THE VERDICT THAT SAVED THE WORLD
Matthew 26:57-68
My brothers and sisters, as we approach the greatest moment in the history of mankind, we should consider the verdict that was given to our Christ. Sure from our perspective, it was senseless, brutal and inhumane, to spit on a person, then beat him, then humiliate him while He carried His given cross to a hill called Calvary, there they put nails in His hands, spikes in His feet, pierce Him in His side and further humiliated Him with their sarcasm. They fell to realize that what they were doing was not ridding the world of a public nuisance, but they were giving the world what it needed most and that was the sacrificial Lamb that bought salvation to this dying world.
I read a funny story on the SermonCentral website about a man who was in a mental institution because he would tell people that he was Jesus Christ. Many people tried to stop him from saying this, but success was not theirs. One day a preacher came by to visit the institution and the attendant took him to the Jesus impersonator not taking the preacher or his ministry seriously. When the man told the preacher that he was Jesus in the flesh, the preacher pulsed for a moment and asked him, “Are you really Jesus of Nazareth?” And the man said “Yes, my son, I am he, the son of God.” So the preacher told him, I’ll be right back. He left the room and when he came back, he asked the man again, “Are you sure you are Jesus Christ the Son of God?” and the man again said, “I am Jesus in the flesh.” So the preacher took out a tape measure and measured him from his head to his feet, then he asked him to spread his arms and he measured the man’s arm and told him that he would be right back. Now at this time the man is puzzled because of the measurements and the preachers continued leaving of the room. So, when the preacher returned, he had with him a hammer, some spikes and nails and some wood. The man finally asked, “What are you doing?” As the preacher was putting the last nail in the cross. The preacher asked him one more time, “Are you Jesus?” Again the man said “Yes my son I am he.” Then the preacher said, “Then you should know why I’m here.” At that point, the man suddenly remembered that Jesus was crucified on a cross much like the one the preacher was erecting, and all of a sudden it came to him who he really was, because who he said he was not a great idea at the time and he ran down the hall yelling “I’m not Jesus!’ ’ I’m not Jesus!”
As we find humor in this story, we must realize the verdict that was placed on Jesus, regardless of how we feel about His punishment, it changed the world. Because if it was not for the shedding of Jesus’ blood there would not be any Christians today.
As we look at the text, I feel that it should be noted that Jesus Christ had been rejected and opposed throughout all His ministry. Now, He was being officially condemned to die by the high court of the Sandedrin court. Our Savior was standing before the court, and all the negative feelings of humanity against Him were beginning to show up, confusion, disloyalty, unbelief, rejection, disregard, opposition, bitterness and hatred all showed up that night. They felt, finally we have a charge that will rid us of the one who claims to be the Son of God. The religious leaders of that day fail to realize that the one they saw was not a nuisance, but actually was the Son of God. Their faith in the religious law of their time caused them to miss the golden opportunity to walk with the Savior of the world. You see the law could only make them aware of their sins, but it could not satisfy the penalty for their sin. Only Jesus who is the Christ is able to do that, but they rejected their only hope with their death verdict that would soon change the world for good. In the words of Joseph after reuniting with his father and brothers in Genesis chapter fifty verse twenty, Joseph said, But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. And that is what happened on the day when they charged Jesus of blasphemy, they meant evil against the Lord Jesus, but God turned that thing around and He meant it for the good of mankind.
So, let’s take a look at what happened on that day and see how their verdict actually saved the world.
First of all . . .
1. THE ONLY WAY THE WORLD COULD BE SAVED, IS FOR THEM TO FIRST CONVICT HIM (V.57)
“And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.”
Jesus was led to trial. He had been arrested and now He was being put on trial for His life. In the span of just a few hours He was to be tried at least six times.
The trial before Caiaphas, in the present passage, was the second trial. The court (Sanhedrin) was already assembled. These were the very men who had Jesus arrested. They felt that Jesus was breaking their religious laws and he had to be dealt with. So in the next couple of verses you will see them searching for false witnesses to speak against Jesus so they can put Him to death. And when their search was growing thin, there came two witnesses who testified that Jesus said that He is able to destroy the temple of God and build it again in three days. But this was not the witness that convicted Jesus. That came in the question that was asked of Him in verse sixty three, when the high priest asked Him was He the Son of God. And in verse sixty four Jesus acknowledged that fact, and that was what they needed to convict Jesus. They convicted him of blasphemy. Isn’t it amazing how Jesus was convicted for telling the truth? Even today we find church folks not Christians still convicting people for telling the truth. In fact the carnal members of the church will say that you are judging them or preaching down or fussing at them when you are actually telling them the truth. And while Jesus was telling them the truth about who He was, they found reasons in their hearts to convict Him for blasphemy.
So, they needed to first convict Him in order for us to be saved.
Secondly,
2. THEIR VERDICT ALTHOUGH TRAGIC, WAS IN REALITY OUR TRUE BLESSING (V.66)
“What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.”
The N. K. J. V. says of this text, “What do you think?” They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.” As we hear the verdict, we can see the tragedy of the out come for Jesus. The next few verses I can recall them being acted out in the movie The Passion of The Christ. And to read how they spit in our Savior’s face and struck Him with the palms of their hands, do not allow us to feel what Jesus had to go through. But to see the movie and to witness the brutality that Jesus really took for us would make you weep. In fact when First Lady and I saw this movie and they got to the part where they beat him, I cried, Cheryl cried and sitting next to me was this huge young man who sat in his seat crying as well. The movie showed them tying Jesus to a post and then they used whips that had metal like hooks on the ends of it, and they whipped Him with it, and everytime they hit my Savior it would pull meat off His body. Isaiah 52:14 said that He was marred more than any man. In other words he was disfigured beyond recognition. I tell you that what Jesus took for us should make us fall on our knees with tears in our eyes and ask Him to forgive us. Now I know you might ask, Why should you ask forgiveness. Well each time we act contrary, we hit Him with that whip, every time we put Jesus on the back burner, a piece of His body leaves His body, everytime we act mean, contrite, and disagreeable, another swing of the whip goes down on Jesus’ body, I tell you when I saw Him being whipped, each lick He took He took it for me. In fact the brutal beating that Jesus took for me allowed me to understand Isaiah 53:5 even more, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” And sometimes people come to church acting like they don’t even care.
CONCLUSION
But I’m so glad that God prepared a sacrifice for me. I didn’t like the way they treated my Lord. They beat Him beyond recognition, they spit on Him, and ridiculed Him as He carried His cross. But I ask this morning, like the saints of old used to sing, “Must Jesus bare the cross alone and all the world go free, No! There’s a cross for everyone and there’s a cross for me.” Can you bare your cross? Can you bare it without falling apart?
I’m here to tell you that Jesus bore our cross for us. Let me help you.
• Some have a cross of backbiting,
• some a cross of deceitfulness,
• some a cross of family,
• some the cross of money,
• some the cross of pride,
• some the cross of a sinful nature,
• some a cross of gossip.
But I got some good news for you. All you have to do is to give it to Jesus, because He’s already taken it with Him TO THE CROSS.
