Word of Salvation – Vol.37 No.13 – April 1992

 

Jesus Is Sentenced To Crucifixion

 

Sermon by Rev. by Michael Flinn on Mark 15:6-20

Scripture Reading: John 18:38b-19:16; Mark 15:6-20

 

Beloved in Christ,

Jesus Christ is standing before Pilate, the Roman governor.  The Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, has condemned Jesus and sentenced him to death on the charge of blasphemy against God because he claimed to be the Son of God, the Messiah, They wrongly understood that the Messiah would be a great military leader like David who would lead the people to a national deliverance from the control of the Romans.  As far as they were concerned, there was no way that Jesus, in his weak, humble and isolated state, could be the one who would lead Israel to salvation.  Ironically, however, they bring Jesus before Pilate and accuse him of being precisely such a figure.  They accuse him of being the King of the Jews, a leader of the insurrection, or rebellion, so that Pilate will be forced to condemn him to death and thus carry out their wishes.

However, Pilate had no love for the Jewish leaders and he was not particularly interested in doing things merely for the sake of pleasing them.  It was clear that for some reason Jesus was a thorn in the side of these men, and for that reason alone, Pilate would have been interested in sparing him.  Moreover, it is quite clear to Pilate that Jesus is no revolutionary leader.  This governor may be a cruel tyrant, but he is not stupid.  He is an experienced man in these matters and Jesus simply does not fit the bill.  Still further, upon taking with Jesus, Pilate is convinced that he is innocent.  So then what is he going to do?

Well, we pick up the narrative in verse 6 but since Mark’s account is rather brief, we will be drawing on material recorded by the other gospel writers so that we can gain a fuller picture of what happened.  We read, then, that at the feast Pilate used to release a prisoner upon popular request.  Remember, it was the time of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and more than likely, the unpopular Pilate did this in order to try to gain some favour with the Jews.  Now it just so happens that there are three prisoners who were going to be crucified that very day and one of them is a man called Barabbas who was a leader in the insurrection or rebellion and who had committed murder.  We do not know precisely what insurrection this was, but we know that there were a number of such rebellions and movements and we can deduce from the way Mark speaks of it that this insurrection must have been well-known and Barabbas must have been a popular figure.  The name Bar-Abbas means Son of the Father and more than likely that is not his real name at all but rather a title that the people have given him.  He is a violent freedom fighter, pledged to make war on the Romans by any means, fair or foul.  As such he is just the kind of messiah figure that the people are looking for and so they give him a messianic name.  It is also highly likely, and this is very important, that the crowd outside the Praetorium where the trials were conducted contains many people who have gathered for the specific reason of calling for the release of Barabbas.  Notice in verse 8 that the initiative for the release comes not from the governor but from the crowd.  They approach Pilate and invoke the custom of releasing a prisoner.

It is at this point that Pilate makes a serious error in judgement.  He thinks that by offering a choice between Barabbas and Jesus, the crowd will obviously choose Jesus over a convicted murderer and that by this means he will get Jesus off his hands.  Then something else happens.  Matthew tells us that he is handed a message from his wife which urges him to have nothing to do with the righteous man, Jesus, because she has been greatly troubled in a dream that night because of him.  But meanwhile, as Pilate is digesting this, the chief priests have gone throughout the crowd and urged everyone to ask for the release of Barabbas.  The people can see that they will have no trouble from their leaders if they allow Jesus to die.  Pilate’s attention is drawn back to the crowd and he finds that they are demanding the release of Barabbas.  So he asks them: What do you want me to do with Jesus then?  And the reply?  “Crucify him!”

Pilate then does something very unusual.  He rises from his seat of judgement and declares that Jesus is innocent and that he finds no guilt in him at all.  Then he calls for a bowl of water and washes his hands in front of the crowd, declaring that he is innocent of his blood.

Quite clearly, he does not want to put Jesus to death.  But the crowd is unmoved by this display.

We must appreciate that this is yet another attempt by Pilate to have Jesus released.  Scourging was a punishment in and of itself.  It is true. that scourging was associated with crucifixion but normally the condemned prisoner was not whipped until he was carrying his cross and on the way to execution.  But Pilate has Jesus scourged before he gives the order for him to be crucified.  The soldiers take Jesus inside the Praetorium and carry out the order and while they are at it they have some fun with this man who calls himself the King of the Jews. They dress him up in a purple robe and place a crown of thorns on his head.  Then Jesus is brought out again and Pilate says: ‘Behold the man!’  In other words: ‘Look at him!  Has he not suffered enough?  I have declared that he is innocent and yet I have had him beaten.  Is there now no mercy in you?’  But the crowd cries out: ‘We have a law; he ought to die because he makes out that he is the Son of God!’  There is the blasphemy charge, now out in the open.  Pilate, possibly a superstitious man, is even more troubled now.  Remember, he has already received a note from his wife telling him to have nothing to do with Jesus.  He takes Jesus inside and says: ‘Where are you from?’  Jesus does not answer.  Pilate says: ‘You do not answer me!  Don’t you know that I have authority to release you and I have the authority to crucify you?  Why do you not reply?’  Pilate knows that despite all his manoeuvres, he must bear responsibility for the decision and he does not like it one bit.  Jesus quite calmly replies: ‘You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above.  He who delivered me up – he has the greater sin.’  In other words: ‘Pilate, this is all part of God’s plan.  And you are in his hands.  Ultimately you will answer to him for what you do, not to the leaders back in Rome who gave you this position.’

Even now Jesus is not going to defend himself and he forces Pilate to think about his own accountability to God. The governor goes out and tries one last time with the crowd.  ‘Do you really want me to crucify your king?  Is that how you want to be known as a people?’  But the Jews cry out: ‘We have no king but Caesar.  And if you do not crucify this man, Pilate, you are no friend of Caesar.’

How sad and how ironic that these Jews with that statement, commit the very sin for which they condemned Jesus to death. They blaspheme against the name of the living God when they cried: We have no king but Caesar!  Pilate has been manipulated into condemning an innocent man and freeing a known rebel leader.  He gives the order for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  Although his sin was less than that of the high priest Caiaphas who delivered Jesus to Pilate for trial, it was still sin for which he personally would answer to the living God.

What can we learn from these events?  There are two lessons that I want to highlight this morning.  They are very simple lessons but they are very important nonetheless.  The first is this: We should learn how much we should hate our sin.  We see these terrible things happening to Jesus Christ and we can focus on the sins of those involved.  There is the sin of Judas who probably by now has already committed suicide.  There was the sin of Pilate, who out of fear for his own security condemned a man whom he knew full well was innocent.  There was the sin of the Jews who condemned their own Messiah and chose in his place a known murderer.  They even blasphemed against the living God which was really an act of spiritual suicide and which showed just how hypocritical they were when they were displayed outward moral indignation at the idea that Jesus had blasphemed.  Truly the sins of these people were terrible – especially when we appreciate that there were so many opportunities for them to turn back from their hellish deed of murdering Jesus Christ.  We may even find anger in our hearts and possibly even hatred of them for their deeds.  And we may say that their sin should be upon their heads.  They are accountable to God and it is right that God should punish them for what they did.

But at the same time we must understand that the sins which these people committed are no different in principle from the sins which we commit each day.  How many times have we misjudged someone else and thought of them as guilty when in fact they were innocent?  How many times have we spoken evil of someone when in fact that person had done no or little wrong?  How many times have we blasphemed against God’s name by calling ourselves Christians and yet not acting the way Christians should?  And how many times have we found ourselves getting deeper and deeper into sin, not being able to turn back and do that which we know in our hearts is righteous and holy.  Then what about sins which we have committed because we have become caught up in the sin which everyone else around us is committing.  Beloved, are we really any different in the sight of the living God?  Which one of us can stand up and claim innocence in his sight?

We must understand that it is our sins which placed Jesus on the cross.  As he indicated by his words to Pilate, these things were happening to him for a reason.  It was all part of God’s plan to save his people from their sins.  And beloved, how terrible are our sins that they should warrant the suffering and condemnation of this innocent man, Jesus Christ.  Sometimes we can think very casually about our sin: ‘Oh well, what does it really matter anyway?  It is just a little thing.  No-one is really hurt by it.  Besides, everyone else does it.  What’s the problem?’  But I suggest to you that when we understand that it is our sins which made Jesus undergo this suffering we can never be casual or light- hearted about them.  And if we find ourselves horrified, angry, grieved, at what these people did to Jesus Christ, then we should be just as horrified, angry and grieved at the sin which we commit because it was our sin which put Christ in that position.

That brings me to the second lesson that I want to highlight.  We must learn how much we should love our Saviour.  We have observed how Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us.  He knew in advance everything that would be done to him and he was willing to pay the price.  We have seen Jesus suffer the hurt of having a disciple betray him and the others desert him.  We have seen him falsely accused and tormented by the Sanhedrin.  Now we see him suffering at the hands of the Romans.

The scourging that Jesus received was a terrible form of punishment.  It was carried out with a whip made of leather thongs studded with sharpened pieces of lead and bone.  Under Roman law there was no limit to the number of strokes which could be given.  The whip quite literally battered and tore the flesh until it was in ribbons.  Many died from scourging alone.  It was no wonder that Jesus was not able to carry his own cross.  Had he been scourged again on the way to Golgotha, he would never have survived the journey.  But that is not all that Jesus underwent prior to the crucifixion itself.  The soldiers all gathered round for a bit of diversion with this man.  They placed upon his body a purple robe purple was the colour of royalty.  Imagine the pain which that must have inflicted.  Then they wove a crown of thorns and placed it on his head and placed in his hand a reed to signify a royal sceptre.  Then they took turns in bowing and saying: Hail King of the Jews!  And they rounded off the insult by spitting in his face and beating this king over the head with his own ‘sceptre’ so that the thorns of the ‘crown’ would bite even deeper into his flesh.  Finally Jesus was brought out to the crowds, battered, bleeding, obviously in fearful pain and Pilate said to them: ‘Behold the man!’  Has he not had enough?  But the crowd wanted more and they got it.

My friends, is it not a staggering thought to consider that this bleeding, battered and insulted individual is none other than the Son of God?  Is it not staggering to appreciate that at any point through these proceedings he could have called down legions of angels to destroy his tormentors?  But he suffered in silence because he knew that by doing so he would pay the penalty for our sins so that we would not be condemned and punished by God.  What sort of a Saviour is this and how will we ever begin to appreciate such love?  Is there anyone here who could say that Jesus is not worthy of our love and obedience?  It is one thing to be angry at ourselves because of our sins but a sense of personal annoyance and frustration will count for nothing if at the same time we do not trust in the work the Saviour and love him for what he did.  I ask the question: Do you hate your sins and yourself for having committed them?  And I hope the answer is ‘yes’.  But more important is this question: Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ because of what he did for you and do you want to show that love in the life that you lead for him?  Again, I hope that the answer is ‘yes’.  Trust in Christ.  Believe in him and be freed from your sins and the punishment which they warrant.

AMEN