April 6, 2025
Morning Service

The Passion Week is winding to a close as Jesus has shared the Last Supper with His disciples, prayed in the garden, been betrayed, arrested, and tried by the Jewish leaders.  The disciples are scattered and Peter is miserable over denying the Lord three times just as Jesus had told Him.  Jesus spends Thursday night in the custody of the Jewish leaders and as morning breaks on “Good Friday” they lead Him to the Romans to stand before Pilate.  Their goal is to persuade Pilate to crucify Jesus, unknowingly lining up perfectly with the plan God has in place.

Joh 18:28-32Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  (29)  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  (30)  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  (31)  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law." Therefore, the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," (32) that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

            Jesus had prophesied this exact scenario to the disciples three different times.  The Jewish leaders had no idea that they were playing a part in God’s perfect plan of salvation and actually fulfilling the very words of prophecy of the One they were condemning to death.  Jesus had told the twelve this in Matthew:

 

Mat 20:18-19 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, (19) and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again."

            Through this prophecy of Jesus, we can judge Him to be a true Prophet because what He has predicted happened just as He said.  This builds our faith to fully trust that all His words and promises are true.

 Pilate is the Roman governor at this time ruling over the Jews which disliked him and he returned the sentiment.  He now begins to question Jesus trying to get to the bottom of all of this.

 

Joh 18:33-40 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  (34)  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  (35)  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?"  (36)  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  (37)  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  (38)  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all.  (39)  "But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  (40)  Then they all cried again, saying, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber.

            Pilate asks Jesus if He is a king to see if He is leading a rebellion against Rome which would justify His death.  Jesus states well that His sights are set on something far bigger than overthrowing Rome, but He establishes a kingdom that is “not of this world.”  He has come to “bear witness to the truth” and draw those who hear Him to Himself.  He has come to make all things new and prepare a way for those of us who believe in Him to enter into His kingdom by paying the price for our sin.  He was born for this moment in time to conquer our greatest enemies, sin and death.  Isaiah wrote of this moment long before it comes to pass on this day.

 

Isa 53:4-5 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  (5)  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

            What does this look like?

 

Joh 19:1-5 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.  (2)  And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe.  (3)  Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands.  (4)  Pilate then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him."  (5)  Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!"

            By yielding His will to the will of His Father, Jesus opens Himself up to this.  Scourging itself could have killed Jesus, but He endured the wounds, bruising, chastisement, and stripes for our transgression and for my iniquities.  Not only the beatings, but He was openly mocked with a crown of thorns and a purple robe.  They spit upon Him and struck Him with their hands in total disdain of who He really was.  Jesus accepted all of this, for us.  He was paving the road of salvation  for all of us who believe to be forgiven for our sins and cleansed by God. He was making all things new.  Pilate proclaims, “Behold the Man!” presenting a bloody, beaten and humiliated Jesus before them.  The Jews in this moment had to decide in their heart who this Man was.  Was He Who He claimed to be or was He a blaspheming mad man.   We too all come to this same moment of decision where we must decide who He is to us.  Jesus asked Peter “who do you say that I am?”  Which in reality is the single most important question we will ever answer in our lifetime.  He replied by faith to Jesus “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God” (Matt 16:16) which greatly pleased Him.  The Jews stand at a fork in the road, do they worship Jesus as their Messiah or kill Him as a blasphemer?

 

Joh 19:6-8 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him."  (7)  The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God."  (8)  Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,

            The Jews are quick to decide that they choose to reject Him as their long awaited Messiah.  They get caught up in the moment and call for His crucifixion despite Pilate’s judgement of His innocence.  Pilate is taken back by all of this and is afraid as now the decision falls solely upon him.  He again reaches out to Jesus:

 

Joh 19:9-14 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.  (10)  Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?"  (11)  Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."  (12)  From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."  (13)  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.  (14)  Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"

            Pilate struggles with doing the right thing and release this innocent man or keep the crowd peaceful and consent to His death.  Notice that even in this moment Jesus comforts Pilate in saying the Jews who delivered Him have the greater sin.  Notice there is no wavering in Jesus.  He is fully present in this moment knowing full well what lies ahead for Him.  Pilate yields to the crowd, and to the will of God, unwilling to stand for truth and sends Jesus to His crucifixion.

            Just as Pilate and the Jews judged Jesus today, we also must judge Him.  Do we believe in Him or not?  Are His words truth or is it as Pilate says “what is truth?”  Jesus is looking you in the eye today and asks you “Who do you say that I am?”  Your answer does not change who He is, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, but it will change who you are and the path you take from this day forward.

 

Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

 

Father, we come humbly before you this morning, amazed at the love You have for us.  We ask You build our faith through this word today and grant us the courage to follow Jesus no matter the cost.