John 19: 1 – 16 NLT
“Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.
4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”
6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”
7 The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9 He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. 10 “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”
11 Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”
13 When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). 14 It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”
15 “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”
“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.
16 Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.
Pilate is in a hard place. He actually thinks Jesus should be freed. He doesn’t see him as a threat to the Roman Empire. Maybe he thinks Jesus is a little “crazy”, a man who thinks he is important and irritates the Jewish synagogue leaders. How do you deal with this situation? He’d rather let Jesus go than kill him. He doesn’t think Jesus is guilty of any Roman crime. But how do you deal with these Jewish leaders who are a threat to orderly rule in Israel. Pilate wants to keep his job. So, he thinks if he has Jesus beaten and mocked, that might be enough. But showing the bleeding, beaten Jesus dressed in a purple robe with a crown of thorns wasn’t enough to pacify them.
Pilate is frightened when the Jewish leaders tell him that Jesus calls himself the Son of God. The Roman Emperor actually called himself God. Pilate would know that Jesus was not his son, but is there actually a deity, a real God who might have sent some messenger to earth? He takes Jesus back inside again and asks him “Where are you from?” But Jesus won’t answer.
Pilate once again tries to release Jesus, but the Jewish leaders now threaten, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.” Now his job is on the line. If he releases Jesus, they will go to the higher authorities and tell them stories about Pilate releasing a threat to the government.
What is more important? Letting Jesus go because he doesn’t think he is actually a threat? Or killing Jesus to make sure he keeps his job and future promotions?
Have you ever been in a place where you faced a decision to follow what you know to be right, or to go along with something you don’t approve of? Have you ever been asked at your job to do something you’re actually not comfortable with? What was your reaction? Just do it to keep your job without a fuss. Or say something? Sometimes as Christians, we are put in those positions. We can see why Pilate decided to take the easier way out. But would we be brave enough to stand up for what we believe is right?
God knows us. And we laid on Jesus our mistakes, our sins. We condemned Jesus to die just like Pilate did. Look at these verses that sum up the verses in John 19 we read today;
“But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.” (Isaiah 53: 5 – 8)
Jesus, we can’t thank you enough!
Our song for today is Jesus Paid It All by Newsboys.