Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/cbc/sermons/18323/since-he-faced-injustice-for-us/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Please take your Bibles and go to Matthew's Gospel again. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 27. Five more weeks in Matthew's Gospel.

[0:12] Woo-hoo. And no, I don't know what I'm gonna do next, so. I've had like three people ask me, I'm like, I don't know, I have to sit and think about it.

[0:23] So you have to think, a dangerous pastime. Okay, there we go. Somebody heard that.

[0:35] Maybe somebody's not sleeping yet. Sorry about that one song, Oh, the Love of My Redeemer. I thought my microphone was on. I don't hear myself.

[0:46] So I tried to reach back and I'm trying. And the darn pick got in the way. Sorry about that. Anyways, it happens. Matthew, chapter 27, if you're visiting with us, towards the back of that Bible, page 24, that black Bible in the chair in front of you, page 24, Matthew, chapter 27.

[1:04] We're gonna study verses 11 through 26 this morning. Verses 11 through 26 of Matthew's Gospel in chapter 27. Jesus before Pilate.

[1:15] Let me read for us. And Jesus stood before the governor and the governor questioned him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, You're sane.

[1:30] And as he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, Do you not hear how these testify against you? And he did not answer him with even one word.

[1:43] So the governor was quite amazed. Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release from the multitude one prisoner whom they wanted. And holding at the time a tourist prisoner who's called Barabbas.

[1:58] Therefore, gathering together, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ? Verse 18, For he knew that because of envy, they had delivered him.

[2:13] And sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I suffer greatly in a dream because of him.

[2:28] But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to kill Jesus. So answering, the governor said to them, Which of the two do you want me to release for you?

[2:43] And they said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all said, Let him be crucified. And he said, Why?

[2:54] What evil has he done? But they kept shouting all the more, saying, Let him be crucified. And Pilate, seeing that he was profiting nothing, but a riot was becoming, taking water, he washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, I am innocent of this man's blood.

[3:13] See yourselves. And answering all the people said, His blood on us and on our children. Then he released Barabbas to them, and having Jesus scourged, he delivered him to be crucified.

[3:29] He was crucified. Social injustice. That is a buzzword, a hot topic these days.

[3:44] After the terrible event that happened to George Floyd, which was a terrible thing that happened, let that be on the record. I don't think, well, maybe some people are happy that happened, but most of us believe that was really evil and wrong.

[4:02] What happened to George Floyd? But nobody wants to talk about the injustice that these wicked rioters and looters have committed, who say they are protesting peacefully while they burn things down.

[4:28] In the sword and the trowel, a podcast put out by the Founders Ministries, this was like about a couple weeks ago, Tom Askell and Jared Longshore, they had Daryl B. Harrison and Virgil Walker on as guests, so the four of them, talking about the rioting and things like that.

[4:50] And by the way, Daryl Harrison and Virgil Walker, they're dark-skinned brothers in Christ. Askell and Longshore asked them about the riots and the looting and what their thoughts were about it.

[5:10] Harrison, Daryl Harrison, he said this, it's just sinners sinning. That's exactly what we're seeing.

[5:24] It's so true. There's no justice. He went on, him and Virgil, both went on to talk about how people were just acting in very wicked ways.

[5:41] There's no call for justice. There's injustice. And if there's anyone in all of human history who has faced the worst kind of injustice, it's Jesus.

[6:01] Because that's what we see here. With Matthew calling his readers to bow down and worship Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel, he is the judge of the world.

[6:13] We see today, we bow down and worship Jesus since he faced injustice for us. He faced injustice for us.

[6:28] He faced injustice for us. In a statement, Jesus substitutionally faced injustice for us so that we can receive mercy from the Father, mercy triumphs over judgment.

[6:49] He faced that for us as our substitute so that we can receive mercy because as James says, mercy triumphs over judgment.

[7:09] Another statement for you longer. The Father brought all this injustice upon Jesus who was truly innocent, righteous, where we should face true justice for all the wrongs that we have done.

[7:23] Jesus took it for us in our place as our substitute. Like Pilate's wife said, that righteous man. And yet he was condemned as a criminal.

[7:38] So it can be that righteous Cailin, that righteous Aaron, that righteous Ward. Now you're righteous.

[7:51] He faced that injustice for us so that we can be freed so that we can have mercy.

[8:03] You see this rounds of questioning, two rounds of questioning by Pilate to Jesus. The custom to release a prisoner.

[8:16] The questioning by Pilate to the crowd. Twice, Pilate protests Jesus' innocence and then he hands Jesus over to be crucified. To please the crowd and to try to release his responsibility.

[8:34] We see that the religious leaders heavily influenced not just the crowd but also Pilate and Pilate should have listened to his wife who gave him pertinent information about Jesus according to God's grace given to her.

[8:50] and Pilate was in a tough spot. He couldn't be too harsh which was his usual default.

[9:04] And yet he couldn't be too lenient. He may cause rebellion and yet remember the Jews hated, hated, hated the fact that the Romans ruled them. So anything he did could be met with hatred and scorn and yet instead of using the authority that was given to him this was nothing but a circus show.

[9:28] This was nothing but a game. He played that game. He was involved in the circus and he abdicated his authority and he let the mob rule.

[9:39] That's exactly what happened. There's no justice here. This passage oozes with injustice. I will say this later but you will notice the New Testament writers they don't dwell upon the details of scourging or crucifixion not just because everybody knew about it but because they were more concerned about what Jesus' work accomplished than what he actually went through.

[10:10] And he accomplished this for us so instead of you facing true justice you should be condemned because you are a criminal.

[10:23] You get off scot-free and it's all placed on Jesus. He faced injustice for us. Let's work through the passage and I give you these first two points right off the bat.

[10:35] You'll see unjust, unjust, the first, there's like seven points. The first of these, the three and then three they start with unjust. Unjust questioning, unjust arguments.

[10:49] Injustice is everywhere. Verse 11, he stood before the governor and the governor questioned saying, are you the king of the Jews? Caesar was the only king, the only emperor.

[11:01] So naturally, Pilate had to investigate a potential rival to Caesar. But notice, Jesus didn't give him a direct answer. Jesus said to him, at the end of verse 11, you're sane, or you say, ambiguous, like you did with the chief priests.

[11:17] He knew Jesus was truly innocent. Given the actions of the leaders, he knew that, Pilate. You find this out more later too.

[11:32] Unjust arguments. Look at verse 12. As he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, Jesus made no answer. So Jesus gave Pilate an ambiguous affirmation, but said nothing against the nonsensical, unjust, false, wicked accusations against him by the religious leaders.

[11:54] Verse 13, Pilate said to him, do you not hear how they testify against you? And he did not answer him with even one word, so the governor was quite amazed.

[12:08] Instead of trying to defend himself, Christ stood silent because all they said were lies. I mean, so many other prisoners were ranting and raving this time about defending themselves against these false accusations, but the fact that Christ amassed him, it was something that truly amazed the governor, amazed him, and yet Jesus knew they weren't out for justice.

[12:32] This is nothing but a game for them. I mean, think about it. Why was Pilate asking him this question in the first place?

[12:42] Are you the king of the Jews? Why was he asking him this? He knew from the get-go Jesus was innocent and presented no threat to Rome. Why did he allow this to go on? He should have stopped it right then and there.

[12:55] So, they, the leaders and Pilate, were not interested in justice, friends, in the long run.

[13:08] And you know what? Jesus knew it. He was ready to drink injustice for us. No one in this world has faced more injustice than Jesus.

[13:20] Jesus. Say that to someone when you're talking to them about the gospel. They will disagree with you right off the bat vehemently.

[13:31] And yet it's true because Jesus was God-man. He never sinned. We deserve justice.

[13:44] Not him. unjust questioning. Unjust arguments. And now you have an unjust plan. 15 through 18.

[13:56] The custom, verse 15, custom to release for the multitude one prisoner whom they wanted. Release a Jewish prisoner at Passover to display goodwill towards them.

[14:11] Pilate did this because he knew, which we'll find out there in verse 18, for he knew that because of envy they had delivered him, he knew that the religious leaders were envious of Jesus.

[14:26] So there was a notorious prisoner, verse 16, they held, his name was Barabbas. Evidently, Pilate knew about Jesus' popularity, perceived their jealousy, he thought, okay, maybe I can, maybe I can play this game and get Jesus freed.

[14:47] Pilate saw that Jesus presented no threat to Rome and that the leaders were just envious. Jesus had no wealth, he had no high position, he had no army, he had no soldiers, this was ridiculous.

[15:02] So he came up with this plan. Notice there in verse 17, gathering together, Pilate said, what do you want me to release for you? Barabbas or Jesus was called Christ because he knew that because of envy they delivered him.

[15:18] So he would set Jesus up to be released. He could release to them Barabbas or Jesus who's called Christ with the obvious envy from the religious leaders and the fact that Jesus was no threat, done deal.

[15:33] But why was he even playing this game? You see, there's no justice taking place here. There's no looking at the true evidence of Jesus and who he is and how he was righteous, he was no threat to Rome.

[15:53] Pilate should have stopped this right then and there. Again, he was not interested in justice. Don't let Pilate off on this. He was no innocent bystander.

[16:08] questioning, accusations, plan. But then you notice something here in verse 19.

[16:20] Right in the middle. I call it God's warning. Verse 19. And him sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him saying, have nothing to do with that righteous man for today.

[16:39] It says last night, literally it's today, I suffered greatly in a dream because of him. God's warning. Apparently, she had a bad dream that day and in it she suffered much from Jesus.

[16:59] Now, was God revealing something to her like he'd done from of old? Remember, in Genesis, God gave dreams to the unsaved.

[17:10] The book of Daniel, he gave dreams to Nebuchadnezzar. Was God doing this? God did not usually give dreams to the unsaved. But when he did, listen.

[17:22] Listen. In the ancient world, especially with Rome, dreams are often viewed as prophetic and given the tremendous amounts of superstition the Romans had, put this all together.

[17:42] Was God revealing? We're not told this. So we can't go there. But what is noteworthy? What's noteworthy is her assessment of Christ, that righteous man.

[17:59] Not innocent. that righteous man. His wife is saying that.

[18:13] Pilate, where is your head? You are clueless right now, buddy. He should have listened to his wife.

[18:24] Many times I should listen to my wife. Whether God actually gave that to her, we don't know, but he should have listened to her. There's even more injustice here.

[18:35] What was Pilate thinking? This is so absurd. Remember, God is orchestrating all these things that take place.

[18:49] So right there in the middle, God's warning. Let me go back. Unjust trial now. 20 through 23. See, this is where Pilate, you remember his unjust plan?

[19:03] Now it backfires. Notice verse 20. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to kill Jesus.

[19:15] His plan, his little plan that he came up with, backfired on him. The religious leaders were, these guys are so wicked.

[19:31] The Pharisees, Sadducees, the chief priests and elders of the people, so wicked. They were able to persuade the crowds to ask for Barabbas and kill Jesus.

[19:42] Why don't they do this? Jesus' popularity with the crowds was gone. Maybe because their hope that Jesus would be their political military Christ was dashed to pieces because they're looking at their political military Christ and he's in chains.

[20:05] He's bound. He's arrested. He's on trial. So much for that. Plus, maybe the crowd consisted more of the Jerusalem locals.

[20:22] As opposed to the Galilean pilgrims. But whatever the case, notice it backfires.

[20:32] Verse 21, and the governor answering, he said to them, which of the two do you want me to release for you? And they said, Barabbas. 22, Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?

[20:46] They all said, let him be crucified. Release Barabbas, but let Jesus be crucified. Again, Pilate were to get Jesus released. Why? Verse 23, what evil has he done?

[20:57] But they kept shouting all the more, saying, let him be crucified. To notice, either he stood up to them and listened to his wife, or he caved in.

[21:14] to reason. It's useless to try to reason with a mob. Try to have a meaningful conversation with these rioters and looters.

[21:28] You'll get beat up. As people today are not interested in truth, neither was this crowd.

[21:44] And instead of justice, Pilate would decide by, one writer put it like this, mob hysteria. the unjust trial, then the unjust verdict.

[22:00] Verse 24, Pilate, seeing that he was profiting nothing, but a riot was becoming, or was coming, taking water, he washed his hands in front of the crowd, or multitude saying, I am innocent of this man's blood, see yourselves.

[22:21] Instead of exercising the authority that he had, instead of looking at the true evidence that was right before him, that he knew from the very beginning this whole shenanigan was happening, he gave in to the crowds.

[22:41] And yet, knowing Jesus was truly innocent, he tried to abstain himself from any kind of responsibility, mildly protested by washing his hands.

[22:56] I love washing my hands, and he did too. Washing the hands, it was an action to signify to them, he was not participating in their decision to crucify him, which is ridiculous, because only he had the power to release or kill Jesus.

[23:13] Notice, this is all from God's hand, is it not? God is orchestrating this whole thing, so that way you, you criminals, so you can be freed, and Jesus would be condemned.

[23:37] What a coward. One writer said, what a, quote, pathetic, hypocritical gesture, the washing of the hands.

[23:50] He just tried to take the easy way out. I'm not responsible for this man's blood. I'm innocent, he says.

[24:01] Let it be upon all of you, not me. But Christ's blood would be on his hands, due to his insecure, unjust, manipulative actions.

[24:17] He could have stopped this. One writer put it like this, he could have stopped this, quote, egregious miscarriage of justice. He ordered it.

[24:27] This is so sad. So much for acting like a governor.

[24:37] just like the reckless rioters and looters of today's so called peaceful protests, and our politicians aren't condemning any of their actions.

[24:53] Pilate allowed the mob to rule. people. Oh, and they were cool like that. Notice verse 25, and all the people entering, they said, his blood on us and on our children.

[25:10] The kids are like, wait, what? I want a second, I didn't vote on that. They not only accepted the responsibility, but they also included their children.

[25:20] And friends, that responsibility they would face when the Romans would come and destroy Jerusalem in 70 A.D. I believe that was God's judgment for this act of injustice.

[25:37] By the way, this verse, people have used it to incriminate and do hideous things to the Jewish people for centuries.

[25:50] That is ridiculous too. This verse does not incriminate the Jews forever. It's only directed to those present before Pilate and their children.

[26:02] And really, we all know who bore the brunt of this act of injustice. Secondarily, it was the religious leaders. It was them. But primarily, who was orchestrating this?

[26:17] Peter tells us in Acts 2.42, according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross. The Father was doing this.

[26:32] Interesting. I think that's the wrong verse, not 2.42. 24. Keep in mind something. Salvation comes to those who respond to the gospel.

[26:45] Just as Peter called the people to do there in Acts chapter 2. They and their children, Acts 2.39, he said, the promise of forgiveness will be for you and your children when they repent and trust Christ.

[26:59] That's pretty cool. Maybe Peter did that on purpose. Instead of facing judgment, they could receive forgiveness.

[27:11] forgiveness. So how about you, friend? How about you receive forgiveness today? Maybe you haven't trusted Christ today.

[27:27] Maybe you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ today. Maybe you haven't repented and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ today. Then you should receive forgiveness today. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus.

[27:37] He'll forgive you of all your sins. That's the gospel. This injustice, injustice, the questioning, the accusations, the plan, the verdicts, the concocted things that they're doing, and then finally you have this last one here.

[28:00] Unjust acquittal and suffering. Verse 26. Then he released Barabbas to them. Such tremendous irony.

[28:17] You realize, technically speaking, Barabbas is the only person in all of human history who can truly say that Jesus physically took his place on the cross.

[28:33] How would you like to live with that the rest of your life? And yet, notice the irony here. The criminal is freed.

[28:47] The righteous one is condemned. You realize, this is the essence of the gospel. Criminals are freed. The righteous is condemned.

[29:00] I'm looking at a bunch of criminals in this room. No offense. But it's true. You're all criminals. So that way, the righteous one could face the justice that you deserve.

[29:21] He faced injustice so you can be freed. That's the essence of the gospel. Unjust acquittal and notice the unjust suffering here.

[29:37] The last part of verse 26, having Jesus scourged, he delivered him to be crucified. Scourged or flogged, you're probably familiar with this horrible experience.

[29:50] They would rip the flesh to hasten death on the cross. They would tie him to a post or even force him to the ground. They used a short whip with leather thongs, with lead balls and sharp pieces of bone or metal attached at the ends.

[30:13] It brought deep lacerations of the back and the legs. The person would be a great pain, major blood loss.

[30:27] Many times prisoners would die just by the scourging. So think about it, okay? Think about this whole thing, Jesus experiencing the whole enchilada.

[30:40] Jesus was up all night. He never slept. So he was praying all night. He did not sleep. And then betrayal, he faced beatings, and then now he's flogged, and then he's crucified.

[30:57] So it should not surprise us that he did not last long on the cross. Not to mention the fact that he faced all of the brunt of God's wrath, the wrath of the Father upon himself.

[31:10] Add that to the mix. Right? I told you earlier, the New Testament writers do not give us the details of these horrible actions because everybody knew about it anyways.

[31:25] But second, the focus is more upon Jesus' death, what Jesus' death meant and what it accomplished for us.

[31:37] And that's where we see here throughout this whole passage in verse 11 through 26, injustice. Criminals are freed, the righteous one is condemned.

[31:50] The Father brought all this injustice upon Jesus, who was truly innocent, righteous, where we should face true justice for all the wrongs that we've done.

[32:03] Jesus took it for us in our place as our substitute. I hope and pray this truth of the gospel will be a reminder to you and remind yourself that I've been freed.

[32:18] I'm freed. I'm free because of you, Jesus. I'm free because you took the condemnation where I should have been condemned for all the wrongs I've done. You took it on my behalf.

[32:31] Jesus substitutionally faced injustice for us so that we can receive mercy from the Father. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Let's pray.

[32:45] And so we thank you, Father, that your mercy has come to us. As we look at this injustice, this injustice has happened, this injustice that was placed upon Jesus, where we should have been judged, where we should have been condemned, where we would face a true just trial.

[33:19] No, we're allowed to go free. we're freed. We're freed. Jesus, you're condemned so that way we can be free.

[33:38] And so we pray that this would create in us such love, such devotion, such overwhelming thanks that you would face injustice for us.

[34:06] and we would be so overwhelmed by it that we would be ready to extend that same mercy and grace to each other and that we would extend that same mercy to this world who are steeped in injustice, in injustice.

[34:36] They have no idea what justice means. They think they do. They have no idea. We will all be humbled at the presence of you, Lord Jesus.

[34:53] We will all bow and kneel and you, the perfect one, will judge perfectly every thought and intent of the heart.

[35:09] So we cry out mercy and we have cried out, Jesus, save us. May we speak this knowing that you will extend your mercy to sinners, sinners like us.

[35:25] Amen. I encourage you to take these few moments to let your mind ponder and think and be so overwhelmed with the injustice that Jesus faced for you.

[35:51] And then you can respond by singing. We will sing a couple songs and we will pray. take these few moments. Let your mind mull over the things that we've seen from God's word and let it just produce in you such thanks and such joy that now you're freed in relationship with God because of all that Jesus has done.

[36:22]  Do that now please. we will enjoy the we