Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
July 21, 2002 A.M.
Deciding What We Will Do With Jesus
Matthew 27.11-26
Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of Judea serving from 26 to 36 A.D. Little is known of Pilate's life before the year 26. The Jewish historian Josephus suggests that he was an Italian born citizen. And that he had served...
- Faithfully...
- Bravely...
- Courageously...
In the military before he came to Caesarea.
Pilate was appointed to the governorship by Tiberius to fill the post vacated when Rome removed the idiot son of Herod the Great for malfeasance. Pilate lived in Caesarea with his wife Claudia. Caesarea was the headquarters of the province which included most of Palestine... except Galilee. Pilate's official title was Pontius Pilate Praefectus... Pilate the perfect. This meant he was the military... financial... and judicial authority in the Providence.
Basically... His real job in Palestine was one of peace keeping. You see... Because the Jews refused to fight for Rome... The best Rome could hope for then was just to keep the peace in the country. This peace keeping responsibility always placed Pilate in Jerusalem on Feast Days. This played an important role in the narrative surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus.
Pilate got off on the wrong foot with the Jews from the very beginning. The day he marched into Jerusalem... The emblems... The images on the top of the Roman standards were of Caesar and the Roman eagle. The Jews saw these as a violation of the Ten Commandments ... Thou shall not make any graven image in the likeness of anything in heaven or on earth. Later, Pilate robbed the Temple Treasury to finance a public water project in the city of Jerusalem. The Jews never liked Pilate... NEVER!!
Pilate's governorship was terminated when his troops ruthlessly killed a group of Samaritan worshipers at Mt. Gerizim. He was called back to Rome to answer the Samaritan charges against him. Eusebius tells us that Pilate fell into such discord that he committed suicide.
Jesus was brought to Pilate because the Jews couldn't take a man's life. The Sanhedrin could sentence and punish an individual... But not kill him. That authority rested with Rome and the Roman Procurator... In this case Pilate.
The real issue this morning is the same as it has always been. What will we do with Jesus?... We must decide!! Pilate's struggle... Becomes our struggle. His problems... Our problems.
Let's see what we can learn here...
Pilate's first problem was that he wanted popularity without principle.
As we read the gospel narratives... We don't find Pilate anxious to harm Jesus... To do Him in. In fact... Scripture seems to indicate, that deep down, Pilate thought that Jesus was an alright fellow... Certainly not one worthy of death by crucifixion.
You see... Pilate was like many of us... He was willing to stand up for Jesus... As long as it didn't cost him too much... As long as he didn't have to pay a significant price.
The crowd shouted Kill Him... Kill Him. They insisted... If you let this man who claims to be king go... Then you are no friend of Caesar. Pilate was caught between doing what was right... And what was popular. Pilate was caught between...
- Doing what was RIGHT...
- And doing what was POLITICALLY CORRECT.
Have you ever been there? What does a man do in a situation like this? I'll tell you what we do...
- We act upon what our heart is made of...
- We act out of our convictions... our faith.
In the case of Pilate... His heart had a wrong focus... His convictions were:
- Me first...
- Preeminence...
- Political expediency...
- Political correctness first and foremost.
Pilate knew Jesus was innocent... He knew what he should have done with this Galilaean. But he did what was best for Pilate.
I recently read an article by Vance Havner... In which he wrote... I'm amazed at the way we equate Christianity with success.... popularity... and prosperity... Today, we have the idea that Christians are not supposed to run into trouble. We have become diplomats... not soldiers. We specialize in liaison... Not in loyalty to Jesus. Nowadays we are expected to get along with everything and everybody... Including the devil himself.
I believe the Apostle John addresses this very issue when he says... We must decide between this world and His world... Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the carvings of sinful man... The lust of his eyes... And the boastful pride of life... Comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away... But the man who does the will of God lives forever.
In today's church... We must become man and women of...
- Courage...
- Conviction...
- And principle...
Not spineless popularity hounds.
Paul warned Timothy of such a situation when he wrote... For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead... To suit their own desires... They will gather around them teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
I think we see men of principle and conviction in Acts 4... DON'T WE?? The Apostles were commanded to speak no more in the name of Jesus. But they were found in the streets preaching Jesus again and again... And again. When questioned... Peter's reply was... We must obey God rather than man.
We must become men and women of principle and conviction!!
- Like Daniel... In the shadow of a lion's din... He worshiped God in spite of the consequences.
- Like David... Who was willing to fight any giant that opposed God's people.
- Like John the Baptist... Who preached the truth against the sins of royalty and the religious elite of his day.
Well!!... Pontius Pilate had an opportunity to be a man of principle and character that day... But he turned it down... Instead he chose POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.
Listen to this... And see if you don't agree... If we please God... It doesn't matter whom we displease... But, if we displease God... It doesn't matter how popular we might be with others.
Another problem Pilate had was... Talk without testimony. He only paid lip service to Jesus... Lip service without life... Words without behavior. What shall I do with Jesus... Which is called the Christ?
Pilate seemed to have the same attitude that is popular in our world today... For instance... We love Jesus... But we believe all other religions are good too. May I say this and you not misunderstand where I am coming from... If you're here this morning... And think all religions are good... You really don't understand what Jesus Christ... His life... Death... Burial... and Resurrection is all about.
Universal salvation is not taught in this book... It's not a bible doctrine. This idea of everybody going to heaven... Just on different roads... Is a false doctrine.
- Jesus said... Heaven's road is straight... narrow... and a minority travel it. "I am the way... I am the truth... I am the life:... No man comes to the Father except by Me." That sounds pretty exclusive doesn't it??
- Peter told the Sanhedrin... Salvation is found in no one else. "There is no other name given among men under heaven whereby we can be saved." Just thinking Jesus was another good man... One of many... Will not save us. We must acknowledge Him as our Savior... The Lord... And King of our life. We must submit our will to Him. Bonhoffer says... Talk without testimony is cheap grace... And will not save us.
Some... believe in Jesus... but haven't placed their faith in Him.
Church... Faith is more than simple mental assent to some religious facts. Isn't it time we stopped talking about Jesus and started...
- Trusting Him.??..
- Obeying Him.??.. Completely!!...
- Living daily for Him daily?
Genuine faith is more than warming a church pew and listening to sermons...
Genuine faith is more than a yearn for more information.
Genuine faith changes our behavior... Changes our lifestyle.
Church... Think about this with me... Isn't it true that... When we really... When we REALLY know who He is... We will automatically know what to do with Him.
Pilate should have set Him free. Have we genuinely set Jesus free in our lives?... Is He free to...
- To regulate our marriages?
- Will we give Jesus complete freedom over our business?..
- Over our money?... Time?... Talents?
- Is Jesus absolutely free to determine religious truth in our lives?
- Is He free to guide our soul-winning efforts.
- Has Jesus been set free in this church?
Paul was able to say... It is not me you see... But it is Christ living in me. Paul's talk was not without living testimony... Pilate's was. Are we like Paul... Or like Pilate?... Sobering question... RIGHT?
Then there is guilt without grief. Pilate was guilty... But had no sense of guilt. We never see Pilate grieving... weeping... saying... Oh, what have I done?... Forgive me!!
Audience... Contrast Pilate to those on Pentecost in Acts two. When they were convinced of who Jesus really was... They cried out in desperate fear... "Men and brethren, what must we do?"
You see Pilate had...
- No fear...
- No remorse...
- No guilt...
- No repentance... Why?
Because he lived the life of a compromise. Right and wrong was defined as what was best for him in this his current circumstance.
Today... We struggle with the same problem.
- Church membership is selected on the basis of what is best for me and my business.
- Our stand on abortion and other social issues is defined upon what is best for me in my
current circumstance... What is politically expedient.
- Business integrity is defined by whatever it takes for us to compete... To be successful.
- Entertainment choices are made upon what I want to read and view.
It's a Pilate problem... Guilt without grief.
We must see ourselves as sinners... Sinners in need of perpetual cleansing... Continual forgiveness. You see... As long as our sins...
- Keep us up at night...
- Put a little gray on our temples...
- Cause us to walk the church aisle...
- Weep before Jesus our Savior...
- Burden our heart...
There is hope,
What should scare us is this... Sin that brings no remorse... No regret... No prick of the conscience... This is a dangerous position for us to be in.
David said... God wants a contrite broken heart. This is the message that John was trying to get across... In First John 17-9... When he said... "Do not say you have no sins... Because you do... Rather confess your faults... Acknowledge your sins... And God is just to forgive us all our iniquities... All of our sins... As we continue to walk in the light." But, when we know we are guilty... And have no sense of guilt... We are in serious trouble.
Peter told Simon... In Acts 8...
- REPENT...
- ACKNOWLEDGE...
- And PRAY TO GOD... Asking God to forgive you... To forgive even the thoughts and intent of your heart.
Church... Guilt... With no grief for our sins... Equals lost!
Another Pilate problem was that of ritual without reality. Pilate took a basin of water and washed his hands before the people. Evidently... Pilate thought this hand washing ritual would forgive his sin... It didn't!! And there is no ritual that will forgive our sins unless our heart is in it.
Sunday after Sunday... Service after service... We go through the ritual.
- Singing...
- Praying...
- Communion...
- Giving our money...
- Baptism...
- Walking church aisles.
Have these things become ONLY a ritual... Like Pilate's hand washing? Or are they real heart conditions?
Pilate believed that a ritual could forgive him... Save him. You see... The problem was this... His heart had never been changed. It's called subjective religion... I feel saved because I have gone through some rituals. Here's the truth... Every time we involve ourselves in ritual without reality we... Like Pilate... Crucify our Jesus afresh and put Him to open shame. Ritual is not what saves us... It is obedience to God... Doing His will... Out of a sincere heart.
I recently read about a man named George Wilson. He was a mail clerk on a train. One day he killed his fellow clerk and stole the mail. He made up this story that a man had come into the mailroom... Killed his partner... Tied him up and robbed the mail. Because of some inconsistencies in his story... The authorities continued to question him. Finally, he admitted that he was the murderer and the thief. A court sentenced him to death by hanging. Years later George Wilson was pardoned by President Andrew Jackson. When the warden told Wilson of his pardon... He said he refused to accept it and that he wanted to be hanged. The case went to the United States Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the majority decision of the court. He said... "A pardon is a piece of paper... The value of which depends upon its acceptance by the person implicated. It is hardly to be supposed that one under sentence of death would refuse to accept the pardon... But if it is refused... It is no pardon... George Wilson must hang. And the penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, hanged him.
Jesus... God in the flesh, died for our sins... But if we refuse to accept His substitutionary death... Then the Hebrews writer says... We have nothing to look forward to... But eternal death... Eternal separation from God in the raging fires of hell.
Jesus is standing in Pilate's hall-
Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all:
Harken! What meaneth the sudden call!
What will you do with Jesus?
Jesus is standing on trial still,
You can be false to Him if you will,
You can be faithful thru good or ill:
What will you do with Jesus?
Will you evade Him as Pilate tried?
Or will you choose Him, what ere betide?
Vainly you struggle from Him to hide:
What will you do with Jesus?
Will we accept Him as our Savior?
Will we become a child of God by Faith... Repentance and Baptism?
Will we... With broken hearts...
- Acknowledge our sins...
- Confess our faults...
- Asking His forgiveness?
What will we do with Jesus??... As we stand and sing this song together?
