WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.400 Now reading Mark chapter 14 at verse 53. As you can see it's on page 851 of the 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:17.879 church bibles. And they led Jesus to the high priest and all the chief priests and 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:23.000 the elders and the scribes came together and Peter had followed him at a distance 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:28.320 right into the courtyard of the high priest and he was sitting with the guards 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:34.240 and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:41.159 seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death but they found none. For many 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:47.280 bore false witness against him and their testimony did not agree and some stood 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:53.200 up and bore false witness against him saying, we heard him say I will destroy 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:58.600 this temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another not 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:05.680 made with hands. Yet even about this their testimony did not agree and the high 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:12.280 priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus have you no answer to make? What is 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:17.760 it that these then meant testify against you but you remain silent and made no 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:23.600 answer. Again the high priest asked him are you the Christ the Son of the 00:01:23.600 --> 00:01:30.400 Blessed and Jesus said I am and you will see the Son of man seated at the right 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:36.360 hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his 00:01:36.360 --> 00:01:41.240 garments and said what further witnesses do we need? You have heard his 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:47.640 blasphemy what is your decision? And they all condemned him as deserving death and 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:52.719 some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him saying 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:59.959 prophesy and the guards received him with blows. And then on to chapter 15 verse 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:06.280 1 and as soon as it was morning the chief priests held a consultation with 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:11.560 the elders and scribes and the whole council and they bound Jesus and led 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:17.840 him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him are you the 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:24.039 king of the Jews? And he answered him you have said so and the chief priests 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:29.879 accused him of many things and Pilate again asked him have you no answer to 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:35.199 make? See how many charges they bring against you but Jesus made no further 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:42.359 answer so that Pilate was amazed. Now at the feast he used to release for them 00:02:42.359 --> 00:02:47.439 one prisoner for whom they asked and among the rebels in prison who had 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:52.639 committed murder and the insurrection there was a man called Barabbas and the 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:59.199 crowd came up and asked the crowd sorry and the crowd came up and began to ask 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:04.879 Pilate to do as he usually did for them and he answered them saying do you want 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:09.840 me to release for you the king of the Jews? For he perceived that it was out of 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:14.359 envy that the chief priests had delivered him up but the chief priests 00:03:14.359 --> 00:03:20.199 stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead and Pilate 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:25.280 again said to them then what shall I do with the man you call king of the Jews? 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:33.079 And they cried out again crucify him and Pilate said to them why what evil has 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:39.920 he done but they shouted all the more crucify him so Pilate wishing to satisfy 00:03:39.920 --> 00:03:46.600 the crowd released for them Barabbas and having scarred Jesus he delivered him to 00:03:46.600 --> 00:03:53.840 be crucified. This is the word of God. Amen. We are working our way through the 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:57.720 Gospel of Mark and we're nearly there to the very end we'll finish up next week 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:04.439 and it is still if you've been with us the middle of the night on Friday morning 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:10.400 the wee hours and Jesus is just a few hours away from being crucified. What we 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:14.960 just read what Sheena just read for us is the trial of Jesus Christ. Now there 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:20.000 have been a lot of famous trials court cases throughout world history you will 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.839 know of many of them Socrates was condemned by the city of Athens for 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:29.839 corrupting the youth and forced to drink the poison hemlock all the way to the 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.959 20th century probably the most famous court case in the 20th century was the 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:40.479 trials of Nuremberg after after World War II but this this is the most 00:04:40.479 --> 00:04:45.000 important trial in human history this is the most famous trial in human history 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.159 and I think it's fair to say that this is the greatest miscarriage of justice 00:04:49.159 --> 00:04:54.159 the greatest act of injustice in a court case in all of human history that's 00:04:54.160 --> 00:05:00.880 ever happened what does it teach us what does it what does it say to us in 2024 00:05:00.880 --> 00:05:04.600 the main thing that this passage is calling on every single one of you today 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:09.480 the main thing that it demands of us really this morning is that every one 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:17.120 of us consider fresh a fresh who Jesus Christ is and respond to that to really 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:22.960 do it to really think Christianity is a thinking religion and today we're being 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:27.599 asked to really think and to say who is Jesus and then respond in the light of 00:05:27.599 --> 00:05:31.879 the answer to that question and so we're gonna see here first the greatest 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:37.519 injustice that's ever been committed and then secondly the scandalous substitute 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:42.599 and then finally the things that are getting in our way perhaps in following 00:05:42.599 --> 00:05:47.799 him so let's look at that together first the greatest injustice the the 00:05:47.799 --> 00:05:51.759 injustice of the passage is really the central focus in a lot of ways of the 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:57.639 way Mark wrote this story for us it's very particular and in order to see that 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:02.879 you've got to know a little bit about Jewish law and the Roman court system as 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:08.399 well to understand the injustice that's taking place here the reading from verse 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.839 53 55 and following tells us that Jesus was arrested and that the chief priests 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:19.439 and the whole council were trying to condemn him and so they bring him to 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.040 the home of the chief priest in the middle of the night that's a Caiaphas 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:30.000 mark doesn't tell us Caiaphas his name but in the first century in the Jewish 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:36.000 legal system any criminal case had to be tried by what was called the Sanhedrin 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:42.680 and the Sanhedrin consisted of Pharisees Sadducees priests and scribes the 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:48.480 priests are the judges the chief priest is the chief judge in Jerusalem and the 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:52.879 scribes are basically the legal counselors they know the law backwards and 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.200 forwards the Pharisees often acted as prosecutors like the lawyers themselves 00:06:57.200 --> 00:07:02.759 and so he's made Jesus being brought in the middle of the night into the Sanhedrin 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:07.280 to have a legal Sanhedrin a seating of the Sanhedrin the court you had to have 00:07:07.280 --> 00:07:13.000 23 men 23 of these people and the other thing we see here is that they go 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:17.160 straight to Caiaphas the high priest's house in the middle of the night for this 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:24.439 court case and in Jewish law it's very particular all seedings of the Sanhedrin 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:29.000 to try criminal cases have to be in the legal space the court itself and in 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.240 Jerusalem there was a court it was right next to the temple you cannot hold a 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:39.560 court case in a person's house all right does that sound fair in 2024 if the if 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:45.360 the courts tried to hold a criminal trial in the judge's house that would be a 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:49.759 big deal and a bad thing right and guess what that's the same in Jewish law and 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:54.240 the first thing we see here is that they take the first case straight to the 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:59.040 judge's house that's illegal they can't do that and then the next thing we learn 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:04.879 in Jewish law is that you cannot try a criminal case at nighttime because it's 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:09.439 public and so anybody can have the chance to come and speak as a witness as 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:13.439 testimony and that means it has to be during the daytime and what this takes 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.360 place in the wee hours of the morning it's the middle of the night it's 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:20.639 nighttime and they're in the judge's home so this this trial is a sham it's a 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:25.120 kangaroo court it's been it's an injustice from from before it ever 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:30.240 starts and then when you get to verse 55 we learn that the chief priests and the 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.759 whole council it says we're quote seeking testimony against Jesus now the 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:42.080 chief priests and the council are the judges and like our law today in Jewish 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:48.520 law it can never be the judge that goes out and gathers testimony against the 00:08:48.520 --> 00:08:52.960 accused right because the judge has to be impartial the judge has to be neutral 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:58.360 and here it's the judge that went and tried to gather testimony against Jesus 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:03.440 that's also illegal and it's very important even more to know a bit a bit 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.640 about this the peculiar difference in our time I think I'm getting this right 00:09:06.640 --> 00:09:10.600 but the several lawyers in this room will help me at the end of the service I 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:17.159 have no doubt that in the first century it's different from our time in our day 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:22.440 someone can be accused of something but there's not enough evidence there's not 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:26.560 enough there to charge them right the police might not even do anything with 00:09:26.560 --> 00:09:31.960 it because there's not enough evidence or the court might not hear the case in 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:37.519 the first century it was different than that the court had to gather even for an 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:43.679 accusation to be offered and so to have an accusation you had to have two to three 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:48.960 witnesses all giving the same exact testimony it had to completely agree so 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:52.039 if you if the court did not meet and you did not have two to three witnesses 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:55.840 giving the exact same testimony it's not that there's no charge there's never 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:00.960 even an accusation they would never even record that anyone was ever accused of 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.159 anything now it's very very important to understand that detail in Jewish law 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:11.159 because of what happens we read here that many many people bore false witness 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:16.199 against him they tried to get witnesses to come in bring different accusations 00:10:16.199 --> 00:10:20.360 and none of the testimonies agree that's what we're told and it happened 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:25.719 multiple times and then they tried to maximize it by saying this man said he 00:10:25.719 --> 00:10:29.639 would destroy the temple and then rebuild it in three days and so they tried 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:33.480 to gather witnesses to go and say you know the temple that's the most precious 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:38.800 place in Jerusalem it's the place to come and meet God this man said he was 00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:42.759 going to destroy it and he's gonna rebuild it in three days it took us 70 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:48.320 years to build it the first time there's no way and but the problem nobody's 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:54.680 testimony agreed with exactly what he said now you need to know that because 00:10:54.680 --> 00:11:02.000 Caiaphas comes down off of the bench in verse 60 to 62 and he says to Jesus what 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:08.399 say you against these charges and what does Jesus do he's silent why is he 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:15.000 silent why because it was his legal right to remain silent why because there 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:21.200 had been no accusation you see you can't you cannot formally accuse a person of 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:26.600 anything unless two to three witnesses all agree about that thing in the midst 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:31.600 of the court and nobody did everybody said something different and so there 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:36.480 was no accusation Jesus is silent because that that was the his legal job he 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:41.240 should have been silent nobody had accused him of anything he had nothing 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:46.159 to say because he had nothing to respond to and so he was silent and because 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:53.600 Isaiah 53 verse 7 in the Old Testament says 800 years before this ever happened 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:58.360 that one day the Messiah would be oppressed and afflicted and stand before 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:04.759 his accusers and open not his mouth this moment was planned according to the 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:08.680 definite foreknowledge of God from 800 years before and Jesus had not been 00:12:08.680 --> 00:12:12.080 accused of anything there was nothing legal standing against him at all now 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:19.320 that is so important because friends when you get to verse 61 and 62 there is a 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:24.279 moment that happens like no other the most important words in some sense 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:29.399 spoken in human history we might say just remember that they had no charge 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:33.120 against him they had no accusation against him he could have gotten out 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:36.919 that's the biggest emphasis I think Mark is offering us is that he could have 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:42.319 walked away he could have walked away on multiple occasions and in verses 61 and 00:12:42.319 --> 00:12:50.639 62 he speaks and what does he say Caiaphas Caiaphas is the head judge the 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.840 high priest and he does something extremely illegal in Jewish law and it 00:12:54.840 --> 00:13:00.080 would be in our law I think as well he the judge comes down off the bench and 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:06.279 starts trying to find a charge to pin on Jesus and he's yelling at him he comes 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:10.679 down and he tries to charge him the judge can't do that and that's exactly 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:17.639 what Caiaphas does and what does he say he says are you the Christ and you've 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:20.759 got to read this story in the light of the parallel passages in the other 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:27.319 gospels what we learn is that Jesus says yes I am the Christ he says I am here 00:13:27.319 --> 00:13:33.439 in verse 61 and 62 but there's a distinction here in the mind of the 00:13:33.439 --> 00:13:38.000 high priest in the mind of the the Sanhedrin that are meeting that day the 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:43.080 Christ is an office it's a role from the Old Testament Christ means the 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:47.279 anointed one and the anointed one is the one that's been prophesied about from 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:51.000 the Old Testament that would come and save Israel from exile save Israel from 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:56.519 Babylon and now from Rome and that is what Caiaphas has in mind are you the 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.360 Christ the one who was promised from the Old Testament to come and save us from 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:07.199 our captivity from our exile from Roman occupation in the mind of this priest it 00:14:07.199 --> 00:14:12.120 is not necessarily the case that the Messiah of the Old Testament is going 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:19.639 to definitely be God himself you see they just Caiaphas just thinks when the 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:23.919 Messiah comes he's gonna be the son of David he's gonna be a human just like 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:28.639 any other human except God will appoint him to get us out of exile to get us out 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:32.879 from under Roman occupation so Caiaphas is saying are you the revolutionary are 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:36.680 you the Christ the anointed one from the old from the Old Covenant the Old 00:14:36.680 --> 00:14:40.000 Testament that's gonna get us out of this Roman occupation mess do you think 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:46.679 that's who you are and Jesus doesn't just say yes to that okay if you come down 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:52.360 and look with me at verse 62 Jesus says when he says are you the anointed one 00:14:52.360 --> 00:15:00.919 Jesus says quote I am he says three things he says I am you will see the 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:05.559 Son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:11.159 heaven now look this is why this text is so scandalous 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:15.279 jeep there was no accusation against Jesus there was no charge against Jesus 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:21.879 Jesus was going to be able to walk away and then when he spoke and responded 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:28.439 that question which he did not have to he didn't just say I'm the Christ no do 00:15:28.439 --> 00:15:32.879 you see what he's saying all throughout the Gospels every time we have two 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:40.360 little words from Jesus when he responds to a question he says I am this 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:44.759 happened in the Garden of Gethsemane in the Garden of Gethsemane he said I am and 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:51.279 the soldiers fell on their faces before him in worship why he wasn't just 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:57.840 confirming that he's the Christ he was saying I am God himself you know that I 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:03.080 am is the divine name from the Old Testament it's from Exodus chapter 3 it's 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:08.280 when God says I am who I am Jesus was saying I'm not just the Christ 00:16:08.280 --> 00:16:14.480 Caiaphas I am God himself that's what he was saying and then he says and you know 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:19.040 what else you will lift up your eyes and you will see the Son of man seated at 00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:24.000 the right hand of power that's from Daniel chapter 7 and Psalm 110 this vision 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:27.919 of God's throne room where there's the Son of God seated at the right hand of 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.039 power he was claiming that and then he takes it further in the third claim and 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:35.200 he says in one day you're gonna see this Son of man me coming down in the clouds 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.480 of glory those are not the clouds that are out today that's not what he's 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:43.759 talking about they're not the stratus and the cumulus clouds outside no no 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:49.159 he's talking about the glory cloud of God that came down upon Mount Sinai where 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:53.759 God himself was in the glory cloud he's saying at three different levels three 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:59.960 different ways I'm not just the human Christ I am God himself I'm the God 00:16:59.960 --> 00:17:06.599 man that is why Caiaphas rips his clothes off he rips his clothes it was a 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:11.079 very formal act to tear your clothes in the Jewish court and you did that in 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:20.200 any moment of hearing blasphemy and so he rips his shirt and the court goes 00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:23.640 outrageous it enters into total outrage it becomes an actual circus of 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:29.520 hatred multiple illegalities occur when they hear him say this it becomes 00:17:29.520 --> 00:17:34.160 something other than a court they beat him they spit on him they blindfold him 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.360 all the things that were not allowed in the law you could not even in a capital 00:17:38.360 --> 00:17:42.840 punishment situation you could not do that to the victim and to the perpetrator 00:17:42.840 --> 00:17:48.080 in Jewish law and they hit him you know they say they blindfold him and then they 00:17:48.080 --> 00:17:53.040 say prophesy what are they saying well he was blindfolded so they're saying 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:56.240 tell us which one of us punched you tell us which one of us hit you if you 00:17:56.240 --> 00:18:02.599 really are the I am you can tell us our names of the ones that are beating you 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:05.599 right now that's what they that's what was happening in this court now listen 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:13.279 friends this brings every single one of us today to a choice I think and that 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:19.720 choice is that as it's been said by others we must all right now avoid the 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.680 very foolish thing that we could do and the very foolish thing we could do is 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:30.559 say I find Jesus very interesting I find him to be a great moral teacher I 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.480 find him to be something somebody that does sort of bring me back to church 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:39.000 every once in a while I find him to be a person of intrigue that really matters 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:44.000 for world history that that would be the foolish thing we must avoid that and 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.740 instead we must come and hear what he's saying we can't say you know I'm so 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:53.519 interested in Jesus I'm willing to come to church sometimes instead Jesus comes 00:18:53.519 --> 00:19:00.720 here and says I am the living God himself the anointed one of Israel he 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:05.240 makes such a magisterial claim in this moment that it changed the world forever 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:13.440 and you know in some sense the court enters into a circus of hatred and while 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:17.640 they in one sense were entirely wrong and unjust in another way their fierce 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:23.520 ness was right because when you really do listen to what he claimed to be when 00:19:23.520 --> 00:19:28.480 you really do confront the true claims that Jesus makes of himself you have 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:34.800 to either burst out in anger against him or give your whole life away to him you 00:19:34.800 --> 00:19:39.600 can never be merely interested you know he makes such a magisterial claim that 00:19:39.600 --> 00:19:43.800 he demands everything of us that we would give our whole lives away to him or 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:48.839 that we would reject him totally that's the only way you can go any other any 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:53.480 other choice is it's just not there it's not there at all when who do you say 00:19:53.480 --> 00:20:00.519 that he is this morning and the answer that you give to that question will mean 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:06.960 a will mean everything it'll mean everything for your life forever now 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:12.200 secondly when Jesus says I am God and he's being tried here by human court 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:21.240 what is the meaning in that that the one who claims to be God would be tried by 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:25.559 the hands of a human court what is the meaning of that so secondly the 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:29.640 scandalous substitute we learned the meaning of that I think in the second 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:35.640 trial we read about here when he appears before Pontius Pilate in chapter 15 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:41.400 actually I did I'd never clocked to this before until studying this passage this 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:46.560 week but Jesus Christ was actually tried in six different courts by four 00:20:46.560 --> 00:20:51.240 different judges we only read about three of those here in this passage you 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:55.200 can see the actually what is the third one the second one's not mentioned here 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.800 and then the third one takes place in chapter 15 verse 1 just very quickly 00:20:58.800 --> 00:21:03.400 Mark just tells us later in the morning the chief priests held a consultation 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:07.680 with the other elders and scribes and the whole council and then they bound Jesus 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:11.880 we learned in the other gospels that after he met with the small Sanhedrin 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:15.400 in the middle of the night at Caiaphas house he was sent to the greater San 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:20.519 hedrin in the morning the 70 70 Sanhedrin men that sat on the Sanhedrin in the 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:24.160 bigger court the Supreme Court if you will and then they sent him to Pontius 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:28.240 Pilate so by the time we get to Pontius Pilate he's already been tried this is 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:32.720 sorry his fourth trial when he appears before Pontius Pilate he appeared 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:37.559 before Caiaphas in his home and as the former chief priests in his home then 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:42.200 he's taken to the greater Sanhedrin the 70 in the early morning and then he sent 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:45.319 to Pontius Pilate so when you get to the story about Pontius Pilate here this is 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:52.960 the fourth trial by the third judge at this point Pilate doesn't care at all 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:58.640 in chapter 15 about this charge of blasphemy that's been given so the 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:03.120 reason this is happening is because Jews the Jews are under Roman occupation and 00:22:03.120 --> 00:22:10.440 in order to try a capital case a case that demands execution the Rome has to 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:15.320 sign off on that Jesus has been charged with blasphemy by the Jewish court and 00:22:15.320 --> 00:22:19.280 that means that normally he would have been stoned to death according to the 00:22:19.280 --> 00:22:23.400 law but because he's going to go and be tried by the Roman court that stoning 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:27.880 will become execution by crucifixion because he's under the jurisdiction of 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:32.520 Rome here so that's why this happens in the 19th century and in the early 20th 00:22:32.520 --> 00:22:40.240 century it was very popular it was very popular in the Academy to say that the 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:45.040 historicity of this account is suspect because there have never been any 00:22:45.040 --> 00:22:50.760 extra biblical data found about Pontius Pilate so in the 19th century in the 00:22:50.760 --> 00:22:54.920 20th century it was a big movement to say we don't know that Pontius Pilate 00:22:54.920 --> 00:23:01.600 actually existed and so how can we really say that this happened and in 1961 a 00:23:01.600 --> 00:23:07.160 team of Italian archaeologists were digging in Caesarea and they uncovered 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:12.840 an old stadium a gladiatorial type stadium in Caesarea that was built there 00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:17.920 and on it there was a plaque a little bitty plaque and inscribed in Latin a 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:22.960 first-century plaque they dated it it said Pontius Pilate prefect of Judea 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:31.799 has presented this tiberium to the Caesareans so now we know this is a very 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:35.440 real account of what's going on here you couldn't make this up you couldn't make 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:42.000 this trial up and and now we have archaeological evidence to show that 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:47.160 Pontius Pilate was a very real man and as Jesus stands before him Pontius Pilate 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:51.640 does not care in any way shape or form about blasphemy because he's Roman he 00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:55.320 doesn't follow the God of the Bible so he's not going to execute a man for 00:23:55.320 --> 00:23:59.920 blasphemy against the God of the Old Testament as the Jewish court charged 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:05.360 Jesus so he asked him instead are you king why is Pilate asking that because 00:24:05.360 --> 00:24:08.600 the only reason Pilate's willing to execute somebody is because if they are 00:24:08.600 --> 00:24:13.240 a revolutionary that's trying to overthrow Roman occupation so do you 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:17.640 think you're the king because we have a king we have a regional king Herod we 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:22.880 have an emperor and it's not you and so he asked him that question and if you 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:26.560 read the accounts in the rest of the gospels what you find out is that Jesus 00:24:26.560 --> 00:24:35.240 says yes I'm not only God I'm not only the Christ but I'm also the king and he 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:40.280 gives enough for Pilate to actually understand what he means by that so we 00:24:40.280 --> 00:24:45.720 know that Jesus is saying to Pilate I didn't I didn't come to kick Tiberius 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:49.079 Caesar out of his throne I came to found a kingdom that is not of this world I 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:53.920 came to found an upside-down kingdom one that you cannot yet understand until 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:58.360 you see what's about to happen and actually we get the sense as you read 00:24:58.360 --> 00:25:02.240 these accounts that Pilate understood that and he sort of gets it and he says 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:08.160 I don't see anything wrong I don't think we can charge this guy I'm not willing 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:14.440 to execute him and that's the way it goes and in fact at multiple levels of 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:22.880 Pilate's wife Claudia who was a big deal she was the daughter of the third 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:27.720 wife of the emperor himself and she had come over far away from Rome far away 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:32.640 from her home to marry this guy in Palestine and she had a dream and in 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:37.080 her dream she said don't have anything to do with this man Jesus you know she 00:25:37.080 --> 00:25:40.360 believed he was innocent and that and that someone had spoken that to her in 00:25:40.360 --> 00:25:44.120 a dream at multiple levels Pilate knows he's innocent and that's why at the very 00:25:44.119 --> 00:25:50.479 end of this passage in verse 5 while all the chief priests all the scribes the 00:25:50.479 --> 00:25:54.759 Jewish court and the soldiers and others are standing there accusing Jesus and 00:25:54.759 --> 00:26:00.839 trying to charge him and trying to get Pilate to kill him Pilate says Jesus 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:05.279 Jesus doesn't reply he says you know are you gonna say something Jesus to all 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:10.399 these charges all these accusations Jesus never says a word why because there 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:15.920 was no accusation there was never a charge and because he's he was always 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:23.519 going to stand silent as a sheep before the slaughter Isaiah 53 and it says 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:28.120 that Pilate was amazed now why was Pilate so amazed by that and this is the 00:26:28.120 --> 00:26:33.640 point of the passage why was Pilate so amazed he was amazed because Jesus could 00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:39.960 have gotten out of it Pilate wanted to release him Pilate wanted to dismiss this 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:45.600 Pilate saw there's no charges there's no accusations even he's not guilty of 00:26:45.600 --> 00:26:52.079 revolution he knew he could get out of it and that is why the scandal of the 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:59.279 gospel the scandal of the text is that the God man himself would stand silent 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:06.840 while he was innocent before a human court people he created what a great 00:27:06.839 --> 00:27:13.079 reversal of all order what lawlessness that God himself would be tried by a 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:17.439 human court what lawlessness that the God of all the earth the judge of all the 00:27:17.439 --> 00:27:23.079 earth would be condemned while he's innocent by human beings who are guilty 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:30.000 what lawlessness what disorder what chaos what a revolution it's exactly what 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:35.199 should never be it's completely upside down and even more than that you know 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:38.960 we learn here that Jesus Christ this is the God of all the earth this is the 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:44.279 judge of humanity and he is the one sitting in the dock while human beings 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:50.039 are on the bench the God of all the earth Jesus Christ who is the judge of the 00:27:50.039 --> 00:27:53.080 earth he should be in the dock well he should be in the bench while we're in 00:27:53.080 --> 00:27:58.240 the dock and yet it's exactly the opposite and even more what's the point 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:06.039 of the passage why is Pilate so amazed Jesus is giving himself to it he's 00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:11.319 silent he could have walked away there were no charges there were no legal 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.359 charges he could have walked away and yet he gives himself to it and that's the 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:19.720 great scandal of the gospel the very end of the passage 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:24.319 Pilate doesn't know what to do part of it the reason is because Pilate has had 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:29.839 three very big problems with his relationship to Jerusalem over his 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:35.480 tenure as a prefect of Judea I won't get into the details of those but things 00:28:35.480 --> 00:28:39.359 like building an aqueduct on the Sabbath day and all sorts of stuff that 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:44.720 caused him a lot of problems and he was afraid of the Sanhedrin in a way and so 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:50.319 he wants to pacify them so he does what the final six trial of Jesus Jesus is 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:55.839 taken out to the stadium area the arena and the populace the people of the city 00:28:55.839 --> 00:29:01.240 gather and he does what was sometimes custom for a Roman prefect to do and a 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:06.519 Roman king to do regional king you know about the gladiatorial games in Rome 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:13.960 Rome had a lot of fun with putting those it occupied into situations of death 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:19.240 like gladiatorial games the same thing was happening here the the Roman 00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:25.599 prefects often had fun with bringing out some criminals and saying pick somebody 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:29.160 to go free and we'll we'll crucify the rest of them this was something that 00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:34.640 happened in the Roman system and this is what happens to Jesus they bring Jesus 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:37.880 out they're being barabas this murder out who had started an insurrection 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:42.720 against Rome and the people stirred up by the chief priests say crucify him 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:53.279 crucify him crucify him you see this reversal do you see do you see the depths 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:57.120 of what shouldn't be happening and the truth of it when when they shout 00:29:57.120 --> 00:30:03.960 crucify him when Jesus is silent here the Bible is trying to remind us so 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:08.640 clearly that the judge of all the earth the one who should be judging us he's 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:14.000 the one standing in the dock while we're the people the people of the world 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:21.000 shouting crucify him crucify him we sit as the judges on the bench it's the 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:25.640 reversal of all that should be the case and he does it he endures it he says 00:30:25.640 --> 00:30:31.759 nothing in order to save us now listen do you believe that today if you do who 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:35.759 are you in this passage do you know who you are in this past who who are we in 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:41.079 this passage we're not humanity is not only the crowd shouting crucify him our 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:44.240 sins put him there but who else are we in this passage if you believe this 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:53.759 today do you know we are barabas the guilty one walks free while the God of 00:30:53.759 --> 00:31:00.400 all the earth is condemned the man who deserved to die goes free but the Lord 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:05.680 of heaven and earth he is judged he's condemned and Jesus Christ does it all 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:10.320 because of his love for us his grace that's what's happening here it's such a 00:31:10.320 --> 00:31:15.640 reversal and it and look friends if you believe that you can say today I am 00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:22.600 saved by grace not by my performance I'm saved by grace not by being good I'm 00:31:22.600 --> 00:31:28.560 saved by grace because I have a great substitute I walked free he was condemned 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:33.079 for me now let me close with this there there sometimes can be things in our 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:38.639 way of following this man a following Jesus and I'll say come back next week 00:31:38.639 --> 00:31:46.119 the story is not over good Friday is coming on Friday and Easter is coming 00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:48.879 the resurrection is coming come back next week he won't they won't keep him 00:31:48.879 --> 00:31:55.919 down but this man stood before the court of all the world and said I am God and 00:31:55.920 --> 00:32:00.840 he gave his life away in a radical reversal of all law so that we might 00:32:00.840 --> 00:32:06.240 walk free that's a grace what is what is preventing you this morning from 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:12.519 following Jesus Christ perhaps what is preventing you this morning from following 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:16.440 him with the whole of who you are even when you've heard his call already in 00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:19.840 your life what is preventing that and look if you if you think about it for 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:27.720 just two minutes and we'll be finished for two minutes the pilot you know pilot 00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:34.519 I think pilot was really close to actually saying I want to follow him I 00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:41.439 think pilot was close but in the end we read in verse 51 he wished to satisfy 00:32:41.439 --> 00:32:47.839 the crowd pilot was afraid of what everybody would think if he said what 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:52.839 he thought about this man and sometimes we're prevented from following Jesus for 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:57.519 the first time or to the depths because we're afraid of what everybody's gonna 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:02.359 say and that that was pilots for Herod we didn't talk about Herod in this 00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:06.199 passage but he appeared before Herod and we learned there in the trial before 00:33:06.199 --> 00:33:11.079 Herod that Herod was intrigued by Jesus but he was too interested in his own in 00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:16.720 his own array of pleasure living a life of pleasure and Herod basically said you 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:20.640 know I'm gonna have to change too much about me to follow this man I'm not 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:26.400 willing to give away my the good time I'm having and sometimes we don't see the 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:28.720 monumental claims that Jesus is making we say you know I just want to have a 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:34.319 good time and we you know we're choosing mud pies and the slums instead of a 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:38.240 holiday at the beach when we say that and you look at the soldiers and they 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:42.279 spit at him and they beat him and they mocked him and really in the life of the 00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:45.559 soldiers there was just a playful indifference about him you know they 00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:50.359 were just coming to work that day and they just said yeah maybe I don't know 00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:55.399 he might be he might not be I'm not really gonna look into it and have you 00:33:55.399 --> 00:33:58.559 Christianity is a thinking religion have you really looked at this have you 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:03.599 really thought about it have you really explored the claim have you made it have 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:07.720 you looked at it and made a decision don't be indifferent don't be indifferent 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:11.000 like the soldiers Caiaphas and the priests were told by Mark Barry explicitly 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:16.599 were envious of his of Jesus's popularity and potential power and that 00:34:16.599 --> 00:34:19.719 means that Caiaphas and the priests did not want to follow Jesus because they 00:34:19.719 --> 00:34:24.360 did not want to have to give away power they were too attached to the normal 00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:27.320 idols of this life they they wanted power they wanted money they wanted 00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:30.199 prestige and they thought if I follow him I'm gonna have to put some of that 00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:35.000 away that's temporary stuff that stuff comes and goes your circumstances can 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:40.980 change in a moment and Judas he loved money too much to follow Jesus and the 00:34:40.980 --> 00:34:45.360 mob the pop culture the populace the crowds you know they all gathered from 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:49.039 all over the world and they said crucify him crucify him why because the God 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:53.519 next to them said it they heard the guy next to him they heard the guy they saw 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:59.719 the guy next to him tweet crucify him and so they tweeted it too and you see 00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:04.199 popular contagion can prevent you from following Jesus Christ you can say you 00:35:04.199 --> 00:35:06.639 know I'm not willing to push against the grain of my culture the grain of my 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:12.079 city all of these different ways and let me just say this as we close the final 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:18.039 word if this man is the living God himself and he really did in the middle 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:22.839 of history stand and say I will give my life away so that you can go free so 00:35:22.839 --> 00:35:27.359 that you can be forgiven it's the meaning of everything it's the meaning of 00:35:27.359 --> 00:35:32.599 your whole life it's the meaning of the world actually don't worry about what 00:35:32.599 --> 00:35:36.799 people think don't worry about your successes there's a little it's small 00:35:36.799 --> 00:35:42.559 don't worry about temporary stuff come and respond come and respond follow him 00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:48.079 in ways you haven't been follow him today for the first time God has every 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:56.239 right to judge us but he let us judge him and that means that he actually 00:35:56.239 --> 00:36:02.559 judged himself for our sin and that's good news today come back next week for 00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:11.920 more let us pray Lord we thank you Jesus that you stood in our place we thank 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:17.799 you that people like us can go free because you were condemned the horror 00:36:17.799 --> 00:36:23.880 the tragedy the injustice and yet the grace the glory and the mercy so I 00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:28.360 just pray today that somebody here would be helped to follow you Lord Jesus to see 00:36:28.360 --> 00:36:33.360 the majesty the greatness the historicity the bounty of your love for 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:38.680 them and that all of us if we are Christians today would draw closer to 00:36:38.680 --> 00:36:44.559 you would put away our failures to follow you more deeply but we thank you 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:51.240 above all that it is not performance but your performance that saves thank you 00:36:51.240 --> 00:36:55.800 Lord Jesus as we come to you and sing sing a psalm sing to him help us to attune 00:36:55.800 --> 00:37:00.800 our hearts to you in this moment and we pray that in Christ's name