Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon – Mark 15:1-29 – “King of the Jews”
March 21, 2021
We are now at the fifth Sunday of Lent and we have been on quite a journey. It's been a month since we sat with Judas and the other disciples with Jesus as his body was anointed for death. Three weeks ago we gathered with the disciples and Jesus around the Passover table in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem. Then two weeks ago we prayed with Jesus on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, and we were there as Jesus was arrested. Today we will accompany Jesus to court for his trial. But before we get to this please pray with me.
Holy Spirit, open our eyes and our hearts to hear from God this day. Make us receptive to whatever God wants to communicate to us in today’s scripture and in this sermon. Bless me with the gift of preaching. And bless this congregation with the gift of hearing and understanding. Amen.
After Jesus was arrested he was brought to Jerusalem where he was tried by the Jewish High Council, the Sanhedrin. In this trial, the High Priest was most interested, not the actions of Jesus, what he might have done, but the identity of Jesus, who he claimed to be. This was the subject of rumor throughout Jerusalem. These rumors had caused great anxiety among the Jewish leaders. Some people were saying that Jesus was the anointed one, the messiah, the Christ that Jewish people had been waiting for. Since Jesus was a descendant of David, he might remove the yoke of Roman occupation and restore the theocratic nation that David had formed and ruled. Jesus might become the King of the Jews.
Jesus had avoided acknowledging this identity knowing that it would cause trouble for him with the Jewish authorities. But when asked by the High Priest if he was the Messiah, Jesus replied truthfully that he was.
Mark 14:61 Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 Jesus said, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
Jesus was not content simply to testify to his identity. Jesus wanted the High Priest and us to understand exactly who he thought he was. Jesus believed that he was the Son of Man. This title, Son of Man, came from a vision of the prophet Daniel. Daniel saw God sitting on the throne in heaven. There Daniel saw a human being whom God had given dominion, glory, and kingship over all the people and nations on earth, forever. This human being was the Son of Man. This is who Jesus was claiming to be.
Jesus’ testimony was enough for the Sanhedrin. They knew that in Daniel’s vision the Son of Man would ultimately prevail. They feared that this Son of Man would incite the Romans to use force and possibly destroy the temple and the city. So they decided to sentence Jesus to death rather than risk a conflict between the Son of Man and Rome. Then they brought Jesus to Pilate and this happened.
Mark 15:1 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” 3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 9 Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 18 And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
Pontius Pilate was an upper-middle-class Roman with political ambition. In 26AD he was appointed by Emperor Tiberius as the fifth praefectus of Judea. Later he became the procurator and had full control over the province. His army contained 120 cavalry and over 3000 infantry organized into 4 or 5 cohorts. As procurator, Pilate had control over life and death. Pilate was essentially the King of the Jews.
The ruling Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, could only sentence someone to death with Pilate’s approval. Pilate was in control He appointed the High Priest. The vestments worn by the High Priest were in his control and were only released at important festivals which he attended. Pilate ruled from Caesarea where his army was stationed. A garrison was also stationed at the fortress Antonia near Jerusalem.
There were many complaints against Pilate. The first-century historian Josephus tells us that the relationship between Pilate and the Jews was hostile. When Pilate first arrived in Judea he ordered banners with the portrait of Emperor Tiberius to be hung in Jerusalem. This infuriated the Jews who viewed this as a violation of the second commandment prohibiting idolatry. After six days of violence, Pilate removed the banners from the holy city and hung them in Caesarea.
The first-century Jewish writer, Philo, tells us that Pilate has five gold shields made in honor of Emperor Tiberius and placed them in his home. This too caused problems and Pilate moved the shields to a pagan temple in Caesarea.
The biggest complaint against Pilate was that he was stealing money from the Temple treasury. He was using the money from the temple to build an aqueduct to provide water for the city. A crowd of ten thousand demonstrated against Pilate for this outrage at one of the festivals and Pilate sent troops into the city in disguise and slaughtered many of the protestors. This angered Herod, the king of Galilee, because many of the victims were his people.
Pilate finally got into trouble with Rome when he slaughtered a large group of Samaritan pilgrims coming to Mt. Gerizim. A group of Samaritans went to Vitellius, the Governor of Syria, to complain about Pilate’s actions. Vitellius ordered Pilate to Rome in 37AD and tradition tells us he committed suicide.
A coin minted by Pilate for use in Judea can be seen in the British Museum. It is made of copper and has the emperor’s religious insignia, the liutus or augur’s staff, and the pagan libation bowl.
By all accounts, Pilate was stubborn, harsh, rigid, spiteful, and wrathful. His primary concern was to please his Roman superiors and this meant he needed to keep the lid on unrest by his Jewish subjects. (D.H. Wheaton, New Bible Dictionary 1996, pp. 929-30) And this was the guy to whom the Sanhedrin brought Jesus.
When Jesus was brought before Pilate the main question was whether or not Jesus was the “King of the Jews'' and therefore a usurper of the Emperor’s authority. This question was far different from what the Sanhedrin had asked Jesus. They wanted to know if he was the messiah. Jesus had answered the Sanhedrin’s questions positively but he gave no reply to Pilate’s questions. Jesus didn’t claim to be King of the Jews. In fact, this question was never answered because all Pilate really wanted was to satisfy the crowd, and if they wanted Jesus dead so be it.
The Apostle Peter was a witness to all of this and this is what he later said:
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
17 “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.
As Peter makes very clear the sentence of death that was given to Jesus was not the fault of the Jewish authorities who whipped up the crowd. The death of Jesus was not the fault of the crowd who called for his crucifixion. The death of Jesus was not the fault of the soldiers who mocked him. The death of Jesus was not even the fault of Pilate, under whose authority Jesus was executed. No, all of these people acted in complete ignorance that Jesus had come to earth to suffer for our sake, so that our sins might be forgiven, so that we might be reconciled to God, and that we might receive eternal life. All of this was made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross where all of our debts were paid in full and our sins washed away. Jesus was sentenced to death by God whose plan was to restore the relationship between God and us.
This saving grace comes to us through the death of Jesus Christ. Grace is greater than the sin of being a Roman tyrant. The saving grace that comes to us through the crucifixion is greater than the sin of not recognizing Jesus as the messiah. The saving grace of Christ’s sacrifice is greater than the sin of the crowd who demand his death. And the saving grace of Jesus is greater even than the sin of Pilate who put political expediency over everything else.
So if the saving grace of Jesus Christ is greater than all of this it must be greater than any of our sins. And this is really good news for us because it means that whatever sin we have done in our lives that sin will not survive our journey with Jesus to the cross. So whatever guilt you are carrying with you today, whatever shame you hold onto, confess it to Jesus and receive from him full forgiveness and restoration and eternal life.
What Pilate did, unintentionally, was a gift for us. God used Pilate to give us the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
Jesus Christ, keep up our spirits as we walk with you to the cross. Help us to keep our focus on the cross which is for us a symbol of the saving grace that God gives us through your death. Bless all of us with that grace and help us to experience forgiveness for our sin, reconciliation with God, and newness of life in you. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment