April 6, 2025 • 32 mins
Jason Sterling April 6, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me this
morning.
Luke 23.
Luke, chapter 23.
We're going to look at verses 1through 5, and then we'll skip
down and look at verses 13through 25.
It's printed in your bulletin.
It'll also be on the screenbehind me in just a moment.
But this year, in 2025, we'vebeen studying through the Gospel
(00:23):
of Luke.
But this year, in 2025, we'vebeen studying through the Gospel
of Luke, and the past couple ofweeks, we've slowed down and we
have been looking and, in orderto prepare our hearts for
Easter, we've slowed down andwe've been walking with Jesus
through the last week of Hislife, up until the crucifixion.
We'll obviously celebrate theresurrection on Easter Sunday,
the crucifixion.
We'll obviously celebrate theresurrection on Easter Sunday.
(00:45):
This morning, we find ourselvesin the last hours of Jesus'
life.
In this passage, he is on trialbefore Pontius Pilate, who's
the governor over the Romanprovince of Judea, and so follow
along with me.
This is God's Word startingLuke 23, verse 1.
(01:06):
The whole company of them aroseand brought him before Pilate,
and they began to accuse him,saying we found this man
misleading our nation andforbidding us to give tribute to
Caesar, and saying that hehimself.
Is Christ a king?
And Pilate asked him Are youthe king of the Jews?
And Jesus answered him you havesaid so.
(01:32):
And Pilate said to the chiefpriest in the crowds I find no
guilt in this man, but they wereurgent, saying he stirs up the
people, teaching throughoutJudea, from Galilee even to this
place, down to verse 13.
Pilate then called together thechief priests and the rulers
and the people and said to themyou brought me this man as one
(01:56):
who was misleading the peopleand, after examining him before
you, behold, I did not find thisman guilty of any of your
charges against him.
Neither did Herod, for he senthim back to us.
Look, nothing deserving deathhas been done by him.
I will therefore punish andrelease him.
But they all cried out togetheraway with this man and release
(02:23):
to us Barabbas, a man who hadbeen thrown into prison for an
insurrection started in the cityand for murder.
Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but
they kept shouting crucify him,crucify him A third time.
(02:45):
He said to them why?
What evil has he done?
I have found in him no guiltdeserving death.
I will therefore punish andrelease him, but they were
urgent, demanding with loudcries that he should be
crucified, and their voicesprevailed.
So Pilate decided that theirdemands should be granted.
(03:09):
He released the man who hadbeen thrown into prison for
insurrection and murder, forwhom they asked.
But he delivered Jesus over totheir wills.
This is God's word.
Let me pray and let's ask forthe Spirit's help this morning.
Please bow with me.
Father, this is the day thatyou have made, and you have
(03:32):
called us to rejoice and be gladin this gloomy, dark, rainy day
.
And it's no accident that youhave brought us here on this day
to hear this word.
And so would you make us alert,make us attentive, give us soft
(03:55):
and receptive hearts, give usears to hear this passage that
you have before us this morning.
I pray for nothing less than adivine encounter with the Lord,
jesus Christ, through his spirit, for every person that is
listening this morning.
Only you can do that.
(04:16):
That's what we're asking.
Would you please do that, inJesus' name, amen.
There's a scene in CS Lewis'sChronicles of Narnia.
You might be familiar with thisscene if you're familiar with
that series, but there's thislittle girl, jill, who is very
thirsty, and she hears in thisscene running water, and so she
(04:41):
wants to find the water, runningwater, and so she wants to find
the water.
And so she goes looking forthis stream and she finally
finds the stream.
But laying in front of thestream is Aslan, who is the lion
, who is the Christ figure inthe story, and he doesn't say
anything at this point but justsimply stares at Jill and as the
(05:07):
conversation goes, he says ifyou're thirsty?
The lion says then drink,aren't you thirsty?
And Jill says I'm dying ofthirst.
And the lion looks and sayswell then drink.
And Jill looks and says well,maybe I would if you would just
(05:28):
go away for a while.
And then it says Lewis, says.
The lion answered only with alook and a very low growl.
And Jill says well, will youpromise not to do anything to me
if I come and drink?
And Aslan looks and says I makeno promises.
(05:52):
And then she says well, do youeat little girls?
And he responds and says I haveswallowed up little girls, and
I have swallowed up little boysand men and women and kings and
(06:14):
emperors and cities and nationsand realms.
And Jill looks and says wellthen, I dare not come.
And the lion responds by sayingwell then you will die of
thirst and Jill says oh no, Iwon't, I will just simply find
(06:38):
another stream.
And Aslan says there is noother stream.
You see?
In other words, lucy is staringin the face of the lion and
she's looking for another option.
She's looking for anotherstream and Aslan says you drink
(07:04):
here or you die.
Lucy is trying to figure outwho the lion is and who Aslan
really is.
And that's the exact same thingthat's going on with Pilate in
this scene.
It's really going on foreveryone the religious leaders,
(07:28):
the chief priests, pilate andthe crowd.
They are trying to figure outwhat do we do with Jesus?
Pilate doesn't want to condemnJesus, but he doesn't want to
crown Jesus either.
Jill does the exact same thingwith Aslan.
(07:49):
Pilate is face-to-face withJesus and he's looking for
another stream.
And you know, that's whatpeople often, that's what we
often do, that's what people inthe world today often do with
Jesus.
They don't want to crown Jesus,they don't want Jesus to Jesus,
they don't want Jesus to haveauthority in their life, but
they also don't want to cast himoff either.
(08:10):
And so people say I'll justlook for another stream.
And Jesus says to every one ofus this morning and we'll see
that here there is no otherstream.
You drink deeply from my wellor you die.
(08:31):
You see, the question for usthis morning from this passage
is what will we do with Jesus?
Will we crown Jesus or will wecondemn him?
This passage I want us to lookat, and under three headings.
Really, I want us to look atthree people.
(08:53):
I want us to look at thereligious leaders, number one.
Secondly, pilate.
Thirdly, barabbas.
So religious leaders, pilateand Barabbas, let's look at
those in turn this morning.
First, the religious leaders andthe chief priest.
Look at verses 1 through 5 withme.
So they bring Jesus beforePilate.
(09:13):
Pilate says are you the king ofthe Jews?
Jesus says it is as you say.
And if you look at the passagebefore this, they're accusing
Jesus of high treason.
He has confessed to being theMessiah and the Sanhedrin knew
that Rome would not give thedeath penalty for just a generic
(09:36):
charge of blasphemy.
And so they want to make itclear to Pilate that Jesus is
claiming to be the king, becauseif they do that, then he's
rebelling against the emperorand you're guilty of treason,
you get the death penalty.
And so the chief priests wantPilate to see that Jesus is a
(10:00):
threat to the empire, the chiefpriests and the religious
leaders.
You see, they have beenplotting and wanting Jesus dead
for some time.
Why?
Because he is claimingauthority and he is challenging
their authority and their power,rule and autonomy.
(10:21):
To say it another way, theirrule, the religious leaders,
their rule and throne is beingthreatened, because if Jesus is
king, that means they are not.
The final four is this weekend.
You all know I love collegebasketball and there's an
(10:44):
official that officiates a lotof college basketball games.
He didn't officiate the finalfour, but he does 90 plus games
a year and his name is BurtSmith games a year and his name
is Bert Smith.
Bert Smith is in his late 50s.
He's 6'3", 195 pounds.
He's an athlete, he's a runner,he's one of the guys that
(11:10):
always uses the stairs and neverthe elevator.
He always parks away in aparking spot so he can get his
steps in.
And you might be familiar withthis.
Maybe you were watching thegame.
But in 2021, in the NCAAtournament, burt Smith, who
appears to be in excellent shape, suddenly falls in the middle
(11:31):
of the game like a tree.
Just face first and they rollhim over.
His body is unmoving, his eyesare open, but he is unseeing.
This should not be for a man inthis kind or what appears to be
this physically fit and trained.
He went down because of anunknown blood clot in his lung
(12:03):
and on the surface he lookedactive and he looked strong.
And just below the surfacethere was danger lurking.
There was something lurkingthat was unseen.
And that's what we have going onhere with the religious leaders
and the chief priest.
They show us that, no matterhow spiritually strong you might
think you are, how much of theBible that you know, no matter
(12:28):
if you stand in this pulpitevery single week, that just
below the surface there issomething in each and every
heart that is more dangerousthan a blood clot, something
deadly that is lurking below thesurface, and it's pride, it's
(12:52):
the desire in each and every oneof us to want to be our own
king, and if we ignore that orif we think we're above that, it
will topple us, spirituallyspeaking, like a tree, just like
(13:13):
Burt Smith went down.
And so this morning, do you seethat?
Do you see that in your ownheart this morning?
It is much more subtle thanwhat we see in this passage, but
it is a heart that says yeah,yeah, jesus, I know you say that
(13:36):
you have something to say aboutthis area of my life, but I'm
not ready to give that up rightnow.
It's a heart Again.
It's so internal.
It's this stubbornness insideof us.
It doesn't look angry, itdoesn't look hostile, but it's a
(13:56):
heart that says, yeah, I knowI'm supposed to let you be the
king of my secrets and freedom.
It doesn't look hostile, butit's a heart that says, yeah, I
know I'm supposed to let you bethe king of my secrets and
freedom and sexuality andfinances, but I am not going to
do that.
It is a heart that says I wantto be in charge, I want to have
my own authority, I want to bethe king.
(14:18):
You see, when the true kingcomes, he reveals what we really
love, and when he threatenswhat we really love, just like
the chief priest and thereligious leaders, it causes us
to act and do some really uglythings.
Friends, following Jesus ispainful.
(14:42):
It's a lot of joy, but it'sdisruptive, because Jesus says I
will not share my throne withanyone or anything.
Share my throne with anyone oranything.
Jesus, when you follow him, youhave to take the crown off of
(15:06):
your own head and you have toput it on the head of Jesus.
Will you let Jesus be your kingthis morning or will you seek
to get rid of him like those wesee in this passage this morning
?
Secondly, we see Pilate.
(15:28):
So we see the religious leadersand the chief priests, but we
also hear a lot about Pilate inthis, and so look at verses 13
through 16.
We're just going to walkthrough a typical and that's
what this is a typical Romansentencing hearing.
He calls notice this.
He calls everyone together, therulers and the people and chief
(15:49):
priest.
And then, number one, he laysout the facts of the case and
lays out the charges.
He said you brought me this man.
You say he's been misleadingthe people.
Secondly, pilate lays out hisfindings.
Pilate has done a littleinvestigation and what's
interesting notice?
It says I looked into it, Ididn't find him guilty of any of
(16:10):
the charges.
And neither we didn't read thisportion, but neither did Herod.
And so think about this, thisportion, but neither did Herod.
And so think about this.
That's two people in chargethat have looked into this and
say there's nothing here, he'snot guilty.
And then it says he announcesthe sentence.
(16:31):
Look at verse 16.
I will therefore punish.
Think about this.
I will therefore punish.
Think about this.
I will therefore punish andrelease him.
Wait, I thought you just saidhe was innocent, so why are you
saying you're going to punishhim and then release him?
(16:55):
Let me try to explain what'shappening here.
This is Passover.
Lots of people in Jerusalem inthis moment.
This is a very politicallycharged environment.
The Jews are celebrating theirbiggest national holiday in
(17:15):
their capital city that is underRoman control and rule.
Okay, let me give you a picture.
That would be like the UnitedStates being under the control
of a foreign power and themsaying hey, we really like some
(17:40):
of these people and so, in orderto be nice and accommodating,
they're under our rule, butwe're going to let them have
their national holiday.
They can celebrate inWashington DC, july the 4th.
You have the picture.
What kind of things do youthink Americans would get into
(18:07):
with something like that on ourIndependence Day?
In that particular situation,my guess is that it would not
take much to get really rowdyand for things to get completely
out of hand and for chaos toensue.
That's the picture.
That's what Rome is worriedabout.
(18:28):
That is going to happen withIsrael, and Rome is trying to
accommodate the Jews We'll letyou celebrate Passover but at
the same time, they are on highalert for chaos and for rioting.
Now, with that background, putyourself in this scene and it'll
make a lot more sense.
The religious leaders show up atthe Passover with an innocent
(18:52):
man, jesus.
They want to kill him.
Not only do they have thereligious leaders, they have a
mob of people that are on edge.
And so what is Pilate going todo?
Pilate's stuck.
He's between a rock and a hardplace.
He's in a really difficult spot, because to kill Jesus would be
(19:15):
injustice, but to let Jesus go,whoa, a riot and chaos might
break out.
And Pilate there's also thistradition where he can release
one of the prisoners, a prisonerduring Passover, which provided
(19:37):
a possible way out of thissituation for Pilate, and so
it's very calculated.
This is a very calculated moveby Pilate.
He is trying to walk the middleground, he's trying to split
the difference, and so he sayshey, he's innocent.
(19:58):
I know that Herod knows that,but I can't do nothing.
We've got to do something, andso I will flog him, I will
punish him in some way, but thenI will release him.
Everyone will be satisfied.
Case closed.
Done, let's move on.
(20:23):
Pilate you see it again doesn'twant to condemn Jesus, but he
doesn't want to crown Jesuseither.
Pilate wants to play games withJesus.
Pilate wants to stay on thefence, he wants to stay in the
middle.
He wants to split thedifference and the problem is
(20:48):
that's not an option becauseJesus in the Bible, he forces
you to crown him or condemn him.
Luke 11, verse 23,.
Whoever is not with me isagainst me.
The one response that's not anoption is indifference.
(21:08):
The one response that's not anoption is splitting the
difference.
And Lewis is famous for sayingCS Lewis says Jesus is either of
utmost importance or noimportance.
But one thing Jesus cannot beis of some importance, and we
(21:33):
see that.
Just read the Gospels all theway through.
You see people bowing andworshiping Jesus or wanting to
crucify Him, and Pilate actuallyrubs up against that reality in
verse 18.
Pilate learns that you can'tstay in the middle.
Look at verse 18.
(21:55):
Away with this man, release tous Barabbas.
They don't want to releaseJesus, they want to kill Jesus,
and so they turn up the heat,they turn up the volume.
Look at verse 21 and 23.
Notice the language.
They were urgent, demandingwith loud cries crucify him and
(22:18):
their voices prevailed.
The crowd eventually wins out.
Pilate knew this was the wrongthing to do.
Pilate knows this is injustice,but he crumbles under the
pressure.
Pilate is ultimately decidingand decides that Jesus is not
(22:42):
worth it.
Jesus is not worth the riot,jesus is not worth the hassle,
jesus is not worth cashing inpolitical chips.
Pilate decides I will stick myneck out for things, but I'm not
going to do it for Jesus.
(23:07):
And my question for all of us,including me this morning how is
our heart like Pilate thismorning, this morning?
How is our heart like pilotthis morning?
How are we crumbling under thepressure?
Where do we find ourselves onthe fence with Jesus?
Where are we tempted by thenoise of the crowd?
(23:29):
Where in your life, whatsituation are you saying it's
just going to be a hassle andit's not really worth it for
what I will have to go through?
Surely I know I feel this,surely you feel this.
(23:51):
And, friends, we're going toand I've said these things
before we're going to continue,I think, to feel this.
More and more Pressure is goingto be coming at us and put on
those who claim to be Christians, and there will be more and
more pressure to cave on truth,to cave to the roar of the crowd
(24:14):
and the pressure of the crowdin the world, because it's so
loud and there's lots of areas,but at the moment it seems like
there is lots of pressure tocave on a biblical view of
sexuality, marriage and gender,sexuality, marriage and gender.
(24:35):
And my prayer is that God wouldgive us strength and courage,
that he would hold us close sothat we would bow the knee to
King Jesus and not crumble underthe pressure of the crowd.
And how does that happen?
That's hard, and so where do weget the motivation and the
(24:59):
strength to stand?
Well, that leads to the lastpoint Barabbas.
Look at verse 19.
So they pressure Pilate torelease Barabbas instead of
Jesus.
And verse 19 we get a pictureof who Barabbas is.
He's not a great guy, he's aterrorist.
He's committed murder in theinsurrection, but the Jews see
(25:21):
Barabbas as a freedom fighter.
They're like this guy's goingafter it.
He's a zealot.
Release him.
But according to the law he'sguilty and deserves death.
Verse 22,.
A third time Pilate says whatevil has this man done?
(25:43):
I have found no guilt in himthat deserves death.
And notice the crowd neveranswers the question.
Because the crowd knows thatJesus is innocent too, they
begin to shout all the morecrucify him, friends Jesus, he
(26:08):
knows injustice.
He knows what it's like to betreated poorly.
He knows what it's like to betreated unfairly and to be
misunderstood.
Verses 24 and 25, pilatesatisfies the crowd.
He releases for them Barabbas.
But notice the emphasis.
(26:29):
Luke's already told us whoBarabbas is.
He says let me remind you againwho I just released.
Did you notice that?
Barabbas the man who was thrownin prison for insurrection and
murder.
If you want to understand whatit means to follow Jesus and you
(26:50):
want to understand Christianityand what it's like to have a
right relationship with God, ifyou want to understand
Christianity and what it's liketo have a right relationship
with God, if you want to see thegospel, you find it right here
in this passage.
How so?
Barabbas is a criminal and he'sguilty and deserves death and
(27:11):
he walks away free.
And he's guilty and deservesdeath and he walks away free.
Jesus, on the other hand, isinnocent and he's condemned and
sentenced to death and literallytakes what was supposed to be
Barabbas' spot on the cross.
And you see, lots of times weread passages like this and you
(27:32):
heard me again.
I've said these things before.
But our temptation is to getsad or mad about the way Jesus
is being treated.
Yes, okay, okay, nothing wrongwith that.
But that keeps you outside ofthe story.
And when you read the Bible,particularly in the Gospels and
the parables, you should alwaysbe putting yourself in the story
(27:56):
.
And we've seen this morningthat we are more like the
religious leaders in Pilate thanwe care to admit.
But perhaps an even hardertruth to admit is the truth that
we are all Barabbas that's whatthe Bible says that we're
(28:18):
criminals, spiritually speaking,that we have committed cosmic
treason against a holy God.
There's an old movie in the late90s, the Green Mile, and there
is this scene in the Green Milethat stops you cold.
John Coffey is a gentle giant.
(28:40):
He has this supernatural giftif you've seen the movie.
He's sentenced to die for thecrimes that he did not commit.
He has the power to heal, butinstead he is strapped to an
electric chair and everyonewatching knows that he's
innocent and they know that hedoes not deserve it, and yet
(29:02):
they kill him anyway.
It's heart-wrenching, it feelsunjust, it feels backwards and
scandalous.
And now imagine that sameinjustice.
Only the man on death rowactually chooses it, not because
(29:27):
he's guilty, but because youare.
You see, that's the gospel.
The gospel is that Jesusswitches places with us.
Jesus totally innocent, but isdeclared guilty and executed on
(29:49):
a Roman cross so that you and I,who are guilty, might be
declared innocent and set free.
Dale Bruner, a commentator, andI love this.
Only in Christianity, only inthe gospel, are confessed
sinners, declared innocent.
(30:10):
It's the absurdity of the cross.
God doesn't send down an angel,he doesn't put his arm down
from the sky and sign a pardon.
You know what God does.
God comes down in the person ofJesus Christ and dies in the
(30:31):
place of the guilty.
Friends, the cross will alwayslook wrong to the world until
you realize it was meant for you.
There is no other religion inthe world like Christianity.
And so this morning, I don'tknow who's here and where you
(30:54):
are and what you've done and theshame that you feel, but come
to this Jesus this morning,because this Jesus is your
substitute and this Jesus willset you free.
(31:15):
Friends, jesus is way betterthan we think.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Amen, let's pray.
Father, thank you for livingfor us, but also for dying for
us, for us, but also for dyingfor us.
(31:36):
Would you forgive us for theways we don't want to take our
own crowns off, ways we refuseto bow the knee?
Would you forgive us for bowingto the pressure of the crowd
like Pilate?
Thank you for your mercy, holySpirit.
(31:58):
I pray that you would help usto see ourselves in this story,
so that we might change and sothat we might have strength and
courage to stand.
Help us to see how deeply weare loved In Jesus' name, amen.
If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me this
morning.
Luke 23.
Luke, chapter 23.
We're going to look at verses 1through 5, and then we'll skip
down and look at verses 13through 25.
It's printed in your bulletin.
It'll also be on the screenbehind me in just a moment.
But this year, in 2025, we'vebeen studying through the Gospel
(00:23):
of Luke.
But this year, in 2025, we'vebeen studying through the Gospel
of Luke, and the past couple ofweeks, we've slowed down and we
have been looking and, in orderto prepare our hearts for
Easter, we've slowed down andwe've been walking with Jesus
through the last week of Hislife, up until the crucifixion.
We'll obviously celebrate theresurrection on Easter Sunday,
the crucifixion.
We'll obviously celebrate theresurrection on Easter Sunday.
(00:45):
This morning, we find ourselvesin the last hours of Jesus'
life.
In this passage, he is on trialbefore Pontius Pilate, who's
the governor over the Romanprovince of Judea, and so follow
along with me.
This is God's Word startingLuke 23, verse 1.
(01:06):
The whole company of them aroseand brought him before Pilate,
and they began to accuse him,saying we found this man
misleading our nation andforbidding us to give tribute to
Caesar, and saying that hehimself.
Is Christ a king?
And Pilate asked him Are youthe king of the Jews?
And Jesus answered him you havesaid so.
(01:32):
And Pilate said to the chiefpriest in the crowds I find no
guilt in this man, but they wereurgent, saying he stirs up the
people, teaching throughoutJudea, from Galilee even to this
place, down to verse 13.
Pilate then called together thechief priests and the rulers
and the people and said to themyou brought me this man as one
(01:56):
who was misleading the peopleand, after examining him before
you, behold, I did not find thisman guilty of any of your
charges against him.
Neither did Herod, for he senthim back to us.
Look, nothing deserving deathhas been done by him.
I will therefore punish andrelease him.
But they all cried out togetheraway with this man and release
(02:23):
to us Barabbas, a man who hadbeen thrown into prison for an
insurrection started in the cityand for murder.
Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but
they kept shouting crucify him,crucify him A third time.
(02:45):
He said to them why?
What evil has he done?
I have found in him no guiltdeserving death.
I will therefore punish andrelease him, but they were
urgent, demanding with loudcries that he should be
crucified, and their voicesprevailed.
So Pilate decided that theirdemands should be granted.
(03:09):
He released the man who hadbeen thrown into prison for
insurrection and murder, forwhom they asked.
But he delivered Jesus over totheir wills.
This is God's word.
Let me pray and let's ask forthe Spirit's help this morning.
Please bow with me.
Father, this is the day thatyou have made, and you have
(03:32):
called us to rejoice and be gladin this gloomy, dark, rainy day
.
And it's no accident that youhave brought us here on this day
to hear this word.
And so would you make us alert,make us attentive, give us soft
(03:55):
and receptive hearts, give usears to hear this passage that
you have before us this morning.
I pray for nothing less than adivine encounter with the Lord,
jesus Christ, through his spirit, for every person that is
listening this morning.
Only you can do that.
(04:16):
That's what we're asking.
Would you please do that, inJesus' name, amen.
There's a scene in CS Lewis'sChronicles of Narnia.
You might be familiar with thisscene if you're familiar with
that series, but there's thislittle girl, jill, who is very
thirsty, and she hears in thisscene running water, and so she
(04:41):
wants to find the water, runningwater, and so she wants to find
the water.
And so she goes looking forthis stream and she finally
finds the stream.
But laying in front of thestream is Aslan, who is the lion
, who is the Christ figure inthe story, and he doesn't say
anything at this point but justsimply stares at Jill and as the
(05:07):
conversation goes, he says ifyou're thirsty?
The lion says then drink,aren't you thirsty?
And Jill says I'm dying ofthirst.
And the lion looks and sayswell then drink.
And Jill looks and says well,maybe I would if you would just
(05:28):
go away for a while.
And then it says Lewis, says.
The lion answered only with alook and a very low growl.
And Jill says well, will youpromise not to do anything to me
if I come and drink?
And Aslan looks and says I makeno promises.
(05:52):
And then she says well, do youeat little girls?
And he responds and says I haveswallowed up little girls, and
I have swallowed up little boysand men and women and kings and
(06:14):
emperors and cities and nationsand realms.
And Jill looks and says wellthen, I dare not come.
And the lion responds by sayingwell then you will die of
thirst and Jill says oh no, Iwon't, I will just simply find
(06:38):
another stream.
And Aslan says there is noother stream.
You see?
In other words, lucy is staringin the face of the lion and
she's looking for another option.
She's looking for anotherstream and Aslan says you drink
(07:04):
here or you die.
Lucy is trying to figure outwho the lion is and who Aslan
really is.
And that's the exact same thingthat's going on with Pilate in
this scene.
It's really going on foreveryone the religious leaders,
(07:28):
the chief priests, pilate andthe crowd.
They are trying to figure outwhat do we do with Jesus?
Pilate doesn't want to condemnJesus, but he doesn't want to
crown Jesus either.
Jill does the exact same thingwith Aslan.
(07:49):
Pilate is face-to-face withJesus and he's looking for
another stream.
And you know, that's whatpeople often, that's what we
often do, that's what people inthe world today often do with
Jesus.
They don't want to crown Jesus,they don't want Jesus to Jesus,
they don't want Jesus to haveauthority in their life, but
they also don't want to cast himoff either.
(08:10):
And so people say I'll justlook for another stream.
And Jesus says to every one ofus this morning and we'll see
that here there is no otherstream.
You drink deeply from my wellor you die.
(08:31):
You see, the question for usthis morning from this passage
is what will we do with Jesus?
Will we crown Jesus or will wecondemn him?
This passage I want us to lookat, and under three headings.
Really, I want us to look atthree people.
(08:53):
I want us to look at thereligious leaders, number one.
Secondly, pilate.
Thirdly, barabbas.
So religious leaders, pilateand Barabbas, let's look at
those in turn this morning.
First, the religious leaders andthe chief priest.
Look at verses 1 through 5 withme.
So they bring Jesus beforePilate.
(09:13):
Pilate says are you the king ofthe Jews?
Jesus says it is as you say.
And if you look at the passagebefore this, they're accusing
Jesus of high treason.
He has confessed to being theMessiah and the Sanhedrin knew
that Rome would not give thedeath penalty for just a generic
(09:36):
charge of blasphemy.
And so they want to make itclear to Pilate that Jesus is
claiming to be the king, becauseif they do that, then he's
rebelling against the emperorand you're guilty of treason,
you get the death penalty.
And so the chief priests wantPilate to see that Jesus is a
(10:00):
threat to the empire, the chiefpriests and the religious
leaders.
You see, they have beenplotting and wanting Jesus dead
for some time.
Why?
Because he is claimingauthority and he is challenging
their authority and their power,rule and autonomy.
(10:21):
To say it another way, theirrule, the religious leaders,
their rule and throne is beingthreatened, because if Jesus is
king, that means they are not.
The final four is this weekend.
You all know I love collegebasketball and there's an
(10:44):
official that officiates a lotof college basketball games.
He didn't officiate the finalfour, but he does 90 plus games
a year and his name is BurtSmith games a year and his name
is Bert Smith.
Bert Smith is in his late 50s.
He's 6'3", 195 pounds.
He's an athlete, he's a runner,he's one of the guys that
(11:10):
always uses the stairs and neverthe elevator.
He always parks away in aparking spot so he can get his
steps in.
And you might be familiar withthis.
Maybe you were watching thegame.
But in 2021, in the NCAAtournament, burt Smith, who
appears to be in excellent shape, suddenly falls in the middle
(11:31):
of the game like a tree.
Just face first and they rollhim over.
His body is unmoving, his eyesare open, but he is unseeing.
This should not be for a man inthis kind or what appears to be
this physically fit and trained.
He went down because of anunknown blood clot in his lung
(12:03):
and on the surface he lookedactive and he looked strong.
And just below the surfacethere was danger lurking.
There was something lurkingthat was unseen.
And that's what we have going onhere with the religious leaders
and the chief priest.
They show us that, no matterhow spiritually strong you might
think you are, how much of theBible that you know, no matter
(12:28):
if you stand in this pulpitevery single week, that just
below the surface there issomething in each and every
heart that is more dangerousthan a blood clot, something
deadly that is lurking below thesurface, and it's pride, it's
(12:52):
the desire in each and every oneof us to want to be our own
king, and if we ignore that orif we think we're above that, it
will topple us, spirituallyspeaking, like a tree, just like
(13:13):
Burt Smith went down.
And so this morning, do you seethat?
Do you see that in your ownheart this morning?
It is much more subtle thanwhat we see in this passage, but
it is a heart that says yeah,yeah, jesus, I know you say that
(13:36):
you have something to say aboutthis area of my life, but I'm
not ready to give that up rightnow.
It's a heart Again.
It's so internal.
It's this stubbornness insideof us.
It doesn't look angry, itdoesn't look hostile, but it's a
(13:56):
heart that says, yeah, I knowI'm supposed to let you be the
king of my secrets and freedom.
It doesn't look hostile, butit's a heart that says, yeah, I
know I'm supposed to let you bethe king of my secrets and
freedom and sexuality andfinances, but I am not going to
do that.
It is a heart that says I wantto be in charge, I want to have
my own authority, I want to bethe king.
(14:18):
You see, when the true kingcomes, he reveals what we really
love, and when he threatenswhat we really love, just like
the chief priest and thereligious leaders, it causes us
to act and do some really uglythings.
Friends, following Jesus ispainful.
(14:42):
It's a lot of joy, but it'sdisruptive, because Jesus says I
will not share my throne withanyone or anything.
Share my throne with anyone oranything.
Jesus, when you follow him, youhave to take the crown off of
(15:06):
your own head and you have toput it on the head of Jesus.
Will you let Jesus be your kingthis morning or will you seek
to get rid of him like those wesee in this passage this morning
?
Secondly, we see Pilate.
(15:28):
So we see the religious leadersand the chief priests, but we
also hear a lot about Pilate inthis, and so look at verses 13
through 16.
We're just going to walkthrough a typical and that's
what this is a typical Romansentencing hearing.
He calls notice this.
He calls everyone together, therulers and the people and chief
(15:49):
priest.
And then, number one, he laysout the facts of the case and
lays out the charges.
He said you brought me this man.
You say he's been misleadingthe people.
Secondly, pilate lays out hisfindings.
Pilate has done a littleinvestigation and what's
interesting notice?
It says I looked into it, Ididn't find him guilty of any of
(16:10):
the charges.
And neither we didn't read thisportion, but neither did Herod.
And so think about this, thisportion, but neither did Herod.
And so think about this.
That's two people in chargethat have looked into this and
say there's nothing here, he'snot guilty.
And then it says he announcesthe sentence.
(16:31):
Look at verse 16.
I will therefore punish.
Think about this.
I will therefore punish.
Think about this.
I will therefore punish andrelease him.
Wait, I thought you just saidhe was innocent, so why are you
saying you're going to punishhim and then release him?
(16:55):
Let me try to explain what'shappening here.
This is Passover.
Lots of people in Jerusalem inthis moment.
This is a very politicallycharged environment.
The Jews are celebrating theirbiggest national holiday in
(17:15):
their capital city that is underRoman control and rule.
Okay, let me give you a picture.
That would be like the UnitedStates being under the control
of a foreign power and themsaying hey, we really like some
(17:40):
of these people and so, in orderto be nice and accommodating,
they're under our rule, butwe're going to let them have
their national holiday.
They can celebrate inWashington DC, july the 4th.
You have the picture.
What kind of things do youthink Americans would get into
(18:07):
with something like that on ourIndependence Day?
In that particular situation,my guess is that it would not
take much to get really rowdyand for things to get completely
out of hand and for chaos toensue.
That's the picture.
That's what Rome is worriedabout.
(18:28):
That is going to happen withIsrael, and Rome is trying to
accommodate the Jews We'll letyou celebrate Passover but at
the same time, they are on highalert for chaos and for rioting.
Now, with that background, putyourself in this scene and it'll
make a lot more sense.
The religious leaders show up atthe Passover with an innocent
(18:52):
man, jesus.
They want to kill him.
Not only do they have thereligious leaders, they have a
mob of people that are on edge.
And so what is Pilate going todo?
Pilate's stuck.
He's between a rock and a hardplace.
He's in a really difficult spot, because to kill Jesus would be
(19:15):
injustice, but to let Jesus go,whoa, a riot and chaos might
break out.
And Pilate there's also thistradition where he can release
one of the prisoners, a prisonerduring Passover, which provided
(19:37):
a possible way out of thissituation for Pilate, and so
it's very calculated.
This is a very calculated moveby Pilate.
He is trying to walk the middleground, he's trying to split
the difference, and so he sayshey, he's innocent.
(19:58):
I know that Herod knows that,but I can't do nothing.
We've got to do something, andso I will flog him, I will
punish him in some way, but thenI will release him.
Everyone will be satisfied.
Case closed.
Done, let's move on.
(20:23):
Pilate you see it again doesn'twant to condemn Jesus, but he
doesn't want to crown Jesuseither.
Pilate wants to play games withJesus.
Pilate wants to stay on thefence, he wants to stay in the
middle.
He wants to split thedifference and the problem is
(20:48):
that's not an option becauseJesus in the Bible, he forces
you to crown him or condemn him.
Luke 11, verse 23,.
Whoever is not with me isagainst me.
The one response that's not anoption is indifference.
(21:08):
The one response that's not anoption is splitting the
difference.
And Lewis is famous for sayingCS Lewis says Jesus is either of
utmost importance or noimportance.
But one thing Jesus cannot beis of some importance, and we
(21:33):
see that.
Just read the Gospels all theway through.
You see people bowing andworshiping Jesus or wanting to
crucify Him, and Pilate actuallyrubs up against that reality in
verse 18.
Pilate learns that you can'tstay in the middle.
Look at verse 18.
(21:55):
Away with this man, release tous Barabbas.
They don't want to releaseJesus, they want to kill Jesus,
and so they turn up the heat,they turn up the volume.
Look at verse 21 and 23.
Notice the language.
They were urgent, demandingwith loud cries crucify him and
(22:18):
their voices prevailed.
The crowd eventually wins out.
Pilate knew this was the wrongthing to do.
Pilate knows this is injustice,but he crumbles under the
pressure.
Pilate is ultimately decidingand decides that Jesus is not
(22:42):
worth it.
Jesus is not worth the riot,jesus is not worth the hassle,
jesus is not worth cashing inpolitical chips.
Pilate decides I will stick myneck out for things, but I'm not
going to do it for Jesus.
(23:07):
And my question for all of us,including me this morning how is
our heart like Pilate thismorning, this morning?
How is our heart like pilotthis morning?
How are we crumbling under thepressure?
Where do we find ourselves onthe fence with Jesus?
Where are we tempted by thenoise of the crowd?
(23:29):
Where in your life, whatsituation are you saying it's
just going to be a hassle andit's not really worth it for
what I will have to go through?
Surely I know I feel this,surely you feel this.
(23:51):
And, friends, we're going toand I've said these things
before we're going to continue,I think, to feel this.
More and more Pressure is goingto be coming at us and put on
those who claim to be Christians, and there will be more and
more pressure to cave on truth,to cave to the roar of the crowd
(24:14):
and the pressure of the crowdin the world, because it's so
loud and there's lots of areas,but at the moment it seems like
there is lots of pressure tocave on a biblical view of
sexuality, marriage and gender,sexuality, marriage and gender.
(24:35):
And my prayer is that God wouldgive us strength and courage,
that he would hold us close sothat we would bow the knee to
King Jesus and not crumble underthe pressure of the crowd.
And how does that happen?
That's hard, and so where do weget the motivation and the
(24:59):
strength to stand?
Well, that leads to the lastpoint Barabbas.
Look at verse 19.
So they pressure Pilate torelease Barabbas instead of
Jesus.
And verse 19 we get a pictureof who Barabbas is.
He's not a great guy, he's aterrorist.
He's committed murder in theinsurrection, but the Jews see
(25:21):
Barabbas as a freedom fighter.
They're like this guy's goingafter it.
He's a zealot.
Release him.
But according to the law he'sguilty and deserves death.
Verse 22,.
A third time Pilate says whatevil has this man done?
(25:43):
I have found no guilt in himthat deserves death.
And notice the crowd neveranswers the question.
Because the crowd knows thatJesus is innocent too, they
begin to shout all the morecrucify him, friends Jesus, he
(26:08):
knows injustice.
He knows what it's like to betreated poorly.
He knows what it's like to betreated unfairly and to be
misunderstood.
Verses 24 and 25, pilatesatisfies the crowd.
He releases for them Barabbas.
But notice the emphasis.
(26:29):
Luke's already told us whoBarabbas is.
He says let me remind you againwho I just released.
Did you notice that?
Barabbas the man who was thrownin prison for insurrection and
murder.
If you want to understand whatit means to follow Jesus and you
(26:50):
want to understand Christianityand what it's like to have a
right relationship with God, ifyou want to understand
Christianity and what it's liketo have a right relationship
with God, if you want to see thegospel, you find it right here
in this passage.
How so?
Barabbas is a criminal and he'sguilty and deserves death and
(27:11):
he walks away free.
And he's guilty and deservesdeath and he walks away free.
Jesus, on the other hand, isinnocent and he's condemned and
sentenced to death and literallytakes what was supposed to be
Barabbas' spot on the cross.
And you see, lots of times weread passages like this and you
(27:32):
heard me again.
I've said these things before.
But our temptation is to getsad or mad about the way Jesus
is being treated.
Yes, okay, okay, nothing wrongwith that.
But that keeps you outside ofthe story.
And when you read the Bible,particularly in the Gospels and
the parables, you should alwaysbe putting yourself in the story
(27:56):
.
And we've seen this morningthat we are more like the
religious leaders in Pilate thanwe care to admit.
But perhaps an even hardertruth to admit is the truth that
we are all Barabbas that's whatthe Bible says that we're
(28:18):
criminals, spiritually speaking,that we have committed cosmic
treason against a holy God.
There's an old movie in the late90s, the Green Mile, and there
is this scene in the Green Milethat stops you cold.
John Coffey is a gentle giant.
(28:40):
He has this supernatural giftif you've seen the movie.
He's sentenced to die for thecrimes that he did not commit.
He has the power to heal, butinstead he is strapped to an
electric chair and everyonewatching knows that he's
innocent and they know that hedoes not deserve it, and yet
(29:02):
they kill him anyway.
It's heart-wrenching, it feelsunjust, it feels backwards and
scandalous.
And now imagine that sameinjustice.
Only the man on death rowactually chooses it, not because
(29:27):
he's guilty, but because youare.
You see, that's the gospel.
The gospel is that Jesusswitches places with us.
Jesus totally innocent, but isdeclared guilty and executed on
(29:49):
a Roman cross so that you and I,who are guilty, might be
declared innocent and set free.
Dale Bruner, a commentator, andI love this.
Only in Christianity, only inthe gospel, are confessed
sinners, declared innocent.
(30:10):
It's the absurdity of the cross.
God doesn't send down an angel,he doesn't put his arm down
from the sky and sign a pardon.
You know what God does.
God comes down in the person ofJesus Christ and dies in the
(30:31):
place of the guilty.
Friends, the cross will alwayslook wrong to the world until
you realize it was meant for you.
There is no other religion inthe world like Christianity.
And so this morning, I don'tknow who's here and where you
(30:54):
are and what you've done and theshame that you feel, but come
to this Jesus this morning,because this Jesus is your
substitute and this Jesus willset you free.
(31:15):
Friends, jesus is way betterthan we think.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Amen, let's pray.
Father, thank you for livingfor us, but also for dying for
us, for us, but also for dyingfor us.
(31:36):
Would you forgive us for theways we don't want to take our
own crowns off, ways we refuseto bow the knee?
Would you forgive us for bowingto the pressure of the crowd
like Pilate?
Thank you for your mercy, holySpirit.
(31:58):
I pray that you would help usto see ourselves in this story,
so that we might change and sothat we might have strength and
courage to stand.
Help us to see how deeply weare loved In Jesus' name, amen.
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