¡§The Most Important Day In the Most Important Life Ever Lived!¡¨
¡§His Blood Be on Us¡¨
Matthew 27:11-26
March 3, 2002
It¡¦ll be in one of my next columns for the Tri-County News; I¡¦m calling it ¡§cheap patriotism¡¨. I think that we see a lot of it today, in the wake of 9/11. Now don¡¦t get me wrong: I bought a little American flag bumper sticker myself and put it on the back of my car. On my recent trip down South, to the glorious land of sweetened iced tea, grits, and Conway Twitty, I saw many, many examples of patriotism; American flags of every size were plastered all over the landscape. I even saw one that enraged me: an American flag tacked onto a billboard for an adult bookstore. I honestly thought about turning the car around and going over and ripping the flag off, but I guess that perverts can be patriotic too if they want to.
But you know what? Frankly, it¡¦s pretty easy to put a flag on your antenna or sing ¡§God Bless America¡¨. It doesn¡¦t take much effort to give a hearty ¡§Amen¡¨ to a speech by the President in which he promises to go after the bad guys. All of these are fine things to do, no doubt, but if these things alone constitute our idea of patriotism, then we have settled for a cheap patriotism. My suggestion, if you want to be a patriot, is to educate yourself on what it means to live as an American. Take the time to read through the Constitution, or at least the Bill of Rights. Find out what the American concept of ¡§limited government¡¨¡Xa concept we have almost completely forgotten about today¡Xactually means. Write or email your congressman about an issue that really matters¡Xand there is no shortage of those!
There is a woeful lack of understanding when it comes to our government, and no amount of ¡§cheap patriotism¡¨ can make up for it. Ever heard it said that the U.S. is a democracy? Thankfully, we are not! We are a democratic republic instead, and there¡¦s an important difference between the two. We are not governed merely by the democratic choice of people, but rather by a system of laws that, at least in theory, moderates the choices that people are allowed to make. You see, unrestrained democracy is not generally a good thing; let¡¦s look at democracy¡Xabsent principle¡Xin action as we read today¡¦s text. Stand with me, please!
It was democracy in action, but it was an ugly scene. An angry mob, several thousand strong, crowding the judgment hall to demand the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the itinerant preacher whom so many of them had hailed only days earlier. Those cheers, however, had lately been replaced by jeers and curses as the crowd, following the prompting of the religious leaders, the blind following the blind, whipped itself into a frenzy. The voices of the many united as the voice of one, screaming for blood and demanding satisfaction.
As we said last week, Pontius Pilate, a man jealous to guard his power, found himself with a dilemma. On the one hand, so crystal was the character of Jesus that the crude and corrupt Pilate could only marvel. Jesus¡¦ innocence was obvious to Pilate. On the other hand, Jewish leaders had wanted Him killed. Pilate, in his role as Roman procurator, had made several previous ruthless and insensitive moves; his reign was on shaky ground. To do anything which might foment rebellion might spell his downfall.
And so he had put it to the crowd. The Jewish people had been looking for a Messiah; Pilate was convinced that, if indeed this Jesus were the One they were looking for, He certainly posed no threat to Rome¡¦s power. Some Jews had ascribed that title to Jesus; the people were certainly aware of Jesus¡¦ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders were envious of Jesus¡XJesus had dared to confront them, to call their hand on their hypocrisy, but the people, Pilate reasoned, wouldn¡¦t feel this way, and so he placed Jesus¡¦ fate in their hands, expecting exoneration.
In the middle of his deliberation, the Bible says he received a message from his wife. I¡¦m sure when he got the note, he must have thought, ¡§oh, she wants me to grab a gallon of milk and some Huggies on the way home¡¨, but instead, the message read that she¡¦d had a dream about this Jesus, and that he¡¦d better not mess with Him. While Pilate was receiving this message, the religion boys went to work. Soon, they were able to coax this crowd of curious onlookers into a state of near-hysteria. Sociologists speak of a ¡§mob mentality¡¨, of how people will act in ways when they are in large groups that they might only dream of when alone. Truck drivers drive through L.A. by the multiplied thousands every day, but Reginald Denny made the mistake of driving there the day the Rodney King beating verdicts were announced. It nearly cost him his life as a savage mob pulled him from a truck and beat him mercilessly, spurred on by the mob mentality. This is certainly what was going on in our text today. When Pilate returned, he was surprised to learn
I. The Choice of the Crowd ¡V Barabbas
The names resonate in our minds: Ted Bundy; Jeffrey Dahmer; Timothy McVeigh; John Wayne Gacy. Heinous modern criminals who caused untold hurt. Barabbas was a name known by the crowd; he was a noted insurrectionist, a menace to society. ¡§How could the crowd possibly choose Barabbas over Jesus?¡¨, so Pilate must have thought. Barabbas¡Xthe name means little to us, but the Hebrew meaning was clear: ¡§bar¡¨ meant ¡§son of¡¨; ¡§abbas¡¨ meant a ¡§father¡¨. Here was Barabbas, the son of a father. Ironic, then, that it would be Barabbas or Jesus, for no doubt the religion boys made much of Jesus claim to be God¡¦s Son. Presented with a choice between the sinful son of a man, or the innocent Son of God, the crowd chose¡XBarabbas.
Pilate was shocked¡Xwe shouldn¡¦t be. The natural bent of man is always away from the things of God. We might like to think that the people would have remembered the good deeds Jesus had done, and not be swayed by the religion boys, but we really shouldn¡¦t be surprised. He didn¡¦t fit with what they wanted in a Messiah, and they cried out for blood. Lacking real spiritual discernment, they followed after the phony spiritual leaders, and Jesus lost the vote (which again illustrates why naked democracy is not a very good thing!). Lacking discernment, they were swayed by others. That is a fitting description of people who lack any real basis for deciding how to live life. The Bible talks about people who are ¡§children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming¡¨. Is this not an apt description of people without Christ? How do you decide how to live life? Do you just fly it by the seat of your pants? Do you grasp for a little truth here and a little advice there and a smidgen of wisdom from one and a little experience from another? When you attempt to live your life without a foundation for discerning right from wrong, truth from falsehood, other than the seat of your pants, you are bound to do the modern-day equivalent of choosing Barabbas.
As believers, we are not to be such. How? That same passage in Ephesians 4 answers, saying that we are ¡§to grow up in all aspects into Christ¡¨. And yet I was talking with friends just this week about how I fear that so many believers are born again by the grace of God, sure, but have never really been grounded in the truth of God¡¦s Word.
I am happy today to put a name to something I announced for the first time two months ago. This fall, for the first time ever at FCC, we will begin what we are calling the Institute of Biblical Studies. Don¡¦t let the name scare you away; let it excite you! Simply put, we are going to make available to you, on a systematic basis, a way of coming to understand all of the great doctrines of the Bible. We are going to help you to know how to study the Bible, to read it and interpret it for yourself, to be prepared to live an effective life and witness in a world that is hostile to the gospel. In a way and to a degree unlike ever before, we are committing ourselves to the systematic equipping of people in this church to know and love and serve God. It might be the most important thing we¡¦ve ever done as a church. And it is not beyond a single one of you to be involved in! More details to come; film at eleven! But we are getting serious about helping you to know God¡¦s Word, because we will be led astray even as believers to make bad choices when we neglect to know and put into practice God¡¦s Word!
II. The Cause of the Confusion ¡V Blindness
Who is responsible for Christ¡¦s death?
„h Judas, prompted by greed;
„h Jewish religion boys, prompted by envy;
„h Pilate, prompted by fear;
„h The crowd, prompted by blindness to the truth
Paul says in I Corinthians 2:8 that if people had understood Who Jesus was, they ¡§would not have crucified the Lord of glory.¡¨ Jesus Himself, on the cross, cried out, ¡§Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.¡¨ They chose Barabbas because they were blinded to the truth of Who Jesus was, to the truth of what they were doing. Paul says in II Corinthians 4 that if the ¡§gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.¡¨ God must do a work in the heart of an individual in order for that person¡¦s eyes to be opened to the truth. I¡¦ve been encouraged by how God has been doing just this work very recently in the hearts of some friends here, and my prayer is that He¡¦ll work in your heart to show you the truth as well if you have not yet placed your faith in Christ.
III. The Condition of the Crowd ¡V Guilty
¡§His blood be on us!¡¨ was their cry. They readily accepted the blame and the guilt for the death of Christ. It makes one shudder, in the light of our understanding of Who Jesus is, to hear the people in the crowd cry out so brazenly, even willingly adding their children to those who would be guilty! And yet let¡¦s look a little more deeply at
IV. The Composition of the Crowd ¡V Them¡Kand us!
In that howling mob we see men and women, boys and girls; we see doctors and derelicts, lawyers and loafers, brokers, bums, and businessmen. But if I understand Scripture correctly, as I scan that crowd there is one face I find myself transfixed upon; with shock I realize that, as though looking in a mirror, my own face is there in that crowd! John R. W. Stott said, ¡§Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us we must see it as something done by us!¡¨
The old Negro spiritual asked, ¡§Were you there when they crucified my Lord?¡¨ The answer is, ¡§yes! I was there!¡¨ My hands are bloody hands; when the mob cried out, ¡§His blood be on us¡¨, my voice joined in the chorus! Because when I asked earlier who caused Jesus to be put to death, who was responsible for it, I left out the fact that I am! But there is one more point to mention today, and it is
V. The Call of Christ
Jesus said, ¡§No man takes my life from Me; I lay it down.¡¨ He said, ¡§The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.¡¨ In another place He said, ¡§Come unto Me, all of you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!¡¨ You see, when I added your name and mine to the list of those responsible, I still left out one important item: His love put Him there! There I am condemning Him; there He is dying for me! I accept the responsibility, on the basis of my sin; I then can by faith accept the privilege of access to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ! And notice the change that can take place: ¡§His blood be on us¡¨ was the cry of a bloodthirsty mob. Now, it becomes the plea of a sinner! Isaiah wrote, ¡§Come now, and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool!¡¨ And I John 1:7 says that ¡§if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin!¡¨ Let His blood be on us, for it is Jesus¡¦ blood that cleanses us from sin, brings us forgiveness, and grants us access to a holy God! What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel¡¦s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains! Would you be free from your burden of sin? There¡¦s power in the blood! Are you washed in the blood, in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
And people say, ¡§how can I be right with God on the basis of faith in something that happened two millennia ago?¡¨ And the answer is that if that Man is Who He says He is, and if, as the Bible says, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, and if He died on the cross to pay the price, then you had better trust Him! I was there, among that bloodthirsty mob, calling for His death, proclaiming, ¡§let His blood be on me, and on my children¡¨, but now I understand that those same words, vested with an understanding of my guilt and of His sacrifice, take on different significance. ¡§Let His blood be on me! Let it wash away my sins!¡¨ Yes, in my sin I was there in that crowd, but by faith I was somewhere else: I was there when He rose up from the grave! Yes, I can see my face in that crowd of sin, but by faith I can see my face numbered among the multitude gathered around the throne of God worshipping and praising His Name, singing ¡§worthy is the Lamb Who was slain!¡¨
I stood once, some thirty years ago now, face to face with my guilt, with the red stain of sin covering my hands, my heart, my soul, but the red flood of the blood of Jesus swept over my soul in billows of love and washed me whiter than snow. Jesus calls you to know the same!
¡§What do I do with a message like this?¡¨
1. The crowd chose Barabbas instead of Jesus. Lacking godly discernment, they allowed themselves to be swayed by the sentiment of the moment and the craftiness of ungodly men. Even as believers, we can allow ourselves to be swayed by worldliness if we let our guard down, or if we do not trust God to give us courage to stand for Him in a culture that denies Him. Do you pray for courage to withstand temptation and choose the things of God over the things of man?
2. The crowd was blind to the reality of what they were doing in crying for the crucifixion of Jesus. Sin causes us to make wrong value judgments, and Christians are not immune. Do you value the things of God?
3. I John 1:7 says that ¡§the blood of Jesus¡Kcleanses us from all sin¡¨. Do you really understand¡Xand do you take God at His Word¡Xthat, if you are a follower of Christ, He has forgiven you of every sin? The issue is not ¡§forgiving yourself¡¨, but rather taking God at His Word. It is understanding that, if the God against Whom you¡¦ve sinned has forgiven and accepted you on the basis of Jesus, and if there is ¡§no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus¡¨ (Romans 8:1), then to wallow in guilt is the actual sin. ¡§If the Son shall has set you free, then you are free indeed¡¨, Jesus said; don¡¦t argue with Jesus!
