16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. (John 19:1-16 –NIV)

I’m going to, pretty much, just tell the story as it’s recorded in the Bible, but, as I have been doing, I’m going to include some of the details that the other gospel writers, Matthew, Make and Luke, included, but John didn’t.

Also, this is about Pilate and the Roman government and the world, as contrasted with Jesus. Remember that you either belong to Jesus or to the world. Either God is your Father or Satan is your father. Those are the only two choices. There aren’t any others. As I talk about the passage, watch how Pilate handles the situation. (And don’t do likewise!)

In last week’s passage, the Jewish leaders had determined that Jesus should be put to death and, since they didn’t have the authority to put anyone to death, they brought him to Pilate.  They had found him guilty of blaspheming against God by claiming to be the Son of God.  But, according to the other gospel accounts, when they brought him to Pilate, they didn’t accuse him of blaspheming against God. They accused him of stirring up trouble among the people and subverting the nation and opposing paying taxes. During all their accusations, Jesus made no attempt to defend himself and Pilate was amazed at this. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus simply because they were envious of him. Pilate declared that he could find no basis for a charge against Jesus. There was a custom where Pilate would release a prisoner of the Roman government each year at the Passover.  He asked the Jewish leaders if they wanted him to release Jesus. But they shouted, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Barabbas was a murderer and had taken part in a rebellion.

Now let’s go on to today’s passage.  In verse 1, John tells us that Pilate had Jesus flogged. Flogged is scourged! That’s what all the other translations I look at say. That means that they hit him repeatedly with a whip that had multiple leather thongs. Each of the thongs had a jagged piece of metal or bone at its end so that it would cut into the flesh of the person being scourged. The prophet Isaiah said about Jesus, “…his appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness…” and Isaiah also said that it was by his wounds that we are healed. (Isaiah 52:14, 53:5). Isaiah said this about Jesus 700 years before these things happened. By his wounds we are healed. Jesus endured this punishment for us.

Look at verse 2. After they had scourged Jesus, the soldiers mocked him. They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They took off his clothes and put a purple robe around him. They hit him in the face. The other gospels tell us that they had blind-folded him and challenged him to prophesy and tell them who it was that had hit him. They bowed down before him and said, “Hail, king of the Jews.” They spit on him. Why would Pilate turn a man that he knew was innocent over to the soldiers to scourge, beat, spit on and mock? Well, let me tell you something about Pilate’s position.

Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. It was his responsibility to uphold the authority of Rome and to keep the peace. Now the Jewish people were known to be rebellious. They didn’t think it was right for anyone to exercise authority over them. They were difficult to govern and Pilate’s performance would be judged on how well he kept the peace and how few complaints there were about him.

Pilate, as he said himself in verse 10, had the power to either set Jesus free or to crucify him. But if he set Jesus free, as he knew it was right to do, there would be trouble. If there were riots or rebellions that the Roman army had to put down, it would not look good for Pilate. So that was Pilate’s situation.

Now, according to Luke’s account of all these things, when the Jewish leaders were accusing Jesus, they said that Jesus had started in Galilee and worked his way to Jerusalem.  Now Galilee was not Pilate’s jurisdiction. It was Herod’s. So Pilate latched on to this and asked them if Jesus was from Galilee. When they said, “Yes,” Pilate immediately sent Jesus to Herod, who happened to be in town at the time. Now a man of integrity would have used his authority to free Jesus and would have ordered the Jewish leaders to not make any more trouble for him. But Pilate chose to try to get out of the responsibility for the decision. He sent Jesus to Herod.

Let me ask you this. What would you have done in Pilate’s situation? Have you ever been in a situation where you were called on to make a decision and you knew that if you made the right decision it wouldn’t be popular? Here’s a small example: Suppose you are a mom and your kid wants to do something you know wouldn’t be good. Have you ever said, “Go ask your dad” (or the other way around)? Everyone does it; but in Pilate’s case, a man’s life was at stake.

Well, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod. Luke says that when Jesus arrived, Herod was greatly pleased to see him. He had heard about Jesus and hoped that Jesus would do some sort of miraculous sign. The fact was that Herod preferred a magic show to God’s salvation from sin! How many people are like that!  When Herod questioned Jesus, Jesus remained silent. Finally, Herod found no reason believe Jesus was guilty of anything, so he sent him back to Pilate.

Now let’s look at verse 4 and 5. Verse 4 and 5 say, “Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.’ When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’”

Pilate brought Jesus out cut, bruised and bleeding with the crown of thorns on his head. His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness. Pilate showed him to the Jewish leaders. He said, “Here is the man.” Why would Pilate have shown Jesus to the Jewish leaders in this way? I think he was hoping that when they saw Jesus, they would say, “That’s enough. He’s been punished enough. Let him go.” But they didn’t. They shouted, “CRUCIFY! CRUCIFY!” (verse 6) Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” (The Jewish leaders would have crucified Jesus or, more likely, stoned him, but had no authority to put anyone to death, so they couldn’t.)

Now look at verse 7. In verse 7, the Jewish leaders said, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” Now they were getting to be a little more honest. They finally told Pilate what their real charge against Jesus was. (And they still didn’t think it was necessary to prove that he wasn’t the Son of God. And they certainly didn’t say it was because they were envious of Jesus and wanted to get rid of him!) Verse 8 says that, when Pilate heard that Jesus had claimed to be the Son of God, he was even more afraid.

Pilate was even more afraid. What was he afraid of? Pilate would have been a pagan. He was a Roman. We might call this superstition. But Pilate was in the position of having to decide between bringing the wrath of some god down on his head or having a rebellion on his hands. The only solution he could see was to somehow get the Jewish leaders to relent. He went back in to talk to Jesus.

According to verse 9, Pilate asked Jesus where he had come from. I don’t think he had in mind an answer like, “I am from Nazareth.” He might have been relieved by an answer like that. But I think he was afraid of something like, “I don’t come from anywhere. I have simply always existed.” That’s what he was afraid of.

But Jesus didn’t answer Pilate. So Pilate said, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” How do you think Pilate felt? I think, at that point, Pilate felt that he had very little power to do anything –to make any decision. He was helpless. Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.  Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (verse 11) John says that from that time on Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.  Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” (verse 12) Pilate was indeed between the proverbial ‘rock and a hard place’. John says that Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat. (verse 13)

Now, to make matters worse, we can find out from Matthew’s account that, while Pilate was seated in the judge’s seat, his wife sent him a message: “Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” Surely this was a revelation from God. Pilate tried all the more to persuade the crowd and the Jewish leaders, but they shouted all the louder, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate said, “Shall I crucify your king?” They answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (And they were right. God should have been their king, but they had rejected him.) Matthew tells us that when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. He said “I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your responsibility!” With that, all the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Finally Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. (verse 16)

You know, Pilate had power to do good or evil.  He had the ability to do right or wrong. Because he didn’t want to be held accountable for starting a riot, he chose to do wrong. (If Pilate had decided to set Jesus free, he still would have been crucified somehow, because it was God’s will for Jesus to be crucified for our sin. But Pilate chose to crucify Jesus.)

We have many opportunities to choose between right and wrong. We have opportunities to choose between upholding truth and righteousness and compromising with the world –compromising with wickedness and deceit –compromising with Satan. We are called on to make decisions every day. Some are so small as to seem inconsequential. Others are big decisions. Jesus says that, if you are faithful in small matters, you will be faithful in big ones also. Jesus, himself, did only what his Father in heaven had for him to do and spoke only the words that his Father gave him to speak. When it came time for him to go to the cross, he prayed, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) Jesus was faithful in small things and he was faithful in big things. He was faithful in the most important decision that ever was made in history and that ever will be made! Because Jesus chose to die, we will live. If you believe that truth and hold on to it, you will be faithful.  In the parable of the talents, the master told each of the faithful servants, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master's happiness!” Don’t you want to hear Jesus say, “Well done good and faithful servant?” I do! That should be the basis for all of our decisions.

One more thing: I say this, that that should be the basis for all our decisions, knowing that it isn’t. But I know this: It doesn’t depend man’s desire or efforts, but on God’s mercy. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Amen!

[Prayer]