Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 27:1-26 "The Civil Trials"

Marc Transparenti / General

The King's Cross | Matthew 26-27 / Jesus' trial

Jesus' Three Civil Trials

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Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 27.

Today, we are looking at VSS 1-26.

There were 6 trials of Jesus altogether.

Last week we looked at the first 3 trials...

The Religious Trials.

• Jesus stood first before Annas, who was the High Priest, but deposed by Rome.

• Then, Jesus stood before Caiphas, Annas' son-in-law, and the Roman appointed High Priest.

• Last, Jesus stood before all the Sanhedrin... the Jewish high council.

• These trials were illegal... for various reasons, as we discussed last week.

• And, Jesus allowed it... so mankind's redemption would be completed.

• It was Father's will that the Son would die for the sins of mankind.

• In Acts 2:23, Peter spoke to men of Israel and testified of this plan, "Him [Jesus], being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death..."

• Lawless hands... they illegally arrested, tried, and crucified Jesus Christ.

• Yet, God was still in control.

Redeeming mankind through Jesus' blood was His determined purpose... a predetermined plan and it was His foreknowledge or forethought.

• "...foreordained before the foundation of the world..."

• He took our sin, we inherited His righteousness.

The Great Exchange.

• This is how God expressed His love for us... Jesus was the ultimate atoning sacrifice... His blood satisfied God's wrath on sin.

• 1 John 4:9-10 "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. 10 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."

Keep this in mind, as we look at the final three Trials of Jesus... twice before Pontius Pilate, and once before Herod Antipas.

• Terrible trials pressed by the Religious Leaders...

• And, terrible physical torture at the hand of Rome.

The title of today's sermon is "The Civil Trials."

Let's Pray!

Matthew 27:1-2 "When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. 2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor."

1.

This was an early Friday Passover morning unlike any other in history.

a. Let's unpack a couple things...

b.

V1 reflects Jesus' 3rd Religious Trial before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Supreme Court)... at one of their Halls of Justice... like the Chamber of Hewn Stone... which we looked at last week.

i.

This trial was a formality.

The guilty decision was already made.

1. Notice... right in this verse... the Sanhedrin "plotted against Jesus to put Him to death."

NOT a fair trial.

c.

And, since they were seeking the death penalty, this explains why they led Jesus to Pontius Pilate the governor in V2.

i.

At this point in history... the Jews did NOT have the authority to enact the death penalty.

ii.

In the year 6 A.D., Israel became a Roman province, and many scholars think shortly after, the right to capital punishment was revoked from Israel, because it had been revoked from other provinces... namely Greece.

1. Jesus would have been around 12 at this time... around the time He spoke with the priests at the Temple.

iii.

There are other scholars who think capital punishment was revoked later.... because the Jewish Talmud in several books... states, "Forty years before the Temple was destroyed, the Sanhedrin was exiled from the Chamber of Hewn Stones and sat in the stores on the Temple Mount.

...they no longer judged capital cases.

The authority to impose the death penalty was stripped from the Sanhedrin, and therefore they willingly left the Chamber of Hewn Stone."

1.

This was around 30 A.D. ... right around the time of Jesus' crucifixion.

iv.

Whatever the date, this caused a crisis of faith for many rabbis of the time who were reported to cry out in the streets in mourning saying, "Woe unto us, for the scepter has been taken away from Judah, and Shiloh has not come."

1.

They thought scripture was broken because in Gen 49:10 it was promised, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes..."

2. But, scripture was not broken.

Messiah was there in their midst.

They just needed to be more like Simeon... who it was revealed... he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

a.

When Simeon saw the young Child Jesus, Luke 2:28-32 records, "...he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel."

3. Sad, that Jesus the Messiah... Shiloh... was present, and so many did not recognize him.

a. And, yet there were those like Simeon... who it was said "the Holy Spirit was upon him."

b.

Simeon recognized Jesus as Savior... even as a young child... no miracles... no teachings...

c.

And, still today... Jesus is missed by many... and recognized by His own.

2. Well, back in Matthew... the Jews plot to put Jesus to death, which leads us to V2... they lead Jesus to Pontius Pilate... the Roman Governor who had the power of capital punishment.

a. Pilate is now part of their plot.

b.

A little background on Marcus Pontius Pilatus...

i.

For 10 years, from 26-36 A.D., he was the Roman prefect or governor of Judaea... serving under Tiberius Caesar Augustus... the 2nd Roman Emperor.

ii.

He was a real person... despite a time when critics doubted his existence.

In 1961, the Pilate Stone was discovered... engraved with "Pontius Pilate Prefect of Judea."

iii.

Then, in 1969, Pilate's Ring was discovered at the Herodium linking Pilate and Herod Antipas.

c. Pilate was a Roman equestrian (a knight) of the Samnite clan of the Pontii (hence "Pontius").

i.

He was a warrior, and likely came into power through his marriage with Claudia Procula who is thought Emperor Augustus' granddaughter.

ii.

And, I know you know all this already... this is just a refresher course.

d.

His time in Judea came with much criticism from the Jews... Pilate was an authoritarian, and came under criticism for his display of images or symbols of the Emperor on banners and coins... idolatry in Jewish law.

He was known to provoke Jews and Samaritans to riot, and Pilate was about one riot more from losing his job.

i.

There was a history of tension and mutual discord between Pilate and the Jews.

1. Remember this as we read this chapter... .

ii.

After the crucifixion, Pilate became increasingly resentful and brutal, culminating in 36 A.D. when he stood on trial for cruelty and oppression.