Eight years ago (2013) Time magazine featured a study that proposed to name the 100 most significant people in history. This study's authors filtered through over 9000 names and came up with this list, and these are the TOP 10 of that list:
1 Jesus (it’s intriguing that Time magazine would recognize that Jesus was the most significant person in history)
2 Napoleon
3 Muhammad
4 Shakespeare
5 Abraham Lincoln
6 George Washington
7 Adolf Hitler (obviously, this wasn’t based on popularity)
8 Aristotle
9 Alexander the Great
10 Thomas Jefferson
https://ideas.time.com/2013/12/10/whos-biggest-the-100-most-significant-figures-in-history/
The authors of that study examined over 9000 names. But I’m pretty sure there was one significant person in history that didn’t make the cut. Someone who - even most Christians - would never think of as being “significant”. And yet he was! In fact this one individual was more vital to world history than Shakespeare, Lincoln or Washington put together.
His name? … Pontius Pilate.
Pontius Pilate? Why on earth would I believe that HE was one of the most significant men who ever lived? Well, you’ll have to wait to the end of the sermon to find that out…
But in the meantime, let me tell you a little about Pilate. According to one source, Pilate was a cold, cruel, calculating politician who played all the angles. Jesus was crucified about 33 A.D, and Pilate was the governor of Judea from 26–36 AD. In that time, Pilate had managed to accumulate a large number of enemies. Which wasn’t hard, because Jerusalem was NOT an easy place to rule. The Jews hated the Romans and would riot and revolt at drop of hat.
That’s why Pilate made sure - whenever there was a Feast day in Jerusalem, where 1000s of Jews were gathered in that one city - he always made sure he had several 100 soldiers on hand because, with that many Jews in one place, it was a recipe for disaster.
But when he wasn’t in Jerusalem, Pilate’s home was in Caesarea Maritima. Caesarea Maritima had been built by Herod the Great as a seaport on the Mediterranean. And he also built a summer palace there, and (when he died) that palace became the living quarters of governors in the region.
Before Pilate met with Jesus, he was already having political problems. During his governorship, there’d been 2 revolts in Judea. On one occasion he took money from Temple treasury to build aqueducts – to bring water into Jerusalem. The Jews rioted and Pilate subdued them by having many of them clubbed and stabbed to death. (Jerry Shirley) Luke 13:1 may have been referring to this riot… when it tells us about “... the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.”
These riots put Pilate in jeopardy with Caesar, and in 36 A.D. Pilate was ordered back to Rome to stand trial for cruelty and oppression particularly on the charge that he had had men executed without a proper trial. VERDICT: The Emperor Caligula ordered Pilate to take his own life.
That’s the short and ugly story of the man who had Jesus crucified.
Now, by the time Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate could ill afford another revolt and (knowing this) the Jewish leaders demanded that he put Jesus to death. You can almost sense the struggle Pilate goes through, trying to avoid executing Jesus. But he’s trapped, and he knows it. And he doesn’t like it.
He tells the Jews - "You take him and you judge him by your own law” (they refuse). And after interviewing he tells the Jews: “I find no fault in him.” But the Jews refuse to back off. In John 19:12 we’re told “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, ‘If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.’”
Things are quickly getting out of hand and Pilate realizes that if he lets Jesus go he’ll have revolt on his hands, and he can’t afford that!
Jesus has to die!
But before Pilate made that decision he had this interesting conversation with Jesus. All Pilate wants to know is if Jesus is a threat to Rome and so he asks “Are you the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33) That’s because - if Jesus intended to stage an armed revolt - then Pilate could crucify him. But Jesus answers: “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. But my kingdom is not from the world.” John 18:36
Despite what the Jews believed and despite what some Christians even today have believed - Jesus did not come to set up an earthly Kingdom. But that was never the plan! There was NEVER going to be an earthly Kingdom, because Jesus’ Kingdom was NOT of this world. There’s NO earthly boundaries. You can’t point to a spot on the map and say: “THERE IT IS!” Because Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world.
But, if Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, where is it? Colossians 1:13 tells us - God “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the KINGDOM of his beloved Son.” In other words: we, who are Christians, are IN the Kingdom of Christ… right now! The Kingdom of Christ is US, the Church! It’s a Spiritual Kingdom, and His kingdom is wherever we are.
Now that’s an interesting piece of theology, but Jesus isn’t focused on theology. He’s focused on Pilate. He’s standing before the man who can (and will) sentence Him to death... and He is witnessing to him!
Pilate asks Jesus if He’s the king of the Jews, and Jesus responds: “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” (John 18:34 NKJV) In other words, it was like Jesus was saying: “Even now Pilate, you can make a choice. You can decide to CHOOSE me, but you have got to make a choice.”
To which Pilate responds: “Whoa there, back up the train. I am NOT a Jew.” And that’s when Jesus tells Pilate His kingdom is not of this world, and Pilate repeats his question: “So you ARE a King then?”
But then Jesus says the most unusual thing: “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTH. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37) And Pilate responds “What Is Truth?” … and that ends the conversation.
Now, the question that came to my mind (as I read this) was - why did Jesus bring up this issue of “Truth” to Pilate? It’s not been discussed before, and Pilate seems to almost react violently when its mentioned: “WHAT IS TRUTH?” The very mention of “TRUTH” seems to trigger a response from deep within him.
What’s going on here?
ILLUS: Well, here’s the deal: We live in a world that bends the rules a lot. A lot of folks believe that - if you want to get ahead - in politics or business or even in relationships, you have to sacrifice TRUTH once in a while. The rules hem us in. The rules make it so that we’re not as FREE to do what we want to do. And that’s pretty much how Pilate has lived his life. That’s how he’s gotten to his position of power. He bends the rules; he hurts who he has to hurt; he cheats who he has to cheat. Because the name of the game – is to win!
ILLUS: There’s an old book whose title was “Winning By Intimidation.” And the major theme of the book was “You do what you gotta do … to win.” You cheat, you hurt, you intimidate, and if need be – you destroy people who stand in your way. Because the name of the game – is to win!
ILLUS: When I was a QC man at a fiberglass plant I saw this behavior in action. There was a man who intended to eventually take over any position of power in the plant. He started by pushing the manager of the Paint Dept. out of his job and he took over that part of the factory. Later, when I discovered that one of the parts in the paint department wasn’t up to spec, I approached the new manager of that department. He angrily demanded if I was shutting down the line. I responded that I didn’t believe I had that authority, but the fact of the matter was that the part didn’t meet the specifications on the blueprint. “Shut it down,” he shouted and then took me to the plant manager accusing me having shut down the paint line. Why would he do that? He did it because he was a man committed to winning at any cost, including making false accusations. He sought power by intimidating anyone who stood in his way.
Now, the thing is, everybody knows there is a standard of truth. Deep inside of everyone there’s an understanding that there’s standard of “RIGHT” and “WRONG.” You even hear it from children on the playground: “That’s NOT right. That’s NOT fair!” There’s a standard of fairness everyone inherently understands.
Everybody knows that truth… they just don’t live by it. John 3:20 describes that truth by telling us “… everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. And that’s what Pilate has done all his life. He’s done wicked things in his life (that make him uncomfortable) and so he’s abandoned “TRUTH” because it makes him uncomfortable. He hates the light of truth, because it exposes his evil. That’s why he reacted so violently when Jesus talked about TRUTH. But I suspect that the TRUTH has begun to gnaw at his conscience, and I suspect he’s even begun to consider changing. And that’s why I think Jesus brought it up.
There was still a chance Pilate could become a different man. There was a chance that he might have embraced the TRUTH that was Jesus. Jesus said … "I am the way, and the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Now the TRUTH is this. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are all sinners who need of forgiveness. We need a fresh start. And everybody knows it. Everyone knows they’ve done bad stuff! That’s why people think they need to DO enough good stuff to outweigh the bad stuff in their lives. But the problem is… they can’t. And they know it. That’s why people worry if they’ve done enough. Something inside of them gnaws at their conscience and they don’t feel right about themselves.
That’s why Jesus came to die on the cross for us. Jesus came as the TRUTH that declared “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….” Jesus came to die for our sins! He died on the cross to cover the things that shame us… with His blood.
That brings me back to the promise I made at the beginning of the sermon. I promised that I’d tell you WHY I believed Pilate was ONE of the most significant men in history. And this is the reason: Without Pilate, Jesus wouldn’t have died on the cross. Pilate was the only man with the power and authority to fulfill the prophecy Jesus made of how He was to die. Pilate had to make the decision to crucify Christ so that Jesus would die for our sins
But we don’t praise Pilate, we don’t want to erect a statue in his honor. He was forced into a decision he didn’t even want to make.
We praise Jesus… and Him crucified. As Paul wrote: “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” I Corinthians 1:23-24
So, the question this morning is this: What will you do with Jesus? What Pilate did with Jesus, was that he had Jesus crucified… but what would you do with Him?
An old poem says it this way: “Jesus is standing in Pilate’s hall; Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all: Hearken what meaneth the sudden call! What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be; Someday your heart will be asking, ‘What will He do with me?’”
INVITATION
