June 3, 2018
Morning Service

John 20:31  But these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in His name.

·        This is the purpose that John wrote this gospel.  He is an eye witness to most of the things he describes to us.  We enjoy hearing examples of Jesus loving, healing, and promising His followers many things, but there are some tough truths we have to deal with.  One is that the world hated Jesus and it will hate us as well.  We began to see this first hand when Andy guided us through the mock trial in chapter 18.  Today it only gets worse as we begin looking at the crucifixion of our Lord.  This is not a pleasant or feels good study, but it is a reality.  We often try to skip through this quickly to get to the resurrection; but this is the fulfilling of a vital part of God’s perfect plan of salvation.  Today we begin to answer the question “How much does Jesus love me.”  All that we read today was done for us.  This is prophecy fulfilled.  Isaiah 53 described some of what we read today almost 600 years before it ever happened.  This was a plan not an accident.  It is written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and through believing have life in His name.

·        Chapter 18 finished with Jesus’ trial before Pilate ending with his offer to release one prisoner to them for the Passover.  The crowd, on the encouragement of the religious leaders, chose a murderer named Barabbas over Jesus.

 

John 19:1-4 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and flogged Him.  (2)  And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head. And they put a purple robe on Him, (3)  and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.  (4)  Then Pilate went out again and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you so that you may know that I find no fault in him.”

·        Flogging could have killed Jesus in itself.  They would bare the victim’s back and tie his hands to a pillar before whipping him with a three-pronged whip with pieces of lead on each prong.  The number of lashes depended on the severity of the crime.  Jewish law allowed up to 40.  The movie “The Passion of Christ” portrayed all of this very vividly for those who have seen it.  The first time I ever watched it I just remembering be almost numb after seeing this rather than just reading about it.

·        The Romans soldiers went beyond their orders and included mocking Jesus by placing a robe and a crown of thorns upon Him and striking Him with their fists.  Jesus chose to be silent and endure this for our sins (Is. 53:7).  He could have called 10,000 legions of angels and destroyed the entire Roman army with only His word, but He didn’t.  He knew what had to be done and chose to do it.

·        Pilate hoped the flogging would be enough for the Jews as he presented Jesus to the crowd and stated that he found no fault in Him.  The other gospels go into greater depth of the internal struggle Pilate goes through with this decision (Matthew 27).

 

John 19:5-7 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”  (6)  Then when the chief priests and under-officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in him.”  (7)  The Jews answered him, “We have a Law, and by our Law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

·        The chief priests finally speak the truth.  All along they have been trying to portray Jesus as a threat to the Roman government, but truthfully they sought his death because of His claim to be the Son of God.  This claim (blasphemy) did deserve death according to Jewish law (unless it was true) and in their eyes this fact gave credibility to their claims. It still gave Pilate no more reason to crucify Him because blasphemy did not violate Roman law.

 

John 19:8-12 Then when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid.  (9)  And he went again into the praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.  (10)  Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to crucify you, and I have authority to release you?”  (11) Jesus answered,” You could have no authority against Me unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”  (12)  From this time, Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

·        Throughout this trial process it becomes obvious that it is Jesus that is in control.  Though what was happening to Him was unfair and inspired by the hatred the religious leaders had for Him, He knew the truth.  He knew this was all according to God’s plan.  Despite the pressure and persecution, Jesus remained unmoved and chose with a strong resolve to finish His work.  He trusted His Father’s plan enough to die for it.  Truly it was Pilate and the religious leaders that were really on trial.

·        When (not if) we experience persecution our reaction needs to be the same.  Those who attack us are really fighting against God not us.  It is a spiritual battle of good vs. evil.  It is they that are on trial not you.  We must be strong and courageous and follow the example our Lord has displayed for us.  Trust Him to carry you through.

·         Jesus did not excuse Pilate from the responsibility of his choice but only stated that the Jews had the greater sin because it was hatred and jealousy that drove them to condemn Jesus.  Pilate was simply stuck in the middle.  The Jews continued to turn up the pressure on him claiming now Jesus’ rebellion was directly against Caesar.  Pilate knew what was right but had a choice to make.

 

 John 19:13-16 Then when Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement (but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha).  (14)  And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your king!”  (15)  But they cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”  (16)  Then he delivered Him up to them that He might be crucified. And they took Jesus and led Him away.

·        How ironic that the religious leaders who were supposed teach others that there was only one God who deserved their allegiance quickly claimed Caesar as their king.  They were blinded to who Jesus really was and had no limits on how far they would go to see this man put to death even if that meant breaking the very law they were trying to protect.

·         Pilate finally gives in to the pressure and delivers Jesus to be crucified.  He feared the Jews would cause an insurrection that, when word got back to Rome, would cost him his job and perhaps his life.  He chose the easier road rather than the right and true one.

·        We too can find ourselves in this situation where standing for what is right will come with repercussions.  We see both choices made here.  The wrong and easy one was chosen by Pilate and the right and tougher choice was made by Jesus.  Jesus later encourages the disciples and us to “Follow Me.”  We are to follow the example He lived during His life and death, choosing to be true to the God we serve.  He always blesses you when you make the right choice.

·        Tonight we will see Jesus placed upon the cross and fulfilling God’s perfect plan of salvation.  I encourage you this morning to come to grips with how much God loves you and compare His sufferings to what He is calling you to do for Him.  He told us in chapter 15 “If you love me keep My commandments.”  I hope we are not taking that choice too lightly.

 

Lord, thank You for revealing to us how much You love us.  Please stir within us a love that moves our faith into action and courage to make the right choice.