Sermon Audio

When it comes right down to it, we can ask ourselves, "are we of the Sanhedrin, are we a Pilate, are we a Herod, or are we a Pilate?"

Jesus has been arrested and taken from the Mount of Olives. He has been blindfolded and mocked and beaten. "Prophesy!" the captains continuously shout, "Who hit you?" It's ironic, in a sense, because Jesus had previous predicted that this would happen to Him. It's ironic, in a sense, because Jesus saw the captains coming for Him. It's telling, in another sense, because there were several of these captains, and they each took their shots on Him: "So, tell us, Je-sus, who hit you this time?"

He is led, like a Lamb to slaughter, as it were, to the Sanhedrin. There, in a way, the mocking continues. "If you are the Christ, tell us." "Then you are the Son of God?" You must almost sense a bit of enjoyment in them. Their representatives, the captains, bring this Jesus who has been a thorn in their side, beaten and bound into their presence, knowing full well what He has said about Himself and what others have said about them.

"Look at you! You look like such a low creature, bruised and swollen, bleeding. There's no way you are who you say you are. Now then, if you are the Christ, tell us. Go ahead, say it again."

Note Jesus' response: "If I tell you, you will surely not believe, and if I ask, you will surely not answer." "You see me like this, clinching what you want to believe, so whatever I say will matter not to you. Up to now, I have said and done that which testify to the fact that I am the Christ, my saying so now is inconsequential. Furthermore, if I ask you, you will answer as you want to, not as you should."

"Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God." Psalm 110:1 is David writing, "The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" Jesus quoted this Psalm to the priests and scribes, members of the Sanhedrin, in the temple not long before His trial before them. Now, He tells them bluntly, "I will sit at God's right hand."

Still looking to force Him into saying it, they look for confirmation from Him: "Then you are the Son of God?" Knowing that He had to answer in order to fulfill all righteousness, Jesus responds, "You yourselves are saying that I am." Ego eimi...I am—or, as He might have said, e'hiyeh—"I am" in Hebrew, a word that echoes God's name, YHWH. "What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."

The Sanhedrin are those who hear and yet do not believe.

Jesus is then led, like a Lamb to slaughter, as it were, to Pilate. The Sanhedrin wanted Jesus gone...dead. However, they didn't have the authority to exact capital punishment; so, they bring Him to Pilate, their Roman overlord. But, they had to invent charges that would criminalize Him before Rome: "We find that this man has perverted our nation: he doesn't want us to pay taxes to Caesar and he calls himself a king."

So, Pilate asks Him plainly, "Are you the king of the Jews?" What's the point of this question? It's entirely political. Calling oneself a king in spite of Caesar is blasphemous. Calling oneself a king of a country ruled by Rome is laughable, at best. Claiming to be a king against Caesar is punishable by death. Claiming to be a king of a Roman territory doesn't matter; the country is still ruled by Rome, and their king would have no power over Rome. So, "Are you king of the Jews? Do you claim to be king in this region?" "It is as you say," Jesus responds.

There's nothing wrong with that. So Pilate tells the Sanhedrin that he finds no fault in Jesus; there is no crime in their claims. For some reason not given, Pilate glosses over the charge of speaking against paying taxes to Rome. It might very well have been that Pilate had actually received report of Jesus words, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," as so he ignores that charge.

So the Sanhedrin continues, "But, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place." "Remember, Pilate, those Galileans that you had killed in the temple courtyard? Well, Jesus is one of them; he is like one of them. He's doing the same kind of thing, stirring the people up against Rome." Now, Pilate is no idiot. If Jesus is inciting the Jewish people against Rome, why are these Jewish people bringing up on charges to Rome?

But, wait? "This man is a Galilean? ... Okay, send him to Herod."

Pilate is one who has no time for Jesus.

Jesus is then led, like a Lamb to slaughter, as it were, to Herod. Herod had long desired to see Jesus. He was hoping to see some magic tricks performed by Jesus. He was hoping to be entertained by Jesus.

Herod asks for miracles. He asks Jesus many question. And Jesus answers Him nothing. All the while, representatives of the Sanhedrin are there accusing Him. It doesn't take long, and Herod tires of this. He's not getting what he wants, so he treats Jesus contemptuously. He mocks Jesus. At the same time, since Jesus does nothing—since Jesus doesn't even say anything—Herod does not respond to the Sanhedrin's accusations; in effect, He also finds Jesus innocent, as Pilate did. That, of course, did nothing to prevent him from mocking Jesus or from keeping his own guards from doing the same.

Jesus doesn't fulfill Herod's wishes; He doesn't obey Herod's commands. Herod is not pleased, at all with this. Though He finds no fault in Jesus, according to the law, he is disgusted with Jesus and has Him taken back to Pilate. Agreeing with Pilate for the first time since, well, probably ever, the two become friends that day.

Herod is one who want Jesus in his box to do for him what he wants and obey his commands.

Jesus is then led, like a Lamb to slaughter, as it were, back to Pilate. He calls the Sanhedrin back to him and gathers an audience of the people in Jerusalem, and he speaks to them. You might sense a bit of frustration in his words: "Okay, enough now. You brought this man to me as an insurrectionist. I have questioned him. I don't find him guilty of anything. Neither did Herod, for that matter. He hasn't done anything worthy of death. Certainly, I can see that he angers you, so I won't release him back to you without doing something to him." He attempts to keep the peace.

Three times Pilate pronounces Jesus to be innocent. Three times, the people assembled before Pilate demand his death. All three times, they demand the release of the true insurrectionist, Barabbas. Here is the scape goat, while Jesus is becoming the sacrificial lamb. Eventually, Pilate capitulates to the will of the people; without finding fault in Jesus, Pilate pronounces Him guilty. There was no political, legal fault in what Jesus had taught and did; still, Pilate sentences Jesus to a political, legal punishment.

It is often thought that Pilate did this out of fear for his political future. The voices against Jesus grew ever stronger which each call to crucify Him. Pilate might have sensed that a revolt was inevitable unless he did what the people he himself had assembled wanted. Might this revolt have spelled the end of Pilate's career? It's entirely possible, and the clue to that effect is found in verse 25: "but he delivered Jesus to their will."

Pilate is one who bows to the pressures of the world over and against the will and law of God.

Now, it must be stated that the events of Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, and Pilate once again was all to fulfill God's plan of salvation. While Pilate, in this fourth trial, bows the the pressures of the people, most likely to save his own hide, which in all appearances is in conflict with God's will, it was in keeping with the will of God. As Dr. Arthur Just states, "[I]n this tug of ware between Pilate and the hostile group, the inexorable plan of God that Jesus must die by crucifixion becomes the legal sentence." However, Pilate simply cannot wash his hands of the fact that he condemned an innocent man to a bloody death in order to protect his political position and image.

So, again, the question must be asked: "Are we of the Sanhedrin, are we a Pilate, are we a Herod, or are we a Pilate?" Do we hear the Word of God and not believe—do we choose to believe otherwise? Are we one who finds no time for Jesus—do we prioritize our lives to the point where the life of self is far more important than the Life of the World. Are we prone to put God in our little boxes, demanding blessings from Him and getting angry with Him when He doesn't give us what we want? Do we bow to the pressures of the world around us in order to avoid conflict, fearing those who can destroy the body over the One who can destroy both body and soul? The answer is simply and profoundly, "YES."

That unholy trinity—the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh—are always at work with us to bring us to doubt God's Word. We are like Adam and Eve who see that which is forbidden by the Word of God as being desirable—God couldn't have meant it. How often do we find ourselves so busy that we can't set aside about one hour out of every 168, and heaven forbid that one hour should become two or more—and the excuses are legion: I was up late Saturday night; I had a long work week and needed my rest; I didn't set my alarm clock; etc. How often do we blame God when things don't go our way, rather than thank Him for doing to us what is good and gracious for our salvation? Oh, and the fear of exclusion is great among the social creature that man is that he will do nearly anything—thoughtlessly even—in order to fit in.

Dear hearers, these are but a short list of the litany of sins we could confess at any and every hour. And that is why we are examining this passion of the Christ. These are the reasons why Jesus suffered, was sentenced to death—even being innocent—and died on the cross. That is God's inexorable plan for our salvation. Again, it must be stated that the events of Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, and Pilate once again was all to fulfill God's plan of salvation.

God uses the events that Luke relates to us to enforce that Jesus is innocent, both politically and theologically—that He is the spotless lamb given to die for the sins of the people. In fact, dear hearers, we are to see ourselves on trial all four times. The charges are being leveled against us, and all of it justly. Thanks be to God, however, that the punishment doled out for our crimes is done in our stead by that spotless Lamb of God. He stood there and willfully received the charges leveled against us on our behalf, willfully received the verdict—the ultimate verdict—on our behalf, and would willfully receive the punishment for those charges on our behalf—"to slaughter led without complaint"—so that God could pronounce of us what Pilate had first pronounced of that spotless Lamb: I find no fault in you.

Lamb of God, pure and holy, Who on the cross didst suffer,
Ever patient and lowly, Thyself to scorn didst offer,
All sins Thou borest for us, Else had despair reigned o'er us:
Have mercy on us, O Jesus! O Jesus!