¡§The Most Important Day In the Most Important Life Ever Lived!¡¨
¡§God in the Dock¡¨
Matthew 26:57-68; 27:1-2
February 24, 2002
Every time I am reading C.S. Lewis, you ought to expect that you will hear me talking about him, and this is no exception, as I am currently in the middle of reading one of his shorter works, The Abolition of Man. Another of his works toward which I am looking forward to reading is one from which I drew my sermon title today, God in the Dock, a collection of essays which examines our relationship to God, ¡§the dock¡¨ referring to the chamber of justice. While Lewis takes a different path than I in using this term, I have borrowed the term to consider with you this morning the trial of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.
Let¡¦s read from Scripture this morning about some men who tried God. Stand with me and follow along as we read from Matthew 26:57-68, and then the first two verses of Matthew 27.
You know, if you¡¦ve attended FCC for any length of time, that I¡¦m a bumper-sticker reader. That isn¡¦t always good; the continual coarsening of our society is reflected in the increasingly awful things people feel at liberty to say to perfect strangers by means of bumper stickers. Many of the things, then, that I read are things which I¡¦d not repeat, but I¡¦m going to give you one that I used to see a lot, though it¡¦s been some time since I¡¦ve seen it. If I never see it again, it won¡¦t bother me. Ready? Try God. That¡¦s all it says; ¡§try God¡¨. I want to speak with you today about why that is one of the very last things you ought to ever do; please, whatever you do in relation to God, don¡¦t try Him!
There were some men who tried Jesus, who on their terms and for their own purposes put God on trial. Actually, the Bible records not a single trial, but a six-fold examination of Jesus Christ. We read in the parallel account in John 18 how Jesus was taken to Annas, who had been the previous high priest, father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at the time. Annas was a patriarch, a godfather of sorts, a man who enjoyed much dignity and stature. Jesus was taken there first by the religion boys so that they might assure themselves of Annas¡¦ blessing. They also, no doubt, wanted to relieve themselves quickly of the contingent of Roman soldiers who¡¦d been involved in Jesus¡¦ arrest. Annas¡¦ home was close by the Garden of Gethsemane, and so He was taken there. After a brief examination, Jesus was transferred to the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest. The Bible tells us that some of the chief priests were involved in His examination there; later, in the third stage of Jesus¡¦ trial, He appeared before most of the assembled Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews. It is this trial which is referred to in our passage, in Matthew 26:59, and we immediately are given to understand that this was not a trial about justice, but rather an old-fashioned lynching instead.
„h The manner of Jesus¡¦ trial went against the Law that Jewish leaders were ostensibly supposed to uphold;
„h The verdict in this sham trial was decided beforehand¡Xthe religion boys had made an a priori judgment of guilt, so that they could kill him¡Xthis trial was about seeking to build a case to justify their foregone conclusion;
„h Many false witnesses were called, but their testimony was contradictory¡Xthe priests sought to quell the tempest of their own consciences, and thus they tried¡Xin vain¡Xto find reliable witnesses whose testimony they could call upon to buttress their conviction of Jesus.
„h Finally, Caiaphas became exasperated by the whole procedure¡Xsince the witnesses who came forward gave dubious testimony¡Xcame out and asked Jesus if He were the Christ, the Son of God.
„h Jesus¡¦ response they regarded as blasphemy. And here is the point on which the story turns¡Xthis question as to the identity of Jesus is the dividing line question of all eternity!
What we learn from the trial of Jesus:
I. The identity of Jesus Christ: He is either God, or He is a blasphemer!
The chief priests were faced, in essence, with that defining question. Jesus had asked it of Peter, and Peter replied that, yes, Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. The chief priests came face to face with that question; on it hinges the souls of men; on it hinges your soul. We must acknowledge Christ as God the Son, come in the flesh; failing to do that is to miss salvation and Heaven.
Jesus is no figure to admire as merely a great teacher, as some would have it today. A common misconception of New Age teaching is that Jesus is One who can be revered and drawn from, but should not be considered God come in the flesh. This is poppycock, an impossible option.
There is no half-way house and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked Him, "Are you the son of Bramah?" he would have said, "My son, you are still in the vale of illusion." If you had gone to Socrates and asked, "Are you Zeus?" he would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Mohammed and asked, "are you Allah?" he would first have rent his clothes and then cut you head off. If you had asked Confucius, "Are you Heaven?", I think he would have probably replied, "Remarks which are not in accordance with nature are in bad taste." The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question.3 - C.S. Lewis
One of the continual questions that the religion boys had for Jesus was, ¡§where do you get the authority to say the things you say, and to do the things you do?¡¨
¡§Either his assumption of authority came from his union with God, or he was the most conceited of human beings. Modesty is one of the finest manly attributes; a man cannot be perfect, cannot even be called very good, who lacks modesty, who takes Himself too seriously. If Jesus were only a man, he lacked one of the cardinal virtues and was marked by a fault peculiarly offensive. But the angels and the shepherds and the wise men who celebrated the first Christmas, they knew who he was. Kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem they worshipped the Divine Savior.¡¨
- William Lyon Phelps
For a mere man to say the things that Jesus did would amount to blasphemy and arrogance. Caiaphas had prejudged Him as an impostor; by law, when a person spoke blasphemy, the high priest had to tear his clothes in such a way that they could not be repaired.
This was all they needed; they had their proof and as much justification for his execution that they thought they needed. But their problem was that they lacked power to carry out such an execution, and so after they pronounced sentence and abused Jesus, they led Him to Pontius Pilate (27:2). In Luke 23 we read that they trumped up a charge against Jesus, that He was an insurrectionist, a revolutionary plotting the overthrow of the Roman authorities. They knew that Pilate would care little whether or not Jesus had committed the sin of blasphemy, but that he¡¦d more quickly respond to their concerns if he perceived that his power was in jeopardy. Pilate, you see, had the power to exact the penalty of crucifixion.
It didn¡¦t take long for Pilate to realize that he was dealing with an innocent man, One who had no pretensions about initiating a revolt against Rome. This placed Pilate on the horns of a dilemma: he didn¡¦t want to sentence an innocent man, much less to execution; on the other hand, he didn¡¦t want a revolt by the Jews, since their leaders had judged Jesus to be guilty. These leads us to a second lesson:
II. Jesus is an affront to our natural way of living; (if He¡¦s your co-pilot, switch seats!).
Well might Pilate have wished that he could wave some magic wand and make Jesus go away; he didn¡¦t want to have to deal with Jesus! There are many people today who find it uncomfortable to think of dealing with Jesus! In Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis called Jesus ¡§The Transcendental Interferer¡¨. Jesus is an uncomfortable topic; His is an uncomfortable name to speak, even, sadly, among Christians, I¡¦m sometimes afraid! Ever noticed how much more comfortable Christians are using the term ¡§the Lord¡¨ than they are ¡§Jesus¡¨? And we¡¦ve spoken in recent weeks about the fact that the name of Jesus is the one name you can¡¦t bring up these days in America as we all try to pull together! Why? Because Jesus divides. Oh, to be sure, He unites in ways that nothing else can; under His Lordship, there is no black nor white, no male nor female, no slave nor free; He makes a new people out of those who were not a people, and draws us into a new, forever family, regardless of surface differences. But to the world at large, Jesus divides. Why? Because He says to the Muslim, ¡§there¡¦s no room for Muhammad in God¡¦s house.¡¨ To the Buddhist He says, ¡§there¡¦s no room for Buddha in the tent.¡¨ To the self-satisfied American, He says, ¡§there¡¦s no room for your pride, or your selfish desires.¡¨ Jesus doesn¡¦t want to come along for the ride in your life; He doesn¡¦t want to sit patiently in the back seat, ready to offer a helpful suggestion here or there or to jump out and fix a flat. When Jesus comes to me, He says, ¡§scoot over, I¡¦ll take the wheel¡¨, and any conception of Jesus as less than that is not worthy of His name.
He will change your life¡Xbut He will do it on His terms, not yours. And frankly, while it will end up in your ultimate good when He does, it isn¡¦t about you, but rather about His glory. We have this humanistic, therapeutic view of life today in America which elevates the individual to the pinnacle, and everything is all about how you can be or do all you want to be or do. We¡¦ve elevated the pursuit of happiness to an art form, and anything that stands in the way of the exalted ¡§me¡¨ is but an obstacle I have to overcome so that I can be all that I can be. Into this kind of thinking comes Jesus, Who comes as Lord or not at all. To the natural man, Jesus is a stumbling stone; of course, to those who receive Him by faith, He becomes the very cornerstone of life itself. But regardless, you have to deal with Jesus!
4 ways Pilate tried to skirt the issue:
A. He tried to shirk responsibility.
Pilate sent Jesus to Herod Antipas; ¡§well, since Jesus is a Galilean, He¡¦s under Herod¡¦s jurisdiction¡¨. We read about this in the parallel account in Luke 23:8-11. The chief priests had seen Jesus as a blasphemer; Pilate saw Him, no doubt, as harmless, maybe a little eccentric, but a good man, unworthy of death; now Herod seems to view Jesus more as a curiosity. He¡¦d heard of Jesus, and now he thought maybe he could get Jesus to perform some on-the-spot miracle to entertain him. But Jesus deigned not to be his stooge, and so, after abusing Jesus, he sent Him right back to Pontius Pilate. Pilate again tried to get out of dealing with Jesus:
B. He tried a half-punishment.
Luke 23:13-17 records that Pilate attempted to mete out a less-severe punishment to Jesus. Jesus was innocent in Pilate¡¦s eyes, doing nothing deserving of death, and yet in order to appease the bloodthirsty crowd that had gathered, he offered to have Jesus beaten and then released. Pilate¡¦s sense of decency and honor were no match for his sense of political expediency, and yet he had a clear sense that Jesus was not deserving of punishment. Add to this what we are told in Matthew 27:19, that Pilate¡¦s own wife had sent him a message warning him not to have anything to do with Jesus, and you can understand the situation Pilate found himself in. But rather than simply have the courage to do the right thing, he tried a third way to get out of it:
C. He tried to do the right thing, but for the wrong reason.
Pilate must have reasoned that, given the choice between seeing clemency granted to Jesus or to the notorious criminal Barabbas, the people would certainly choose to see Jesus released. This would be his way out. Rather than having to be man enough to do the right thing, he¡¦d throw it to the crowd, appealing to their mercy. Certainly, the crowd would choose to spare Jesus, the miracle-worker, the compassionate Teacher, the doer of good, over the criminal Barabbas. But we know the outcome; Matthew records it for us in vv. 20-23. Finally,
D. He tried to protest his innocence.
Matthew 27:24 records that Pilate tried to wash his hands of the whole matter¡Kbut while his hands were still wet, he handed Jesus over to be crucified. But the water on his hands couldn¡¦t wash away the guilt in his heart. He proclaimed his innocence¡Xas most people will. ¡§Every man will proclaim his own goodness¡¨, the Bible says. Let me lead you in a brief exercise right now: would you take a moment right now and think of the worst sin you¡¦ve ever committed? This is not Show and Tell, so don¡¦t worry; you don¡¦t have to stand and do any confessing this morning, though that might liven the message up a little! Got it? Thinking of the worst thing you¡¦ve ever done, the thing that brings you the most shame and embarrassment? Good. You¡¦re wrong. ¡§How can you say that? You don¡¦t know me!¡¨ You¡¦re wrong. The worst thing you¡¦ve ever done is to be an accomplice in nailing the Son of God to Calvary¡¦s cross. We can no more wash away the stain of that sin than could Pilate by spilling a little water over his hands and pretending to wash his guilt away. But I can¡¦t leave you there: the good news is that God can forgive you of even that¡Xand by the way, if He can forgive you of that, is there anything of which you cannot be forgiven? How does that happen? Not by water washing as Pilate tried, but you know the answer: (sing ¡§What can wash away my sin?¡¨).
Pilate handed Jesus over¡Xall of these men, then, tried Jesus: Annas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, Herod Antipas, Pilate¡Xand they found Jesus to be wanting. Was something wrong with Jesus? NO! And thus we come to the third point:
III. Whatever you do, don¡¦t try Jesus!
God is categorically not subject to trial! I¡¦d never tell a person without Christ to ¡§try God¡¨; I¡¦d rather tell them to trust God, and there is a big difference! We don¡¦t take Jesus out for a test drive or a whirl around the block! We don¡¦t say, ¡§Jesus, I¡¦ll try you for awhile, and if you meet up with what I want in a Savior, we¡¦ll negotiate a deal. If you pass my cost/benefit analysis, I¡¦ll think about humoring you with my devotion.¡¨ Friend, you don¡¦t have the authority to try Jesus (and neither did these men, of course).
„h Jesus is not a panacea or a cure-all¡Xin fact, following Jesus, perhaps increasingly so in this post-Christian society in which we live, is likely to cause you some problems you might not otherwise have!
„h Jesus is not a puppet or a genie¡Xdespite the pseudo-Christian teaching we¡¦re hearing from some so-called televangelists who¡¦d make Him out to be your personal step-n-fetch-it, this silly idea that suggests that your faith effectively places the Almighty at your beck and call.
„h Jesus is not some rabbit¡¦s foot or a lucky 4-leaf clover either.
„h He didn¡¦t come to bring you riches, popularity, position, perfect physical health, self-fulfillment, or a celestial weight-loss program.
And maybe that¡¦s why Jesus told the story in Luke 14 of the wise builder who sits down with his calculator and adds up the cost before he starts excavating and pouring footers. Count the cost¡Xand then follow Jesus.
And there is one way: one way to see Him, as God¡¦s chosen messenger, God come in the flesh, Lord, Savior, Master. There is one way to seek Him¡Xhumbly, with your whole heart, with your pride thrown out the window, claiming no goodness, reserving no room of your life as your continued realm of sovereignty. And there is one way to come to Him, not by trying Him to see whether or not He meets your standards, but trusting Him with your heart, your life, your soul.
¡§What do I do with a message like this?¡¨
1. Are you clear in your own understanding of Who Jesus is? If you were speaking about Jesus with a person who had never heard of Him, what could/would you tell this person?
2. Do you come to Jesus on your terms, or on His? How much of life can you live outside of the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Do you reserve portions of your life for your own control? Do you view Jesus as a helpful Friend to have around in a pinch, as part of your ¡§self-improvement program¡¨, or as the Director of the course of your life?
