Sermon for 3rd midweek Lent,
February 27, 2024
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Luke 23:1-12 The whole group of them got up and brought
him before Pilate. 2They
began to accuse him, saying, “We found this fellow misleading our nation,
forbidding the payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is
Christ, a king.” 3Pilate
asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
“It is as you say,” Jesus replied.
4Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no
basis for a charge against this man.” 5But
they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching all through Judea,
beginning from Galilee all the way here.”
6When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a
Galilean. 7When he learned
that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in
Jerusalem during those days. 8When
Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. For a
long time, he had wanted to see him, because he had heard many things about
him. He hoped to see some miracle
performed by him. 9He
questioned him with many words, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10The chief priests and the
experts in the law stood there, vehemently accusing him. 11Herod, along with his soldiers,
treated him with contempt and ridiculed him.
Dressing him in bright clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12Herod and Pilate became friends
with each other on that day. Before this
they had been enemies of each other. (EHV)
Misconceptions.
Dear loved ones of the Lord,
The theme
for our consideration this evening is Misconceptions. The morning trials recorded by St. Luke
reveal a number of people who had misconceptions about Jesus. One man had two misconceptions: first, that
he would provide a fair trial, and secondly that Jesus was just an ordinary
itinerant teacher with perhaps a delusion about being a king. Another man had the foolish misconception
that Jesus was some kind of magician who could be commanded to perform for his
entertainment. Furthermore, a large
contingent of Jewish leaders used misconceptions against Jesus in the
misconception that He was someone they needed to eliminate in order to maintain
their lifestyles and power.
Let’s begin with Pilate. It was his job to rule on behalf of the
emperor and to maintain peace in a land of often recalcitrant people. Now, Pilate likely didn’t have any personal
interest in Jesus nor in whether Jesus lived or died. However, it was his sworn duty to maintain
Rome’s commitment to just verdicts and the rule of law. Therefore, he at least wanted to make this
trial look fair, and that the two sides were fairly heard.
It didn’t take long, however, until Pilate
realized that he was in over his head.
With just a few questions, Pilate determined that Jesus was in no way
guilty of the crimes against the state that the Jewish leaders were claiming
against Jesus. Pilate saw through their
intentional misconceptions, yet he was hesitant to pronounce Jesus innocent,
because he was under the misconception that the Jews would riot and cause an
uproar that would lead to his own demotion.
Because of this inner struggle, Pilate seized
the opportunity to remove the problem from his courtroom when he heard that
Jesus was from Galilee. What an
opportunity! Herod, the tetrarch of
Galilee, was in town and Pilate could hand over Jesus and the conundrum of
judging this innocent Man, off to a man Pilate was not too fond of anyway. Perhaps, he could escape the need to make a
decision and let Herod suffer the consequences.
Of course, Herod had his own misconceptions
that led him to abuse his power and privilege. Naturally, since nothing Jesus had
done was done in secret but was widely known and talked about, Herod was well
aware of Jesus and had heard of the numerous miracles and healings Jesus had
performed. Still, he hadn’t seen Jesus
do any of those things in person, so he was glad for this chance. However, instead of honestly questioning
Jesus to determine innocence or guilt, Herod tried to get Jesus to perform some
special magic to entertain Herod and his company.
You can imagine the kind of questions Herod
asked of Jesus. How do you do these
things? Where do you get your
power? What can you show me right
now? Do this! Do that!
Do it now! To all of which, Jesus
gave no reply. Finally, frustrated and
bored with Jesus’ refusal to put on a magic show at his command, Herod and his
soldiers mocked Jesus, dressed him in a splendid robe to show their contempt,
and sent Jesus back to Pilate to deal with himself.
It is interesting that those two men, who
missed such an opportunity to hear Jesus and gain salvation, became friends
through this mockery of a trial, the abuse of their God-given authority, and
their misconceptions about Jesus.
Still, Pilate was back on the hot seat and
forced to decide Jesus’ case. We will
discuss his decision further as we journey through our Lenten services, but
tonight we examine misconceptions that are so common still today. There are some who like Herod think of Jesus
as nothing more than a sideshow or spectacle of no consequence. Others may see Jesus as a wise man, perhaps wrongly
accused, likely even seeing Jesus as a good teacher, but remaining always under
the misconception that Jesus was just an ordinary philosopher who had a number
of devoted students, but someone who they aren’t too concerned about, and
certainly have no desire to learn more or to follow Him.
The Jewish leadership, on the other hand, fully
rejecting Jesus while pretending to embrace the religion of their forefathers,
may well be seen as also representing many in our times. Twisting His words, they rejected Jesus out
of fear of Him interfering with their own plans, designs, and desires. How dare this Galilean, this supposedly lower-class
outsider, challenge their authority? How
dare He call them to account for their false doctrines and misapplication of
law? How dare He challenge them on their
hypocrisy? How dare He draw the people
to His side with promises of forgiveness, peace, and truth they didn’t know?
Because of their hatred for Jesus and their
rejection of His claims to be the Messiah and the Son of God, those leaders
readily used whatever accusations they thought the governor would accept to
pronounce their preferred sentence of death by crucifixion. The Jews recognized that Pilate wouldn’t give
a hoot about their false charges of blasphemy.
So they readily, willingly dreamt up lies and found liars to support
their accusations. They then stirred up
mobs of people to rouse Pilate into thinking a real revolt was imminent if he
didn’t condemn Jesus along with them.
As we look around our world today, they are of
course any number of people and groups who clearly do not understand Jesus, and
many who use their misconceptions about Him against His Word and against His
people.
Still, as is always the case, we need to
examine ourselves and see what misconceptions we might have that could endanger
our faith. There is no one in this
reading that we should imitate in faith.
Every character was opposed to Jesus.
However, are there times when we act a bit like Herod and expect that we
can just demand a performance and have Jesus deliver some miracle whether it is
in our best interest or not? Do we
sometimes readily accept teachings we can easily agree with, but reject those
things that tweak our consciences? Do we
readily accept forgiveness for our own sins, but occasionally withhold
forgiveness from a spouse or neighbor who hurts us? Do we feel a bit of selfish pleasure in
holding on to a grudge?
The most damning misconception in this text is
the assumption of self-righteousness in the Jewish leaders. Our natural flesh likewise assumes itself
innocent no matter how much guilt we may carry.
That is especially true, as in the Jews’ case, when we are focused on
doing law without actually being able to fully obey law. We find it easy to obey manmade rules we
prefer, but boy, it sure is hard to avoid lust and jealousy and coveting and
rebelliousness. It is incredibly hard to
love God and our neighbor all the time, especially when we feel oppressed and
abused.
Now is the time to throw off any misconceptions
we might have. Now is the time to see
ourselves as the sinners we are and Jesus as the Savior He truly is. Jesus didn’t come to put on a show. Jesus didn’t come into our lives to teach us
more laws or how to obey laws better. He
came into this world to live in perfect holiness on our behalf, so that His
Father in heaven could count each of us as holy by faith in Jesus. Furthermore, Jesus came into this world to be
the One final sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world, friend and foe
alike. Jesus willingly endured numerous
trials that day and tons of abuse and slander so that you and I can find rest
for our souls in Him. Not that we find
rest for our souls by our own efforts.
Indeed, it is through the power of His Gospel in Word and Sacrament, that
our Lord comes to us giving new life to stony hearts and lifting us out of the
gloom and doom of this world, so that we are not condemned with the devil and
his hoard.
Now, as we live in a world in which almost
everyone has some idea about Jesus, but many remain lost in misconceptions
about who He truly is, our role is to live in this true faith so that others
may learn of Jesus and live. Let us be
bold at every opportunity to share the forgiveness Jesus has granted to
us. Let us be confident in the love He
has shown for us, so that no matter whether we have good times or troubles, we
continue to walk boldly forward knowing that our God and Savior has everything
fully under control for our everlasting good.
May the Scriptures be our constant companion and the source of our hope
and joy. Let us keep praying that the
Holy Spirit continually enlighten us through the power of the Gospel as we
gather together to hear the Word and partake of Jesus’ body and blood in His
holy supper. Let us continue to give
thanks to our Redeemer and Savior for all He has done to reconcile us with God
and to praise Him for opening our eyes to see Him as He truly is, the Son of
God and Man who gave His life so that we might be free of sin and condemnation
that with Jesus, we may live and never die.
Amen.
Now to the King eternal, to the immortal,
invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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