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John 19 "Make a Decision"
"So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!" Therefore, when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" (John 19:1-6)
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Palestine said to
Jesus, "What is truth". He did not ask Jesus but he said this
to Jesus, because Pilate did not believe that there was any such thing
as truth. He did not have anything that he could believe in. Pilate
did not believe that Jesus deserved to die. He did not believe what
the Jews were saying. But he also did not believe that Jesus was who
he said He was. Last week we learned that the Hebrew concept of truth
was that which does not change, faithful, steadfast, true. The Greek
concept of truth was nothing hidden, everything revealed. Pilate's world
was one in which things changed without warning and everything was hidden.
He was concerned about the political ramifications of crucifying Jesus.
Would he make a martyr, whose followers would rise up to rebel against
Rome? Would some assassin come later to seek revenge? He was also concerned
about the political fallout of not crucifying Jesus. Pilate was a very
practical man. So first he decided to rough Jesus up, beat Him up real
good, whip Him till He was a bloody mess and then parade Him in front
of the people in a king's robe and with a crown of thorns on His head.
Pilate was trying to find a compromise. Surely there must be a way to
satisfy the Jews without killing the man. Surely they would see the
poor man's suffering and take pity on Him. But the Jews would not be
mollified, they shouted out, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"
Many people have given up on finding the "truth", they doubt
that any religion is true and make their decisions based purely on the
practical. Like Pilate they are more concerned with what happens in
this world than what happens in the next. You probably all know people
who would rather not talk about religion. They would sooner avoid the
issue all together. They are not hostile to Christianity, they just
don't see a need for it in their lives. They say to themselves, "It
is good for those who need it, they do lots of good works for the poor
and the sick. But I'm not poor or sick." Like Pilate they would
rather not have to make a decision about Jesus. But it is a decision
that everyone must make. There is no compromise, no half-way, no middle
ground. You cannot just visit a church once in a while, do a good deed,
say a prayer, read your Bible and think that you are done. You cannot
slip away and join the sinners for a little fun, forgetting about Jesus
when it is convenient. You cannot use Jesus for your own purposes. You
must either believe that He is the Son of God and worship Him or that
He is a fake and crucify Him. There is no room in the middle because
the world will push you quickly to make your choice, yelling out "Crucify
Him".
Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify You and power to release You?" Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." (John 19:6-11)
Why can't we simply mind our own business and leave Jesus
alone? Why must we have to choose? Because Jesus is very much your business.
Jesus is the Son of God. He is God's messenger and message to us telling
of the Father's love. Imagine that you received a telegram from a man
who claimed to be your father. In the telegram He talks of His love
for you and how much he wants to have a relationship with you. It would
be impossible to ignore. If you had never known your father and thought
that this might possibly be him you would have a hard time getting the
thought out of your head. If you did know your father and knew that
this was a fake you still could not get over the audacity of someone
to write that telegram. You would have to do something about it! Jesus
claims to be the only way to know God, your Creator. You cannot ignore
it. It is either true or false and either way you must do something
about it.
When the Jews explained to Pilate that Jesus claimed to be the Son of
God, Pilate became more afraid. Not a very spiritual man, Pilate still
realized that this claim added risk to the decision that He was about
to make. I look around Japan and I see that most people do not know
what to believe in. Most people do not have any faith. And yet there
is a huge amount of fear. People are afraid that if they do the wrong
thing they will have bad luck, they will be cursed or they will have
trouble. They are afraid of punishment. Jesus' message is that God wants
to be our friend. He wants to take away our fear and replace it with
trust. It is so like Jesus that His last words to Pilate are words to
calm his fears. Even though Pilate was the most powerful man in Palestine,
with the power to kill or to release Jesus, Jesus told him that the
entire weight of responsibility was not on his shoulders. Without Jesus
people are afraid. They are afraid of what they do not know and afraid
that they will mess up and fail. With Jesus we no longer have to be
afraid. We can know the truth and the truth will set us free.
From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away." (John 19:12-16)
Pilate felt more and more inclined to let Jesus go. He
could tell that there was more to Jesus than what it seemed. But the
Jews kept pushing, reminding Pilate once more of the practical matters
of politics. "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend."
Choosing to believe in Jesus is always choosing to give up something
as well. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot be a friend of the
world and a friend of God. Jesus told His disciples that the world would
hate them because they hated Him. The enemy will try to make it as hard
as possible for you to believe in Jesus. There will always be a reason
why you cannot believe today. Your father or your mother, your business
or friend will say that choosing Jesus is rejecting them. When Jesus
calls there are always many good reasons to refuse Him. But we must
obey. You cannot expect the world to make it easy for you. Pilate's
final plea, "Shall I crucify your King?" is pathetic. They
do not believe in Him and want nothing more than to be rid of Him. In
the end it is your choice that you must make against the world. No one
else can force you to make it and no one will. Believe in Jesus Christ.
He is the Son of God and is way to know the Father. Even though He was
crucified and died on that cross, He rose again on the third day and
His tomb is empty. He lives and invites you to have a personal relationship
with Him. It is a relationship with God who is always faithful and true,
who answers prayer and is with us in everything we do. It is an invitation
to be with God in this life and also after this life is over to join
Him for eternity. All this He has promised to give to those who choose
to believe in Him.
Copyright ý 2000 Jonathan Wilson
All Rights Reserved
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