Sermon – Crucifixion – Have you Counted the Cost?
Matthew 27:32-44
Last 24 Hour Sermon – 6th in the Series
Jim Whittaker
[powerpoint – show evidence how people were crucified]
Have the smaller cross carried in
Counting the Costs:
In February 2001, John Oros spoke to an audience at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary about his experience as a church leader in Romania during the Communist era:
"During communism, many of us preached and people came at the end of a service, and they said, 'I have decided to become a Christian.'
We told them, 'It is good that you want to become a Christian, but we would like to tell you that there is a price to be paid. Why don't you reconsider what you want to do, because many things can happen to you. You can lose, and you can lose big.'
A high percentage of these people chose to take part in a three-month catechism class. At the end of this period, many participants declared their desire to be baptized. Typically, I would respond, 'It is really nice that you want to become a Christian, but when you give your testimony there will be informers here who will jot down your name. Tomorrow the problems will start. Count the cost. Christianity is not easy. It's not cheap. You can be demoted. You can lose your job. You can lose your friends. You can lose your neighbors. You can lose your kids who are climbing the social ladder. You can lose even your life.'
Let me tell you my joy when we looked into their eyes, and their eyes were in tears, and they told us, 'If I lose everything but my personal relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ, it is still worth it.' "
From: Preaching Illustrations [thisweek@preachingillustrations.com]
Intro and Facts:
Last week we talked about Jesus being scourged or flogged. Though there might be different opinions on what this looked like, we do know this – people died of scourging. Jesus after being scourged would have carried his cross to the crucifixion site. More than likely Jesus would have carried only the cross beam that probably weighed 75 to 100 pounds as the whole cross might have weighed upwards to 300 pounds. We know that even this was more than Jesus could carry as Simon the Cyrene helped Jesus finish this journey to the place called the skull or the place of the skull. This [Calvary-Latin or Golgotha-Hebrew] could be a rock outcrop to look like a skull or it meant the place of skulls meaning there were plenty of skeletons or remains in the area. In any case, any good Jew seeking to go the temple area would have stayed clear from these places of death, but the Romans wanted people to see them so they would put them close to the roads or pathways to the city. The cross would only have been 6 to 9 feet as the Romans wanted you to see the eyes of the victim. There were multiple forms of the cross and multiple forms of crucifixion. The scriptures tell us that there were nail wounds in both Jesus’ hands and feet. The wrist area would have still been considered part of the hand and may have been there. If Jesus actually did have a nail through the hand, he also probably had ropes tied around his wrist to help support the weight or the nail would have been driven in the part of the hand closest to the wrist. The Romans wanted to humiliate those they crucified so more than likely, Jesus would have been naked as we read in the scriptures they gambled for his seamless garment. It was too expensive to gut and share with one another. Jesus would have died of asphyxiation or from a heart attack due to the stress of the event.
Truly, Jesus paid a steep cost with his death in one of the cruelest ways to die. We would be deluding ourselves if we said there is no cost to those who believe in the saving grace of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship said it best – it is cheap grace that only requires an hour on Sunday morning in our living (51). Bonhoeffer also said cheap grace is “the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance” (44). It is interesting that Ron Sider in The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience said this (forgiveness without life change) is a modern day heresy “that is flatly unfaithful to the Jesus they worship as Lord and God. Only if we recover Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom and allow its power to transform….will we be faithful to Jesus” (63). Bonhoeffer continues, “cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ” (45). Jesus gave a costly grace. Last week, we defined this event as a grace event. Grace was given when we didn’t deserve it. Grace was given when we couldn’t forgive ourselves. Grace was given even when we fail to realize our own sin. Yet at the actual crucifixion, the people around Jesus do not seem to be full of grace. In other words, grace has not resulted in life change. The bottom line is: They haven’t accepted or lived into God’s kingdom, because God’s kingdom is not a bunch of rules that we obey (legalism) or rules that we know we will break so we just keep on sinning. No, grace is life change. Romans says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Yet, could we be one of these in today’s scripture? - The passerby, the religious establishment, or a thief. First, the passerby.
The passerby – the Good Samaritan
Those who passed by Jesus as they walked down the road, gave him insults. ‘You said you would destroy the temple and rebuilt it in three days, save yourself.” Paul understood what Jesus meant by temple as he says in I Corinthians 3:16, “do you not know your bodies are God’s temple?” Jesus had taught with the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke, that when we see someone who has had some misfortune, we are to stop what we are doing, and help that person. Instead of help, sympathy, or comforting the family, Jesus got derision, discouragement, and insults. Those passerbyers were antithetical to what it means to follow God. That means their life showed the exact opposite of what you would expect from someone who says they are living out God’s kingdom here on earth.
The fact is we can be a passerby as well. A passerby didn’t take the time to get to know Jesus just as the good Samaritan parable revealed about many people. Only an enemy took time to stop. All the rest were hurrying on their way. There were appointments, sports meets, family, grocery shopping, and a lot of needed things. Their life was too busy for a serious consideration of a person in trouble. Likewise, a busy life will often lead to one passing by Jesus. In fact, we might get to where we enjoy our busy life with just a little bit of Jesus and make fun of those who give Jesus more consideration – who give them their life. Who have answered the call, to deny ourselves and pick up the cross.
Simon of Cyrene picked up the cross. Can you imagine how he felt? He was in the wrong place at the wrong time or was in the right place at the right time. His life was forever changed.
A great test might be the story of the Good Samaritan. Let’s be honest. The Good Samaritan is a story of inconvenience. Can we be inconvenienced for God’s greater good? Can we be inconvenienced to worship God. Let’s be real. Sometimes Sunday is an inconvenience. When do we get to the point that our life by its actions begins to throw insults at Jesus? We can be deluded by our own busy life to not take Jesus seriously.
The religious elite
The harshest critics were the religious elite of Jesus’ day. You say you are the Son of God, then save yourselves. We said last week that there was only one unforgiveable sin and that was the refusal to believe in the saving work of God. God’s grace is there for all. God’s grace can cover all sins and shortcomings of being human, but God’s grace can’t cover unbelief.
It is hard to believe, but the religious elite were not believers. They did not believe even after Jesus arose from the dead. They did not believe when Jesus was alive. The greatest insult you can throw at Jesus is to live your life like you don’t believe. We might say we are a believer, but what does our life say. There is a saying that says, “The only book some will read is your life.” What does it say?
When we live like Christ is not the most important thing in our life. That’s like saying, You don’t believe that he was the Son of God sent to save sinners. That’s an insult. It’s like saying I want some of Boneheoffer’s cheap grace that Ron Sider called a heresy when we live as if we don’t believe that God intends to transform lives so we can start living into the Kingdom of God now. That’s a tragic consequence of not believing how that Jesus lived. Adam Hamilton says we are left here on this earth after we accept Christ as our Savior so that we can pull up weeds in God’s garden. That is to rid this world of evil one soul at a time as we also battle against the evil powers of this world.
The truth is – it is easier to live in unbelief that we often realize. You don’t believe in the power of God? Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe that God has called you to live a life for him? The truth is if we live like everybody else where is the witness of Christ? In the early church, Tertullian was amazed at the love Christians showed. Justin the Apostate wanted to stamp out Christianity but he said they are the only ones helping our poor. It is said that the devil wants every Christian to be inoculated with just a little bit of Jesus – just enough so they won’t search for what a real relationship with Jesus would look like and not so much that they really do anything for Jesus.
I find it unbelievable but the religious elite didn’t believe. That trend though even today as we replace the saving grace of Jesus Christ message with anything else. We might replace it with the Social Gospel. As Methodists that’s a real danger and I do believe that some leaders are more interested in making a political correct statement that they are of saving souls.
Luke 19:10 says “the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” What did Luke give us as Jesus’ last instruction to his disciples: “that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:47).
If we don’t have a burden for the lost, then we don’t believe what Jesus said. Even today, our religious leaders can be unbelievers. Even today people who practice religion can be unbelievers.
The Thieves
The scriptures tell us that even the thieves beside him deride him. This is insult upon insult. Even those being crucified beside you put you down. The scriptures say they treated Jesus the same way. They were unbelievers, yet through the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, one of the thieves sees Jesus for who he is. There we find one of the most remarkable words of scripture. Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom (Luke 23:42).
We might say the thief had nothing to lose, he was condemned to die.
We too are condemned to die. “For the wages of sin is death.” I suppose you could say the same thing. We have nothing to lose in believing Jesus Christ and everything to gain. Listen to the words that Jesus told the thief.
“Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
Is there any part of your life where in essence your life’s actions are saying to Jesus, you are not that important to me? We need to be like the thief and believe in the unbelievable. Believe in the impossible. Believe in the incomprehensible all for the glory of God. Jesus’ grace was too costly to not take seriously. If in anyway, we are not fully living into the Kingdom of God, we are saying I want the cheap grace version where nothing is required. That is a heresy. Jesus warned us that living a life for him would be hard. He said we must first, deny ourselves and pick up our cross. Jesus wants all of you. Not a part of you. He paid too great of a price to be taken lightly. Count the costs, and pick up the cross. Amen.
Sermon – Grace Greater Than Our Sin
Matthew 27:27-31
5th Sunday of Lent; March 21, 2010
Jim Whittaker
[powerpoint with historical locations]
[video: Arthur and the Invisibles – Sacrificial Love]
Sacrificial Love - that means you love at a cost. Certainly this King showed a love for his children that put the whole city at risk. There is a risk in loving. Love requires sacrifice. We might reflect on our own lives and what we might do for our own children. Just think, how God the father or parent must have felt to allow his son to be sacrificed for us to demonstrate his love for us.
As we come closer to the cross, we are reminded that Jesus suffered a cruel torture to show his love for us. In our 24 hour walk, it is Friday. Jesus will be crucified on Friday. It is about 9am. The sentence of condemnation has been passed on Jesus. Either right before or right after the condemnation, the soldiers get their hands on Jesus. It was called the King’s Games.
Sacrificial Love
The Facts: The Kings Games
We have walked this journey in others shoes. We have found ourselves in Peter, the Sanhedrin, and even Pilate. Our human nature comes through. We are sinners in need of a savior. As we move through this last part, our focus will be on the selfless giving of Christ. Peter denied Christ, but God’s grace was great enough to overcome Peter’s denial. As Romans says, “Christ demonstrated his love toward us even though we were sinners.” This is God’s love story to us. This is a story of grace that comes to us at a great cost. This cost was foretold by scripture:
Isaiah 52:13, “just as there were many who were astonished at him – so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance.”
Psalm 22:14 says, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.”
The 10th legion of Roman soldiers were assigned to the Antonia Fortress right at the temple mount. They were mercenaries known for their brutality. Most did not want to be assigned to this post. The Jews were a constant problem. For that reason, they took their brutality and frustrations out on their victims. Jesus was one of those victims. When the scriptures say Jesus was flogged, it meant he was beat with rods and whips. The whips would have been leather with sharp objects and metal balls tied onto their end. It was designed to inflict as much pain and damage to the body as possible. It was thought that 40 lashes would kill a person. Jesus is traditionally thought to have had 39 lashes. Muscle and veins would most likely be visible. Blood would have poured out on the robe.
This flogging was thought to be a game to the soldiers. The soldiers rolled dice to see who would get to inflict the punishment on the prisoner. The game consists of a circle. The circle represents the circle of life. As they moved objects along this game when a line crosses the circle of life circle, it represents death. The scorpion represents the 10th Roman legion. This was a type of Russian Roulette, but in this version the winner rather than dying themselves, they got to let the prisoner take his place. Jesus died for the soldier.
In theological terms, Jesus took our place. It is called the substitution understanding of the atonement. We said Barabbas was the first to understand Jesus took his place. The soldier playing the game would have been the 2nd to understand Jesus took his place.
Isaiah 55:5, “he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole.”
This concept of substitution goes back to Moses’ law. In Leviticus, it is described how on the day of atonement, two goats would be taken. One would be slaughtered, and the other one would be taken out side the camp. The priest would confess all of the sins of the people and let the goat go free. This is the scape goat. This goat was allowed to escape because of the sacrifice of the other goat.
Because of Jesus, we are allowed to escape the death penalty that is out on all who are not living for God. By grace, our sins have been paid for. We will never be good enough for salvation, but there is one that was. His name was Jesus. He died for us so that we could be free.
Jesus would have been stripped of his clothes, beaten, and then was clothed to look like a king. A purple robe was placed on him to show royalty. A crown of thorns with thorns 3 to 4 inches long was placed on his head. A common reed was place like a king’s scepter, and they mockingly bowed before him. Mark tells us that this happened before the whole cohort of soldiers. This would be 300 to 600 soldiers.
We now believe that the common practice would be for the prisoner to carry the cross beam of the cross. The pole of the cross probably remained in place. The bible tells us it was at Calvary or Golgotha both meaning the place of the skull. There are two traditional sites where Jesus may have been crucified. One looks like a skull and was not taken as a possible crucifixion site until 1880 when an Englishman decided to preserve the site as an historic holy site. The most common site is the church of the Sepulchre which is a church where the 2nd floor is mount Calvary. The first floor is the grave site.
This site is only about 1/3 mile from Pilate’s House. It probably took Jesus 30 minutes to make that short trek. More than likely all this took place before 9am. Mark tells us that Jesus was on the cross by the first watch or about 9am.
Reflection: Love Doesn’t Keep Score
Human brutality
It is hard to believe that humans could be as brutal as they were with Jesus. While we usually use the Jewish Holocaust as the pinnacle event of brutality, during out life time, there has been the Serbian ethnic cleansing, the Rwanda mass murders, the brutality and murders in South Africa. This doesn’t even get to the places that we don’t know for sure like Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and China. We would like to say that we do not experience things like this in the US, but in fact there are hate crimes regarding sexuality and race. There are moments of insanity where people are killed at random. We have shown the world what it means for one high school student to shoot others. Virginia Tech experienced this at the college level. In the War with Iraq, our own torture techniques of water boarding has been suggested as going too far for humane treatment.
As part of our tour in Israel, we went through the Holocaust museum. It was more than I could take. Picture after picture. Video after video. Historical fact after historical fact. Yes, humans are capable of great brutality. We see this from the very beginning as Cain kills Abel.
If I were Jesus, after I rose from the dead, I would have let those Romans have it. They deserved it for their brutality, but Grace tells another story. Grace is a love that is so great that it doesn’t keep score.
Grace
· Grace allows Paul to write a letter to the Romans and say how he wanted to come and visit with them and tell them about Christ.
· Grace allows Peter in the book of Acts ch. 2 to tell the Jewish people they had crucified Jesus who was God. They said what shall we do? Peter said, repent and believe. 3,000 people were saved on that day.
· Grace allows Peter in the book of Acts ch. 10 to go to the Roman centurion (soldier) who told him that he had seen a vision from God. Peter preached to the Roman soldier, they put him (Jesus) to death on the tree, but God has raised him from the tree. Peter says he has been called as a witness to preach forgiveness in Jesus name, while Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius. Peter said what can keep him from being baptized and also baptized Cornelius into the church.
· Grace allows for the same empire that crucified Jesus on the cross to 300 years later accept Christianity as their national religion.
Grace though didn’t start then. God has always been a God of grace. Moses was a murderer yet he led the people out of Israel. David the greatest King ever who continuously showed restraint toward King Saul, but he also was a murderer and an adulterer. Yet God was able to say, David was a man who sought God’s heart. This is grace. There is never a place that you can go that God’s grace can’t find you, forgive you, and put you on your journey toward living a life for God.
Where do we fit in?
There are two errors that we might make as we evaluate ourselves.
1. We might think that we are unworthy.
Due to events, life circumstances, or just plain out bad decisions, we might think that God could never love us. The first real boyfriend our daughter had was charged with vehicular homicide while driving drunk. He lost his driving license for 2 years. This boy was in need of forgiveness yet often we might pile guilt upon them by saying you should have known better. It’s quite obvious after the fact, that he should have known better. The key is can an individual forgive themselves?
The answer is yes. Why? Because, Christ has first forgiven you. Once you have accepted God’s forgiveness, perhaps only then can we forgive ourselves.
Another error is this.
2. We think we are too good for forgiveness.
Just as we can experience bad things in our life making us think we can’t be forgiven, it is possible for your life to be good enough that you can’t see any reason that God needs to forgive you of anything. I remind us all, we are all capable of doing horrendous things. Just as none of us are too bad, that God can’t forgive us, none of us are too good so that we do not need forgiveness.
We forget that we are selfish, prideful, have our own prejudices, and often just refuse to listen to what God wants to do in our life.
In need of forgiveness?
We have a savior who gave everything for us. He risked everything. He gave his life in obedience to God the father for the sin of his people. That’s us.
Need a new start. That’s Jesus’ specialty. He gives new life for the downtrodden. Jesus suffered and died so that we could live. When Peter preached to the Jews after Pentecost he told them you or even we have crucified Jesus. They responded, “what shall we do?” Peter’s response mirrors Jesus’ – “Repent and believe.”
Amen.
24: The last Hours of Jesus and the World Changed
Sermon #4 – Choices Shape our Future – Matthew 27:15-23
March 14, 2009
Jim Whittaker
Powerpoint: Show slides of the Lithostrotos
Video Theme: Choices – Wilberforce Video, “Amazing Grace.” Can you be a politician, a political activist, and a Christian?
Choices. We all have to make choices. Moses and Joshua I think said it best, “choose this day whom you will serve, God or the World (Baal).” There are many choices being made in today’s text. We will look at these choices: why they were made, and then their consequences.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
(From the Poem Invictus, by William Ernest Henley) – Used in the movie, “Invictus.”
Our story today reveals Jesus has now appeared before the Sanhedrin and has been condemned to die. The Jews do not have the authority to take a life, but the Romans do. It is about 6am in the morning. The leaders of the Sanhedrin make their way to Pilate’s house. It might take about 20 minutes. The Jews do not want to become unclean and not celebrate the Sabbath so they do not go into Pilate’s house; rather, he is summoned to come out. Pilate does not see any reason for this man Jesus to die. Neither does Herod. His wife Claudia has had a dream that Jesus is innocent. Pilate again is faced with Jesus and tries to release him. The crowd is against him. He does a Jewish symbolic act of washing his hands of the whole thing and renders judgment. Crucify him. Three choices were made. We will look at all three: Pilate, Herod, and the crowd.
Choice #1 – Peer Pressure - I don’t want any trouble or I want to just fit in.
It is quite obvious in the text that Pilate believes Jesus has done nothing wrong. He has questioned Jesus. He has heard of Jesus’ deeds no doubt. John tells us that Jesus told Pilate his kingdom was not of this world. Pilate over and over tries to release Jesus from the initial time that he found no wrong in this man (John 18:38), with his repeated attempts to free Jesus the Christ versus Jesus Barabbas (Luke 23:18-22), and his attempt to hand him off to Herod (Luke 23:6-12). From my count, 4 different times Pilate tried to get out of condemning Jesus to death. If you count the time that Pilate washed his hands (Matthew 27:24), then a total of 5 times, Pilate tried to free Jesus. Yet, the story tells us he handed Jesus over to be crucified (Matthew 27:26). Pilate would have had to sit in the judgment seat and make that proclamation. His choice has been made.
History has treated Pilate mixed. The Eastern Orthodox church think both Pilate and Claudia became Christians. Claudi is honored as a saint. Pontius commits suicide in remorse after being recalled from his governor’s position. Mel Gibson in the movie Passion portrays Pilate as a man wanting to do the right thing. Other traditions tell us that he was recalled from his post as procurator or governor of the province to answer to allegations that he had used mass murder to quell what he thought was a riot in Samaria. The people prevailed. Pilate lost his post. Tradition says that he committed suicide and his body was thrown in the river and the river rejected it. He was taken to the Rhine River. It rejected him. He was taken to a lake. It rejected him. He finally was buried at a small mountain. Saint – Sinner. I guess that is where we all are. We are defined by our choices.
One thing that is for sure – you cannot escape making choices. We might think we can. Pilate tried that game by washing his hands, but he ultimately had the responsibility. It was Pilate’s decision and no one elses. He tried to give it away. He couldn’t. He tried to not claim responsibility, but he couldn’t do it.
What Pilate did do was this – he allowed the people to make his choice for him. Peer Pressure in 30AD.
No matter how you look at it, Pilate allowed the Jewish authorities to make the choice for him. Just as with all peer pressure, only we, only I am responsible for my actions.
I cannot change how people respond to me, but I can change how I respond to them. Did Pilate know he was crucifying the Savior? No, but he did know Jesus was an innocent man. Morally what he did was wrong. He allowed the crowd to push him in a morally compromising position at best or a totally immoral judgment on an innocent person at worst. Pilate failed himself, because he allowed the world not God tell him what to do. Just because the religious leaders thought Jesus needed to die, did not make it right. They will all answer for their own sin. Pilate will answer for his. We will answer for our own.
Have we allowed the world, people, friends compromise us? Lead us in a way that we know is wrong? How many young person has compromised themselves with drugs or alcohol? How many marriages have failed due to a compromised spouse? Surely, this should be enough to tell us that we cannot compromise our faith. Choose this day whom you will serve – God or the world.
Choice #2 – I have no Responsibility
As I watched the film clip of William Wilberforce, I saw the conflict of carrying out your job and living out your faith. Can you do both? I believe you can, but there is a cost for each decision we make. As well, there is also a consequence for each decision we make.
Herod – Will not Commit (story told in Luke)
In Mel Gibson’s “The Passion,” King Herod came across as a fun loving, partier and probably really not fit to rule had quite a bit of curiosity about Jesus. He was so glad that Pilate sent him Jesus on that day that they became friends. They had been bitter enemies before. Herod was hoping Jesus would do a miracle. I remember the words in Jesus Christ Superstar where Herod said he was hoping “Jesus would walk across his swimming pool.”
Herod appears to be very interested in Jesus. He is enthusiastic about seeing him, but he too sees an innocent man brought up on charges. Herod decides to do nothing. He could have stopped the whole charade right there, but no – it was not his responsibility.
When it comes to helping the poor, the weak, the children, the elderly, often our response is the same – it is not my responsibility, but Herod merely avoided his own responsibility. He had authority. He could have acted, but no do nothing was easier.
I guess doing nothing is always easier. It is how for many year, I avoided God’s call on my life. Didn’t say no. Just didn’t do anything. How much would the life of any church, not just this church instead of saying no, it is not my responsibility, we would say Yes for the glory of God.
While Pilate’s response was compromised, Herod refuses even to act – both are a cop out.
Choice #3 – For Selfish Gain
The worst choice though is made by the crowd. We have known that the religious leaders were only looking after themselves. They were scared of Jesus. They reacted out of that fear to get rid of the perceived threat to their power and their religious order. We might say their decision was made for selfish gain. The Bible describes this attitude as mammon. Possessions for the sake of having possessions. What we own or who we work for becomes what defines us and it is done only to life the self up.
Consider this: Pilate gave the crowd a choice. This is not a well documented practice, but one that at least one year that was done. That was in honor of the Passover where the Israelites had been set free from the Egyptians, Pilate was willing to free a prisoner. He gave them a choice.
It is Matthew that tells us Barabbas’ first name. It is Jesus. Jesus means savior or deliverer. What Pilate did was offer them 2 saviors on that day. The Barabbas savior was built on violence, national pride that had eclipsed religious convictions, and even murder. Barabbas had one goal and that was to overthrow the Roman government and free the Jewish people. He wasn’t about right or wrong. He was about his national identity. If the Romans won’t give it to us, we will take it.
Compare him to Jesus the Christ. Jesus was known as a healer. It was obvious at this point that he was not going to lead an insurrection against the Roman government. His way was of peace. His kingdom was not of this world. There probably could not have been a more drastic comparison. For Pilate, this seemed to be a no brainer. Surely the people would want Jesus the Christ – the healer, but this was the choice he gave them.
Do you want a savior built on might, power, violence, and destruction or a savior built on forgiveness, love, mercy, and kindness to strangers? While we know by the story that Jesus the Christ is the correct answer, it is all too easy to rely on our government in warfare, our politicians to get the congressional balance right, and to cast a blind eye to the death spiral we see other people in. Yes, it’s a lot easier than you think to say “free Barabbas.” It’s harder for us actually to take the way of love, forgiveness, and mercy. We all want that.
While I was watching movie preview for this summer, I saw a constant theme. There are lot of stories coming out this summer where good overtakes evil. That’s what we want, but that’s not what we always choose.
We have a choice to make – Barabbas or Jesus the Christ?
IV. The Right Choice
Jesus is the one in the story that gives us the right choice. Yes, Jesus made a choice. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane? He prayed that God’s will be done. That was a choice.
Jesus chose to not fight back. Matthew 26:52, “for all who take the sword, die by the sword.” Even though the charges were al bogus as given in Luke 23:2 where the religious leaders said he taught things contrary to the state, would not pay taxes, and was an insurrectionist because he wanted to be king. It’s hard to stand still when your enemy is lying right before you, but that is what Jesus did.
Adam Hamilton said he thought that Barbarrus was the first to realize the significance of Jesus’ actions. Jesus took his place. Though we might differ on how we understand Jesus’ death on the cross, there are illusions in scripture that Jesus took our place. Isaiah 53 says, he was “silent as a lamb led to a slaughter.” Isaiah also says “the Lord laid on him (the Messiah) the iniquity of us all.” In other words, Jesus died for us. He took our place. He made the choice to do God’s will. We also have the choice to do God’s will. Pilate compromised himself. Herod ignored the decision. The crowd chose self gain over their own salvation. What do we choose? The easy choice is the world. The hard choice is to follow God.
Joshua said, Choose this day whom you will serve and serve him either God or the world. So what is it today? What is your choice? Amen.
Sermon – Bound but not Gagged
Intro: PowerPoint slides of the steps Jesus walked up, and the prison where they put him.
Intro video: Alice in Wonderland – off with their heads.
Alice in Wonderland is a bizarre tale that has once again been made into a movie that was just released this past Friday. This particular scene of interrogation may even seem like sheer nonsense, but I ask you a question:
Was it not nonsense that the 71 most religious people of Israel would condemn Jesus to die?
That’s what we find in today’s reading. Jesus is led from the Garden of Gethsemane to the High Priest’s house in the lower city. This would be about a mile walk. Jesus was bound. He was shackled. It would have been hard to walk. He walked by the temple where they had only on Sunday been singing Psalm 118 which says “they rejected the chief cornerstone.” After he got into the lower city where the Pool of Siloam where Jesus had earlier healed a blind man with spit and dirt, Jesus would have had to walk up the stairs – plenty of them bound. We would have been in the middle of the night probably in the range of 2 to 4am. They would have put Jesus in the prison in the basement of the High Priest Caiaphas’ house. They would have lowered him by rope down in a hole. There would have been no light, but he probably could hear the plans that were being made. They were calling for an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin. This was unusual. There were protocols – kind of a Book of Discipline. You don’t meet at night. Normal meetings were held at the Temple. You don’t have meetings during religious festivals, but it was Passover. While it was unusual to have a called meeting in this way – not much advance notice, there was a place at the High Priest’s house made specifically for these 71 men. There is much tradition here as we go back to the time of Moses. Moses was told to pick out 70 men to help him with the tasks of administering disputes and procedures over the people of Israel. (71 in total including Moses). The Romans now took care of all civil administration, but the Jews and the Sanhedrin specifically still ruled over the religious order.
So here’s the scene, the 71 most religious men that could be found in Israel are setting up a trial to find some charge so that they can get rid of Jesus. This whole interrogation scene is scary and bizarre. Witnesses are brought forth to find some wrong that he has done. They find none. Nobody was concerned about the good he had done. Finally, they come up with that he would rebuild the temple in 3 days, but that couldn’t be a charge. They could find no charges against him so they prompted Jesus to give them something.
In our story today, we are going to look at 3 scenes: first the Sanhedrin, then Jesus, and then lastly Peter.
Did no one say, let’s don’t act in haste. The only possible hold outs might be Joseph of Arithemea and Nicodemus, but it was mob rule that night. Why kill a good man? Fear. Yes, fear will often keep us from doing what God wants us to do.
It was fear of the Protestants that led to the killing in the Spanish Inquisition.
Fear is part of who we are created to be. When I was ginseng hunting with my father-in-law and ran up to a den of 17 copperheads, it was fear that led me to run half way down the hill. Fear can help save us in a life and death situation, but it is also fear that will keep us from doing God’s work.
If we go back to Numbers in the Bible, and recall the witness of the 12 spies. 10 spies were fearful and said that there were giants in the land. In other words, the obstacles are too great. Caleb and Joshua gave the minority report, the grapes are huge. In other words the reward is great. Fear ruled the day. Israel was stopped from entering the Promise land for 40 years. This is an incredible story. God said I can’t do my work until the present generation dies off. Could we today do such a thing?
We are fearful when people act different than us, look different than us, or talk different than us. All we see is problems. Those 10 spies – that is all they saw. God had to let them die off. He didn’t disinherit them, but God’s work couldn’t be done. Two saw God’s vision and they remained alive to see God’s work carried out.
I read several stories this week where people were scarred for life because they had seen something happen in their life, but did nothing nor said nothing. No wonder that Joshua’s mantra for the people was “be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
It is fear that says to us, “surely we wouldn’t really want the people that nobody wants to come to our church, would we?”
There is something deeper going on here. Yes, some of those good religious people (71 of them) – somebody should have said something. This is a sham! This is a setup! This is not right! What we find is a deeper story. Good people – no matter how good you are – no matter how religious you are – no matter how many times you come to church are still flawed and broken people. We have a sin problem. Our human nature will allow fear keep us from a relationship with God. We are fearful of coming down the aisle to pray. Let me tell you something, we (everyone of us in this room) are in need of grace and that is why Jesus had to die. Even the best of the good people have a sinful nature and will do things completely contrary to who they feel they are. We are saved by grace. We can never be saved by works. That said though, what we do should reflect the grace we say we believe in.
No one said anything in the trial. No one said anything as they began to abuse Jesus – to slap him and tell him prophesize who hit you. No one stepped forward. No one.
Our Sunday School Class in Cary stepped forward to bring some children to church. That sounded simple enough. The mother was a nurse and worked on Sundays. She was going through a nasty divorce and wanted the children in church. The only thing was the children did not want to go with us strangers. The children were absolutely horrible in church. They acted out. They talked they got up. They swung their arms. I felt like jumping up and saying these really aren’t my children. It’s a hard thing to step forward.
I share with you these words from Martin Niemoeller, a Lutheran pastor in the time of WWII. “First they came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jesus and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time there was no one left to speak up anymore.”
We need to be sure that we don’t miss this very direct claim of Jesus. He in the time of fear, stood up and was courageous and said in the Gospel of Mark when asked was he the Messiah. In other words, are you God’s chosen Savior in the flesh?
He responded, “I AM.” Remember the words, I am are the words that God told Moses. What is your name? Tell them I am that I am. Everyone would have understood just with those 2 simple words that Jesus was saying I am God, but Jesus didn’t stop there – he courageously continued and quotes from Daniel 7 where the Son of Man is given “dominion, glory, and kingship” that will never be destroyed as he stood before God almighty, the “Ancient of Days.” If that was not enough, Jesus courageously continued quoting this time from Psalm 110 where king of Israel is enthroned and made the high priest over the temple that has overtures the King Melchizedek in Genesis who is thought to be the Messiah in the flesh in Abraham’s day. Jesus is claiming both a kingship and a priesthood that will last forever and all glory and honor will be given unto him because he is the Son of Man or the Son of God. Jesus at this moment is claiming every prophesy about the Messiah and is saying I am he. While others in the Sanhedrin were fearful to speak, Jesus spoke courageously. It cost him his life, but it gave us ours. We have life, because Jesus was willing to die in our behalf – for our sins, and our own fearfulness to act Godly when evil is in control. As Jesus looked his accusers eye to eye last week, this week Jesus courageously says yes I am the Messiah, the Son of God.
Adam Hamilton reminds us that Peter shows us both a boldness and a fearfulness. Peter was bold in that when everyone else ran, Peter actually goes into to the inner courtyard. If Peter would have gone in any further, he would have been with the Sanhedrin. That took guts. But, we also know that when things got rough, he chickened out. First, a woman accused him of being with Jesus in the inner court, and then again in the outer court, and then a whole crowd said his accent gave him away. He cursed God, and then Jesus walks out and looks Peter in the eye and the rooster crowed.
This is a story of our own redemption – Jesus says yes I am God. This is a story of our human condition. In essence, we were with the Sanhedrin. Good people who did and said nothing. We were Peter that night when things got tough, he flat our denied Jesus. Adam Hamilton reminded me that how did this story get out. Peter told it. Peter was humbled by it, but he was saying this. If Jesus can take me back, he can take anyone back. It is about grace. Jesus gives us grace. Even Judas if he had only waited, and seen Jesus resurrected, I am sure that he could have asked for grace. None of us has gone so far away from God that God’s grace can’t find us.
Where do you need to step up? Where do you need to lose the fear and be courageous?
Where have you denied Jesus? Have we denied him in our lack of actions, our lack of words, or even worse – our hypocrisy?
The truth is we all have. You have. I have. Come to God’s grace this morning. As Peter was forgiven and given boldness so can we. Jesus asked Peter do you love me? What is our answer, do we really love the Lord, Jesus?