This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 5.30pm.
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father,
and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the
purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, bless all of us with your
Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear
well. Amen.
Tonight in our sermon we read about Pontius Pilate and
his final dealings with the crowd before Jesus was lead off to be crucified.
Last week, we read about where Jesus was scourged, and crowned with thorns,
clothed with a purple robe, given a reed as a sceptre and mocked and spat upon.
This week, we read mostly about Pontius Pilate, walking back and forth inside
and outside his headquarters, speaking to the crowd and to Jesus, before he
finally gives up and hands Jesus over to be crucified.
Our reading tonight is broken up into three parts:
I. Pilate
presents Jesus to the crowd, and testifies to his innocence.
II. Pilate
goes back inside with Jesus and asks him where he is from.
III. Pilate
takes Jesus outside again, trying to release him, but to no effect.
So let’s come to our first part, where:
I. Pilate
presents Jesus to the crowd, and testifies to his innocence.
We read in John 19:4, where Pilate says to the
crowd: See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find
no guilt in him.
Last week, we read about the terrible suffering that
Jesus endured. We read so clearly now, that even though Pontius Pilate had had
him whipped in one of the most horrendous punishments known to humanity, he
still comes out afterwards and says: I find no guilt in him. So why
did he have him flogged? Well, it was all politics: it was simply to appease
the crowd. And Pilate had thought that maybe if he had Jesus flogged, that the
crowd would have a sense of shame about it, and they would feel sorry for Jesus
and agree to release him.
So Pilate says: See, I am bringing him out to
you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. We read: So
Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to
them, “Behold the man!”
What a mess Jesus must have looked, after all that he
gone through just then. Compare that wonderful time before the fall into sin,
when God created woman and brought her to the man. We read: Then the
man said: This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. What
an amazing thing it was for the first man to see for the first time the first
woman!
Now everything is reversed. This time God, through
Pilate, presents his own Son to the crowd. The Jews were God’s chosen people,
his bride. And now Jesus, their bridegroom is presented to them. Behold,
the man! He is flesh of their flesh and bone of their bones. And yet,
instead of receiving him with love and affection and devotion, as the first man
received the first woman, they receive him with burning hatred, with not a drop
of sympathy at all. We read: When the chief priests and the officers
saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
These words of Pilate — Behold, the man! —
also remind us of what St Paul says in comparing Adam and Christ. He
says: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man
is from heaven. He also says: For as by a man came death, by a man
has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in
Christ shall be made alive. Here we have a comparison between Adam and
Jesus. Adam sinned, Jesus dies for sin. Adam started off perfect and pure and
strong and healthy and even immortal, and then ended up completely wretched
because he chose sin. But then Jesus comes along, and he is true God, and he
then becomes completely wretched and poor and hungry just like us when he
becomes a man, not because he is a sinner, not because he chose to sin. But he
chose to bear our sin, and to carry it. And now Pilate shows us what it looks
like for a man to bear our sin: Behold, the man!
It will also be a wonderful thing when we appear
before God’s throne, full of sin. There is nothing in us that is worthy of God
accepting us or welcoming us into heaven. But we can say: Behold, the
man! Don’t look at me and my sin, but look to Jesus and his atonement
for sin. Look to Jesus and his purity. This is the man who has died for you and
made himself your brother and your Saviour. Pilate says: Behold, the
man! John the Baptist said: Behold, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world.
When the people called for his crucifixion again, we
read that Pilate said: Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find
no guilt in him. Pilate here is almost throwing in the towel, so to
speak. He is fed up with it all. He says to them that he finds no guilt
in him. But on the other hand, he puts out a challenge to them: Take
him yourselves and crucify him. It’s almost to say: I can’t come up
with a reason to crucify him. So if you want to crucify him, you better have a
good reason. I’ve exhausted the Roman law, so if you have a good reason to
crucify him, I want to hear it.
So what do they say? They say: We have a law,
and according to that law he ought to that law he ought to die because he has
made himself the Son of God. Now the Jews had the law in the Ten
Commandments about taking the Lord’s name in vain. And also we read the law in
Leviticus: Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put
to death. Now the Jews here thought that because Jesus had said that
he was the Son of God, that he was blaspheming the name of the LORD.
But he would be blaspheming the Lord’s name if such a thing were not true. For
example, if you or I said that we were to Son of God, it would be blasphemy,
because it’s not true. But Jesus had not only testified with his mouth that he
was the Son of God, but also through his works, and his wonderful healing and
comforting miracles. It was true.
But there was a lie in what they said. Jesus had not
made himself the Son of God. God himself had declared from heaven that he was
His Son, at his baptism, and also at his transfiguration.
But this thing stabs Pontius Pilate in his conscience.
You see, in Ancient Roman religion, the gods were super-human beings, as they
often are in many pagan religions. And Roman people were open to the
possibility of one of the gods coming down in human form. Caesar Augustus had
actually called himself amongst other things Filius Dei, the son of
a god. What the Jews said to Pilate here would have really made him tremble. “I
know that he is innocent, but the Son of God, you say?” And so we
read: When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.
Once again, Pontius Pilate’s grand plan to free Jesus
through arousing sympathy for Jesus had backfired on him, he comes out in
confidence, and he ends up in fear.
This brings us to the second part of our reading
where:
II. Pilate
goes back inside his headquarters to speak to Jesus.
We read: Pilate entered his headquarters again
and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
Now Pilate is not asking him, “Where are you from?”
just like we might say that to someone in the church narthex to someone,
talking about what city or town they come from. Pilate already knows that: he
knows that he is from Galilee. That’s why he had him sent off to King Herod. He
is asking him something much deeper. And yet: Jesus gave him no answer.
This is like a young couple, who are in love, and
thinking about getting married. They say to each other: I love you. And when they
say this, they take a risk, and also commit themselves to each other. When
Jesus says to Peter: Who do you say that I am? He says: You
are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Peter knew where Jesus was from.
He made a confession of faith.
But imagine the young couple, and one of them said,
“Do you love me?” This question is not a commitment, but doubts whether they
really do, and they want the other person to commit first. If you put yourself
on the line first, then I’ll follow, but I won’t take the risk, and take the
lead. This question could also carry underneath it a rebuke, as if to say: “Do
you love me? You sure don’t act like it!”
And so, Pilate says to Jesus, “Where are you from?” He
won’t make a confession of faith. He says to the crowd that he is innocent, but
he won’t commit himself to Jesus. Jesus has already said enough to create faith
in him. He had already said: My kingdom is not of this world. For this
purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness
to the truth. Jesus already told Pilate that he came into the world
from outside of it, from eternity, from the bosom of the Father. And so in
answer to his question, Jesus remains silent.
This makes Pilate angry. He says: You will not
speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority
to crucify you? Pilate threatens Jesus here. It’s as if he says: Hey,
speak to me, or I’ll crucify you just for that! This would be as if a world
leader said to another world leader: Reply to my emails, or I’ll launch a
nuclear bomb! Everyone knows just how silly this is. So Jesus does open his
mouth, and doesn’t give his answer, but says: You would have no
authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he
who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.
Jesus says something here about authority. We live in
a society that doesn’t respect people in authority. Many students in schools
don’t respect their teachers, citizens don’t often respect their politicians
and leaders very highly, and we could give other examples. But God has actually
created authority, and he has given it to the world as his blessing and as his
gift. Now, there are plenty of people who abuse their authority, but the abuse
of authority doesn’t make authority in and of itself a bad thing.
So God has created authority in the home, in marriage
and in the family. He also has created authority in the church. And he also has
created authority in the civil realm, in society, with leaders, police, armed forces,
and so on.
It’s a wonderful privilege that God gives to us to
pray for those who are under our authority, and to pray for those people who
are in authority over us. St Paul writes in 1 Timothy: First of all,
then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be
made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may
lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Also, we
read in Romans 13: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been
instituted by God. St Peter also writes in his first letter: Be
subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the
emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil
and to praise those who do good. Pontius Pilate is a governor, just
like Peter mentions here in his letter.
Have a think about our leaders, and world leaders. We
might imagine some leaders that we like, and some we don’t like. For example,
there’s the prime-minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull. Or the Queensland premier,
Anastacia Palaszczuk. Or there’s our local members of parliament. Or then
there’s the Queen, who is also the Queen of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Whether we personally like these people or not, the fact is they have their
authority from God, and God has placed them there. There is great wisdom is
knowing what authority we have, and then to use it.
And so here we have Pontius Pilate, who is threatening
to crucify Jesus for not opening his mouth. And Jesus says to him: You
would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from
above. This means that when Pilate finally does give Jesus over to be
crucified, it is God who has allowed it to happen. But also, if Pilate misuses
his authority by sentencing an innocent man to death, it is a great sin. And
Jesus says this to him: Therefore he who delivered me over to you has
the greater sin. Jesus says: If you crucify me, it will be a sin, and even
a great sin. But those who have given me over to you, to manipulate you, and to
use you, and to get what they want by pressing in on you, they have committed a
greater sin. They are using God-given authority not to promote what is right
and good, but in order to suit their own ends.
This now brings us to the third part of our reading
tonight, where:
III. Pilate
brings Jesus outside again, and tries to release him, but to no avail.
We read: From then on Pilate sought to release
him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s
friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” This time,
these words are addressed to Pilate. In effect, the Jews here are threatening
Pilate, as if to say, If you don’t do what we want, we’ll put in a bad report
about you to Caesar, and he won’t like that, will he, Mr Pilate? Pilate is now
put in a difficult place. The crowd remind Pilate that he is not simply a man
in authority over them, but he is a man under the authority of Caesar. What
will Caesar think, they say, if you don’t put a rival king to death?
We read: So when Pilate heard these words, he
brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone
Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the
Passover. It was about the sixth hour. We can see here that this is
Pilate’s last opportunity. He is going to sit in his official judgment seat.
The judge is going to make his pronouncement. John also mentions the day and
the time. It is the Day of Preparation—the next day is going to be the Sabbath,
and time is running out. It is Friday at midday, and there are only so many
hours left in the day. Later on in the chapter, we read that the Jews didn’t
want to have bodies on the cross on the Sabbath, so they asked Pilate to break
their legs and get the job over and done with. But here we are told
specifically, that Pilate has ascended onto his judgment throne. As Peter
says: He is a governor sent by God to punish those who do evil and to
praise those who do good.
And so mindful of this holy calling and duty that God
has bestowed upon him, he says: Behold your King! We read: They
cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them,
“Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but
Caesar!”
Just as they chose to have Barabbas released—a
murderer instead of their creator—so they also choose to have Caesar as their
king, the Roman Emperor, who has taxed and oppressed them, and call for the
death of the King of heaven, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the King
of David, the Lion from the Tribe of Judah, the Son of David and the Son of
God.
In Matthew’s Gospel we read: So when Pilate
saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather than a riot was beginning, he took
water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this
man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be
on us and on our children!”
Pilate tries to excuse himself by washing himself
clean, in a little symbolic ritual, and declaring his innocence. But he is
saying: Jesus is innocent, and I want to share in that innocence too. It’s you
that are forcing me into this.
But then the Jews say something quite tremendous. They
say: His blood be on us and on our children! It’s as if they are
saying: “Don’t you worry, Pilate! You might have a bad conscience, but we
don’t. We know he’s guilty. His blood can be on us and even on our children,
but we know that we are right and that we have nothing to worry about. We know
that we are innocent, and we know that he is guilty.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. They did not
give him a fair trial. Pilate had tried to free Jesus, the crowd had simply
pushed and pushed until their voices prevailed.
In some sense, they call upon themselves the guilt of
Jesus’ death upon themselves, convinced that they are right and Jesus is wrong.
However, those of us who believe that they were wrong and Jesus was right must
really shudder at these words.
These words are very sensitive, especially in the way
that they have been used in history. Sometimes, different people have developed
a particular hatred for Jewish people, and this came to a particular head, when
Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist party exterminated many, many
Jews—together with many other unwanted people—in the holocaust at the time of
WWII. Hatred towards to Jews was justified because they had called the guilt of
Jesus’ death down upon them and upon their children.
And yet, we who are Gentiles, have been grafted in,
through holy baptism, into God’s people. Both Jews and Gentiles are called to
be part of God’s church on earth. And of course, Jewish people are so close to
our faith, in that they have the Old Testament, and yet they are so far away in
that they reject the New Testament, and Jesus as their Messiah. Jesus was a
Jew, as were all the apostles, and all the writers of the bible. As St Paul
writes: But if some of the branches [that is, some Jews] were
broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, [that is, Gentiles] were
grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive
tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not
you who supports the root, but the root that supports you. The Jews
were originally God’s chosen people, and now we have been made God’s chosen
people together with them. Those Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah are cut
off, and need to be called to repentance and faith just like the rest of us. As
long as Jews and Muslims in the Middle-East reject Jesus together they will
always be fighting. Jesus calls both Jews and Muslims to him, to his cross, to
his blood, to his peace which passes all understanding. Imagine what a joy it
would be for Jews and Arabs if they had one common Saviour, Jesus Christ,
having one common baptism, and could share in the Lord’s Supper together! This
is not to say that Jesus’ peace is simply a political thing—not at all.
However, Jesus says: Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these
things will be added to you. What a wonderful joy it must have been
for that Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 to read prophet Isaiah—that prophet which
he knew so well—and then to realise that it was talking about Jesus!
It should be a great prayer for us towards those of
the Jewish race and of the Jewish faith that the blood of Jesus may be
upon them and upon their children, not as a curse, but as
a blessing. And this should also be our prayer about ourselves and
our children, just as Peter said on the day of Pentecost: Repent and be
baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the
Lord our God calls to himself.
Behold the man! Behold the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world!
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world—have
mercy on us! Amen.
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