The Third Roman Trial - Jesus Before Pilate part 2

Go ahead and take your Bible and turn back with me to John chapter 19. I'm sure you're there from our scripture reading earlier. John chapter 19. As I say regularly, it should be a well-worn place in your Bible because we are studying verse by verse through the Gospel of John. In our series, "Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live," we will be dividing verse 18 to 16. And this is part two in this third Roman trial as Jesus is before Pilate. Most of us know he was before Pilate two times. The second of the Roman trials, he was before Herod. But we're here completing this third Roman trial.

Now, as we are about to finish this last trial, I think it would be good for us to look back and to see these trials for what they were. Now, in all of history, these trials were the most horrendous miscarriages of justice that have ever been recorded. In examining how Jesus went before the Jewish leaders, we see a gross miscarriage of justice. Of all the people on earth, the Jews should have known exactly who Jesus was. They had the Old Testament scriptures, which spoke about the promised Messiah extensively.

They knew of the many miracles, the signs that Jesus performed, and we learned that the signs were given to point people to the deity of Christ. No doubt they heard Jesus teach from the Old Testament scriptures. He was a greater teacher than John the Baptist or any of the previous Old Testament prophets. He was the greatest teacher who had ever lived. They had seen Him relate to humanity as no one before Him. No matter rich or poor, healthy or diseased, Jew or Gentile, no one loved people like Jesus. But these men brought Jesus before three Jewish, and I'll call them sham trials. And all three were gross miscarriages of justice.

And then in examining how Jesus went before Pilate, the Roman governor, we see even more gross injustice. After examining the evidence, Pilate repeatedly stated that he saw Jesus as totally innocent. He had broken no Jewish law. He had broken no Roman law. He knew it was out of envy and jealousy that the Jews brought Him before His court. He had conversed with Jesus face to face, hearing Jesus speak about His kingdom and truth. He had even been warned through His wife. Remember, His wife had a dream. And in this dream, she saw Jesus as a righteous man. Now, this experience would have been seen as tremendously valid in this Roman culture.

But Pilate, he caved into the insistent demands of the Jews. And in this second Roman trial, these were sham trials as well. Again, gross miscarriages of justice. Now, that is exactly where we found ourselves this morning. We are at the end of these horrendous miscarriages of justice, one after the other, one after the other. Jesus stands before Pilate, and this is the end of this third Roman trial. Now, that brings us to the title of the message. This is a part two from last week. The third Roman trial, Jesus Before Pilate, part two. Now, last week we really covered one major truth, like I said last week. This is really one message.

Verses 1 to 16, we divided it because of time, having the time to adequately examine these verses. So I gave you last week's first major truth, Pilate's futile plans. We went back, grabbed a couple of verses out of chapter 18, went down to verse 7 of chapter 19. Now, this morning we will cover Pilate's fear and panic. Verses 8 to 12, and then Pilate's failed plans. Verses 13 to 16. All of this goes together. Like I say repeatedly, we need to develop a habit of taking notes. We learn in our small group study that we should be expository listeners. You're sitting under expository preaching. We should take notes.

We should go back and listen and study, and we should absorb and let the Lord teach us in the ways that He wants to form us and mold us. So let's go back to our verses. Let's read them again, and then we will divide them. Starting in verse 8. "When Pilate therefore heard this statement..." Now, this goes back to verses 6 and 7. They were crying out to have Jesus crucified, but we see here in verse 8, He was more afraid. Then He entered into the praetorium, that place of judgment, that judgment hall, and He said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" Jesus gave Him no answer. He was silent. "Pilate therefore said to Him, 'You do not speak to Me?

Do you not know that I have the authority to release you, or the authority to have you crucified?' Jesus answered, 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it has been given to you from above. For this reason, He who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.' As a result of this, Pilate made efforts. Here we see more efforts in verse 12 to release Jesus. "But the Jews cried out, saying, 'If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.' When Pilate therefore heard these words, He brought Jesus out, and He sat on the judgment seat.

That is the place called the pavement." This is where He would issue His decrees, His judgments. And in Aramaic or Hebrew, it means gabitha. Now, it was the day of preparation for the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour. "And He," this is Pilate, "said to the Jews, 'Behold, your king!' They therefore cried out, 'Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!' Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your king?' The chief priest answered, 'We have no king. We have no king but Caesar.' And like I said earlier, this is where everything changes.

Verse 16, "So then, He delivered him to them to be crucified." Well, you see how we will divide our verses, our first major truth that is before us this morning. Number one, Pilate's fear and panic. Right here out of verses 8 to 12, we see Pilate's fear and Pilate's panic. Now, here we see Pilate's reaction to what has been taking place in verses 1 to 6. He had Jesus scourged in verses 1 to 3, and he was hoping that this would appease the Jewish leaders. But remember, Pilate was seeking to release Jesus, but this scourging made the Jewish leadership even more bloodthirsty. This made them even more murderous.

These men were crying out, "Crucify! Crucify!" The first time this word had ever been used here, and this brings about a change in Pilate's heart, a change in Pilate's mind. Now, there are five ways we're going to divide these verses. Five observations. I want you to follow me, because we want to see what the Lord has for us out of these verses. So notice first, Pilate's fear out of verse 8. We see Pilate's fear in verse 8. "When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid." Now, all of the translations we reference use the same wording, "more afraid." Now, this is the first time we have seen this stated about Pilate.

This was very unusual for this type of man. He was very proud. He was very authoritative. Had a lot of power in his fingertips. But notice that he did not suddenly become afraid. He became more afraid. Go back to the verse. "When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was more afraid." The language is very simple. This indicates that Pilate has been afraid throughout this escalating situation. But after these things were said in verse 6 and 7, he has become more afraid. Now, this leads us to two questions that need to be asked. First, what did the Jews say that so alarmed Pilate?

And then second, why did this strike alarm and fear in Pilate's heart and mind? It was alarming that the Jewish leaders cried for Jesus' crucifixion. But more alarming was the second thing that they said. The Jewish leader said that Jesus made himself out to be the Son of God. And this leads us to answer the second question. Pilate was gripped by religious superstition. Remember that his wife had told him of a dream that she had. She had had a dream. And in this dream, she saw Jesus as a righteous man, innocent. She was deeply disturbed by this dream, and she was convinced that Jesus was righteous.

And the Romans believed that the gods, little G, spoke through dreams and visions. Pilate would have put much stock into her experience. So this statement by the Jews would have intensified Pilate's fears and Pilate's superstitions. The mere mention of Jesus being the Son of God would have caused Pilate's fears to grow. Now, our second observation, Pilate's questioning. We see Pilate's questioning of Jesus in verses 9 to 10. Look back at the verses. And he entered into the praetorium again, and he said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate said to him, "You do not speak to me.

Do you not know that I have the authority to release you, or I have the authority to crucify you?" Here we have what I call a loaded question. On the surface, this looks like an ordinary question, but this is far, far from ordinary, this question from Pilate. See, Pilate knew geographically that Jesus was from Galilee. We see this fact in the other gospels, specifically Luke 23 verses 6 and 7. Luke tells us that Pilate knew exactly, geographically, where he was from. So this question is tied to his superstitions, his belief in the gods and his belief in the supernatural powers.

He was asking whether Jesus was of earth or was of the domain of the supernatural. Remember that back in chapter 18 verse 36, Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. So this is a spiritual question that Pilate is asking. Now notice Jesus' response. Go back to the verse. Pilate says, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. It's just silence, no response. Now why was this the case? Jesus had answered this question back in the first trial, chapter 18 verse 36. But Jesus was also fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, which stated that in his affliction, he did not open up his mouth.

Jesus' silence also could have been seen as judgment, judgment against Pilate. Pilate had rejected the truth, the statements of truth, that were brought before him back in the previous encounters. Pilate rejected this invitation that was given to him from Jesus. And no doubt Jesus' silence was a reflection of all that has been mentioned, but yet so much more. Now notice Pilate's second question. Go back to the verses. Verse 10, Pilate said, "You do not speak to me. Do you not know that I have the authority to release you or I have the authority to crucify you?" Here we see Pilate's pride.

We see his awareness of this position and of his power. This personal pronoun, "me," it is in the emphatic. Simply Pilate is saying, "Do you not speak to me?" Pilate was insulted. He found it highly disrespectful that Jesus did not respond. Now notice Pilate's third question. He says, "Do you not realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?" Here we see Pilate's great pride. He had pride in his authority. As the governor, he had the authority to crucify or to release Jesus. So this questioning further reveals the magnitude of these circumstances and the condition of Pilate's heart. So our first observation, Pilate's fear.

Our second observation, Pilate's questioning of Jesus. And then our third observation, Jesus and his response. Verse 11, Jesus and his response. Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over me unless it has been given to you from above. For this reason, he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin." Here in verse 11, we have the final words of Jesus to Pilate. These are the only words of Jesus that are recorded after the scourging. Verses 1 to 3. Jesus breaks his silence to set the record straight. Pilate did not have ultimate control over Jesus.

Pilate's authority as governor and his authority over Jesus was within the bounds of the sovereign plan of God the Father. God himself was in full control of these events, but this does not absolve Pilate of his responsibility. He was a responsible, moral individual who would give an account for his decisions and his actions. Now, notice who Jesus speaks about. Let's go back and look at the verse again. Verse 11, "You would have no authority over me unless it has been given to you from above. For this reason, he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin." Jesus speaks not just of Pilate's responsibility.

Here he speaks of the sin and the guilt of the Jews, namely Caiaphas, who was the reigning high priest. As high priest, he bore more responsibility for forcing Pilate to execute Jesus. I like how the Bible commentator D.A. Carson implicates both men, Caiaphas and Pilate. Pilate remains responsible for his spineless, politically motivated judicial decision, but he did not initiate the trial or engineer the betrayal that brought Jesus into the court. No, that was Caiaphas. And notice how guilty Caiaphas was. He ignored all of the physical and the spiritual evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.

He almost single-handedly forced Pilate into this position to crucify Jesus. And in this response, Jesus is revealing the guilt of both Caiaphas and Pilate. And then our fourth observation, notice Pilate's fearful efforts to release Jesus again. Verse 12, or the first part of verse 12, Pilate's fearful efforts to release Jesus again. Look at verse 12. As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release him. Here we have an interesting action or reaction from Pilate. This fear and this interaction with Jesus causes Pilate to amp up his efforts to release Jesus. Simply, Jesus' answer seemed to have won Pilate over here for a moment.

Now, we do not know what these efforts were. We do not know what he said or what he did. Most likely, Pilate continued to try to reason with the Jewish leaders. But certainly, he continued to pronounce the innocence of Jesus, which he-- what he had been doing-- all along. And then fifth, our fifth observation, notice the Jews and their strong armed approach. This is at the second part of verse 12. The Jews and their strong armed approach. Let me read verse 12 again. As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.

Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar. Here we have another layer to the Jewish leadership and their hypocritical behavior. The Jews hated all things Roman. And they vehemently hated Roman occupation. At the heart of that hatred was a vile hatred of Caesar himself. And here they are claiming-- and I put that in parentheses-- claiming to be supporters of Caesar and setting Jesus in opposition to Caesar. Here they are forcing Pilate. They are strong arming Pilate to choose between his allegiance to Caesar and his desire to release Jesus. John MacArthur described Pilate's predicament very well.

He says that, I quote, "This was the last straw for Pilate. The Jews' implied threat finally overwhelmed him. He could not risk having them report to the emperor that he had released a revolutionary, especially one who made himself out to be a king in opposition to Caesar." Now there's another layer here, if we know background, if we know some history. Historians tell us that the Jewish authorities had brought complaints about Pilate before the emperor on numerous occasions. And Caesar Tiberius had a reputation for being suspicious and very temperamental.

No doubt Pilate knew that he could not risk the Jewish leaders going before Pilate again with a complaint that he had released a suspected revolutionary. And this is where Pilate's fear turns into fear and panic. Now in summary, what do we see here? Five observations, a lot of truth. But what do we see? Pilate is increasingly fearful in these circumstances. He's very superstitious. He questions Jesus about his origin. He must have been pondering the words of his wife's warning. No doubt they were echoing in his mind and his heart. But something in Jesus' response seemed to win Pilate over. Because he continued to try to release Jesus.

But these efforts were fleeting. They were futile. The Jews strong-armed, approached, forced Pilate into a corner. And this was a corner that he never could wiggle out of. Now let's continue. In our progression in the message, I want us to notice our second major truth. Pilate's failed plans. Pilate and his failed plans. We see this start in verse 13, on down to verse 16. Let's read these verses together to get them in our minds. When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and he sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the pavement, or stone pavement. Verse 14, now it was the day of the preparation for the Passover.

And he said to the Jews, behold your king. They therefore cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. So he then-- that's Pilate-- delivered him to them to be crucified. Now here in verse 13 and following, we have a shift in this unfolding drama. Within this shift, we have two sides to the story. On one side, we have the sovereign plan of God. The moment of God's redemption has arrived. God's son was about to be condemned to die. On the other side, the other side of the coin, we have Pilate's failing plans.

When the Jewish leaders used Caesar as leverage to get their way, Pilate's last attempt to free Jesus was destroyed. Simply Jesus' fate was sealed here. Now there are four observations or examinations out of these verses I want us to make. First notice, Jesus was before the judgment seat. Verse 13, Jesus was before the judgment seat. When therefore Pilate had heard these words, the words of the Jews, he brought Jesus out. And he sat down on the judgment seat. Now notice how the verse reads. When Pilate therefore heard these words, Pilate finally, finally got the message from the Jews. The Jews were not going to change their minds.

Here John states that Pilate took his seat on the pavement. Now the English standard, and I believe the King James reads stone pavement. This is where Pilate would make official state judgments. Here we have Pilate about to pass judgment on the judge of all the earth, Genesis 18.25. Pilate is about to pass judgment on the one the Father had granted all judgment, John 5.22. Simply the decision was about to be made. Our second observation, Jesus is presented before the Jews in verse 14. Verse 14, Jesus is presented before the Jews. Now it was the day before the Passover, about the sixth hour. And he Pilate said to the Jews, behold your King.

Now here John makes a reference to the Passover. I think that's important because we know, we know that Jesus was the true Passover lamb who was about to be slaughtered. But here we also see Jesus, he presents Jesus to the Jews. But notice how, how he presents Jesus. Because this statement is thick. It is dripping with mockery. Pilate says, behold your King. Pilate was mocking. Pilate was insulting. In suggesting that a bloody half-dead Jesus could be their King, he was taunting the Jews. He knew they wanted to kill Jesus out of envy. He knew they wanted to destroy Jesus out of jealousy.

So Pilate presents this bloody and half-dead Jesus to the Jews. Then the third observation, the Jews and their reaction out of verse 15, the Jews and their reaction. They therefore cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your King? And the chief priests answered, we have no King but Caesar. Furious over Pilate's declaration of Jesus as their King, the Jews again, they began to demand for Jesus to be crucified. They were furious. Now notice Pilate's reaction. He seemingly makes one last protest. He asks, shall I crucify your King?

But if we study the language, there is an interesting piece of information here. This word King is in the emphatic. This means Pilate asks, shall I crucify your King? Again, we see the Jews react in a level of unimagined hypocrisy. These Jewish leaders claim that Caesar was their King. Now notice the irony here. The blasphemy that they were accusing Jesus of, they were committing. Judges 8.23, 1 Samuel 8.7, Psalm 149.2, Isaiah 33.32, all speak of the Lord God ruling over his people. So they were blatantly breaking God's word in this declaration, this reaction. And then the fourth observation. Their final plans were made.

Verse 16, so then he, Pilate, delivered him to them. Now that all of Pilate's plans to free Jesus have been destroyed, Jesus' fate was sealed. At this point, Pilate had two choices, one of two choices. He could accept Jesus for who he was, as Lord, as master, as the Messiah, as his own personal Savior and Lord, or he could reject Jesus and send him to the cross. In his attempts to remain neutral, in all of his attempts to placate the Jews, these have brought him to a crossroads. And in the end, Pilate delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. One Bible commentator I ran across this week summarizes Pilate's reactions beautifully.

And I quote, "Pride and fear, pride and fear of man led to Pilate's downfall, and he sided with the crucifiers of Christ to the damnation of his soul." So in summary, what do we see here, verses 13 to 16? "The judge of all the earth goes before a Roman judge, this judge Pilate. Pilate presented him before his own, mockingly presenting him as their king. And this forced the Jewish leaders to commit the ultimate sin. They rejected Jesus as their king, and they claimed a pagan Gentile Caesar as their king. And then Pilate made his decision.

He condemned Jesus to die to the damnation of his own soul." Now in examining these two major truths, Pilate's fear and panic, Pilate's failed plans, how might we apply these truths, and really all that we've learned about Pilate, how might we apply this to our life before we close the message and move away from the trials? So if we observe Pilate's life here, we see that his life has been marked by neutrality. I've repeatedly stated this. Pilate tried to stay neutral. And in this neutrality, he ultimately rejected Christ. And then we see that Pilate tried to placate. He tried to placate the Jews. All along, he tried to keep peace.

He tried to remain neutral, and he tried to placate, and to placate, and to placate. In an application for me and you, we must see that we cannot-- we cannot remain neutral to Christ, and we cannot placate people and things in our life to remain neutral. You might do it for a little while, but you cannot continue to remain neutral and placate. You might be just like Pilate. You might fear Jesus. You might fear the word of God. You might fear the Lord God. You might respect the church, and respect the word of God, and respect Christ as Savior and Lord. You might even see Jesus as righteous and innocent.

But listen, if he is not Lord of your life, through biblical salvation, ultimately, you will end up rejecting Christ. And listen, sir, ma'am, young person, if you try to remain neutral and try to placate everything around in your life while holding onto that fear, holding onto that respect, and even saying the right things, it will ultimately lead to your own damnation. One of the statements I said, as we've continued through these messages, is we were like Barabbas. But the sad thing is, there are some of you. You're like Pilate. You are like Pilate. You try to remain neutral in life. You try to placate family.

Try to placate your work life, your hobby life. So you try to placate and placate. Oh, you say the right words. You respect the right things. You even do the right things. But that's not enough. And I'm afraid that even people within the sound of my voice will find themselves at the judgment, just like Pilate. Said all the right things at the right times, because Pilate did, but ultimately rejected Christ. May you not end up at the judgment and be like Pilate. Now, as we move away from dividing these verses, I want us to see that we stand on verse 16. Go back with me to verse 16. So then Pilate delivered him, Jesus, to them to be crucified.

Now, I don't know if you know what's happening here. He delivers Jesus to the Jews, but ultimately, it's the Romans that crucify. But notice what takes place here. We move from the trials. And there's this transition in verse 16. And we are standing on verse 16. And we're staring eye to eye with the crucifixion of Jesus. Look at verse 17. So they took Jesus, therefore, and they went out. They begin the process of crucifixion. So we're standing on verse 16, and we're staring at the crucifixion. That's where we are. And this leads me to revisit the introduction from last week's message. I don't mean this to be review.

I think at this point in time, staring at the crucifixion, we need to remember the humility of Jesus and this lowly majesty that he possessed in his life. Now, in conclusion, I want us to see that we have four marks of humility, four marks of Jesus' lowly majesty. And we've seen them all through the trials. The first mark. In these trials, Jesus was humbly submitting to the plan of God the Father. He was submitting to the will of the Father. This was God's predetermined plan, people. This was not a plan B. God had determined that he would send his son forever ago.

And Jesus is simply submitting to the will of the Father from the very moment he was born till his last breath on earth, even to the ascension Jesus perfectly submitted to the will of the Father. And he is our great example with every fiber of our being, from the very top of our head to the tip of our toe. If we are born-again people, we should live to fulfill God's will on earth. Don't wait till you're at the end of your life. And look back and have to say, oh, what a waste. Listen, if you're born-again, if God has saved you, God has not saved you for you. God has saved you for him.

And I challenge you with all of the strength within your body and with the help of God working in your life, submit totally to the will of the Father. I promise you, if you get to the end of your life and you've done so, you'll be happy. You'll have joy. The second mark of humility or mark of his lowly majesty, Jesus was humbly submitting to sinful men. What an irony. The Creator submitting himself to sinful men. Now think about this. Romans 5.8 says that while we were sinners, you do realize that Jesus knew that these men were sinful before the foundation of the world.

He knew who these men were, and he willfully submitted himself to sinful men. And see, for you and for us, we need to see that as we faithfully follow the will of God in our life, we will be rejected by the world. The world will reject us. Even your family will reject you. People at work will shun you. See, we've been living in this quote unquote Christian culture bubble. But we must see that if we faithfully surrender to the will of the Father for our life, there will be people who will reject us. These are sinful men.

And then the third mark of humility in Jesus' life, this lowly majesty, Jesus was submitting to accusations, abuse, and violent torture. It went beyond accusations, people. It went beyond abuse. This was violent torture. Torture beyond measure. Torture to the point of death. And we must see that if we faithfully surrender to the will of the Father and the work of kingdom work on Earth, yes, we might even be persecuted. You might say, what, me? Yes, you. And we must be willing, yes, to even be persecuted. The New Testament teaches us that blessed are those who are persecuted.

And if they persecuted Christ, why should it surprise you if they persecute us? And then the fourth mark of humility, this mark of His lowly majesty, Jesus was submitting to the cross the cross of Calvary. I said earlier that he went through torture. And this was a torturous death. The Romans were great executioners. Today, this would be considered inhumane. It would be outlawed because of how inhumane. And this was a physical torturous death. But more than the physical torturous death, he went to the cross, listen, to bear the wrath of God for sin. Don't make the cross man-centered. Don't sing that song while he was on the cross.

I was on his mind. He went first and foremost to bear the wrath of God for sin. And look, that is your only hope and my only hope. And sir, ma'am, young person, if you're outside of Christ, you're not staring at grace. You're not staring at the love of Christ. You are staring at God's wrath that you deserve. Four marks of this lowly majesty. May the Lord grip us with the weight of these circumstances, the trials, Jesus staring at the cross, with the truth of what Jesus did endure through these trials, and with anticipation of what we will see when we get into the verses on the crucifixion. Let's pray.