Have you ever been in a debate that sounded something like this:
Don’t do it. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. It’s not
right and you know it.
Wait, Wait, hold on, let’s talk about this.
There’s got to be a better way.
But they’re adamant, obstinate, aggressive.
There’s no reasoning.
So, to prevent violence, riots, you say :
Fine, have it your way. But I want no part in
this. I wash my hands of it!
That is what we’re dealing with today.
After arresting, and binding, and beating Jesus all the night;
the religious leaders led Him to Pontius Pilate, (the governor) early
in the morning.
Pilate asked Jesus:
Are You the King of the Jews? John 18:33
Am I a Jew? John 18:35
What have You done? John 18:35
Pilate asked Jesus what we all should ask:
Who are You, Jesus? Who am I to you, Jesus? What have You
done, Jesus?
Knowing the answer to those questions is to know the Truth
about our eternity.
Pilate asked, and just like that, he stepped outside and spoke
the Truth.
I FIND NO FAULT IN HIM AT ALL
Nobody but Jesus, nothing but
Jesus, has no fault at all.
Sinless, spotless, blameless… in Heaven’s words it sounds like
this: Holy, Holy, Holy.
Pilate repeats the phrase over and over, as if echoing
heaven’s seraphim who, day and night they never stop saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who
was and is and is to come! Rev. 4:8
Isaiah 6:2-4…the whole earth is full of His glory.
So, Pilate knowing Jesus is completely innocent, finding no
fault in Him at all, decides to release Him.
And when the mob heard they all cheered and cried out, Hallelujah!
No? What did they say?
They rejected Jesus and begged for Barabbas.
John 18:40; Then they all cried again, saying,
“Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
The chief priest stirred up the mob to cry for Barabbas, Mark 15:11.
They chose a thief, an anarchist, a murderer; one who steals,
kills, destroys, over Jesus; One who came to give Life, and Life more
abundantly. John 10:10.
Peter says it like this in Acts 3:13-15:
You
handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to
release Him. 14 You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a
murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the Author of life, but God raised
Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
John 19:1
So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.
They demanded Jesus be crucified.
Scourging precedes crucifixion per Roman protocol.
However, in this case Pilate hoped it would appease the people,
so he could release Jesus.
Luke 23:16, 22 tells us Pilate wanted to
release Jesus so he said to them repeatedly, I will chastise Him and release Him.
But they were adamant, obstinate, aggressive.
There was no reasoning.
2 And the soldiers twisted a crown
of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3
Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
The soldiers didn’t have a conversation with Jesus like Pilate
did. They were driven by a hatred from hell.
They were cold, and cruel, and calloused.
They mocked Him.
They struck Him.
We could spend an hour or more discussing the horrors of
scourging and what Jesus went through.
However, let’s look beyond the sinner, to the Forgiver.
Don’t focus on them, sinners will sin; focus on Him.
Jesus knew they’d do it; yet He still went through it. His
love allowed it.
Once again, Pilate echoes Heaven, and repeats the phrase; I
find no fault in Him.
This Man is innocent, blameless, spotless.
Remember, while this is happening, Heaven is declaring; Holy,
Holy, Holy..
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple
robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
Notice Pilate doesn’t stir the fury of the religious leaders
by calling Jesus, “King.”
Instead, he appeals to the people. Behold the Man.
Surely now, the people will see Him who healed them, fed them,
taught them, Loved them. Now they’ll have mercy on Him, and say: “That’s enough,
no more, release Him.”
By this time Jesus had been awake for over 24 hours. His body
was weary, bleeding, weaving.
But Heaven never waivers, and is still declaring, Holy,
Holy, Holy, LORD God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come; the whole earth
is filled with His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy…
Pilate is still standing by Jesus, still saying, this man is
innocent, I find no fault in Him at all.
Do we echo Heaven?
Do we stand by Jesus; even when the world riots against us?
Do we keep our conviction when the wicked appears to be winning;
and the Presence of God feels far away and weak?
Do we hold fast our confession, without hesitation; I find
no fault in Him, at all. Holy, Holy Holy, is the LORD God Almighty, who was,
and is, and is to come! Holy! Holy! Holy!
Now, pause and consider an idea you’ve probably never heard:
Pontius Pilate is Preaching a Gospel Message
Just for a moment, forget all the sermons you’ve heard throwing Pilate in hell; and just consider his words:
Ø I find no fault in Him at all
Ø Behold the Man
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they
cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
The religious, the Jews, the ones
who should’ve known Him, cried out against Him.
The Roman, who didn’t know Him, defended
Him.
You know God’s about to do
something spectacular when the devil steps in and turns things inside out,
calling evil good and Good, evil.
Sound familiar?
Pilate said to them, “You take Him
and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”
Pilate,
once again, repeats the powerful phrase:
I
find no fault in Him.
Innocent.
Not
Guilty.
Sinless.
Spotless. Blameless.
Heaven continues:
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY WHO
WAS AND IS AND IS TO COME!
The lawless breaking the law claim
to enforce the law.
The letter kills, the spirit gives
life 2 Corinthians 3:6.
Isaiah prophesies of that time… and this:
Isaiah 59:14
Our courts oppose the righteous,
and justice is nowhere to be found.
Truth stumbles in the streets, and
honesty has been outlawed.
8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more
afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus,
“Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
Upon hearing the claim of Jesus being the Son of God; only Pilate shows the proper response – Godly fear.
Pilate asked something Jesus had already told him; Where are You from?
Remember, Jesus had told him, My kingdom is not of this world… I came into this world to reveal Truth. John 18:36-37.
Jesus didn’t need to repeat Himself.
10 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?”
You’re not talking to me?
I’m the one with the power to release You.
I’m trying to release You.
11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me
unless it had been given you from above…
Dear Pilate, this power, and position, and authority, you
hold, didn’t come from Rome, but from Above. In a Place where even now, they
are saying, I find no fault in Him at all, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD God
Almighty…
Therefore the one who delivered Me
to you has the greater sin.”
Pilate, you didn’t have a choice but to be involved in this
matter.
However, the one who delivered Me, to you, had a choice, and
thus committed a greater sin.
It’s not so much about the hand we’re given, but about how we
play it out…
Pilate played it like this:
12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him…
For some reason many miss this powerful statement.
But the Holy Spirit didn’t miss it.
Peter didn’t miss it (Acts 3:13-15).
None of the multiple Bible translations that I looked at
missed it.
They all say something like:
From then on Pilate sought, (tried,
kept seeking, made every effort, wanted) 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.”
The religious leaders didn't miss it; they knew exactly what Pilate was trying to do.
Those who claimed
to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, sided with Caesar, a man
who claimed to be God.
But they wanted to kill God, for
claiming to be God.
They hailed Caesar, a man who was
doing what they wanted to murder Jesus for doing.
Jesus nailed it when He called them: HYPOCRITES.
Picture an outside judge’s bench
without the podium.
The crowd was talking Caesar, and
treason. It was getting serious and needed to come to an end before a riot
broke out.
So, Pilate sits on the judgement
seat.
No more discussion. The time for
sentencing has come.
A hush falls on the crowd.
Pilate opens his mouth and…
looks at his watch.
14 Now it was the Preparation Day
of the Passover, and about the sixth hour.
Preparation Day; the Jews
prepare a blameless, spotless, lamb to be slain for the Passover
Pilate prepares the blameless, spotless,
sinless, Passover Lamb prepared from the foundations of the
world. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
Pilate looks at the Jews from the judgement seat, points at Jesus,
and says:
“Behold your King!”
This is the third and final point in Pontius Pilate’s Preaching; the climactic point in his sermon.
Behold Your King!
The grand finale of what began with John the Baptist pointing
at Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, and saying: Behold the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world. John 1:29.
The mob is so easily stirred.
Pilate said to them, “Shall I
crucify your King?”
Pilate, still wanting, trying, seeking, making every effort,
to release Him.
The chief priests answered, “We have
no king but Caesar!”
At this point it appears the chief priests have followed in the footsteps of Judas past the point of no return.
Now they’ve sold their soul
to the devil just to get rid of Jesus.
16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took
Jesus and led Him away.
This was going to happen.
At this time. On this day.
There was nothing Pilate could do
to stop it.
God has certain hard stops on His calendar.
This was one of them.
Pilate was not in control of, or
responsible for, events Divinely orchestrated by God.
However, he was responsible, for
how he responded, to events Divinely orchestrated by God.
What he said, and what he did,
looks like this:
Don’t do it. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. It’s not
right and you know it.
Wait, Wait, hold on, let’s talk about this.
There’s got to be a better way.
But they were adamant, obstinate, aggressive.
There was no reasoning.
So, to prevent violence, riots, he said:
Fine, have it your way. But I want no part in
this. I wash my hands of it!
Matthew 27:24
When Pilate saw that he was
accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water
and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he
said. “You bear the responsibility.”
Two Interesting Notes:
1.
Wash
your hands is Bible speak for, repent. “Wash your hands you sinners,
purify your hearts… James 4:8.
2.
This
isn’t the first time God had been rejected as King. In, 1 Samuel 8:7,
God tells the prophet Samuel to go ahead and listen to the people, give them
what they want; they are not rejecting you, they are rejecting Me, as their
King.
PONTIUS PILATE’S SERMON
Ø
I
find no fault in Him at all
Ø
Behold
the Man
Ø
Behold
Your King
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, we find no fault in You,
at all.
We behold You, the Man, who became the
sinless, spotless, blameless, Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the
world.
We behold You, the King, who died,
and rose, and is coming again, to reign, as King of kings, and Lord of lords,
forever, and ever.
We love you, forever.
Amen.
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