Sermon for Lord's Day June 4, 2023 Standing before the Judge

If you would like to put a header on your notes, I have actually two headers on my notes. Really what we're going to see here, really the doctrine, one of the primary doctrines that we're going to see here is the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement, how that the innocent is given for the guilty.

The innocent is given for the guilty or standing before the judge. We're going to see both of these things here. We're going to see the innocent given for the guilty, and we're going to see men standing before the judge.

Now, you may have noticed if you're using an ESV or likely a newer translation that verse 17 was not there. And the truth of the matter is concerning verse 17 in many of the best manuscripts, as well as some others, this verse is not there.

This verse appears to be a parenthetical note explaining custom of releasing someone on an amnity or as an act of goodwill at the feast of Passover. It appears in two different locations with variations in wording, which makes it look like a scribal addition.

But I wanted to notate that here at the beginning because we see this throughout the text of scripture happening from time to time. And I wanted you to be aware of that. So, as we enter into the text here, really verse 12, in my heart and in my mind, I wanted to really focus and talk a lot about verse 12.

But there is so much in this passage of scripture that we must look at to understand. It is true Herod and Pilate, according to the word here, were at odds with one another. And they found unity in their disapproval, if you would have it, of Jesus Christ.

They found unity in pleasing the people as above pleasing the almighty God. So, this was a great challenge. It is a great challenge when the world finds unity contrary to the word of God. That is a plain truth.

But as we go throughout this text, really from verse 13 on through 25, and if you want to mark your place over in John's Gospel, chapter 18, we're going to be going there for context to let the scripture interpret the scripture to us today.

But as you mark your spot there, I think it's important that we consider a little bit and we know a little bit about the man, Pilate, the governor here in Judea. And it's very important also, not only we know a little bit about Pilate, but the scripture doesn't really give us a lot of information about Pilate himself.

We can gather and infer some information from history and we'll look a little bit at that.

As well.

And the scripture gives us a very plain description of the man, Barabbas. The scripture tells us that he was an insurrectionist, that he was a revolter. Now, the insurrection, the Jewish insurrection had been brewing for years.

It really found its pinnacle, its peak at AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed. And there are some things, there are some truths that we must gather from the scripture concerning both Pilate and concerning the man, Barabbas.

Concerning Pilate, he was the governor of Judea for about 10 years, from about the year 26 to 36 AD. He was also known for being problematic for the Jews due to the fact that he did some things as procurate or as the governor of Judea that caused some issues, that caused some rifts between the Roman government and the Jewish people.

For example, in Luke chapter 13 in verse 1, we read that some of the Galilean people were killed and their blood was mixed with pagan sacrifices. This was an example of the wicked and the evil nature of the Roman government.

This was an example of what Pilate did. Pilate actually had people killed and mixed the blood with the sacrifices. This, as you can imagine, caused a great deal of issue. Pilate also had the Caesar's image brought and set in front of the temple in Jerusalem for a period of time.

Now, the Sanhedrin, again, let's keep in mind who we're thinking about, we're talking about the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious authorities of that day, the Sanhedrin, which were not only the religious ruling authority of the day, but they were the religious and the political ruling power of the Jewish people.

They continued to bow to Caesar. Concerning Pilate's authority, Rome had jurisdiction over smaller providences when it came to matters concerning the death penalty. The rest of the time, each of these provinces, each of these little areas, got to be quote, unquote, two degrees self-governed and they would sort out the little matters among themselves.

But when there were matters concerning capital punishment, it had to be brought to Rome. And so knowing this historically, we can understand a little bit about why the Sanhedrin brought Jesus to Pilate.

That reason is plain. They wanted Jesus dead and they themselves were not legally, and I'm going to put that in scare quotes, legally, they were not legally able to kill Jesus. And consequently, they brought him to Pilate, hoping that Pilate would do their dirty work for them.

It is important for us as well to recall that Luke's gospel concerning what we're reading here today, it's important for us to recall that concerning Luke's gospel, that Luke's gospel is an account of firsthand eyewitnesses of Jesus' life.

What Luke is doing in this gospel is reporting to us what he has been told by many eyewitnesses. Also of value for us today is to recognize this, that although there are details of the gospel accounts that may vary in small ways, for example, Matthew, Mark and Luke are referred to as synoptic gospels.

They vary in different ways. John's gospel is another gospel. They may vary in small ways, but it is very, very important that this variation does not make them invalid or of no consequence because in the big picture, they all bear out to the truth that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

The reality is this, that every single person under the sound of our voice, you may be a witness to a particular event. You may have been there when something big happened and so may have many other people.

But it's a guarantee that when you go to report your eyewitness account, there's likely going to be things that you saw a little different than somebody else there. But in the big picture, it all bears out to the same truth.

Now, I say this because many in the world today are skeptical of the scriptures because it seems like there's variations here and there's variations there. They all bear out to the truth. It is still incredible when you consider this fact that over 1500 years, over 40 different authors in different geographic locations, without the aid of the interwebs, were able to put together a cohesive gospel account of the work of Jesus Christ.

It is amazing and it is a beautiful truth for us to consider. This is also an important consideration as we look at this text today because in his commentary, Alexander McLaren states these words just in passing, but they are such important words.

He said this, Luke's very brief account should be supplemented by John's gospel, which shows us how important the conversation, so much abbreviated by Luke, was. That brief statement that McLaren makes there, that brief statement gives us a valuable insight, or it should give us a valuable insight into the importance of digging deep, both in the other synoptic gospels as well as in John's gospel.

So when we read these accounts, as well as Luke's reporting of eyewitnesses, we truly do. We truly do gain insight into what took place. After all, that is the purpose which Luke wrote his gospel. If you go back to Luke chapter one, you find the very purpose in which Luke wrote his gospel.

The scripture says this, in his introduction, Luke states, in as much as as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us.

It seemed good to me also, this is Luke writing, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty.

Certainty concerning what? Concerning the things that you have been taught. As believers, we have certainty in the truth of the word of God. It is born true throughout the years. And that being said, having a greater insight, we can most certainly have a more clear and a more pure, because that is what we need, a clear and a pure appreciation of what our Lord endured.

So often when we get to this place in the gospel, when we get to this section of the gospel accounts where we start reading about the suffering of Christ, we hear about the torture and the torment, the mockery that was set upon our Lord and our Savior many times.

Sadly to say, folks, it runs off water, it runs off folks like water off a duck's back and it does not affect us. But my friend, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of Jesus Christ is this, that we deserve death, we deserve hell, we deserve the torture, we deserve the punishment.

But Christ Jesus, our Lord, took the punishment on our behalf. So this greater and pure insight that we get from the word, I believe, will greatly aid us in worshiping God. That's the goal, that we worship God better.

What did Jesus tell the woman there at the well? They that worship me must worship me in spirit and in truth. No man calls Jesus Christ Lord, but by the spirit of God. And how do we worship God? By the truth of his word.

With that being said, let's examine John's gospel account in light of this section of scripture from verse 13 to 25. In light of all that, let's jump over to John's gospel and let's take a look and let's read for the remainder of our time together today and see what took place, the details of what took place as Jesus stood before Pilate.

So we know from Luke's gospel, Pilate at first says, I find no fault in this man, finds out he's a Galilean, sends him over to Herod. Herod's excited about seeing Jesus because he hoped that Jesus would perform some kind of a miracle or a magic trick for him.

But Jesus is not in the business of doing magic. Jesus' business and purpose was to seek and to save that which was lost. He did nothing before Herod as he stood before him, Herod sending back to Pilate.

And so Pilate has this conversation with this Sanhedrin. Remember the Sanhedrin? How many of them were there?

Do you all remember?

Seventy. There were 70, 70 or 72, right? So as Pilate brings Jesus back before them, we enter into this text. So we see in John chapter 18, verse 28, here is what the word of God says. Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters.

Remember, they did the mock trial at night. They thought they'd have an official trial during the day. The group of 70 leads Jesus from Caiaphas' house to the governor's headquarters to Pilate. And the scripture says here, it was early in the morning and they themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but so that they could eat the Passover.

So here in verse 28, let's take note of this. Notice the hypocrisy of the Sanhedrin. Their heart and minds are fixed and set on having Jesus Christ put to death simply because they did not like him. They did not approve of the things that he said, and they have murder and malice in their hearts.

They're bringing Jesus to Pilate.

Why?

Because only Pilate can pronounce the death sentence. They couldn't do it themselves. So we see their hypocrisy. And then moving on in verse 29 through 32, notice how they began to show their hand. Now, I say this, I use that, and some of you may know what that terminology is, and it's card terminology, right?

You don't show your hand. The problem is this, that for the large part of history, the Jewish people were playing cards with Rome. They were playing cards with the Jewish insurrectionists that they had in their camp.

They were playing cards with anybody and everybody, had their hand going out every different direction. And so they were not only playing on top of the table, but they were dealing underneath the table.

They were crooked as a dog's hind leg, as the old saying goes. One of the old Puritans said, I think it was Thomas Boston, the man who makes this quote that y 'all are looking at today, too, that God can make a straight line with a crooked stick.

That's good news right there. God used the crooked and the evil and the wicked of this world to bring about his honor and to bring about his glory and to bring about salvation for us as his people. Going on, verse 29 through 32, they showed their hand.

Notice what the scripture says here. So Pilate went outside to them and said, what is this accusation? What accusation do you bring against this man? They answered him, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.

Now, knowing what we know from history, knowing what we know about the rules for capital punishment, it's almost as dumb as a child being an only child and having something in your house broke. And you know it wasn't your wife and you know it wasn't your husband and their only other person in the house is the child and the child will deny straight up and down and they'll argue with you with blood, sweat and tears.

They were not the one that broke such and such an object. This is what was going on. This was what was happening. They answered him, look, if this man were not evil, we would not have brought him to you.

And so Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. Again, Pilate was saying here, death penalty is not on the table. This man has done nothing wrong. The Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.

Here's where they showed their hand. Here's where it came out. Here's where the truth was brought to light. But we cannot kill this man.

Only you can kill this man.

They might as well just come out and say it like that. It is sad what is taking place here. And it is so clearly evident. So they showed their hand. Then as we move forward, verse 32, this was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

What did Jesus tell on numerous occasions to the disciples? I must go to Jerusalem and there I'll be falsely tried, lied on, accused. I'll be beaten. I'll be crucified and I'll die for the sins of the world.

God used the crooked stick to draw the straight line in history. Praise be unto God for that.

Going on.

Verse 33 to 38. Notice here, Pilate's conversation with Jesus. Again, we said we would see really two major things in this text. We would see the innocent given for the guilty, penal substitutionary atonement, and that we would see men standing before the judge.

Now, many, many folks may think that Jesus stood before the judges of the land. But in reality, what was taking place? Herod stood before the judge of all the world. Pilate stood before the judge of all the world.

The Sanhedrin was standing before the judge of all the world when they stood before Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. So here we see Pilate's conversation.

Verse 33.

Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me? Jesus poses the question to Pilate.

Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me.

What have you done?

Is there something you're not telling me? Is there something I need to know? Going on, Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.

And Jesus repeats and rephrases the statement. But my kingdom is not from this world. Now, what happens and what takes place as we see it here in the text, we see it repeated over and over in our day.

There's a constant intermingling of the church and the political powers, the religious powers of the state joining together. Friends, the church, because the church is made up of men and women, boys and girls.

It is impossible in this life for the church to walk a straight line hand in hand with the political powers of our day. We're not called to do such a thing in the scriptures. We see it demonstrated as a problem throughout the scriptures because we are sinful men, because we are fallible men.

We are not able to hold the line because there is so much pressure that comes upon from both sides. Certainly, we preach the gospel. We preach the gospel like it's going out of style. But thanks be to God, it ain't.

Amen.

The gospel will ever be in style. It'll be in style until the day Jesus comes back. And then guess what we'll do throughout all eternity. We'll sing the praises of Jesus Christ, the incarnation, the gospel himself.

We'll lift him up and glorify him. We'll sing praises about the gospel for all of eternity. But the scripture says here, Jesus said, my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, so are you a king?

Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. Remember, we have the short of this. You say that I'm a king. And Jesus expands in John's gospel. We have the expansion of Jesus statement for this purpose. Jesus said, I was born for this purpose.

I was born. I have come into the world to do what? To bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth. What did Jesus say? Listens to my voice. John Echo had previously recalled Jesus statement.

I believe it is in John chapter 10 concerning the good shepherd in John chapter 10 in verse one, the gospel states this truly, truly. Jesus said, I say to you, he who does not enter by the sheepfold, but by the but by the door, but climbs in by another way.

That man is a thief and that man is a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. And to him, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out.

When he is brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers.

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying. And so we have this. Jesus repeats and affirms, confirms this statement that he made before that everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

What does Pilate ask him? Pilate says to him, what is truth? Philosophers have tried to figure out what truth is forever. Intelligent, wise men and women have tried to figure out what truth is forever.

If they would have just looked into the text of the scripture, the psalmist tells us your word, oh Lord, is settled forever in heaven and your word is truth. That's what the scripture says going on. We see this in verse in verse 39 to John 19, 16.

What Pilate does, what Pilate does is he holds up Rome's end of the deal here. He holds up Rome's end or his end of the yearly agreement made between the Romans and the Jews, which was simply this. Every year at the Feast of Passover, the Roman government would be so kind and so gracious to show leniency to one prisoner of the Jewish Sanhedrin's choosing.

And so we have it here in the text, as we're going to read, that this man who Pilate was going to set free, not because he chose him, but because these hypocrites, this Sanhedrin called and asked for a man named Barabbas because Barabbas held sway, Barabbas held influence, Barabbas held power in the group of the insurrectionists who were always trying to rise up and to be at battle with Rome.

Physically speaking, they were using the sword of the flesh and not using the sword of the spirit. God has given us the sword of his spirit. Our gospel proclamation is do this or I'm going to kick you in the shin.

Our gospel proclamation is this, repent of your sin. Why? Because Jesus said so. Because Jesus died for your sin. Turn from your sin. Repent of your sin. Look unto Christ. Look unto the Christ who stood innocently condemned before the judge and the juries of this world.

Look unto your sin. Look unto Christ and be saved. The prophet Isaiah said or Jeremiah, look unto God, be saved and the gospel works in Africa. The gospel works in China and the gospel works in Antarctica.

It does not matter where you go. People are people. And in this humble preacher's opinion, people are stupid because sin has made us stupid. Sin has made us ignorant. Sin has corrupted our minds to give the forgiveness of our sins.

Believe on the gospel today and be saved today. Going on verse thirty nine. But Pilate said this, you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. Again, he's holding up their end of the deal.

So.

And he's trying, seems like trying every way possible to give the Jews an opportunity to give them an out here. So do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? They cried out again. That word cried there in the Greek is a strong word, vehemently urged,.

Strongly urged.

They cried out. The scripture says again, not this man, but give us Barabbas. Now, Barabbas, we have here in John's account. Again, this is one of those variances. John or John's gospel says he was a robber.

Now, it's very highly likely if a man's going to be a murderer, he's going to be an insurrectionist. You probably add robbery to his rap sheet, right? It's not beyond belief that he was a robber. He was a liar, those things.

And so going on chapter 19, then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they arrayed him in a purple robe. And they came up to him saying, Hail, King of the Jews.

And they struck him with their hands. And Pilate after this went out again and he said to them, See, I'm bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no fault in him, no guilt in him. So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

And as Jesus comes out, the scripture says here that Pilate said to them, to who? The crowd, the Sanhedrin, to the group that was there gathered, he said, Behold, the man. When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they didn't hang their heads in shame.

But they raised their voices in bitterness and in anger. And in essence, what they did, they shook their fists in the face of Almighty God. And they said, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.

The Jews answered him and they said this, We have a law and according to that law, he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. What a statement. We have the law. Yes, they did. They had the law and they had the prophets and they had throughout the law and throughout the prophets.

You should not kill and you should not have any other gods before me.

The Lord our God is one.

And you should not have any other gods before him going on. In this conversation that's taking place, the scripture says this, that the Jews said he made himself to be the son of God. That's why we want him to die.

When Pilate heard this statement, the scripture says this, when Pilate heard this statement, he was the more afraid. And what do we have in another of the gospel accounts, in the synoptic accounts? We have the fact that God had actually let Pilate do with this righteous man that was standing before him.

In the other gospel account, it says this, Pilate got a text message from his wife. She goes to Pilate and she says, had nothing to do with this man, for I've had a dream about this, that he should not have his hand in this.

But going forward, the scripture says this, he was more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and he said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me.

So here, Pilate is fearful. And now Pilate gets prideful. Pilate said, you will not speak to me. Do you not know that I have authority to crucify you? And Jesus answered, the scripture says, Jesus answered and he said to him, you would have no authority over me at all.

And they said it had been given to you from above. And therefore, Jesus says, therefore, the he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. For from then on, the scripture says Pilate sought to release him.

And if you release this man, notice, as we see last of all in this last section here, verse 12 through 16. From then on, Pilate sought to release him. But notice what the Jews cried out. If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.

Or they put him on the spot. They were trying to put him in the hot seat. You are not Caesar's friend. If you do not release this man, and they gave their reasoning in that very next statement. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar, as if to say, duh, everybody knows that.

So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out again, sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which was in Arabic, Agavita. Now, it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

Do we remember what took place on the day of preparation? On the day of preparation, the children of Israel were commanded, go get you a lamb, a particular pure lamb. And during this time of preparation, let this lamb be prepared.

Let this lamb be slaughtered. Let this lamb be torn apart. Let this lamb be prepared for consumption. And the scripture says this, it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold, you're king.

They cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priests answered with these words, we had no king, but Caesar, these men who were supposed to be godly men, this group of the Sanhedrin, this crowd that had gathered, that had supposed to be expected to come to the entire world, into history as we know it, because guess what?

It's here for good that they had no king. But Caesar, their allegiance, their loyalty, their giving of themselves would be to the king of the land. And guess what? They were judged for that. Judgment, as Christ declared, came upon them in 70 AD.

And because Christ's word is sure, because Christ is faithful, we can be sure that there will be a day in which he will come again. And on that day, it will be the day in which all the world will be judged.

Where do you stand? Do you stand redeemed? Do you stand assured? Do you stand confident? Because I can tell you today, not based upon my experience, not based on my opinion, but based upon what the very word of God says.

In the book of 1 John, 1 John chapter 5, the apostle writes these words, I write these things to you who know and who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may. Know that you have eternal life.

And this, this assurance, this knowledge, and this is the confidence that we have toward him, toward God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have made of him.

Our encouragement to you today is this, believe on Christ and be saved today. You can have confidence. There will be blocks, blocks and blemishes. There will be ups and downs in your confidence, but my friend, overall, you can be assured of salvation if for no other reason, and the best reason of all, simply because Christ did what he came to do.

He finished the work. Stand with us if you would.

Praise God from whom all...