Jesus Before Pilate

Welcome, please open Bibles to Mark 15.

Read Mark 15:1-20.

Pray.

Our text today is one of rejection- everyone is rejecting Jesus in some form and showing that rejection through both their words and actions.

It’s so plain to see in the text that it is likely a point that Mark was trying to make.

Why do people reject Jesus?

Important for those who have rejected Jesus.

Important for those who have accepted Jesus, because we tend at times to reject Jesus.

Important for those who have accepted Jesus, in better understanding those who have rejected Jesus.

1. Rejection by contrast.

Some reject Jesus because he is so greatly contrasted against them.

This rejection can be found in the religious leaders.

Pretty baffling to understand their behavior- we don’t tend to get so angry that we desire to kill people.

Not just kill people, but create false charges with false witnesses.

The religious leaders are stoking everything here- bringing Jesus to Pilate, accusing him of many things, stirring up the crowd to release Barabbas.

What are the root causes behind this hatred and rejection?

At least one has to be that Jesus has been so contrasted with the religious leaders.

These were the men who considered themselves to be the holiest of men.

Luke 18- Pharisee and Tax Collector.

Remember the point of the parables, to take something observable and well-known and making it teachable.

Everyone treated the Pharisees as the holiest of men.

Mark 2- sitting in a room that was standing room only.

Jesus, however, doesn’t treat them as holy men.

Matthew 23- List of woes. Called blind guides, fools, whitewashed tombs, serpents.

Jesus sees in them what no one else sees, and calls it out.

All of this results in envy, found in v. 10.

Jesus’ very existence holds up a mirror in front of the religious leaders, and the reflection is unbearable. What we see in reality is not what we had expected or hoped.

Rather than deal with the reflection, they break the mirror.

This is still the case today, and unfortunately, it is still just as foolish.

2. Rejection by opportunism.

Opportunism- taking advantage of opportunities with little regard for principles or consequences.

Some reject Jesus because they find that He will limit or stifle their pursuit of their understanding of success.

This rejection is exhibited by Pontius Pilate, who, as a Roman official, had complete control over the destiny of Jesus.

Pay attention to the details of the text.

Pilate cannot find anything wrong with Jesus. He cannot find fault, and truly this is because there is no fault to be found.

Remember, in v. 10, Pilate rightly understand the motive of the religious leaders: envy.

Thus, Pilate has an innocent prisoner and clearly corrupt prosecutors in the religious leaders.

Opportunity is perfect for the case to be dismissed. What will Pilate do?

Pilate rejects the opportunity to do what is right. Why?

V. 15- wishing to satisfy the crowd.

Satisfy- poieo- to do or make- Pilate wished to do the will of the crowd.

Pilate rejected Jesus because he understood that to set Jesus free would cause chaos and this would likely be the end of his tenure as a Roman official.

Pilate had worked his entire life for this post, likely rising the ranks of the military before being appointed here.

He was not going to allow the innocence of one man to destroy all of that. Opportunism birthed this rejection of Jesus.

How true this remains today.

Many reject Jesus because they count the cost for their lives and they are unwilling to pay it.

Life is great, and so a change in the status quo leads to rejection.

Does Jesus really demand such a change to life? Absolutely.

Luke 14:27-28- Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Jesus doesn’t seem to want people to enter into His Kingdom under false pretenses.

Namely because it is impossible to enter God’s Kingdom under false pretenses. We don’t wander or stumble accidently into God’s Kingdom.

In accepting and embracing Christ, there is a giving away of our lives, but it is a giving away of the worse for the better.

John 10:10- The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 15:11- These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

There is a fullness of life and joy that comes only from loving, following and serving Jesus, but it will absolutely cost us what was ultimately far inferior to eternal life.

3. Rejection by expectation.

Many reject Jesus because they find that His person and the life to which He calls us has not met their expectations.

This rejection is shown most clearly in the unruly crowd.

There is an easily overlooked detail to be found in the crowd’s calling out for Barabbas.

We must note what is given to us in the text about this prisoner, namely that he is an insurrectionist.

He stood, and believed, and lived, and behaved in such a way that was violently opposed to Rome.

He desired to see the powerful Rome come to an end. And he took action, violent action, to bring about this end.

This is what many had hoped for in a Messiah.

The promises of the OT that state that One would come who would set Israel free from those who had kept them in bondage.

Little did they realize that the true Messiah would be humble and a servant to all rather than a soldier who was a conqueror of all.

When the Jews looked at Jesus and Barabbas, they called for Barabbas to be released.

To many, Barabbas was likely a patriot.

When the expectations of a Messiah were not met in Jesus, the people rejected Him.

This is true still today.

What is it that many desire in a deliverer? We all have plenty to be delivered from, do we not? Hardships, suffering, frustrations.

We often desire a deliverer who is not only powerful, but who projects that power.

In fact, we want a deliverer who will put us into positions of power.

So the messages that Jesus has been preaching seem somewhat lacking.

Mark 9:35- And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

For many, we feel as though the problem IS that I am last already, and HAVE to serve everyone.

So a Savior who comes and tells me to voluntarily give my life for others, to serve even the least of these, becomes quite unattractive.

Once again, we find for many, expectations placed on God and Savior ultimately lead to the rejection of both.

Close with an important detail from our text.

Let’s focus our attention for a moment on the person of Barabbas. What do we know of him from our text?

He was a rebel who was in prison, guilty of murder and of insurrection, which is a violent uprising against a governing authority.

This means that he was an enemy of Rome.

Matthew’s gospel tells us that Barabbas was a notorious prisoner.

Lines up with Mark 15:8, which tells us that the crowds began to ask for the release of a prisoner.

John’s gospel makes a brief note at the end of ch. 18 to note that Barabbas was a robber, Greek word lestes.

Mark’s gospel uses the same Greek word in 15:27 to let us know that Jesus was crucified between two robbers.

Barabbas was like the robbers with whom Jesus was crucified.

Think about the implications here- Barabbas was likely meant to crucified alongside the other two robbers. He was an enemy of Rome, and this was not something that was taken lightly.

When the crowds asked for Barabbas to be freed, Jesus likely went to the expected destination of Barabbas, namely to the cross.

Jesus dies in order that someone else would not have to die.

He takes the punishment from Rome that was meant for someone else, someone deserving of the punishment.

Augustine- “The criminal escaped; Christ was condemned. The one guilty of many crimes received a pardon; he who had remitted the crimes of all who confess was condemned.”

Why is this so switch so important?

It displays what Christ has done for sinners everywhere.

We find ourselves guilty of sinning against God, in the same way that Barabbas sinned against Rome.

Barabbas was violently opposed and rebelling against the authority of Rome, in the same way that we, prior to loving God, are violently opposed and rebelling against God.

In our guilt, we are deserving of God’s wrath and judgement, in the same way that Barabbas was deserving of the same from Rome.

And just as Jesus took the deserved punishment for Barabbas, He does the same for us.

The release of Barabbas is the gospel for each and every one of us.

Have we rejected Christ through our disbelief? Do we feel it unimportant? May we be reminded of the willing love of Jesus.

Have we strayed from the Shepherd? May we be reminded of the great lengths through which He went to set us free from sin.

Have we lost our way in witnessing and evangelism? May we constantly return our attention and speech to the Savior who gave His life on behalf of those who would reject Him.