Sermon for 4th midweek Lent, March
23, 2022
The fear of the LORD is
the beginning of wisdom. All who do his
precepts have good understanding. Amen.
Luke 22:66-67 66As soon as it was day, the
council of the elders of the people met together, both the chief priests and
experts in the law. They brought him
into their Sanhedrin and said, 67“If you are the Christ, tell us.”
(EHV)
Dear friends in Christ,
The plan
was to deceive. The religious
authorities wanted truth to be hidden from the public, therefore, under cover
of darkness in a kangaroo court, they had determined to kill an innocent
man. The trial was illegal; the verdict premeditated,
immoral, and unjust. Yet, in the hopes
of preserving their own skins and dignity, they held a trial at dawn for The
semblance of legality.
We are accustomed to capital trials lasting
weeks, and appeals taking years or decades.
The members of the Sanhedrin had no intention of letting anything inhibit
their deadly plan. The more they saw of
Jesus, the more desperate they had become.
After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and
more and more people came to believe in Him, the members of the Sanhedrin began
to panic, worrying that if too many people followed Jesus, the Romans would
consider it an uprising against their rule and come remove those Jewish leaders
from the positions they held. Their
fears were calmed, somewhat, when “Caiaphas, who was high priest that year,
said to them, ‘You know nothing at all.
You do not even consider that it is better for us that one man die for
the people than that the whole nation perish.’” (John 11:49-50) Thus, the plan for premeditated murder was
set in motion, and Judas’ offer to betray hastened it.
The night trial was illegal because by their
own rules and the rules of their Roman overlords, a trial could not be held
under the cover of darkness. The verdict
had to be reached in what we would call, “regular business hours.” Furthermore, a verdict of death for the
accused required a repeat appraisal on a different day to ensure that the
accused was fairly tried before sentencing.
The Sanhedrin failed to follow their own rules, much less the Lord’s
command not to murder.
This verdict was also immoral and unjust. The council ruled that Jesus should die,
because they refused to believe the evidence that all pointed to Jesus as the
promised Messiah and Son of God. There
was no evidence or honest testimony against Jesus. Not even two witnesses could be found who
agreed with each other in an accusation against our Lord. The crowds had welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem
with great celebration and loud cries accepting Him as David’s Son—a sure
indicator that they believed Jesus was the promised One. Yet, that only made the leaders hate Him more
and more determined to kill Jesus for not denying that He is the Son of God.
The semblance of legality. The outcome was
predetermined, but the Council wanted the world to think that everything had
been handled correctly and legally. It
likely was also a precaution before they took Jesus before Pilate to receive
the sentence they intended to impose on Him.
Pilate was a far cry from a good and honest ruler, but he feared any
sort of public insurrection, and Caesar, so Pilate was just as concerned about
his own neck as those Jewish leaders, so why risk Pilate releasing Jesus on a
technicality?
The priests and Pharisees also feared the
people. They wanted this mockery of
justice to be seen as good for the Jewish nation. Their hatred for Jesus led them to pretend
that they were protecting their kinsmen from a Roman invasion that could come
if Jesus was crowned king of Judah.
However, Jesus wasn’t that kind of king and had actively worked to make
sure that didn’t happen.
Regardless, none of this mattered in the grand
scheme of things because God used their wickedness to carry out the plan He had
set in motion as soon as Adam and Eve sinned.
Every step of the way, Jesus and His Father knew how the Jews would react,
and what wickedness they would try.
Nothing is hidden from God’s sight, nor from His foreknowledge. David wrote in his psalm, “Lord, you have
investigated me, and you know. You know when I sit down
and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far off.…Before there is a word on my tongue you, Lord, already know it completely.…Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is too high—I cannot
grasp it.” (Psalm 139:1-6)
Thus, the question for many would be why? Why did God allow this semblance of
legality? The answer is us. For you and me. Oh, we would like to think we are better than
those wicked leaders. We would never be
jealous of someone else’s popularity, would we?
We would never fail to recognize Jesus if He were walking among us. We would never plot and scheme to hurt
someone. Certainly, we would never try
to hide our guilt, would we?
Yet, isn’t that the story of all mankind? Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, they
hid themselves in the trees. Moses tried
to hide his murder of an Egyptian master by burying the body in the sand. King David tried to hide his guilt of
adultery by having his faithful soldier murdered on the front lines of
battle. So, what sins have you tried to
hide? What secret desires or thoughts do
you have in your heart that you hope no one will notice?
Experience tells me that when people fall into
sexual sins, whether before marriage or after, they often stop coming to
church. The same is true when they begin
to question God’s Word. Rather than come
to the pastor for help in understanding what the Lord has written, they go
away, and rather than come to the Lord for release from their guilt, they often
try to hide it.
Most likely though, your guilty conscience
isn’t burdened by the most outrageous acts.
It is the little things that often start to gnaw at us: the guilt felt
from looking at pictures or persons of the opposite sex that get hearts racing,
some little theft of time, effort, or goods from your job or schooling, failure
to be generous when we could or to help someone in need when we are able, a
word spoken hastily that hurts someone we love, or hurt we feel too easily when
we are not willing to forgive those slights from others. Maybe its unconscious guilt. Maybe we know the cause, but we certainly
don’t want our friends, neighbors, loved ones, or God to see how
imperfect we really are.
The truth is we often try to hide our guilt
because we find it impossible to obey the law completely, perfectly, and our
natural hearts know that we will be judged for it. We read passages in the Bible that say, “So
then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” (Mark 12:31) “The soul
who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:20) And, “Bear with one
another and forgive each other…just as Christ forgave you.” (Colossians
3:13) Then, in our failures, our guilty
consciences look for a place to hide, but we often try to hide in the wrong
places. Thus, we see that Caiaphas had
unwittingly prophesied truth when he said, “It is better for us that one man
die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
Jesus faced The semblance of legality,
because that is what was necessary to fulfill God’s plan for justice for our
guilt. “We all have gone astray like
sheep. Each of us has turned to his own
way, but the Lord has charged all our guilt to him.” (Isaiah 53:6) God’s plan for our salvation required Jesus
to face the wickedness, deception, and betrayal of humankind while remaining
sinless in His suffering.
Throughout His life as a Man, Jesus faced every
aspect of our lives, the temptations, illness, pains, and fears, yet He remained
without sin. Likewise, throughout His
journey to the cross, Jesus faced things that no man should have to face. A disciple who betrayed Him. Others who abandoned Him. Strangers who abused Him. Teachers of Israel, who should have been the
most receptive to the Word of God, turned against Him. A Roman governor charged with upholding Roman
law sentencing an innocent man to die by crucifixion, solely, because Pilate
feared an uproar in the crowds.
All of that injustice was endured for you and
me and every sinner who ever had to deal with guilt. None of us could stand before the Lord God on
Judgement Day if not for Jesus facing judgment in our place. It wasn’t right according to human standards. According to justice, we should expect punishment
for our sins. Still, because God loves
us, He planned something better for you and me.
He sent His only Son to live and die in our place, so that every dot and
dash of the law would be kept perfectly, and the just demands of the law that
require death for sin would be carried out on God’s Son so that we could be
free and alive in God’s presence forever.
This also shows us the love of our Savior, who
regardless of the worst display of injustice ever, went willingly and without
complaint to the cross so that we could be counted forgiven and holy in His
Father’s eyes. Isaiah wrote, “Like a
lamb he was led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent in front of
its shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away without a fair trial and
without justice, and of his generation, who even cared?” (Isaiah 53:7-8) “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him
and to allow him to suffer. Because you
made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong his days, and the Lord’s
gracious plan will succeed in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)
Dear friends, those Jews tried to hide their
wicked plot, but God used their evil ways to carry out His good plan for saving
you and me, and because of Jesus’ willing sacrifice, God has made us His own
dear children, and declared us not guilty of every sin, hidden or visible, and free
of every guilt, whether we know it or not.
Peace is now yours through faith in Christ Jesus—peace with God, forgiveness
full and free, and the sure hope of live everlasting in heaven. All because Jesus endured The semblance of
legality. Amen.
To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and
made us a kingdom and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the
power forever. Amen.
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