Sermon for 6th midweek Lent, April
6, 2022
Luke 23:13-16 13Pilate called together the
chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14and said to them, “You
brought this man to me as one who is misleading the people. Look, I have examined him in your
presence. I have found in this man no
basis for the charges you are bringing against him. 15Herod did not either, for he
sent him back to us. See, he has done
nothing worthy of death. 16So
I will have him flogged and release him. (EHV)
A Part for the Whole?
Dear friends in Christ,
So, what
do you suppose was Pilate’s game? Did he
really hope to satisfy the men of the Sanhedrin by having Jesus whipped? When someone has little choice but to accept
something less than what was desired, he may accept something instead of nothing,
but if Pilate thought this scheme would placate the Jews, he seriously
underestimated their intentions.
As we view the scene in Pilate’s courtroom, it
is evident that he thought he held control, but Pilate was not in control. The leaders of the Sanhedrin had given
themselves over to the devil’s control when they rejected Jesus. Therefore, nothing less than complete evil
would satisfy them. They were out for
blood. Having their consciences tweaked
by Jesus’ preaching, they wanted Him to pay for what they thought was endangering
their earthly positions, and they wouldn’t be satisfied with mere
punishment. Evil had control of their
senses, so they wanted Jesus to die the most shameful death then known to
man. They wanted Jesus on the cross, and
nothing less would do.
By negotiating with the Jewish leaders, Pilate
showed that he was on the same wicked side.
Oh, he imagined himself trying to release Jesus, and he had the power to
do so. Indeed, releasing Jesus was the
right, legal, and honorable thing to do.
In his brief investigation, Pilate immediately discovered that there was
zero reason for Jesus to be charged with any crime, least of all a capital
offence. Pilate even allied himself with
a former enemy who also examined Jesus and found Him innocent. Of course, Herod mostly desired to see Jesus
because he had heard of the miracles Jesus was doing, so he was hoping to see some
sort of magic act for entertainment, but when Jesus didn’t play Herod’s game,
the man grew bored and sent Jesus back for Pilate to deal with.
Now, a twisted logic drove those men who wanted
Jesus to die. Once evil took hold of
their hearts, they imagined that they were doing good by getting rid of
Jesus. These men who had the responsibility
to proclaim the Messiah God was sending to save Israel, had turned against the
Messiah when He didn’t fit their false impression of what the Messiah was to
do.
The Jewish leaders wanted the Messiah, that is
Jesus, to make them more powerful here on earth. Even Jesus’ disciples fell for that mistake
when they asked for positions of power when Jesus came into His kingdom. (Mark
10:37) However, when evil takes control
of the heart, it is never satisfied with partial control. Eventually it does to us what it did to Judas
whose initial desire for a little more cash led him to betray his Savior and
Lord. Indeed, Jesus taught, “To be
sure, out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins,
thefts, false testimonies, and blasphemies.” (Matthew 15:19) We see this in full display in the actions of
those leaders of Israel.
This should serve as a warning for all of
us. Because of the sinful nature we inherit
from our parents, we are naturally corrupt and unholy before God. Therefore, sin comes easy to us, but holiness
is a foreign concept. Left on our own,
we move easily to worse and worse corruption even if we think we are doing
good. This is what happened to the
leaders of the Sanhedrin; they thought they were doing something good for themselves
and their people as they wickedly sought to kill an innocent Man.
Today, as believers in Christ and children of
the heavenly Father by faith, we should examine ourselves and see whether we
are sometimes satisfied with giving God just a part of our allegiance. Perhaps, we commit ourselves to obeying God’s
commandments, but only so far as it is convenient. We rightly hate it if someone steals from us,
but maybe not so committed to making sure we protect the property of others, or
not so committed to doing the best we can with every talent and blessing God
gives us.
We might see it in our personal lives. We rightly hate it when we are accused of
doing evil, but we don’t always mind sharing a little dirt about someone
else. We might even willingly accept the
lies politicians tell about their opponents, rather than putting the best
construction on everything. However,
partial goodness is never acceptable to God.
His holiness demands holiness for His children. Even as believers counted as holy by faith,
we fail to live up to this standard.
In our lives, Satan’s goal is always
destruction. That is why he led Adam and
Eve to sin, and why he tempts us still today.
Our own flesh willingly participates in his evil. However, Jesus was never once satisfied with
doing part of God’s plan. Every moment
of every day of His life, Jesus devoted Himself to holiness in living and to
perfect trust in His Father’s will. For
that reason, as one wicked person after another brought lying accusations
against Him, Jesus said nothing. Rather
than fighting back, Jesus endured the humiliation and pain of having those who
should have been His friends turn against Him.
And rather than standing up for His right to be worshipped as Lord of
all creation, Jesus took the punishment deserved by those who are corrupt,
including you and me.
Pilate examined Jesus in the presence of those
who accused Him. That Roman governor recognized
that Jesus was there because of trumped up charges that had nothing to do with
reality, but were instead driven by jealousy and fear. Even the Sanhedrin had to admit that no two
witnesses agreed on any charge against Jesus.
Pilate publicly stated, “See, he has done nothing worthy of death.” It is a most clearcut statement that Jesus
was an innocent Man. The Father in
heaven had also declared Jesus acceptable, which means that God Himself had
declared Jesus holy.
Dear friends, Jesus was holy for you and
me. He lived the holy life that God requires
of us all. Then, because of God’s love
and desire to save sinners, God used the hatred and selfish anger of the
leaders of the Jews to send His own beloved Son into the punishment and death
that all of us who are corrupted by sin deserve.
Pilate thought he could control the crowd by
giving them a taste of the blood they wanted, but like throwing chum to sharks,
he only succeeded in driving them mad with desire to see Jesus destroyed. In their twisted logic, the Jews thought they
were getting what they wanted, but by allowing their evil ways, God was giving
us what we needed—a Savior from heaven dying to pay for our transgressions.
You see, the penalty of sin is death. That sentence has capped every command since
the beginning. Because of our sins, we
deserve to be removed from God’s presence forever. Yet, because of Jesus being removed from the
Father in our place, we are counted by God as welcome to come home to Him. It is uncomfortable logic to the human mind
that God’s Son had to die to give us life.
Yet, by living for us, and dying in our place, Jesus brought His
holiness to the Father to credit to those who would believe in Jesus.
As you all know, if the story ended here, we
would have no reason to hope. Yet, we
know the end of the story—Jesus lives.
He rose from the grave Easter morning just as He and the prophets had
foretold. What that means for you and me
is that Jesus’ sacrifice has been accepted for us. His life in exchange for ours means we don’t
have to suffer eternal separation from God.
It also means that having been brought to faith in Jesus as our Savior,
we have been credited with a foreign righteousness, a holiness that comes from
outside of us and cleanses us from all sin.
In addition, that foreign to us righteousness
empowers us to live sanctified lives. Jesus
said, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to
him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23) Therefore, with our God and Savior dwelling in
us, we both desire to do God’s will and receive power to do the things our
faith encourages us to do. In this life,
of course, that holiness is ours only in part, but Jesus has already done the
whole so that we are counted as righteous in the part we do—not for our
salvation, but as evidence of the saving grace we have received from God. Therefore, St. Paul tells us that “this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on
incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to
pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. 15:53-54 NKJ)
Dear friends, Pilate said, “I have found in
this man no basis for the charges you are bringing against him.” Pilate was correct in that judgment. Jesus was without any sin, so that He could
carry our sins to the cross as the perfect substitute and sacrifice for you and
me. Then, in his erring judgment, Pilate
sent Jesus to suffer what we deserved, so that God in heaven could declare us
all holy in His sight. That is how we
will stand before the Lord in the end—with the righteousness of Jesus covering
us. That is how we should live while here
on earth—living with Jesus, for Jesus, to serve God and our neighbor for the
good of all. Our Savior deserves nothing
less for the thanks we owe Him, because Jesus didn’t pay just part of our debt,
He paid the full price required to set us free from sin, death, and the devil,
so that in Jesus’ victory, we may live in holiness and peace forever. Amen.
Now,
may God be gracious to us and bless us.
May his face shine on us. Amen.
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