being held at the time was a man named Barabbas. Barabbas was a rebel, one that wanted to overthrow the Romans by force, even if that meant committing murder, which he did. Mark doesn’t record that he was charged with murder and awaiting trial, but that he had committed murder. Guilty and awaiting punishment, which most likely was crucifixion. 1. Pilate thinks that perhaps the easy way out of his dilemma is to ask the crowd who he should release. Surely they would pick Jesus and not Barabbas. But, v.11 tells us that the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas instead. 2. v.10 “For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.” - Pilate perceives that their actions were driven by the sin of envy. Envy was the root, and wicked fruits were growing. 1. One dictionary I read translates envy as, “malevolent envy.” It’s an aggressive and active sin, one that seeks to do harm to another because of their good or success. In contrast to the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5, envy is listed as a work of the flesh. Envy can be pretty subtle at times, but it’s always destructive. Like the iris bulbs Natalie planted last fall, envy can seem to lay undercover and undetected, but in due season it pops up and makes a big impact. Pilate’s Sin (vv.9, 12-15) 1. v.9 Pilate didn’t do what he knew was right, he didn’t act on a right conviction, but let the desire of the mob decide his actions. v.12 he asks what he should do with Jesus, and the response is to crucify him. When Pilate asks for their reasoning they only respond again with shouts of, “Crucify him.” 2. v.15 “So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.” - I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a greater act of cowardice. Pilate was weak, acting on the desires of the masses instead of acting on what was right. He was a people pleaser, one who rode the fence and avoided difficult decisions that might upset some, even when those decisions were clearly the right ones. He was selfish, trying to protect his position instead of carrying out the responsibilities of his position in an upright manner. Conclusion: 1. Barabbas is set free and Jesus is sent to be scourged and crucified. The innocent is sent to die while the guilty is set free. The scourging Jesus would endure was brutal, sometimes killing the person before they even made it to crucifixion. Bones and even organs would be exposed. This was Barabbas’ punishment, as likely was the crucifixion. 1. But before we get upset with Pilate, or call out for Barabbas to be punished, let’s realize that we all have been in the place of Barabbas. Jesus may have died on Barabbas’ cross, that is, the cross that was readied for Barabbas, but Jesus died for our sins, in our place. Jesus went willingly, obediently, sacrificially to the cross for us. Even in this perversion of justice that is played out in Pilate’s court we see the way of justification made ready for us. God’s justice superintended over this human injustice, the only truly innocent man died, and only by faith in him can we be justified. 2. 1 Peter 3:17–18 “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God”