We Believe: Jesus Suffered Under Pontus Pilate
Text: John 19:1-16
Introduction
1. So far, the Apostle’s Creed has been pretty happy.
a. It’s talked about God the Father, creator of heaven and earth.
b. It’s talked about Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God.
c. It’s also talked about the Jesus birth; He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
2. But it jumps from the birth of Jesus to His suffering.
a. It does talk about the fall of man or of original sin.
b. But the fact that we go from the birth of Christ to His suffering, tells us that something was not right.
3. Some Christians today want to stay focused on the happy part of the creed, but we cannot stay faithful to the orthodox and historical teachings of the faith without talking about Christ’ suffering.
4. Read John 19:1-16
Transition: Let’s look at why the Apostle’s Creed talks about the…
I. Importance of Pontus Pilate
A. The Apostle’s Creed jumps right from the birth of Christ to the Sufferings of Christ.
1. Why does the Creed leave out all of Jesus developmental years?
2. Remember that the Creed is all about what we believe. It’s about the big picture items.
3. While there is a telling of what Jesus did in His ministry years, the emphasis of the New Testament is on His death, not His life.
4. As far as His suffering, Jesus Himself said that was a major purpose to His coming to earth.
5. “Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” (Lk. 24:25-26).
B. But why does the Creed mention Jesus’ suffering under Pontius Pilate and none of His other sufferings? During His life, Jesus suffered mentally, He was rejected by His family, He was betrayal by one of His disciples, nor does the creed mention any of the sufferings He faced during the Passover week.
C. There are three reasons that the Creed focuses on His suffering under Pontus Pilate.
1. First, it fixes in history the time of his death.
a. Pontius Pilate ruled as the Roman Prefect (Governor) of Judaea from approximately 26 to 36 or 37 CE, serving under Emperor Tiberius.
b. His time as governor is known for his clashes with the Jewish population and for presiding over the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
c. So, from this we know that Christ’s crucifixion happened in this time period.
d. Most scholars believe that Jesus was crucified in 33 A.D., which fits within Pilate’s reign.
2. Second, it provides an external testimony of Christ’s death.
a. A man named John Dominic Crossan, who was not a supporter of the traditional Christian faith, said, “Jesus' death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is as sure as anything historical can ever be. For if no follower of Jesus had written anything for one hundred years after his crucifixion, we would still know about him from two authors not among his supporters. Their names are Flavius Josephus and Cornelius Tacitus.”
b. The two men that Crossan mentions are both ancient historians, and both wrote about Jesus’ suffering under Pontus Pilate.
c. So, you cannot say that the story of Jesus’ death was a myth made up by His followers. It is a historical fact!
3. Third, it confirmed prophecy about the Messiah. “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” (Is. 53:3-5).
D. Now, let’s look at our text that talks about how Jesus’ suffered under Pontus Pilate. In v. 1, John tells us, “Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.”
1. Pilate handed over Jesus to be flogged by the Roman soldiers.
a. Believe it or not, this was an attempt to let Jesus go free.
b. He didn’t believe Jesus was guilty of any crime deserving of crucifixion.
c. “Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.” (Jn. 18:38).
2. Pilate thought having Jesus’ flogged would satisfy the Jewish leaders. This punishment was brutal, but not intended to kill Jesus, although it was not uncommon for prisoners to die from these floggings.
3. The whip itself was made of leather thongs were lead-tipped and it was designed to both bruise and tear the skin of the prisoner.
4. The punishment was applied to the naked upper body of the bound prisoner.
5. Pilate saw this as a humane alternative to crucifixion. He was trying to avoid sentencing Jesus to death.
E. In addition to the flogging, John tells us in vv. 2-3, “The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.”
1. In an attempt to both mock and cause physical pain, the soldiers wove a crown made of the thorny date palm, whose thorns exceeded twelve inches.
2. Some of the thorns were on the outside mimicking a king’s crown, but also some that went inside and were jammed into Jesus’ skull causing Jesus to bleed considerably.
3. They also found a purple robe, which was the color of royalty, in order to mock Jesus’ kingship.
4. They mocked Him further by bowing to Him and saying, “Hail king of the Jews!” and then slapped Him across the face.
5. All of this fulfilled the prophecy from Is. 50:6, “I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.”
F. Then John tells us in vv.4-7, “Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!” 6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” “Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.” 7 The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”
1. Pilate brings Jesus out to the people and reminds them that he finds Jesus not guilty, at least not deserving of death.
2. Pilate was hoping the sight of a beaten and bloody Jesus would be enough to satisfy them. But the bloodthirsty Jewish priests said, “Crucify Him!”
3. This shows their intense hatred of Jesus.
4. They wanted to not only kill Jesus, but also to discredit Him to all His followers.
G. Now let’s skip down to vv. 13-16, “When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!” 15 “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!” “What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back. 16 Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.”
1. Pilate brings Jesus out again, but this time he sits on the judgment seat.
2. Even though the text doesn’t explicitly say, the fact that Pilate sat on the judgment seat means that the judgment came from him.
3. Still, we can see Pilate trying to get out of condemning Jesus to death, but the people kept pressing him to crucify Jesus.
4. So, Pilate responded, “What? Crucify your king?”
5. But the Jewish leaders insisted that Caesar was their king, even though nothing could be further from the truth.
6. So, Pilate finally turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.
Transitions: Now, let’s look at…
II. Why It’s Important to Us Today
A. The fact that the Apostle’s Creed tells us that Jesus suffered under Pontus Pilate, affirms our belief in Jesus’ suffering and dying for us based on historical sources outside of the Bible.
1. “At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship.” (Josephus, Jewish Historian).
2. Now, I don’t know if you have, but I certainly have had the experience when telling someone about Jesus, that they would say something like, “Oh, the Bible is just a fairytale story written by men!”
3. Please understand me when I say there are definite proofs that the Bible is reliable and is the inerrant Word of God.
4. However, the Apostle’s Creed affirms that there are historical facts that show Jesus suffered and died and the cross.
5. There are non-Christian historians of the time the declare that Jesus existed and affirm what the Bible says about Him.
6. That Jesus suffered under Pontus Pilate is a historical fact!
B. It reminds us Jesus not only died for us but suffered greatly for us in the process.
1. “He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” (Acts 17:3).
2. “No Christian should ever forget that the source of his joy was the pain and suffering of his Lord.” (M. G. Gutzke ).
3. We should never forget that not only did Jesus die for us, but that He was brutally beaten, punched, spit upon, and humiliated.
4. We should never forget that Jesus was already bruised, cut, and bloody before He took the cross.
5. We should never forget that Jesus was humiliated in front of all Jerusalem before He went up Calvary.
6. We should never forget that Jesus went through all of this suffering willingly for us, and He did it out of love for us.
Conclusion
What’s the point preacher? Both the Bible and secular historians tell us that Jesus suffered for us out of love. Not only should we not forget this fact, but we must declare it to the world.
