The King and the Governor

Friends,

We live in a culture where law and litigation take place continually…perhaps even more so than at any time in history.  We who live in our little corner of the world likely understand this better than most after recent events. Over a month ago, the world (to a degree) descended upon our community, as a jury rendered a guilty verdict in the murder trial of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield.  It is a sad situation in every respect.  There are no winners in a situation such as this.  Unfortunately, this is the way that such matters go in too many cases.  That is why when we come to this continuing story of Jesus, as goes from the Jewish authorities and is led before Roman authorities, we see the drama of his arrest and trial continue to unfold.  Only for Jesus, He is not before a court of His peers…because He has none...He is the Son of God.  And He is not able to be subject to true witnesses or even a fair court, as He is subject to a number of trumped up, false charges.  However, in His case, there are winners.  He chooses to give up His life in order that we might have our lives.  We are the ones…the ones who put their trust in Him…who come out of His trial and the following events as winners.  I believe that this message can get dulled by our own lack of connections to the Word and commitment to Jesus Himself.  But, this story…His story…is what makes the difference for each and every person.  It is a story that should resonate with us every day in some way.  We have everything to be thankful for, because Jesus endured what He did for you and me.

Long before the Jewish leaders had Jesus arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, they had determined to kill Him (John 11:47-54).  However, the Jewish council did not have the right to execute prisoners, so it was necessary to get the cooperation and approval of Rome. This is the reason for the need to jump through all of the political hoops.  All of this means a visit to the Roman procurator (governor), Pontius Pilate.  There are three stages in both the Jewish trial and the Roman trial…and as we have seen, the first portion of the first trial at the hands of Annas was a farce.  If the Jews could prove that Jesus was anti-Roman, then it would be much easier for them to get the death penalty for a person that they considered to be a trouble-maker.  Stage two of the Jewish trial takes place before Caiaphas and whatever members of the Sanhedrin he could get to come…and this is recorded in more detail in Matthew, Mark and Luke’s accounts.  When Jesus clearly confesses that He is the Christ, the council finds Him guilty of blasphemy, and therefore according to the Law, worthy of death.  Stage three is merely a formality as the Jewish leaders assemble to declare that Jesus is to be condemned to death.

As soon as the Jewish leaders vote to condemn Jesus, the officers take Him to the palace where Pilate resides during the Passover season…just in case there might be any outbursts of Jewish nationalism.  While the religious leaders do not hesitate to condemn an innocent man, they are very careful not to be defiled by walking on Gentile ground!  It would just be an awful matter to become ceremonially unclean during the days of Passover…the irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife.  It is logical for Pilate to ask for the official accusation.  Instead of stating the charges clearly, the Jewish leaders hesitate and beat around the bush, likely making the professional politician suspicious.  Luke 23:2 lists their official charges – He leads the nations astray…He opposes paying tribute to Caesar…and He claims to be the Jewish Messiah and King. When they are considered against the truth, all are easily dismissed.  Even though He did claim to be King, it was never in the political sense.  And Pilate is not anxious to get involved in a Jewish court case…especially at Passover…so, he tries to evade the issue.  His reasoning is that the Jews should deal with their own political issues. They would have the jurisdiction to be able to do it.

Had the Jews alone judged Him, Jesus would have been subject to being stoned to death, as righteous Stephen was.  But, Jesus was to become a curse for us and die on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:22-23, Galatians 3:13). Crucifixion would require Roman intervention.  Pilate’s question asking Jesus if He is the King of the Jews is recorded by each of the Gospel writers.  As a Roman governor, Pilate would certainly be interested in the claims of any king.  However, Pilate is not prepared for Jesus’ answer, “It is as you say” (Matthew 27:11, NAS).  Jesus turns the question back around with a question of His own, in order to determine Pilate’s heart, because it is really Pilate on trial here, not Jesus. (18:34)   Pilate’s response to Jesus shows what Romans thought of Jews – “Am I a Jew?” reveals a certain sarcasm and disdain.

Jesus is not a prisoner because Pilate had Him arrested, but because His own nation’s leaders had Him arrested.  So, Pilate asks, “What have you done?” Jesus then tries to explain Himself and His kingdom.  Jesus’ authority comes from God. His kingdom is spiritual. He does not depend upon worldly or fleshly means to advance His cause.  In v.37 Jesus explains more clearly who He is and what kingdom belongs to Him. Pilate likely has little idea what His words mean or their significance.  But, for us, it is necessary that we understand Jesus’ words and their meaning.  When Pilate responds with the question, “What is truth?” he asks a bigger and more profound question than he could possibly understand.  And we really do not know if he was being sarcastic or sincere.  At least he has the courage to face the crowd and declare his verdict…that he finds no fault in Jesus or His message.  Unfortunately, this only riles up Jesus’ accusers even more.  They press Pilate by claiming that Jesus has even riled up people in Galilee, which was Herod’s jurisdiction, so he sends him to Herod.  This does nothing to resolve the situation, as Herod sends Jesus back.  Pilate still has to deal with Jesus and the Jews.

Rick Gillespie-Mobley, in his sermon: Let’s Be Honest About What We Believe, shares this -- Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if we had to stand up and say what many believe based on our game plan for life:  I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth who is not worthy of me making a few hours of every week in my schedule to pray or talk to and to attend worship. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, who really has no right to tell me how to live my life after I leave the assembly of the saints. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, but he should not expect me to make any kind of similar sacrifice on His behalf. I will tell off who I want to tell off, and I will give when I feel like giving. If I do not want to do my part, then others just have to take up the slack for me whether they want to or not. He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from which He shall come to judge the living and the dead, with me being the exception because He knows my heart. I intend to one day get serious about serving God, but until then He should not judge me.

If only…but, He does know the truth.  He sees through our half-truths and outright sins.  He knows our hearts better than we know ourselves.  And rather than expecting Him to get on the same page with us, we need to rethink our Christian life and walk, because it is about getting on the same page with Him.  We are special people, but not because of any of our humanistic reasoning and concepts, but it is because of what He did for us. And we must live like He lived. What is truth?  This is the truth.

Blessings, Don

Questions and Denials

Friends,

Bernard Ebbers is probably a name you do not know.  As the founder and CEO telecommunications giant, WorldCom, Ebbers was sitting pretty – until he brought down his own company thanks to his own corrupt practices and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.  WorldCom went deeply into debt after the company made a series of acquisitions that made it financially insolvent.  Ebbers was convicted of committing accounting fraud to the tune of $11 billion dollars, lying to his investors to keep the struggling company afloat. He also had the distinction of making TIME’s list of crooked CEOs…not exactly a glorious designation.  TIME also stated that the Securities Exchange Commission investigated $400 million that WorldCom had loaned to Ebbers.  This is a sad story, and it just goes to show that there are people in this world who are willing to get rich, get popular, and get status through any means necessary.  It would be nice if this was some late-breaking news story concerning something that just doesn’t happen very often…unfortunately, there are a dozen former CEOs just like Ebbers who tried to swindle the public.  But, as Solomon says, there is nothing new under the sun, and so we come to another corrupt CEO from the time of Christ…and this person was worse, because he was also a religious leader.  And we could just as easily pull up a list of corrupt religious leaders from recent to distant history as well, but we will save it for another day…you’re welcome.  Annas is probably the most respected and powerful of the Jewish authorities at this time, even though he is no longer high priest. He had been the high priest (A.D. 6-15) until he was removed from office by the Romans…and now, his son-in-law, Caiaphas, is the high priest.  God had originally ordained that one man serve as high priest for a lifetime, so it easy to see that the Jewish religious establishment is a mess to say the least. We will talk more about this as we go.

As we noted in a previous message, Jesus deliberately gives Himself over to the enemy.  Now, they bind Him and lead Him to the house of Annas, the former high priest who still has political and religious clout (John 18:12-27) .  The “trial” before Annas is more like an informal hearing.  It is plainly illegal and brutal.  It is hard to imagine a guard today being allowed to strike a prisoner, or a man who does not hold any kind of office interrogating a prisoner.  Annas is looking for some kind of evidence on which to base an accusation that would lead to a verdict of capital punishment.  What kind of teaching has Jesus been doing?  What about His disciples…what are they up to? Didn’t one of them use a sword to cut off Caiaphas’ servant’s ear? 

Jewish law demands that witnesses be called before a prisoner is questioned. Annas defies the law on several fronts.  At least a half-dozen points of order are ignored in the proceedings…among them -- the trial takes place at night, during the week of Passover, behind closed doors, and away from the temple, and so on.  Jesus knows His rights, but He does not insist on them.  He is an example to us when we suffer unjustly. (1 Peter 2:19-25) 

At the same time that this is taking place, there is drama concerning Peter that is unfolding.  Jesus has already predicted that his close disciple would deny Him three times (John 13:38, etc.)  He also shares that Peter will be restored to fellowship and service. (Luke 22:32)  Peter follows the crowd when he should have been taking a flight on SW Airlines and getting away (18:8).  Had he done so, he…in all likelihood…would not have denied the Lord.  While we certainly admire Peter’s love and courage, we cannot agree with his actions…for he walks right into the temptation that Jesus warned him about while they were in the Garden.  “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak," Jesus said. (Matthew 16:41) 

We do not know who the other disciple is that is with Peter in the courtyard of the home of the high priest.  And, we don’t really even know how they have access to be there.  Nonetheless, the other disciple is likely John.  Peter gradually moves into the place of temptation and sin.  He is already in the courtyard, but he comes to stand with the enemy by the fire, and before long, he sits down with them.  It is now too late…and within a short period of time, he will deny that he has known Jesus three times.  A servant girl is the first to ask him if he is one of Jesus’ disciples. The original Greek text indicates that she expects a negative answer, and this is precisely what she receives – Peter tells her “no”.  Peter stays by the fire…which is amazing, and ironic, given the cold that is entering his heart. And another servant girl asks him the same question.  The pronoun “they” suggests that others are getting on board with the line of questioning. Once again, Peter denies knowing Jesus.  The third question comes from one of Malchus’ relatives.  As we remember, Malchus is the guy whose ear Peter lopped off – so, this is surely an awkward situation.  Here the original Greek indicates that he expects an affirmative answer.  This guy would probably know the guy who wielded the ear removing sword, as he was likely standing near Malchus when Peter did it.  At this point, Peter’s resistance breaks down completely, and he begins to curse and swear. (Matthew 26:74)  This doesn’t mean that Peter lets loose a bunch of expletives like a sailor (or a fisherman), but that he put himself under a curse in order to emphasize his statement.  He is on trial, so to speak, and so he puts himself under an oath to convince his accusers that he is telling the truth.  It is at this point that the rooster begins to crow, just as Jesus had predicted. The crowing of the rooster reminds Peter of the Lord’s words, and he goes out and weeps bitterly.  The crowing rooster also indicates, once again, that Jesus is in control.  It will also serve as an invitation for Peter to come to repentance, which we will come back to later.

Chuck Swindoll shares this -- Jesus was the only person to live His entire life without doing anything wrong. Yet, He was arrested, tried, convicted, and condemned to suffer a punishment normally reserved for the Roman Empire’s worst criminals. His arrest was a betrayal and His trials a farce, His convictions illegal and His punishment a travesty of justice. Yet through it all, He remained calm, He answered questions honestly, He spoke the truth with dignity, and He calmly resolved to allow the Father to vindicate Him at the proper time. We would do well to imitate Christ in our response to the injustices we experience in our lives.

How do we respond when we are under fire?  How do we deal with stress and difficulties?  It is certainly a growth process. I know from my own life that there have been times when I did not deal with such matters as well as I would have liked, and this is primarily because I was not in the spiritual place that I should have been at the time.  Peter certainly made a number of mistakes, because he was not in a proper spiritual place, nor was he thinking clearly…so, when temptation came knocking on the door of his heart, he gave in and sinned.  We all have choices to make…usually every day…as to how we are going to process matters, as it relates to trials and temptations.  I hope and pray that we continue to grow in how it is that we respond to negative situations and circumstances, and that we will not give in to pride, but seek to do the Lord’s will.  To quote the inimitable Mr. Rogers -- “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” (Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember)  Good words to live by.

Blessings, Don