Jesus And His Accusers

JESUS AND HIS ACCUSERS

Matthew 27: 11-14

INTRODUCTION:

A. After Jesus’ illegal trial before the Sanhedrin,

He was carried before the Roman governor, Pilate

v. 1-2

1. He was carried before Pilate because the Jews

were demanding the death penalty

a. After Rome conquered Israel, they ruled

that all death sentences would be approved

by the Roman authorities

b. This was just another reminder that Israel

was not an independent nation

2. God also had a design in bring Jesus before

the Roman governor

a. By being condemned by the Roman governor,

both Jew and Gentile would have a hand in

Jesus’ death

b. Jesus would be condemned by both Jew and

Gentile and He would be the Savior of both

Jew and Gentile

B. As Jesus was brought before Pilate, the Jewish

elders began to accuse Him

1. The word accuse means to charge with an

offense of wrong doing

2. Notice the irony: sinful creatures charging

the sinless Savior of wrong doing

I. ACCUSERS AND ACCUSATIONS ARE STILL WITH

US TODAY

A. Revelation 12:10 says that Satan is the accuser

of the brethren

1. Satan loves to come before the throne of

grace to lay a charge of wrong doing against

us

2. The charges he levels against us are true

a. God, being omniscient, can not be fooled

by a lie-- He knows the truth about all

things

b. The devil doesn’t have to lie about us to

bring a charge against us

c. The devil tempts us to sin and break God’s

law

d. Then, he reports that to God and demands

that God carry out the sentence of the law

for that crime

e. Because we sin often, the devil has plenty

to charge us with

3. The purpose of Satan’s accusations

a. Satan brings an accusation against us when

we sin in an effort to hurt God

b. Sin in the life of a believer grieves God

c. Satan accuses believers in an effort to

hurt the believer

d. Satan would love for the believer to lose

his salvation but thanks to Jesus’

intercessory work, we are secure

e. By accusing the believer and demanding

justice for the sin committed, Satan hopes

to see us endure God’s chastening

f. Because Satan hates God and God’s

children, he hopes to hurt both by his

accusations

4. Even though we may not see it, we are

constantly being accused and charged with

wrong doing by the devil

B. Humans can become the tool of the devil and be

used to accuse others

1. The elders were never more like Satan than

when they stood to accuse Jesus

2. The difference between rebuking one and

accusing one

3. A rebuke is to be administered for the

purpose of helping a person to see his wrong,

repent of that wrong, and then come back to

God

a. A rebuker is to consider himself as he

seeks to restore that person, lest he

also sin-- Galatians 6:1

b. A rebuker is gentle with his rebuke

c. A rebuker’s goal is to get the offender to

see the grace and mercy available to the

one who is wrong

4. An accuser is used by the devil to hurt the

offender v. 23

a. An accuser never examines himself to see

if that same sin is in his life

b. An accuser seeks punishment for the sin,

not grace and reconciliation

c. An accuser will use the faults of others

and point them out in an effort to elevate

self-- I’m better than you

d. An accuser is often harsh and arrogant

5. Much harm has been done to the cause of

Christ by church people who accuse,

criticize and judge rather than rebuke with

the goal of restoring one to Christ

II. HOW WE ARE TO REACT WHEN ACCUSED

A. How we are to react when accused with the truth

1. If someone comes to us with a truthful

charge, even if they have the wrong attitude,

we should confess guilt and seek their

forgiveness

a. Don’t get defensive-- it will only make

matters worse

b. By confessing wrong and seeking

forgiveness, God can use the accuser to

accomplish good

2. If the accuser then refuses to accept the

apology and continues to use the offense to

try to hurt us:

a. Then pray for him-- Father, forgive them

b. Leave vengeance in the hands of God-- if

we hadn’t sinned in the first place, the

critic wouldn’t have an issue

c. Live by Proverbs 24: 17-18

3. Above all, when accused truthfully, learn

from the sin and don’t repeat it-- Jesus told

the woman caught in adultery, go and sin no

more

B. How are we to react when falsely accused?

1. When falsely accused, continue to do what is