Study of Pontius Pilate

all right good morning everyone welcome to Columbus Bible Church we appreciate you joining us this morning and celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ with us I don't really have a lot of announcements so I think we're gonna jump in the studio audience is happy to see you as well so appreciate you being with us let me open us in a word of Prayer and we will start father God thank you for this time we thank you for your word we thank you that it's flawless we thank you it's preserved for us we thank you most of all for your son his death on the cross for our sins and the free and eternal salvation that you have provided for us we pray Lord that you would be glorified in this time we spend together it's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray amen so the stay at home orders continue to be in effect so we cannot unfortunately meet together in person but we appreciate you meeting with us virtually and thank you for tuning in so we know that today is Easter we know that today is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and what I thought I would do is I want to take take some time with you and do a study of Pontius Pilate now you may say why would you do that and maybe by the end of this you'll be convinced it's a good thing if not then thank you for your grace but I thought you might find some interesting things if we take us some time to study his life the Bible does not waste words so if there's a doctrine within the Bible if there's a teaching within the Bible there's something that we can learn from it and what I hope is I hope as we spend this time together you'll you'll take away some things that you'll find interesting so let me give you a preview of what we're going to cover and there are five basic points that I want to want to look at the first is we'll look at the character of Pilate the second thing we'll look at is the unusual nature of the trial of Jesus Christ third we'll look at pilots ponderings as to the person of Christ forth pilots attempts to avoid responsibility and fifth the aftermath of pilots decision so number one the character of pilot to the unusual nature of the trial of Jesus Christ three pilots ponderings as to the person of Christ four pilots attempts to avoid responsibility and 5 the aftermath of pilots decision so let's jump in with the character of pilot Luke chapter 3 verse 1 now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip Tetrarch of it Torreya in the region of track and itis and Lyceus the tetrarch of abilene so what we notice in Luke 3 verse 1 is Pilate was the governor of Judea that was his area of responsibility one of the things that happens in life is when you take a position of responsibility you never know what issues will arise that you then have to deal with mankind often wants the privilege of leadership but not the responsibility no doubt when Herod was selected as the governor of Genet Judea he did not realize that he would have to be accountable that he would be responsible for the issue that was going to arise during his tenure look with me at Luke 13 so we see that Herod was the governor of Judea I want you to notice something about his character about his administration Luke 13 verse 1 there were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices now if you just take that for what it says there are some galilaeans that are offering sacrifices as a ritual act you know they're doing so as a religious observance and what Pilate does is he has them executed while they are performing that those sacrifices it seems to me what you should take from that is that Pilate is someone who is not particularly sympathetic to Judaism he's the governor of Judea but he doesn't seem to be sympathetic to Judaism and he seems to be something of a cold and calloused man in other words he's executing people while they are performing an act of religious devotion get with me John 18 John chapter 18 John chapter 18 verse 37 Pilate therefore said unto Him art thou a king then jesus answered thou sayest that I am a king to this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth every one that is of the truth heareth my voice Pilate saith unto him what is truth and when he had said this he went out again under the Jews and saith unto them I find in him no fault at all now just to state the obvious Pilate is is not a believer here he's obviously not of the truth because he didn't hear the Lord Jesus Christ voice if you think with me look at get John 14 and then John 1 John 14 verse 1 knew John 14 verse 6 jesus saith unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh under the father but by me so Jesus Christ has explicitly said to be the truth look with me at John 1 14 John 1 verse 14 and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth so Jesus Christ is said to be full of grace and truth he said to be the way the truth and the life he's clearly the truth when he's before Pilate what Pilate says is what is truth Pilate sounds like a postmodernist there is no absolute truth everything is relative that's just silly talk even the statement there is no truth is an assertion of truth what I'm trying to show you is this what we can see about Pilate is he's not interested in the truth he's a cold calloused hard man doesn't he's not a believer he's not spiritually discerning point number two get John 18 the unusual nature of the trial of Jesus Christ as you well know the the trial of Jesus Christ has some unusual things about it and let's just look at them together John 18 verse 29 Pilate then went out unto them and said what accusation bring ye against this man they answered and said unto him if he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him up unto thee what kind of response is that when someone is charged with a crime at least in the in the British or the English of the American system you have to be given notice of the crime you can't be charged with being a bad person you have to be charged with a specific crime because how do you defend yourself if you're not given notice and specificity about exactly what you're accused of so John 18 29 Pilate then went out unto them and said what accusation bringing against this man in other words what's the charge what's your claim verse thirty they respond and say well if if he hadn't done something wrong we wouldn't have brought him here what kind of answer is that that's the lamest answer there could be what any rational judge would have said is I'm dismissing the charges if you can't do better than that you don't have anything so notice at the very outset of the trial this is an unusual trial because the accusers can't even specify the charge that they claim Jesus Christ to have committed verse 31 then said Pilate unto them take he him and judge him according to your law so Pilate is not concerned about the truth we already saw that earlier but he knows this is shenanigans right he knows there's a problem here you don't want to tell me what the charges handle it yourself the Jews therefore said unto Him it is not lawful for us to put any man to death now this is a little ridiculous because think about what's happening they don't tell him the charge he says fine you don't want to tell me what the accusation is do it yourself then they say well we can't handle it ourselves because under Roman law we don't have the authority to put him to death well okay but then notice what that obviously raises not every crime is a capital crime jaywalking littering there's lots of crimes that are not capital crimes so when the Jews say we can't handle this ourselves because he committed a capital crime obviously they ought to be able to specify what it is you can see that what's going on here is shenanigans get with me Acts 1328 acts 13 verse 28 you know why the Jews did not specify the accusation against Jesus Christ Acts chapter 13 verse 28 and though they found no cause of death in him yet desire they pilot that he should be slain in other words they knew there wasn't a basis to put him to death they knew there wasn't a basis to put him to death and that's why they didn't specify the charge that's why they gave him the shenaniganz answer of with he had done something we wouldn't have brought him nonsense go back to John 18 verse 33 John 18 verse 33 you can see what's going on here is this is is going to be a miscarriage of justice and that is evident from the outset John 1833 then Pilate entered into the judgment Hall and called Jesus and said unto Him art thou the King of the Jews jesus answered him saying thou this thing of thyself or did others tell it thee of me in other words where did you come up with this accusation verse 35 Pilate answered am i a Jew in other words what he's saying is I'm obviously not a Jew and he says that in a way of contempt in other words he's not saying oh I wish I was a Jew because I have such great admiration for the Jewish people that's not what he's saying am i a Jew thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me what hast thou done now notice this Pilate has no idea who is before him he just has no idea who it is he's completely oblivious and that's why he's saying what hast thou done they won't tell me I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this get Matthew chapter 27 Matthew chapter 27 Matthew chapter 27 and he answered him - never a word in so much that the governor marvelled greatly so here's what happens the Jews bring Christ to Pilate they seek to have him put to death they can't tell Pilate what the accusation is so Pilate says to the Lord who are you the King of the Jews what have you done and what the Lord does is he doesn't answer him and when he doesn't answer him what Pilate does here is he Marvel's greatly now here's what happens aren't we good at offering rationalizations and defenses and justifications we are when we're charged with something or accused of something whether it's right or wrong the first human instinct is to come out with the defense the Lord makes no attempt to do that when Pilate questions him he doesn't even answer in Pilate not only marveled he marvelled greatly at this by the way Pilate has has is knowledgeable enough about human nature to realize how unusual it is for someone to be accused of a capital crime and not even want to offer a defense so we see this is an extraordinary trial because no one will tell the judge what's going on the accusers won't and the defendant won't yet the Jews want the death penalty for a crime they can't specify so point number three pilots ponderings as to the person of Christ so pilots had this problem dumped in his lap this has been brought to him no one will tell him what's going on he's trying to figure it out get with me Luke 23 Luke 23 verse four then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people I find no fault in this man so after Pilate has questioned him he can't find any Fault in the man forget whether it's a capital crime he can't find any fault in him so Pilate says to the chief priest I don't have any basis for taking any action against him you haven't told me the charge I can't find anything that's wrong with him I can't find anything he's done that would deserve punishment and when Pilate said that Pilate was was correct because of course Jesus Christ hadn't done anything that would deserve punishment yet John 19 John chapter 19 John 19 and we'll look at verse 4 Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them behold I bring him forth to you that ye may know that I find no fault in him so he brings the Lord forth because he wants to demonstrate that he can he finds no fault in him verse 5 then came Jesus forth noticed this wearing the crown of thorns in the purple robe and Pilate saith unto them behold the man so let's understand what's going on here Pilate presents Christ to the people and he does so with the crown of thorns and with the robe he earlier found no fault in him well if he found no fault in him he should not be punished the simple act of putting the crowns of thorns upon him and forcing it down upon his head that's a punishment in other words notice something that's going on here pilot is not scrupulous about the truth okay if he was scrupulous about the truth he wouldn't have said what is truth if he was scrupulous about the truth he wouldn't punish Christ for no reason and understand that the crown of thorns is a punishment the robe is a mockery right he claims to be a king I'll put him out here and I'll have him displayed in the robe so there's something curious going on here Pilate is saying he finds no fault in the men which he does but even with that it's not that Pilate is so conscientious about that which is right because he's still punishing and mocking the Lord Jesus Christ he just can't find a reason to impose a more severe punishment now notice then what Pilate says in verse five he says at the end of it behold the man and he understands Jesus Christ simply to be a man who is wrongly who has been accused of something but is innocent now notice verse six when the chief priests therefore an officer saw him they cried out saying crucify him crucify him Pilate saith unto them take him and crucify him for I find no fault in him Pilate says there's no basis for what the Jews 1 verse 7 the Jews answered him we have a law and by our law he ought to die wait for it because he made himself the Son of God okay now this is an interesting development if you recall where this whole thing started the Jews brought Christ to Pilate said you need to punish him and Pilate says why and they said essentially we can't tell you they think they didn't give him any specific explanation now pilots at the point where he's saying you crucify him because I find no fault in him and they say okay here's the reason here's the reason the reason is he made himself the Son of God now by the way notice something careful in verse six earlier what the Jews said is they said we can't judge him by our law because he needs to be put to death and we don't have that power in verse six notice what Pilate says when the chief priests there for an officer saw him they cried out saying crucify him crucify him Pilate saith unto them take he him and crucify him for I find no fault in him now this is another proof of pilots indifference to proper procedure pilots the governor of Judea if there's someone that is wrongfully accused the answer is not to say I'm not going to crucify him but if you want you can that's that's completely unjust he's the one in charge what he should say is he will not be crucified he will be released because he has done nothing wrong Pilate doesn't care about right and wrong what Pilate says to him is if you want to crucify him be my guest but I'm not going to because Pilate knows based upon his own investigation he hasn't done anything wrong so what the Jews could have done in verse six what they could have done is said Pilate just authorized us to crucify him so let's go do that let me read it again take he him and crucify him he's giving them the authority to do that why don't they take it why don't they just say thank you we appreciate you giving us that authority we'll take care of it what's the reason they don't they don't because Acts 1328 they knew there was no cause of death in him see they wanted him dead but they didn't want to be the ones responsible for it they wanted Pilate to be responsible for it you see the point Pilate knows he's innocent they know he's innocent so they would like Pilate to do their work for them that's what's going on here but notice both parties know he's innocent so verse seven the Jews answered him we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God notice it's the capital S son of capital G God so finally the accusation comes out here's what it is this guy wasn't a thief he wasn't a crook he wasn't a murderer he wasn't this you know what it was he claimed to be the Son of God now read verse eight and tell me the language in the King James Bible is not beautiful when Pilate therefore heard that saying he was the more afraid if he was more afraid that means he previously was afraid so before that he was afraid and I'll just put it this way you can decide for yourself he's afraid because I think he's fearful of making a mistake he has to wonder what's going on here I have this prisoner brought to me they want him to be put to death they can't explain why when I asked him I can't find any fault in him he doesn't even really want to answer me what's what's going on here there sigh I am fearful that I'm about to be involved in a miscarriage of justice and now it finally comes out you know the accusation against him it's not any wrongdoing he just claimed to be the Son of God well listen it said he was the more afraid if there was a statement that I claimed to be the son of God you'd laugh you'd say well that's just preposterous and you wouldn't be fearful about it when Pilate hears that Christ claimed to be the son of God he doesn't dismiss it as foolishness he realizes wait a minute there may be something to this maybe this is not behold the man as I said a few verses ago maybe this is something else where Pilate is concerned about is he's afraid he's caught up in something he doesn't understand and he's fearful about how to handle it now remember Pilate wasn't bothered by killing the Galileans when they were offering sacrifices that didn't bother him but he's afraid now because he's starting to understand what's going on you may have heard this you may have not what's what many criminal defense lawyers will say is their greatest fear is representing someone who's innocent you're a criminal defense lawyer and you represent the guilty well if they get convicted it's you know it's what should have happened right it's what natural justice would produce but if you're representing someone who's innocent and somehow they get convicted that's that's a great great tragedy well pilots fear is that he's not fearful here that Christ is guilty he's fearful here that not only is Christ innocent but is he may be the Son of God just as he now comes out that he said he was so when pilot learns this claim of Christ he's afraid look with me at John 19 verse 9 he's more afraid so verse 9 and when again into the judgment Hall and saith unto Jesus whence art thou in other words he's saying where are you from but Jesus gave him no answer why does Pilate ask where are you from he's trying to understand who he's dealing with now notice this but Jesus gave him no answer verse 10 then saith Pilate unto him speakest thou not unto me knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee what Pilate says is how dare you how dare you disregard my authority I asked you a question don't you realize that your life is in my hands I'm gonna decide whether you live or die how dare you disrespect my authority notice what Jesus Christ says in verse 11 jesus answered thou could estab no power at all against me except it were given thee from above Pilate you think you have power listen don't kid yourself the only power you have at all is is God the Father has temporarily allowed you to have power by the way that's the way the governments of the world work any time you think that you're a big deal and you have a lot of power whether it's political power or economic power or so on you realize God allows you to have that if he didn't want you to have it it would disappear the next second and you couldn't do a thing about it what what Jesus Christ is saying the pilot in that verse is listen don't get full of yourself any power you have has been delegated by God the Father now notice the the last part of verse 11 therefore he that delivered me unto the half the greater sin just as a couple verses ago the more and more afraid was powerful because what it told you was Pilate was already afraid now he was more afraid what did the Lord just say in verse 11 hey those guys that delivered me up to you that have brought these false charges against me they have the greater sin well if they have the greater sin what does that mean Pilate has it means he has the lesser sin so think about what's just happened Pilate is questioning Christ Christ refuses to answer him Pilate then says look you have to answer me I'm in charge here I have power over you I can decide your fate and Jesus Christ says well essentially you've required me to answer you so I will answer you you have no authority whatsoever except what God the Father has given you and just so we're clear the people that have delivered me unto you have the greater sin that's a massive rebuke it's the verbal equivalent of a knockout punch now I'm gonna suggest this to you Jesus Christ answer itself his demonstration that he is the Son of God because he answers with with such calmness with such equanimity with such fortitude that there's no doubt that Pilate is not dealing with with some sinful fearful man he's dealing with God and Pilate himself reaches that conclusion look at verse 12 and from thence forth Pilate sought to release him see what pirate Pilate real is okay I don't I don't want to have anything to do with this I don't want to touch this with a ten-foot pole and that's because verse 12 Pilate believed what the Lord Jesus Christ said about he having the greater sin Pilate he having the the the ones who delivered him having the greater sin Pilate understands that if he is to go forward with this he himself will be wrongdoing he himself will be in error to do that verse 12 but the Jews cried out saying if thou let this man go thou art not Caesars friend whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar so what they're doing is they're manipulating Pilate Pilate you can't let him go this guy claimed to be King of the Jews and if you let him go then you're siding with someone against Caesar it's it's manipulation what Pilate should do at this point is he should say you haven't told me the charge I can't find any fault in him I release him and then Pilate is clean and Pilate is clear right he hasn't taken any action against a man he knows to be innocent and who he now likely understands is the capitalist son of capital G God get with me Acts chapter 3 Acts chapter 3 acts 3 verse 13 the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob the god of Our Fathers hath glorified His Son Jesus whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate notice when he was determined to let him go see Pilate is resolved he wants to release Christ he's determined to let him go go back to with me to John 19 John chapter 19 John 19 verse 13 when Pilate therefore heard that saying this is the saying that he was not Caesars friend he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement but in Hebrew gabbatha now by the way what if there was someone who claimed to be King of the Jews but he's a crazy man and he doesn't make any sense and he's just babbling and he's a and he hasn't committed any crime well you don't have to be fearful of siding with him against Caesar because the guy's obviously just a lunatic but Jesus Christ holds himself in such a way and conducts himself in such a way that Pilate is fearful of siding with Jesus Christ against the accusation that the the crowd made so what Pilate is doing is even though he was determined to let him go he's allowing himself to be manipulated by the Jews that are seeking that Christ be put to death Pilate knows that he should release the Lord Jesus Christ but he's choosing not to do so and so as the verse said he's going to be sinning he is sinning when he does that point number four pilots attempts to avoid responsibility get with me Luke 23 so we're at the point where what's happened is Pilate wanted to release Christ he was determined to release him but then he's manipulated into the fact that he's not going to release him and I want you to notice what Pilate does Luke 23 verse 6 when Pilate heard of Galilee he asked whether the man were a Galilean and as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction he sent him to Herod who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time now this is clever so what is happening here is Pilate hears that he's from Galilee so what he does is he sends him unto Herod get with me Matthew verse 2 Matthew verse 2 we're gonna come back to Luke but get Matthew verse 2 or Matthew chapter 2 Matthew chapter 2 verse 22 but when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod he was afraid to go there notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream he turned aside into the parts of Galilee so what Pilate does he's sort of clever here he realizes wait a minute this man Jesus Christ may be a Galilean so what I can do is I can make this not my problem Herod has authority over Galilee so what I'll do is I'll send him be Herod and now it's not my problem it's his problem what Pilate would love to do is he'd love to get out of having to resolve this issue Luke 23 go back there if you would look at verse 8 and when Herod saw Jesus he was exceeding Ladd for he was desirous to see him of a long season because he had heard many things of him and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him then he questioned with him in many words but he answered him nothing so the Lord Jesus Christ didn't answer Pilate when he was questioned he didn't answer Herod when he was questioned now let me ask you this when Jesus Christ is questioned by the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees does he ever say you know I'm at a loss for words I don't have a good answer I don't know what to say or does he normally respond with an answer that's so perfect that they stop asking him questions see his understanding is so great that when he's questioned by people he can respond in a way that shuts them up what's happening here Jesus Christ isn't scared of these people he's not fearful of their questions it's not that he doesn't have an answer it's that he is going to go to the cross and he's not going to thwart that himself he could easily demonstrate guys what you're doing here is total shenanigans and you have to release me and he could make that case so convincingly but he doesn't want to make that case because he knows it is the Father's will to go to the cross and to shed his blood for man's sins and that's why he doesn't answer you're in Luke 23 look at verse 13 and Pilate when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people said unto them you have brought this man unto me as one that perverted the people and behold I having examined him before you have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof he accused him yeah you had all these accusations they didn't amount to anything verse 15 no nor yet Herod for I sent you to him and lo nothing worthy of death is done unto him it's not just me Herod doesn't think your accusations hold any water either verse 16 I will therefore chastise him and release him so here's what happens Pilate says let's make a deal I know he hasn't done anything wrong you guys want the death penalty can't we meet in the middle I'll chastise him I don't have a reason to but look I just want a practical result it's not fair to him but let's just agree I'll give him a good chastising and we'll all be done again Pilate doesn't really care about the truth he's happy for anything that gets this off his plate verse 22 and he said unto them the third time Why What evil hath he done I have found no cause of death in him I will therefore chastise him and let him go so Pilate trys three times to release Christ but the chief priests will have not nothing of it and so what's happening is Pilate is going to ultimately succumb to the pressure get with me Matthew 27 Matthew chapter 27 Matthew chapter 27 verse 17 therefore when they were gathered together Pilate said unto them whom will ye that I release unto you Barabbas or Jesus which is called Christ now earlier Pilate tried to get out of this and what he did is he said you know you're a Galilean why don't you go to Herod and he wants Hera to deal with the problem Herod sends him back so that doesn't work so what Pilate then does it says well how about this let's just cut a deal I'll chastise him then we'll let him go that doesn't work either so then he comes up with this idea there's this custom that I release someone to you at the feast here's what I'm gonna do I'll give you a choice Barabbas or Jesus Christ now what you notice something get with me mark get with me mark 15 I want to show you something about Barabbas mark 15 seven and there was one named Barabbas which lay bound with them which had come which had made insurrection with him who had committed murder in the insurrection yet with me Luke 23 just want to look at a couple verses about Barabbas Luke 23 verse 18 and they cried out all at once saying away with this man and release unto us Barabbas who for a certain sedition made in the city and for murder was cast into prison get John 18 John chapter 18 John 18 verse 40 John 18 verse 40 then cried they all again saying not this man but Barabbas now Barabbas was a robber now once you notice something about Barabbas Barabbas we have seen was an insurrectionist in other words he was a rebel he led a rebellion he was a publisher of sedition sedition is speech that tries to overthrow the government well obviously he published the sedition because he was trying to incite a rebellion he's also described as a murderer and he's described as a robber so add those four things together an insurrectionist a publisher of sedition a murderer and a robber can you think of anyone else in the scriptures who is described as those four things get with me Isaiah 14 Isaiah 14 Isaiah 14 verse 12 however fallen from heaven Oh Lucifer son of the morning how I thought I'll cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nation's for thou hast said in thine heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also upon the Mount of the congregation in the sides of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the Most High Lucifer Satan was an insurrectionist he was a publisher of sedition shortly after the Lord created and what did he do in the heavens well he ran out he went around and published a Sedition he said follow me I'm going to rebel against Jehovah follow me in my rebellion and we know of course that about a third of heaven followed him in that rebellion get with me John 8 John 8 John 8 verse 44 ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning so Satan's of murder and he was a murderer from what from the beginning what's the first thing Satan does when he comes down to earth well he seeks to leave Adam and Eve astray causing their spiritual death scripture is right to call him a murderer because that's what he was look with me at mark chapter 4 mark chapter 4 in mark chapter 4 we're going to look at the parable of the sower mark chapter 4 verse 15 and these are they by the wayside where the word is sown but when they had heard Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts the word that sown there is the gospel the kingdom and what he does is he steals it he Rob's the people that hear it of that word lest they believe the gospel so know is this Barabbas in his description is the same he's similar he has all the same flaws and wickedness as Satan himself he's a publisher of sedition and insurrection a murderer a robber by the way what does the word Barabbas mean well it's really two words bar and Abbess bar means son of Abbess what is ABBA mean Abba Father so Barabbas was the son of the father who was his spiritual father the devil so notice what Pilate has done notice how clever this is you don't want you want you want me to crucify the Christ well here's what we'll do there's a custom that I have to release someone to you and I'll give you your choice either Jesus of Nazareth who actually hasn't done anything wrong there's no provable Fault in him or this guy that is such a horrible person he's a personification of the devil see what he could have done if he wanted to crucify Christ what he could have said is I'm either gonna release Jesus Christ or I'm gonna release this guy that was guilty of littering who do you want me to release and normally what people say is well release the litterer because we don't want someone that's a massive threat to society released unto us what Pilate is trying to do is he's trying to force their hand here's your choice and this guy looks like the devil of himself surely no one in their right mind once Barabbas released and of course what do the what does the crowd chant crucify him crucify him what that tells you friends that's the hardness of man's heart when literally given a choice between Jesus Christ and someone that's a personification of the devil what does man do they choose the devil get with me Matthew 27 Matthew chapter 27 Matthew 27 verse 18 for he knew that for envy they had delivered him notice verse 19 when he was set down on the judgment seat his wife sent unto him saying have thou nothing to do with that just man even pilots wife who hasn't been involved in any of these proceedings realizes don't be involved with this righteous this just man for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him this is rather remarkable isn't it I don't know of any other instance of this not just Pilate is troubled by this his wife is at home she has a dream she's incredibly troubled because she realizes her husband is presiding over this matter involving someone who is just who is innocent so she says to him don't touch this case and her advice was good advice it was sound advice but it was advice that Pilate was not going to heed what's going on as this pilot is not a scrupulous man we've already established that several times but but but the miscarriage of justice is so obvious that even someone that doesn't have scruples would not want to be a part of it that's the freight train that's coming down the tracks mark 15 mark 15 mark 15 and verse 9 but Pilate answered them saying will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews for he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy but the chief priests moved the people that he should rather release Barnabas unto them and Pilate answered and said again unto them what will ye then that I shall do unto him who me call the capital K king of the capital J Jews so what Pilate says is okay if you want me to release Barnabas what do you want me to do with Christ Barabbas I'm sorry they're spelled similarly but they're different words if I release Barabbas to you what am I supposed to do with Christ now by the way you don't take a public opinion poll as to legal guilt you decide legal guilt based upon evidence you don't do it based upon public opinion verse 13 and they cried out again crucify him verse 14 then Pilate said unto them why what evil have he done and they cried out the more exceedingly crucify him they can't even come up with a reason they just want him crucified get John 19 you see the madness of trying to reason with the crowd John 19 verse 15 but they cried out away with him away with him crucify him Pilate saith unto them shall I crucify your capital K King the chief priests answered we have no king but Caesar so Pilate refers to Christ as the king of the Jews and Israel says no no no we have no king but Caesar thus rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ authority again Matthew 27 Matthew chapter 27 verse 24 when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing he can't talk reason to these folks they won't listen but that rather a tumult was made he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying I am innocent of the blood of this just person ce2 it so what Pilate does is he publicly washes his hands not my fault except he can't really do that because he was the one in charge no one else had the authority to order this so he might to act like it's not his responsibility but it is his responsibility because it can only be his responsibility so what happens because of the tumult is he says ce2 it now by the way do you remember a famous hand-washing and literary history what does Lady Macbeth do after Lady Macbeth feels guilty about orchestrating the murders of innocent people she keeps trying to wash her hands to get the blood off of it but she can't because the moral guilt endured could Pilate just simply wash his hands and be done or was he morally responsible for what he did he was certainly responsible for it get Acts chapter four Acts chapter four Acts chapter four the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ see mankind reaches consensus there the consensus there is against the Lord Jesus Christ for of a truth against thy Holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles in the people of Israel were gathered together so what percent or what part of humanity wanted Christ to be crucified well it was Herod and Pilate and the Gentiles and Israel they all agreed this they were all Confederate against the true god verse 28 for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done obviously God the Father had determined before he wanted the cross to occur because the cross was how God was going to pay for man's sins so that event was going to happen Pilate didn't have the strength to stand against the consensus of the world so the reality of the situation in which he found himself ponder whether this is true perhaps the reason Jesus Christ didn't answer Pilate more is that the Word of God gives a man the strength to stand against the consensus of the world so you just need to decide in life don't go by man's opinions and you don't need to pay any attention to popular sentiment or majority opinion the Word of God is true and let everything else be false so Pilate finds himself unable to stand against the consensus of the world and so he gives the order for the Lord to be crucified get Luke 23 Luke chapter 23 no doubt when Pilate was made governor of Judea he was happy I'm gonna be in charge of Judea I can run it and of course as history would play out he no doubt wished he was never given that role Luke 23 verse 23 and they were instant with loud voices requiring that he might be crucified and the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed and Pilate gave the sense that it should be as they required Pilate gave into the clamor even though he knew it was wrong point 5 the aftermath we have a few moments to go so hopefully you can stay with us this is the aftermath of pilots decision to have the Lord Jesus Christ crucified get John 19 John 19 verse 21 then said the chief priest to the of the Jews to Pilate right not notice this capital T the capital K king of the capital J Jews but that he said I am King of the Jews in other words don't write on the on the this inscription the King of the Jews he said he was the King of the Jews you know the alleged king of the Jews verse 22 Pilate answered what I have written I have written now you recall back in Matthew 27 Pilate earlier referred to him as the King of the Jews so Pilate viewed him in that way get mark 15 mark chapter 15 and verse 44 this is after the Lord is is taken to the cross when he dies verse 44 and Pilate marvelled if he were already dead you see pilots marveling again isn't he why did he die so soon and Pilate marvelled if he were already dead and calling unto Him the Centurion he asked him whether he had been any wild dead and when he knew it of the Centurion he gave the body to Joseph in the scriptures Pilate is said to have marveled three different times at Jesus Christ Matthew 27 14 mark 15 5 and mark 15 44 pilot of course realizes that something extraordinary is happening now when he what he did in verse 44 there is he called the Centurion to him let's understand what the Centurion had witnessed so you're in Matthew 15 get verse 37 and Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost now by the way crucifixion causes death by exhaustion or suffocation in other words what happens is when someone is on the cross they have to extend their legs so that they can expand their chest to breathe in air and what happens is as fatigue sets in they lose the ability to do that and they suffocate that's how crucifixion causes death verse 37 Jesus cried with a loud voice that means Jesus Christ did not die as the natural result of crucifixion the because his lungs were full of air and he was able to cry with a loud voice see he cried not because death overwhelmed him but because he choose he chose to gave give up the ghost verse 38 and the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom God rent it wasn't a man at the bottom tearing it upward it was God Himself tearing it verse 39 and when the Centurion which stood over against him saw that he so cried out see the Centurion recognizes this is unusual and gave up the ghost he said truly this man was the son of God the Centurion understands exactly what's happening well get Matthew 27 verse 50 Matthew 27 verse 50 Matthew 27:51 2750 jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice yielded up the ghost and behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom and the earth did quake in the rocks rent verse 52 and the graves were opened in many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many now punter what's happened here the Lord's on the cross he cries with a loud voice and gives up the ghost so the death itself is unusual when that happens the veil is rent down the middle from the top to the bottom how does that happen and then what happens is there's an earthquake at the same time okay then what happens is there's dead people walking around Jerusalem see they'll just tell you how this works when people are dead they stay dead that's what happens right and so when these people died there were lots of people that were their friends and neighbors and relatives and or in acquaintances where they knew they were because you just learn about it they say hey did you hear about so-and-so so-and-so died well what happens at the very moment this guy that claims to be the Son of God was crucified Oh a bunch of dead people come up and they're walking around Jerusalem the timing is beyond coincidental Matthew 27 verse 54 now when the Centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were that were done they feared greatly saying truly this was the son of God and I'm not saying all these folks are necessarily say but they understand that they've just witnessed the son of God well when the Centurion is summoned to Pilate and the and Pilate asks questions of the Centurion that further information is going to be revealed to Pilate get with me Matthew 27 verse 62 Matthew 27 verse 62 now the next day that followed the day of the preparation the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate so this is after the sentence after the crucifixion after the death notice what they say in verse 63 saying sir we remember that the that deceiver I'm gonna read that again we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive after three days I will rise again they remember they remember this after the crucifixion had occurred and they have the audacity to refer to him as that deceiver that in us you know itself is a lie listen wouldn't that have been relevant information for Pilate to have before issuing a death sentence yeah this guy that claims would be the Son of God he also claims he's gonna rise from the dead in three days verse 64 command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and saying to the people he has risen from the dead so the last err shall be worse than the first notice what Pilate says here Pilate said unto them ye have a watch go your way make it as sure as ye can so in other words they go to him and they say we need some guards for the tomb because we don't want the disciples to steal the body Pilate says you have a watch okay I'll give you some guys they'll go stand guard notice what he says make it as sure as you can was he worried that the soldiers under his authority were incompetent to guard a dead man does he think they were incapable of that he's saying make it as sure as you can because when the issue comes to believing the chief priests and Pharisees or what Jesus Christ said about the resurrection who did Pilate believe he believed the Lord here's your watch guys go make it as sure as you can in other words good luck let me close with this thought hopefully you've enjoyed this study the reason why we wanted to do this study is this pilots not a man that cares about truth he wasn't someone that cared about right and wrong but it's obvious from his dealings with Jesus Christ that he came to understood understand who he was dealing with and the mere the mere observance of how these things play out tell you something about the the grace of the Lord when mankind Huddle's together and canon conspires to put to death God the Son in the flesh and they choose Barabbas instead of him God in His great mercy nonetheless has Christ died for man sins be buried and rise again the third day praise the Lord that the resurrection is true praise the Lord that Christ did indeed die for our sins if you haven't believed the gospel you need to believe it today you're not saved by your works you're not saved by joining a church or tithing or or turning over a new leaf you're saved when you put your faith in the blood that Jesus Christ shed for you the moment you trust him you're eternally saved if you haven't done that please do that today thank you for fellowshipping with us this morning let me close this in word of Prayer God the Father we give you all glory we give you all praise we thank you for what your son the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished we thank you for salvation as a free gift we thank you that we cannot lose our salvation we pray that folks around the world today would reflect upon what your son did and we pray that people would come to faith in Him that they wouldn't be lost they wouldn't have to go to an eternal hell but they can have eternal life based upon the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ it's in his name that we pray amen you

Channel: Columbus Bible Church

Views: 1,249

Rating: 4.9402986 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: kddLGuyadSU

Length: 66min 52sec (4012 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 15 2020