THE EVASION: Pilate’s Decision
CSI: Murder of God - Week 5
MATT.27:11-26
INTRODUCTION: (Intro mpeg to CSI:31)
So far in our investigation of the murder of Jesus Christ we’ve come across a number of suspects. We have looked at the religious leaders who, because of their envy, wanted to get rid of Jesus. Two weeks ago we looked at Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ inner circle, and discovered as Pastor Scott taught us that he betrayed Jesus out of selfish motives. Last week we looked at a key figure in this crime, a man named Caiaphas, the High Priest who we discovered was the catalyst behind the arrest and trial of Jesus. By this time, as investigators we realize that if we could, we would have multiple arrests for this crime. But we need to throw one more person into the suspect pool. His name is Pontias Pilate. Caiaphas and the religious leaders had put Jesus through an illegal inquisition. They had found Him guilty of blasphemy, of claiming to be the Son of God, and now they want the Roman governor Pilate, to issue a capital punishment decree, because they think Jesus deserves to die but they do not have execution powers. But as you investigate this time between Jesus and Pilate you begin to wonder who is really on trial.
As James Stewart, in his book, The Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ, wrote: "Everyone who studies this narrative has the strange feeling that the tables are being turned, before their very eyes. And that what they are seeing, is not Jesus on trial before the crowd, but Pilate, on trial before Jesus. In fact, as Pilate stands with the Son of God in those hours it is as if Jesus’ searchlight is probing his soul, revealing his true character for all the world to see. But every soul stands where Pilate stood at sometime in their life... Face to face with Jesus in the place of decision."
Today, as we look at Jesus before Pilate, I want us to see that this governor had a chance to show his commitment to the King of Kings but ended up vacillating, trying vainly to stay neutral toward Christ. I also want us to apply Pilate’s question to our lives: "What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?" So, lets look at Pilate’s tragic role in the murder of God, and learn what it means to decide for Jesus.
I. PILATE’S DILEMMA:
In order to understand Pilate’s dilemma we need to understand a little bit of history. Pilate was appointed governor by Caesar Tiberius. He took over the governorship of Israel in 26 AD and ruled for about 10 years. During this time Palestine bristled with problems. Because of the stubborn resistance by the Jews toward their Roman captors, there was constant rebellion and unrest. And Pilate was not a very capable leader. He was stubborn, tactless and at times, ruthless. Pilate was determined to break this Jewish pride by tightening the screws of Roman rule, and in so doing made a number of unwise decisions. Let me give one gruesome illustration.
Pilate decided that Jerusalem needed a new water supply. In order to finance the new aqueduct Pilate took money from the temple treasury. That’s like taking money out of the offering baskets at church. The people were so incensed by what they considered Pilate’s thievery, that they rioted in the streets and came in mass to His quarters. Seeing the crowd, Pilate had his soldiers dress in plain clothes and mingle among the protesting people. He then came out and addressed the crowd acting like he was going to give an apology. But at a given signal, these undercover soldiers drew their swords and murdered several thousand people. It was a massacre of hideous proportions. That kind of treatment made the Jews very uncooperative and there were a number of public disturbances. That didn’t please Caesar, the King. He wanted a peaceful rule and the Jews, and some Romans who disagreed with Pilate, reported him. History tells us that upon several occasions Pilate was called to Rome and he received a tongue lashing from Caesar himself. So, at the time of this incident with Jesus, Pilate was on the political hot seat. And that’s why when the religious leaders bring Jesus to Pilate on that fateful Friday morning he really feels squeezed. They basically say, "Look, Pilate, your record here is not good. We’ve reported you before and we know Caesar has chastised you. And if you don’t do what we say, we’ll report you again." And Pilate was faced with a difficult choice. Either keep his job or free Jesus.. Hang on to his career or side with Christ. So, with that in mind it would be normal to wonder why Pilate didn’t just hand Jesus over to the crowd? Because instead of turning Jesus over to Caiaphas and the religious leaders he tried to free him. Why? I think there are a couple of reasons:
1) The Romans were proud of their system of justice. The other killings were rationalized as what was needed to squelch a riot, but this was different. This man was simply unpopular with his enemies. Pilate had a sense of justice and didn’t want to shed innocent blood. 2) Vs:19 tells us that Pilate’s wife had a dream about Jesus, or maybe more like a nightmare since she said she had “suffered a great deal” because of her dream. So she sent her husband this message: “Leave that...” What? “innocent man alone...” She went on to say she was very upset because of her dream. So, Pilate’s wife added pressure to let Jesus go. 3) Vs:14 tells us that Jesus’ conduct during this time before Pilate amazed him. That word carries the meaning of being in awe. Pilate was impressed that Jesus didn’t rail against His accusers. John 19 tells us that at one point Pilate said to Jesus, “‘Don’t you know that I have the authority to set you free or crucify you?’Then Jesus said, ‘You only have authority over me because God has given it to you.’" Scripture then says, "From then on, Pilate kept trying to find a way to set Jesus free."(Jn. 19:10-12 TEV)
It was quite the dilemma for Pilate. But the real dilemma for Pilate was not a legal issue but the question: “Who is Jesus?”Was he a king? Was he God? A man? He was at very least innocent. But to come out in favor of Jesus, might cost him his career.
II. PILATE’S DECISION:
So, Pilate deliberated at great length in order to try and evade making this decision. When you put together the four gospel accounts of this incident you can find five different attempts of Pilate to side-step his responsibility.
(1) He tried to escape his responsibility by declaring a mistrial. Luke and John tell us that Jesus admits to Pilate that He is the King of the Jews but that His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom not a physical or political one. On hearing that testimony, Pilate goes back out and tells the leaders that there is no basis for a trial, that their accusations are not relevant to his court. But they won’t be turned away that easy... they accuse Jesus of leading a rebellion against Rome, and he started it in Galilee.
(2) When Pilate hears that Jesus comes from Galilee he makes his 2nd attempt of evasion and that is by changing the venue, or location of crime. Herod ruled over the province of Galilee and in Lk 23:7- "When he learned that Jesus was from the region ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time." It’s kind of like a Colorado judge saying, "I can’t try this case, the crime was committed in Kansas, you’ll have to try it there.” Herod was the same tyrant that had beheaded John the Baptist. But Herod couldn’t put Jesus to death so for the religious leaders sake he mocked Jesus, had a purple robe put on Him and sent Jesus back to Pilate. The venue change had not worked.
(3) So, Pilate tries a 3rd evasive tactic, he offers a prisoner exchange. In order to keep unrest down the Romans had offered to release one prisoner during the Jewish holiday of Passover as long as there was no trouble over the past several months. So, Pilate thinks: “I know, I’ll make the crowd decide between Jesus and a hardened criminal.” A decision that he thought would be a “no-brainer” was to offer an exchange of Jesus for a prisoner named Barabaas. Scripture calls Barabaas a murderer and "notorious prisoner." Josephus, a Jewish historian, tells us that Barabaas didn’t just commit crimes against Romans but against Jews as well. In our time he would of been considered a psychopath. So, Pilate figured that the crowd would not want a "crazy man" back on the streets. Vs:20- “But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for the release of Barabaas and the execution of Jesus.” Pilate was shocked.
I want us to consider this situation with Barabaas for a moment. Barabaas was imprisoned in the Tower of Antonia, which was just 300 yards from Pilate’s palace. So, early that morning Barabaas could hear the roar of the crowd. Barabaas heard the crowd but he couldn’t hear Pilate’s questions.. there was no PA system. Now, I want to do a little role play. I want you to look at the text printed on the screens and you play the part of the angry mob. Just a little direction: You’re angry, you’re convinced that Jesus is the enemy and you’re thirsty for His blood, you want Him killed. We’ll start with vs:21.. I’ll play the role of Pilate and you play the angry mob. You respond with the yellow words on the screen. Ready? I’ll prompt you.
Tim: "Which of the two do you want me to free for you?"
They said.. Cong: "Barabaas!" (You’re an angry mob not a quilting bee- Get into this)
Tim: "Then what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?"
Cong: "Crucify Him!"
Tim: "Why? What wrong has he done?"
But they began to shout loudly.. Cong: Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"
Now, imagine your Barabaas. You’re 300 yards away and you hear your name.. “Barabaas” and then you hear, "Crucify him, crucify him." Moments later, a guard shuffles down the hall, keys clanging at his side, toward your cell. He opens the door, and says, "Come on, let’s go." Where would you assume you’re going? To be crucified, right? But the guard takes you to the gate and says, "Go, your free.." And then Barabaas sees someone else carrying a cross on the way to Golgotha. There is some tradition, not supported by the Bible, that Barabaas became a Christian. If that happened it wouldn’t be to hard to figure out why. Because no one would of appreciated the substitutionary death of Jesus, like Barabaas. And when you think of it, we are all Barabbases. We were all locked in sinful natures. But Jesus was crucified in our place.. "He was pierced for our transgressions." (Isa. 53:5 NIV)
(4) But Pilate did not give up after releasing Barabaas. He tried a fourth way and that was by offering Non-capital punishment. He figured if the crowd could just see a little blood, witness a humiliated prisoner, they would be satisfied. So Pilate had Jesus undergo a Roman flogging. If you have ever seen the flogging of Jesus in “The Passsion of the Christ” you know what torture this was. Pilate was making sure that Jesus was bloodied and badly beaten, thinking that would appease the crowd. But when Jesus came out, it only aroused them more and they screamed for His death.
(5) Pilate tried one other feeble thing.. He tried to reason with the crowd. In John 19 the Bible says that Pilate brought Jesus out and said, "Look, here’s your King." The crowd shouted to take Jesus away.. "Crucify Him!" they screamed. Pilate then said, "What? Should I crucify your King?" I think he had been told by someone that on at least one occasion the people wanted to make Jesus their king and so he was trying to get the crowd to see that even he was acknowledging that Jesus was King of the Jews. But the religious leaders and the crowd stunned Pilate by yelling, "The emperor is the only king we have!" Why they hated the emperor, Caesar! But Pilate must have realized in that moment that the Jews were prepared to abandon every principle they had in order to eliminate Jesus. In their hatred they forgot all mercy, they forgot all sense of proportion, they forgot all justice, they even forgot their God. Never in history was the insanity of hatred so vividly shown.
So, Pilate, seeing no way out, makes a cowardly decision. Vs:24 tells us that when he saw that he was getting no where, but that an uproar was starting he took a basin of water and ceremonially and symbolically washed his hands of the whole affair. But all the water in the world could not wash the blood off of Pilate’s hands. Pilate saved his job, but he lost so much more. He lost his integrity, he lost his self-respect, and he probably lost his soul. Tradition tells us that Pilate was banished to Gaul for his incompetence, and there he died.. of suicide. If he only could of realized that his evasion was a decision - against Jesus.
III. THREE LESSONS TO LEARN:
But, it’s not much different 2000 years later is it? There are times when all of us have to make decisions, where a “no-decision” is a decision. Handy Harrison knew that. He wanted to ask Sally to marry him but never popped the question. His opponent retired President, Monroe Cole, knew what Handy has missed. So, while getting a golf lesson from Handy, the ex-President imparts one of his own.
Video Clip - Welcome to Moosport”- Start: Chp.26:1:26:57 - End: Chp.26:1:29:36=2:39
“Sometimes you just gotta go for the green.” And Jesus presents that dilemma to us. Are we going to decide to believe in Him and try our best to emulate him or are we going to just “lay-up,” stay on the fringes, try to evade him. You see, Pilate’s dilemma then is ours today. Like Pilate we must answer two questions: Who is Jesus? Is He just a good man so there’s no reason to commit to Him, or is He who he says he is? The Son of God who died in my place. If I believe the latter than why wouldn’t I give my life to Him? And once we decide who Jesus is we’ve got to answer Pilate’s question: “What will I do with Jesus?” Will we try to evade him and thus make the decision to remain uncommitted? Or will we surrender to Him as Lord, the director of our life? Some are like the Kamikaze pilot in WW II who flew 33 suicide missions.. he wanted the glory, but not the sacrifice. But Jesus asks for sacrifice, for commitment, for our pledge of allegiance. So, from Pilate’s encounter with Christ I want us to close by talking about several truths that come when we decide for Jesus.
(1) Deciding for Jesus means sacrifice of self. Pilate’s real choice was between his career and Christ. Unfortunately he chose himself. Romans 12:2 says, “So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him.”(TEV) You know the problem with a living sacrifice? It can crawl off the altar. But choosing Jesus means continually sacrificing our self-centered interests, sacrificing our selfish wants and desires. And so many people have a problem with this because they have not admitted this truth.. that the only way to enthrone Christ, is getting off the throne yourself! True Christianity is not a “Sunday Only” thing. Coming to church is good but when we compromise God’s standards in our daily walk we have, like Pilate, decided against Christ. Deciding for Jesus means sacrifice of self.
(2) Deciding for Jesus means surrender to the King. Now, when you give your total allegiance to the King, you turn your back on anyone or anything that vies for that loyalty. Pilate couldn’t please both Jesus and the people around him. If he made a commitment to Christ, he was going to have to be willing to risk rejection and even alienate some people. But Jesus has always said that he’s a one way deal. That you can’t play games with him, that even not deciding is a decision. He’s either your Master of your life or he isn’t. He said it this way: "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other."(Lk. 16:13 NLT) Jesus wants your whole heart, not part of it. He wants your total commitment not a partial one.
Our government years back decided to go to the metric system of measurement. At first, I thought that was dumb but as I investigated the metric system I realized that it really was much simpler. It measures everything in 10’s and because of that is easier to calculate, whether you are talking about kilometers or liters or whatever. Our system is so much more cumbersome. 12" to a foot, 3’ to a yard, 5,280 feet to a mile. When you study it you find that in many ways the metric system is superior to ours. So the government decided to make the change. So along the highway you would see signs that read the mileage and the kilometers printed. Speedometers on cars began to show you the MPH and KPH. You pick up a “2 Liter”bottle of Coke. But you know what? It didn’t work.. You know why? Because when the old is so visible, even if the new is superior.. it’s too easy to hold on to the old. The government admitted that if they really wanted to change they should of made the change more abrupt. The same thing applies spiritually. Eph 4:22- "You were taught to rid yourself of the old way you were living. The person you used to be will ruin you through desires that deceive you. 23 You were taught to have a new attitude, changing for the better as you grow closer to God." Deciding for Jesus means separating yourself from your past,, kind of a spiritual “cold turkey.”If you haven’t done that it may be why you are hesitating in your surrender to him or why your behavior doesn’t really change, because you are vacillating instead of surrendering completely to Jesus.
(3) One more truth..Deciding for Jesus means a fresh start and eternal satisfaction. You see with this decision comes reward. Jesus promises those who decide for him that their sins will be forgiven, their soul will be made clean and they will live forever with him. 2 Cor. 5:17 says: “Anyone who decides to be united with Jesus Christ gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life begins now and forever!”(SEB) Jesus knows that a life without him is a hopeless end but a life with him is an endless hope. Wayne Spangler, a minister, tells of the time that a father was killed in a freak accident. He was cutting a tree down in his yard and it fell on him. What made it even more tragic was that this was a young man with a wife and a 9 year old son. Wayne says that about a month later the young widow told him of an experience that had happened that helped her cope. Apparently, the 9 year old son had come home from school and saw Dad’s car out of the garage, sitting in the drive way. He came running into the house and said, "Mom, is Dad back? Is Dad home?" She said, "No, son, you know Dad is not home." And she explained that the uncle had been there and thought the car needed starting and had left it in the driveway. Then she said, "Son, I thought we had talked about this.Why would you ask such a question? You know Dad’s not here, I thought you understood?" And the little boy looked up into her face, tears streaming down his cheeks and said, "Mom, I can hope can’t I?" She took her precious son in her arms and said, "Yes, honey, because of Jesus we both have hope! We’re going to see Daddy again." And they talked again about Jesus’ promise of eternal life.
Listen, Jesus is not some tyrant trying to scam you. He is someone who loves you and knows what is best for you And he offers in exchange for your commitment a better life here and hope for a life hereafter. If you’ve ever had a loved one who has died in the Lord, you can hope. Because Jesus, by His death and resurrection has promised that one day there will be a grand reunion. If you are steeped in sin and your ground down by guilt you can hope. Because Jesus Christ died for your sins. If you’re living in low self-esteem and insecurity because of problems that you have, you can hope. Because Jesus has come to make you a child of the King. Maybe you’ve gone through some difficult times recently. You can hope - because one day there will be a perfect place to live. We can ask, just like that young boy, "We can hope can’t we?" Yes we can. Because deciding for Jesus gives you a fresh start and eternal satisfaction.
Well, the trials are officially over. The jury has rendered its verdict. And innocent blood is about to be shed. The crowd cheers, Pilate washes his hands, the disciples are no where to be found. But the most important question is still around.. It’s the same one Pilate asked 2000 years ago... "What should I do then, with Jesus, who is called Christ?" What will you do?
{All scripture taken from the Holy Bible, God’s Word Translation unless otherwise noted}
