Scripture Introduction
During the height of her popularity, Ann Landers received about 10,000 letters each month, nearly all of them from people burdened with troubles. Someone asked her if a particular problem predominated the letters she received. Her answer was, “Fear.”
We must discover in our hearts the power of fear because it leads us so quickly away from God, especially that particular idolatry called “the fear of man.” Alluding to Proverbs 16.6, Puritan pastor John Flavel observed: “By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil; by the fear of man they run themselves into evil.” And William Greenhill: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, but our fears are in the name of man.”
Pontius Pilate vividly portrays the power of fear. Three times he affirms Christ’s innocence, yet in the end he gives way to pressure from people, and gives over Jesus to crucifixion. May God use his example in our lives to cleans our souls of fear and set us free!
[Read John 18.38-19.16. Pray.]
Introduction
I think Edward Welch chose brilliantly the title for his book on overcoming the fear of man: When People are Big and God is Small. Maybe you can relate to his personal awakening to this problem when he was a high-school senior: “I had always been shy and self-conscious, controlled by what my peers thought (or might have thought), but I never considered it seriously until the day of the awards assembly. I was up for an award, and I was scared to death I would get it!
“The auditorium bulged with over two thousand high-school juniors and seniors. From the back, where I like to sit, it seemed a good mile or two up to the platform. All I could think of was what my classmates would think of me while I walked to the front. Would I walk funny? Would I trip going up the stairs? Would one person – I prayed it would not be a girl I liked – think I was a jerk? What about those who were also nominated or who thought they were deserving? What would they think of me if I won instead of them? What would I ever say for a brief acceptance speech? ‘God, please don’t let me get this!’ I prayed.
“After a number of lesser awards were announced, the vice principal went to the podium to introduce the winner. He began with a short, somewhat cryptic biographical sketch. It did not sound exactly like me, but it was generic enough to fit. I was starting to sweat, but I sat motionless for fear that someone would think I was getting interested. Finally the announcement came: ‘And the winner of this year’s senior award is…Rick Wilson.
“Rick Wilson! I could not believe it! Of all people. No one even thought he was a candidate!
“You can imagine my reaction. Relief? No way. I felt like a total failure. Now what would people think of me? They knew I was up for the award, and someone else was chosen. What a loser I was.
“Immediately my mind began spinning out justifications. If I had worked at all this year, I would have won. I certainly had the potential, I just didn’t want to win. I’m a late bloomer; when I get to college, I will show them. I was ashamed to go back to class. Pitiful, isn’t it?”
Dr. Welch describes well the deceit of the heart. Many fear success, for it would put us on display; yet we also fear failure, for then we are shown to be less wonderful than we had hoped. The Bible mentions often this heart-struggle. Almost 600 verses contain the word, “fear” and related synonyms. One of the profound comments comes through the prophet Isaiah: “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. [So God promises to restore and revive his people, to protect and deliver them. Then he says,] ‘I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth?’” (Isaiah 51.11-13).
“Our help is in the name of the Lord, but our fears are in the name of man” (William Greenhill).
John 19 tells the story of Pilate. History preserves his name through the creeds of the church: “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate….” Who is this Pilate, so infamously remembered? What about his character led him to condemn one he knew to be innocent? What would God have us learn and who would he have us be and what would he have us do as a result of this Scripture?
1. God Teaches Us the Tyranny of Fear Through the Example of Pilate
To understand Pilate, it helps to realize that he was neither good
morally nor an important citizen. His positions were not earned, but grabbed through political posturing. As a young country “bumpkin,” he must have dreamed of sharing in Rome’s might. He became a soldier, but he longed for greater power and worldly success. His opportunity came with the chance to marry the granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, Claudia Proculla. James Boice describes this decision:
From the perspective of Pilate’s future this was a wise move. Claudia had connections with the highest levels of Roman government. But morally it was a disgrace; for Julia, who thereby became Pilate’s mother-in-law, was a woman of such depraved and coarse habits that even in decadent Rome she was notorious. Augustus, her father, avoided her presence and eventually banished her. It is reported that afterward, whenever someone would mention the name of his daughter to him, Augustus would exclaim, “Would I were wifeless or had childless died!” Unlike Pilate, a man of nobler instincts would not have married into such a family.
In addition to that insight into his moral character, we also know from historians of the time that Pilate had several clashes with the Jews. For example, early in his reign in Judea, Pilate had placed in Jerusalem, under the cover of night, the Roman standards with the embossed figures of the emperor. When the Jews complained, he orders his soldiers to draw their swords, thinking to frighten them away. Yet when he saw their willingness to die rather than have their city desecrated, he relented and had the effigies removed.
Later, however, he does not give in. After he used the temple’s sacred treasure to build an aqueduct, an angry crowd assembled. But Pilate was ready. He disguised soldiers as civilians to mingle with the mob, and at a given signal they fell upon the rioters and beat them so severely with staves that the riot was quelled. Luke 13 also tells us of the time Pilate slaughtered a group of Galileans and mingled their blood with the animal sacrifices. The clear picture of Pilate is a ruthless, violent man, evil, ungodly, and undisciplined.
So his treatment of Jesus seems off a bit. Why does Pilate vacillate? Why does he care so much about this self-proclaimed religious leader? Why does he so clearly proclaim Jesus’ innocence? Pilate is controlled by fear.
First, he tries to avoid the situation entirely. John 18.31: “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” Next, though John does not include this part of the trial, Pilate sends the prisoner to Herod, again, hoping someone else will do his dirty work. But Herod sends him back.
So Pilate personally interrogates Jesus, hoping to find a way out of this political quagmire. Then he goes back to the Jews, announces Jesus’ innocence, and thinks to escape the trap of condemning an innocent man by invoking the tradition of releasing a prisoner. This was an appeal to the crowd, supposing they would chose Jesus over the objection of the envious leadership. But the officers of the Jews had already stirred the multitude, and Pilate is again thwarted.
Next he flogs Jesus and dresses him as a mock king. Flogging tortured by ripping the flesh down to bone with a leather whip, knotted and weighted with pieces of metal or bone. Many prisoners did not survived the abuse. Then Pilate stands the Lord before the crowd, and for a second time declares that he finds no fault in Jesus. He shouts, “Behold the man!” as if to say, “Look at this poor fellow! Hasn’t he suffered enough? Have pity and let me release him.” But they insist: “Crucify him, crucify him!” Manipulation again fails.
But Pilate objects. John 19.6: “I find no guilt in him.” What a weak-willed man! Like many politicians of today, he seeks a compromise borne of expediency, a decision to please the majority rather than do what is right. Even the pagan Chinese teacher Confucius recognized this type of foolishness; he defined “cowardice” as “to know what is right and not do it.”
John 19.7-8: “The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.’ When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.”
Fear stalks him like a lion. Again, John does not include every detail; we need Matthew’s account to find out another clue in this puzzle. Matthew 27.15-19: “Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’ For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, ‘Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.’”
Added to Pilate’s fear of the crowd and of losing his power and prestige, are his superstitions. Pilate considered himself a man of the world, laughing at religious devotion with the rest of the educated and sophisticated Romans. Yet he knew the myths, and his apparently brave skepticism quivered before his secret fears. What if this man really is a god? So he again questions: “Where are you from?” But Jesus has already answered, and Pilate has made clear that he is not interested in spiritual truth.
So Pilate lashes out in anger: “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Fear and anger often go together, because we feel so weak when we are afraid, and anger makes us appear strong. But the foolishness of Pilate’s tirade is too evident. He already stated three times that Jesus is innocent! If he really has power then he would demonstrate it by releasing the Christ. But fear makes him a mere puppet in the hands of the Jews.
Dr. Andreas J. Köstenberger (Professor of New Testament at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary): “All of [Pilate’s] actions serve the purpose of avoiding to make a decision regarding Jesus. In the end, this strategy failed; the Jewish leaders forced Pilate’s hand, and he made his decision—against Jesus. Everything that follows— the inscription on the cross, the permission to hasten death by having Jesus’ legs broken, and the approval of a proper burial—constitutes attempts by Pilate to atone for condemning a man to die who he sensed was innocent.”
Proverbs 16.6: “By the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.” Pilate did not fear God; he feared man, and ran through evil all the way to hell. Fully convinced of Jesus’ innocence, warned by his wife through a dream, and having gone on record three different times as finding no guilt in him, Pilate obeys his fears and submits to what he knows is wrong. The tyranny of fear is a powerful foe.
This section of the Bible is pretty much a negative example. I think God wants us to feel the weight of Pilate’s betrayal of all that is right and good. Fear is a terrible master, and we should long for release from its grip. But I don’t want that to be the whole story this morning. God recorded this so we will see our need for a freeing gospel. For in obeying his fear, Pilate orders the death which frees from fear.
2. God Frees Us from the Tyranny of Fear Through the Grace of Jesus
John Flavel: “We cannot fear creatures sinfully till we have forgotten God. If we remember what he is, and what he has said, we should not be of such feeble spirits. Bring thyself then to this reflection in times of danger: ‘If I let into my heart the slavish fear of man, I must let out the reverential awe and fear of God; and dare I cast off the fear of the Almighty for the frowns of a man? Shall I lift up proud dust above the great God?’”
Thomas Watson, Beatitudes: “Unbelief causes the fear of men. Fear is a debasing thing. It unmans a man. It makes him afraid to be good. The fearful man studies compliance rather than conscience. ‘The fear of man lays a snare’ (Proverbs 29.25). What made Abraham equivocate, David feign himself mad, Peter deny Christ? Was it not their fear? And whence does fear spring, but from unbelief? Therefore the Scripture joins them together: ‘the fearful and unbelieving’ (Revelation 21.8).”
Horatius Bonar, Ministerial Confessions: “We have been unfaithful. The fear of man and the love of his applause have often made us afraid. We have been unfaithful to our own souls, to our flocks, and to our brethren; unfaithful in the pulpit, in visiting, in discipline in the church.”
We do not have time this morning for a full theology of faith and love to overcome fears. I would, however, remind you of five central truths:
• God knows of this temptation. He understands our weaknesses, and he speaks often on this topic.
• God provides answers. 1John: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” That is worth memorizing, for it shines a steady beacon of hope into fearful hearts.
• God neither ignores nor ridicules your fears. An angry parent or self-righteous peer may mock your fears and calls you names like, “scaredy-cat,” but God does not ask you to pretend nothing is wrong in this fallen and evil world. He does ask that you bring your troubles to the one who can help.
• God does demand that we examine ourselves and our desires to have them corrected by truth. Pilate wanted the decision against Jesus to be made by others. That idolatrous desire fueled his fears and drove him to sin against God and his own conscience. In order for God to become big in his life, his desires would have to shrink. You must count this cost. Many remain fearful because they will not have their desires deflated.
• God must become large in our lives. The root of fear is idolatry, allowing an opinion other than God’s to be most important to us. The answer is not primarily negative; it is not found by saying, I will not be controlled by others. The answer only comes when we find our heart’s contentment in God.
3. Conclusion
Tim was a popular high school football player, co-captain of the team and playing the last few games of his senior year. He was also growing in the fear of the Lord.
The coach then announced a special weekend practice that interfered with his family’s planned vacation. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he was sure of the right question to ask: “What does God want me to do?” After the coach’s announcement, Tim went to him and informed him of the conflict with the family trip.
He derided Tim: “What’s wrong with you? Only a baby would go with mommy and daddy! You will be at practice or you will be benched the next game.”
Tim talked with his parents about the situation and they, together, sought counsel from one of the elders in the church. After listening carefully, Tim decided that he should go with his family on their trip. The coach was furious, ranting and raving and trying to cower Tim into a different decision. In the end, Tim spent his next-to-last high school football game on the bench. No movie was filmed about him, and no dramatic conversions were recorded. Tim did not get a football scholarship to any college. He simply overcame the fear of man by filling his heart and mind with delight in God. The difference in his life will be much greater than an extra 125 yards on a dusty and forgotten stat-book in a high school closet.
In the end you must decide who matters. Pilate decided that people mattered, so he sought their approval by giving in to their desires. For a few minutes they were not angry with him, but soon they turned against him again.
Much better is the choice Tim made. He sought God’s approval by honoring parents and pastoral counsel, and he found the joy of that comes from realizing you matter to the only one whose opinion matters. You think about that. Amen.
