Luke 23:13-25 The Message
13-16 Then Pilate called in the high priests, rulers, and the others and said, “You brought this man to me as a disturber of the peace. I examined him in front of all of you and found there was nothing to your charge. And neither did Herod, for he has sent him back here with a clean bill of health. It’s clear that he’s done nothing wrong, let alone anything deserving death. I’m going to warn him to watch his step and let him go.”
18-20 At that, the crowd went wild: “Kill him! Give us Barabbas!” (Barabbas had been thrown in prison for starting a riot in the city and for murder.) Pilate still wanted to let Jesus go, and so spoke out again.
21 But they kept shouting back, “Crucify! Crucify him!”
22 He tried a third time. “But for what crime? I’ve found nothing in him deserving death. I’m going to warn him to watch his step and let him go.”
23-25 But they kept at it, a shouting mob, demanding that he be crucified. And finally they shouted him down. Pilate caved in and gave them what they wanted. He released the man thrown in prison for rioting and murder, and gave them Jesus to do whatever they wanted.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Imagine a Moment: When a Decision Has to Be Made
As governor over Judea, Pontius Pilate was responsible for maintaining order and quelling civil disruption within his jurisdiction.
He was accustomed to using and wielding his power and influence to determine the outcome for any issue brought before him, those awaiting their sentence.
But imagine if you can the undeniable tension of Jesus’ arrival in his courtroom which immediately confronted Gov. Pilate with the greatest dilemma of his life.
Accompanied by a large crowd of religious officials, with the gathering of the mob of people curious at what is going on, Jesus was now brought before Pilate.
When Pilate pressed the mob and asked them explicitly, “What evil has he done?” all they seemed able to do was to raise their chorus of voices louder.
Now, I have always been taught that a raised voice is often indicative of a weak or non existent argument.
King Herod had examined Jesus and found Jesus was no threat and sent him back to Pilate for his final judgement.
Governor Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, there were no charges to be brought against Jesus and so he essentially declared to all those assembled,
“I find no guilt in this man.
But the cries of the Temple Authorities and the crowd grew more demanding and more insistent, and more threatening to the authority of Pilate and Peace in the land and I can hear how Pilate must have started big time doubting himself, asking himself, “I have to decide now, What can I do with this Jesus of Nazareth?
“Not Guilty” But Being Sentenced to Die Anyway
Essentially, Governor Pilate, the chief political authority had to decide in that exact moment; “What do I do now with this wild mob, this innocent man Jesus?”
“Yield to the obviously right thing to do – to release an innocent Man?”
“Yield to the Temple Authorities whom he must still peacefully govern Judea?”
“Yield to the growing unrest of the gathered mob who were probably unaware or generally uninformed or minimally educated of the whole purpose of the gathering or like the Temple Authorities, wanted Jesus to be gone from their midst because they were more afraid of Caesar and his well trained Armies?”
“Yield to the Ultimate Authority and absolute Sovereignty of God without whom Governor Pontius Pilate would have no authority over anyone (John 19:11)?”
Pilate wanted to release Jesus.
He knew that he should release Jesus.
The Political Pilate had all the political authority he needed to release Jesus.
But Pilate instead capitulated to his desire to placate the crowd and to maintain favor with the religious leaders, and the voices of the frenzied throng prevailed.
Governor Pilate’s dilemma is not unfamiliar to us.
In fact, it is the great dilemma that confronts men and women in authority: having that authority, wielding that power, what to do with Jesus of Nazareth.
Pilate came face-to-face with the Son of God and heard His testimony from His own lips—and still he chose the world, all of the noise of that rising crescendo attached to the “mob mentality” over bending his knee to the King of kings.
Political Decisions made at the highest levels of Government swaying to those who make the loudest noise, threaten the greatest violence to peace in the land.
“100% Pro” God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit?
“100% Crucify” God, the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit?
Who do we fear the most?
The Authority and the Armies of Caesar?
What do we value the most?
The loss of our own authority, the loss of our control, the loss of our jobs?
What becomes our Steadfast and Immovable, Unyielding Affirmation of Faith?
No matter what or who may come, we value the Lord our God over everything?
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 The Message
4 Attention, Israel!
God, our God! God the one and only!
5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!
6-9 Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
Or we let the political authorities and the noise of every single mob who comes to threaten our peace, threaten our belief systems with shouts of “crucify him?”
What was God Doing in that “Pressure Cooker?”
Even with and within all of that adverse pressure of the moment, In Jesus’ sentencing, God’s eternal plan of salvation unfolded in a moment in time.
Jesus always claimed the absolute sovereignty of God over him and everything else including the weight of the politics and the violent intentions of the mob.
Jesus was unwavering in his stated beliefs that God absolutely remained God.
No matter what else happened to him, God was always in absolute command.
Jesus knew he had no reason to be afraid of what would happen to him.
The Temple Authorities were not ever going to change their minds.
The mob was not going to lessen their call for crucifixion one tiny bit.
If anything, the mob would only get bigger and even significantly louder.
Jesus knew the truth, the whole truth ,nothing but the truth of Almighty God.
Jesus was not accused and condemned for His own sin.
He was not dying for Himself.
He was dying for us.
He who was totally innocent became totally guilty in order that we who are totally guilty might be declared completely innocent. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
All of Pilate’s attempts to dismiss Jesus, to turn Him over for other officials to pass judgment, to wipe his hands clean of the matter, didn’t work.
All of the scorning and violence of the gathered mobs did not compel Jesus to put down his cross and renounce his Father in Heaven, and walk off the stage.
Neither will anyone’s politics.
Neither will anyone’s polling or winning vote count.
Neither will anyone’s Governing political authority or influence cause a believer to renounce their steadfast, immovable, unyielding faith, in their Savior Jesus.
Neither will anyone’s efforts to use the battering ram of “mob mentality.”
Neither will anyone else’s efforts at censorship to dismiss the resurrection.
Our only authentic hope, our only genuinely living hope in life and in our death is to praise, respond in our hearts to the glory of what happened on the cross.
Like Governor Pontius Pilate, we face a choice: either we bow our knee to Christ and His lordship or we capitulate to the pressures of the surrounding culture.
And while that is a choice, decision we make in the privacy of our hearts, it is one that ultimately reveals itself, as it did with Pilate, in what we say when all those around us are urging us to deny the rule or goodness of our Savior Christ.
However loud those voices become,
We too will always have our private and public choices to make,
We will always be pressured by the politics of the moment and the politicians and every single sway and nuances of their political ideologies, to sway us into some range of similar thinking that we would continue to vote then into office.
But ultimately, if you and I are God’s Children, then be ready to stand for Him!
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Affirm our Faith and Pray,
Affirmation
I refuse to believe that we are unable to influence the events around us.
I refuse to believe we are bound by the politics of racism, war, and injustice.
I believe those around me are my brother and my sister in Christ Jesus.
I believe in dignity every day and that our brokenness can be healed.
I believe in integrity every day and that God is the Way, the Truth, the Life.
I believe we can overcome oppression and violence, without resorting to it.
This means I seek to know more of God, to reject revenge and retaliation.
I remember, “Hate cannot drive out hate: only the light, love of God can.”
Here we are Lord,
on our knees,
Crying mercy;
Mercy for our souls,
Mercy for one another,
Mercy for our churches,
Mercy for our nation,
mercy for our world.
Here we are again
Standing in your presence
in awe of you your holiness,
your otherness,
your mystery,
and your incarnation
We stand bringing the needs of our friends, family, church,
community, nation and world to lay at your feet.
We cry out in pain for the struggles of the world.
We cry out for those who are in pain, sick, in the hospital, rehab,
homebound, nursing homes and those on their death bead.
We cry out for the divisions and conflict that seems to be in our lives,
our families, our churches, our communities, our nation and our world.
We cry out for those who live in poverty, those who are starving,
those who are in prisons, and those who live under oppression.
Lord, pour out your mercy
like healing, comforting rain.
Amen.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 