Good morning, everyone. As you might imagine, that's another one of my favorites to sing and just the glory and honor of pointing to Christ in that song. If you would take your copy of God's Word, turn to John 18 this morning, there at the very, very end of John 18. We stopped short of two verses last week. Well, this morning we find ourselves back in this dramatic scene of Jesus' trial before Pilate. For the sake of context and remembrance, it would do us well to quickly recap the events that led to this event we're looking at today. The Thursday night, early morning hours into Friday morning, the day of our Lord's crucifixion, That evening, Jesus had spent intimately with his disciples, spending much of John's gospel looking at those events. At the end of the night, as he leaves the city and crosses over the Brook Kedron and through the Kedron Valley onto the Mount of Olives, he enters into a certain garden to pray, as was his custom, as we've read in scripture. Judas already being dismissed and gathering those that would come and arrest him, the betrayer comes with a group mixed with temple police and with the Roman soldiers. Jesus was arrested, delivered over, taken to Annas, who was the former high priest, but who many of the Jews still viewed as the high priest. From there, he went sent to Caiaphas, the actual high priest that year. And the Sanhedrin was there, the Jewish Supreme Court, if you will. And then they would regroup one more time as the sun was rising, as daylight first was hitting Judea, to verify the verdict that they had claimed well before they even started these mock trials. They'd already determined what they were gonna do. But they gathered again that early morning hours because it was illegal to have him tried overnight, although everything they're doing is illegal, but for the sake of appearances, let's gather again at the daylight just to make sure that everybody knows we did this legally. However, they were unable to carry out the death sentence because of Roman edict, Roman law. So they had to carry him to the praetorium to meet with the governor of Judea who was the infamous Pontius Pilate. Now, the Jewish leaders brought him there, and we started looking at this last week. They didn't want another trial with Pilate. They just wanted him to carry out with the verdict that they had already rendered. But Pilate asked, what charge? And they simply said Jesus was an evildoer, and they kind of threw it back on Pilate, that if he weren't, we wouldn't have brought him to you. Pilate, in turn, gave them permission to punish Jesus themselves. which forced them to admit that they weren't allowed to carry out the death sentence to begin with. There's an extreme drama going on right here. Although later, as we said, they would with Steven, they would stone him to death. So humanly speaking, They wanted Pilate to do it in case the people rose up. Remember five days before these events, Jesus comes into town on Palm Sunday and the people were screaming, Hosanna, Hosanna. Glory to God, they're throwing out palm branches. And this was Passover, so the city would be swollen, overflowing with people coming from all over to celebrate Passover. So there was a fear there, but there was also the fact that they knew they had Pilate. They knew he was as ruthless as he was, he was a pawn in their hand. Also, because of the indiscretions he had taken before, he was already in hot water with the emperor back in Rome, Emperor Tiberius. But divinely speaking, they were fulfilling prophecy as Jesus himself had said. Jesus had told them, told the disciples, he would be delivered to the Gentiles and scourged and lifted up in his death. And the Jewish tradition was to do what? Throw down in stone. Luke 18, we may have shared this verse last week, Luke 18, 31 through 33. But when he took the 12 aside, he said to them, behold, we're going up to Jerusalem. And all things which are written through the prophets about the son of man must be completed. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon. And after they have flogged him, they will kill him. And the third day he will rise again. back to the scene unfolding before us. After speaking with the Jewish leaders, Pilate enters back into the praetorium, because they wouldn't come in there for fear of defiling themselves and couldn't take the Passover meal, to question Jesus himself. Now last week, and we won't go back through this line of questioning, but if you weren't here last week, it'd probably be worthy for you to go back and listen to it to tie into today's message. Pilate ultimately came back out to the Jews and declared, I find no guilt in him. He had broken no law of which Pilate saw, definitely not one worthy of death. This synopsis we've been walking through sets the stage for what happens next. We'd also do well to remember, and I've already kind of alluded to this fact, that Pilate is already on thin ice with Tiberius back in Rome. There had been three, and I talked about this last week, things that he had done who they had reported back to Rome about what Pilate was doing. While it's true, he was a hard and unforgiving man. We talked about him killing the worshipers and mixing their blood with the sacrifice earlier on. In his current situation, he was acting as a judge. So how much ever this was rolling around in his head there was some modicum modicum I guess at least of of trying to to to respond in the way that a judge should and he rightly says after a line of questioning I find no guilt in this man. Now let's not get too sympathetic towards Pilate, okay? Let's not get there, though. Now that we're caught up in the historical facts and the timeline events, we will pick back up in the chronology. I'll remind you that where we are in Scripture isn't as chock full, isn't as pregnant of deep theological doctrinal discussions for us to expand on and open up. This is largely a narrative of events that happened and how they happened. It's nonetheless extremely important, as all God's word is, but also in the context of this, we must do, and we did this last week too, a harmonizing of the gospels. We must pull from the other three gospels to kind of put this all together, how these events played out, because John doesn't give us all the details. This sequence of events also brings to mind that 2,000-year-old question, that 2,000-year-old discussion of who actually is responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Some blame Rome or Pontius Pilate directly, as they're the ones that carried out the sentence, right? The Roman soldiers, Pontius Pilate is the one that had to declare it and they had to hang him on that tree. The soldiers had to do that. Some say the Jews, especially the leaders of the Jews, as they're the ones who arrested and delivered him over to Pilate and passed the sentence demanding his execution. Immediately after the resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus appears to the two disciples. We're familiar with that story, I would think. We get a glimpse of what the initial thought was three days after. Here's what the people thought three days after, Luke 24, 19 and 20. And he said to them, this is Jesus, he'd already appeared and was walking with them, they didn't recognize him. And he says, then what things? And they said to him, the disciples walking back on the road to Emmaus, the things about Jesus the Nazarene. who was a mighty prophet indeed and word in the sight of God and all the people and how the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to the sentence of death and crucified him. So that was the prevailing thought amongst the people. Peter, in his sermon at Pentecost in Acts chapter two, married these ideas to the truth of God's predetermined plan. Acts 2, 22 and 23. Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know, this man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. You nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put him to death. Peter brilliantly through the work of the Holy Spirit marries all of these together and says it was the predetermined plan of God. You Jews delivered him over to these men, the Gentiles, that he be crucified. God is sovereign and man is responsible. In fact, Isaiah 53 verse 10 says that it pleased Yahweh to crush Him, the Messiah. The truth is the Romans played a part. The Jews were the instigators. Ultimately, what put Christ on that cross was God's determinative plan of redemption and the Son's willingness to walk out that plan. To be the propitiatory sacrifice for all those that he would call to himself, for the bride that he would bring in, for the adopted sons into the kingdom, Christ willingly went to that tree. In order for them, for us, to be declared justified, he had to pay the ransom price. Now, let's jump back into the events, because y'all are gonna hear more about that as we get closer to the cross, and we are definitely getting closer to the cross in our study in John's Gospel. Let's jump back into the events that lead to the cross. Immediately after Pilate declares he finds no guilt, that's where we pick up, verse 39 of chapter 18, and we're gonna go into chapter 19 as well. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish then that I release for you the king of the Jews? So they cried out again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber, verse one of chapter 19. Pilate then took Jesus and flogged him. And when the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a purple robe on him. And they were coming to him and saying, hail, king of the Jews. And were giving him slaps in the face. Pilate came out again and said to them, behold, I'm bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, behold the man, So when the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out saying, crucify, crucify. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him for I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law. By that law, he ought to die because he made himself out to be the son of God. Let's pray. Father, what a turning point in redemptive history that we find ourselves immersed in this morning. God, as we look to this text, and we can't help but find ourselves, as it were, in the midst of what's going on, thinking through these deep truths. And Lord, although this is primarily just narrative, but narrative is never just narrative when it's in your word. Our Lord Jesus Christ actually went through this. Our Lord Jesus Christ actually took the stripes, took the beatings, took the mocking, took the cursing, took the scourging that we deserve. We deserve every bit of it and more. And yet he willingly went in our place. God, let this rest upon us with a greater level of Gravity and immensity this very day calls us to love him even more. Father, we just want to honor you and glorify you this day. And Lord, if someone here does not know you as Lord and Savior, we pray that today be the day of salvation. In Christ's name I pray, amen. I gave you a pretty extended introduction this morning, so no need to keep going down that road. I do wanna marry verse 38 and 39, where we ended last week and where we're starting this week, this morning. Pilate said to him, speaking to Jesus, what is truth? When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom. that I release someone for you at the Passover, do you wish that I release for you the King of the Jews? Now the reason that I stopped in verse 38 last week is primarily because I speak often on Wednesday nights in Genesis, whenever we jump years sometimes between verses, oftentimes on Sunday mornings too, but there's a white space between verse 38 and 39. There's some other events that happen between verse 38 and 39 that John doesn't give to us, but they're in the other Gospels. There's another specific event that takes place. So to properly harmonize these gospels, so we get a fuller picture of what's going on, we must turn to these other sources in scripture. Luke 23, four records Pilate's same comments of I find no guilt in him, or not guilty, declared not guilty by the ruling authority. And then this happens. This is what happens between verse 38 and verse 39, and Luke's gospel records it for us. But they kept on insisting, saying he stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, even as far as this place. Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem in those days. Now when Herod saw Jesus, he rejoiced greatly for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had been hearing about him and he was hoping to see some sign performed by him. And he questioned him at great length, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priest and the scribes were standing there vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating him with contempt and mocking him, dressed him in a bright robe and sent him back to Pilate. Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day. for before they had been at enmity with each other. It's an interesting verse to throw in there. I'm not gonna speak on that, but it's just interesting that verse is thrown in there. Then Luke's account shifts back to Pilate and where we are in John and the Jewish leaders of our account in John. Luke 23, verse 13 and 16. And Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers of the people and said to them, you brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion. And behold, having examined him before you, I have found in this man no guilt of what you are accusing him. No, nor has Herod. For he sent him back to us, and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him. Therefore, I will punish him and release him. That's what's happening in the white space. Now, who is Herod? Herod is kind of a paper king of the area, right? They let him keep his kingship, but he had no power. But Herod's brought back into the scene, and John doesn't really deal with Herod, but he's brought back into the scene here. Luke records the same events as John as happening next, verse 39 and 40. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish that I release for you the king of the Jews? So they cried out again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Notice Pilate had pronounced him not guilty. And even told them that their paper king found no fault in him either. So he proposes an opportunity now for them to, quote unquote, do the right thing. Luke tells us he told them he would punish Jesus. But think about this for a moment. That too is technically unjust, isn't it? I find no guilt in this man, but I'm gonna beat him. He isn't deserving of death, but I'm gonna beat him even though he's not guilty. Do you see the cowardice on display here by Pilate? At this point, Pallet was more concerned about trying to find a way out of it though. Something to do to get himself out of it. If he goes too far one way, he's in trouble with the emperor and could lose his position, but ultimately could lose his life. Job security was a major concern for Pallet here. But he was also worried about the Jews. What might they do? Could this cause a riot? Now they could quash the riot, but even that would get back to the emperor and he'd be in trouble again. He's trying to find a way out of an impossible situation instead of doing the right thing. In the midst of everything, finding no way out, just do the right thing. Do the just thing. According to Roman justice, Jesus should have been released. When he says not guilty, he should have been released. Same thing today in our court systems, right? If no guilt is found, he should be released. Pilate knew he had a serious problem on his hands. He couldn't just release him. He needed to convince them to deal with it themselves. So he comes up with another plan. There was a custom that the governor release a prisoner as a goodwill gesture on Passover. I'll flog him or scourge him, as many of your translations say, and release him. How's that sound, guys? That's what he's saying. How does that sound? How about I just beat him, flog him, scourge him, and we can release him? Even in the midst of this offer, Pilate can't help himself but to mock the Jews again. He's not mocking Jesus here when he says King of the Jews. He's mocking them when he says, release this King of the Jews. That's not a good way to get your way whenever you're mocking somebody kind of on the way out, is it? And yet this seemed like a logical solution to his problem. Surely they will see. Let's not mistake the fact that by now a crowd had gathered, right? I mean, between the white spaces, he'd been in front of Pilate. He'd sent him to Herod, who was in Jerusalem too, so he's not having to send him out somewhere. He's right there. But in the midst of all this, a crowd would have started gathering, because they had heard by now the Sanhedrin's in front of the governor's office. That's 70 members plus one being the high priest. Jesus is being moved through the city. The crowd would have started gathering. What's going on? We wanna see what's happening. Pilate hoped to use this as leverage himself, right? The people, I get them on my side, they'll help make sure that we don't have to do this. Matthew 27, 17. So when the people gathered together, see I'm not just making that up, the Bible tells us. So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ, who is called Messiah? Pilate underestimated the level of the leader's desire to kill Jesus. He underestimated it grossly. To get rid of him and the influence of these leaders also was, I think, not fully understood of these leaders amongst the people. Think of the sight Jesus must have been in front of the people. Now this is before the massive beating. Brings him out there, he's bound, he looks defeated. What have they been looking for when he came into the city? What have they all been looking for the whole time from Jesus? A conquering king who would defeat Rome. Well now before them is a man bound. Defeated. Not the Messiah they were looking for. Looked helpless, wouldn't he? Matthew gives us some more details between these white spaces, between verse 39 and 40, now there's some white space. Pilate gets a message from his wife. And while preoccupied with this message from his wife is when the leaders would have worked up this crowd. Matthew 27, 19 and 20. Now while he was sitting on the judgment seat, that's Pilate, his wife sent him a message saying, have nothing to do with that righteous man, for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and put Jesus to death. Y'all see what's going on here? Pilate is distracted. His wife had a legitimate dream to not deal with this righteous man. The Sanhedrin would have taken this opportunity to work the crowd, which is exactly what the scripture tells us, persuading the crowd. There's guilt to be found everywhere. The next verse. But the governor answered and said to them, which of the two do you want me to release for you? He couldn't just do this because his wife said not to do it, right? And they said, Barabbas. Now John tells us Barabbas was a robber. The other gospels tell us that he was arrested with insurrectionists and murderers. Mark 15, seven. And the man named Barabbas has been in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. Not just a petty thief. He was accounted with some more heinous crimes. Again, we're gonna turn back to Matthew. Remember, we're harmonizing these gospels. We're bringing this all together so you see the full story of what's going on. To fill in these blanks, we'll go to Matthew. The Jews call for Barabbas to be released. Pilate, running out of options now, speaks to the crowd. Matthew 27, 22, and 23. Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all said, let him be crucified. And he said, why? What evil did he do? But they were crying out all the more, saying, let him be crucified. Remember, five days earlier, the crowds had been shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna. A reprobate mind, people. A mob mentality. The depravity of man on full display as the King of kings and Lord of lords stood right there in front of him. Continuing in Matthew verse 24 and 25. Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, He took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd saying, I am innocent of this man's blood, see to that yourselves. And all the people answered and said, his blood be on us and on our children. I'm not just pausing for effect, that should make all of us pause. Seemingly out of options, Pallett washes his hands. I don't want any part of this. Tried to separate himself from this unjust deed. But more than that, he's trying to worry about his own job, okay? He doesn't really know what to do. Again, no sympathy for Pallett here though. The people reply back in a declaration, do it and we accept responsibility. You have to be the one who does it. And we take responsibility. Not just us, but on our children. And what they want in church, they got it. For 2,000 years, the Jews have had turmoil and oppression and hatred and vitriol and lost their country for much of those 2,000 years. Only in the past, what, 70 years now, 80 years now, they've been allowed to come back to their homeland. They got what they asked for. Let's jump into chapter 19, because it just continues, okay? It just continues. Pilate then took Jesus and flogged him. I know many of your translations say scourged him, and I looked up the different translations. Really, it's about half and half of English translations. Half of them say scourged, half of them say flogged, One more plan to get out of it. Actually, he'll have another one next week, Lord willing. Most English translations are split, like I said, but there were actually three types of scourgings or floggings. Y'all know that. Three different kinds. The first one, and they got progressively worse. The first one would be more of just like a strap and hitting him. And it would be attached to a 12 inch type handle thing with these straps coming off of it. And one would just be the straps, which would be very painful, getting hit with a bullwhip type thing. That's painful, right? The second one, they would split the stripes a little bit so it would have more of a whipping effect when it would hit you. Then the third one is the one we're most familiar with is whenever they would tie pieces of sharpened metal and glass and bone and all these other things to it. So when it would hit and you pull back, it would just rip pieces of meat out. I'm not trying to be too graphic on purpose. It just, it is what it is. Tearing flesh out, and it would actually, you hit the same place a couple of times, we're talking about exposing organs, lacerating organs, and not just that, but the way they would do it is they would, they would either lay a person down on a table and stretch their body as tight as they could, so when you hit, there was no gif, or they would tie them to a post or hang them from like a ceiling. to stretch and make the skin as taut and tight as possible to cause the most amount of damage it could. Now Jewish law set the limit at 40 lashes. This isn't just a Roman thing, Jews did this too. They set the limit at 40 lashes, Deuteronomy 25 three. He may strike him 40 times but no more lest he strike him with many more stripes than these and your brother will be dishonored in your eyes. Now, oftentimes we read in scripture, the Jews would actually stop at 39 just in case they miscounted somewhere. They didn't want to go over the limit. That's how fickle they were. Now, Romans didn't have the same restrictions though. They could beat you as much as they wanted. I think sometimes we think, well, they went by the 39 plus one rule too. No, the Romans could beat you as much as they wanted. as long as you weren't a Roman citizen. Roman citizens could not face that same punishment. That's how Paul got out of it a little bit later on in the book of Acts, because he was a Roman citizen. John tells us of this scourging much earlier in the accounts than Matthew and Mark do. Now, many theologians believe that Jesus had a level one scourging first, that he was beaten with just a strap first. and Pilate hoped that would be enough. Then only later would he receive the third one because the third one, the one that's ripping bone and ripping flesh and organs out, that was reserved for crucified people that had been deemed worthy of crucifixion. They wouldn't do that until the last minute before they went and crucified him. We could debate that. I'm just telling you what some theologians have said. And it would weaken the body. Regardless, he was beaten. And then we see what happens next, two through three. When soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put the purple robe on him. The other translations, gospel accounts tell us about them pressing it into his head. And they were coming to him, now this is the soldiers that are standing around, saying, hail, king of the Jews, and were giving him slaps in the face. Not content with the beatings, the Roman soldiers saw fit to further mock and spit on Jesus and slap him in the face. and make sport of him, really. This is a game to him at this point. Execution and torture was often a game for the Romans. Not just the Romans, but all these vicious people throughout history. This wasn't uncommon for soldiers to do. Malia and I got to stand there at the Praetorium when we were in Israel two years ago. And they talked about the games the Romans would do and the soldiers would do. And there's actually still in the floor, I've got a picture of it, anybody's interested to see it, of a carving and it looks like almost a like a tic-tac-toe type board where they would carve it into the floor, and there's still grooves in the floor from when they'd wheel people in and out. They would make games and make fun of these people before they got executed. The picture you saw, the welcome screen of that tree, there was large spikes on a tree over there, three to four inches long, and we saw one of these trees, and we're not talking about little Hickman County sawbriars that have been pushing into his head. These are long, thick spikes that would have pressed into his head with his crown of thorns. Purple was put on him. Why purple? Purple is the color of royalty. It's quite likely that this would have been an old red Roman tunic that had been faded by the sun, so it wouldn't even have been the bright red, bright purple. It was a mocking gesture once again. Matthew tells us they put a reed in his hand as a scepter, making fun of the fact of him being a king. Matthew 27, 29 and 30. We know a lot of kings, they held the scepter of power. Matthew 27, 29 through 30. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him saying, hail, king of the Jews. And they spat on him. And they took the reed and began to beat him on the head. After all this, Pilate seizes on this opportunity to think, surely now he's had enough. Pilate came out again and said to them, behold, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. He seizes this opportunity to hopefully show that he has punished Jesus enough. I don't find any guilt in him, but to appease you folks, I've beat him, don't you think I've beat him enough? Look at him. Pilate in one breath, declaring Jesus innocent while also admitting to unjustly punishing him who found no guilt. Him and who he found no guilt. Verse five, in dramatic and gripping fashion, Jesus is presented to the crowd. He came out wearing the crown of thorns and a purple robe, and Pilate said, behold the man. Now, is this a declaration of Messiah-ship when we think of son of God, son of man? No, it's not. Not in terms of the way Pilate's saying it. So what is he saying here? Jesus beaten, bloody, crown of thorns, robe of purple that would have been drenched in blood at this point. Pilate says, behold the man. Can you see this playing out in your head and in your mind's eye? Behold the man. He's no king, look at him. He's no threat to you. Look at this man. He's nobody. What was he really doing? He was hoping to satisfy their blood lust, wasn't he? Hoping to satisfy their blood lust, perhaps even, at this point, bring some kind of sympathy out of them. Pilating in misjudged the depth of contempt they had for Jesus. He failed to grasp the content, now let me pause for a minute. This is a man who had seen war, who had been a vicious, ruthless man himself, and even he didn't understand the depths of human depravity. I dare say we don't either. How evil man can be when the shackles are removed. when they are pulled back. We've seen glimpses of this kind of evil in the world, have we not? Ruthless leaders in this world, those kind of things. That compares not to the killing of this innocent man. What did this do instead? It actually seemed to increase their bloodlust. The frenzy grew. Like sharks who smell water, I don't smell water, who smell blood in the water, it seemed to increase their vitriol, increase it all. Verse six, so when the chief priest and the officer saw him, they cried out, saying, crucify, crucify. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. You see what happens here? This beaten, broken, bloodied man, it didn't give them sympathy at all. The opposite happened. Pollitt, almost to me, as I read this, it almost seems like he's disgusted at the way they're acting, the way I'm reading it. Perhaps he found some way to justify his cruelties in war and whatever, but he couldn't find a way to justify killing this man. But remember also, he had an extreme hatred for the Jews, and the Jewish leaders specifically. They weren't a thorn in his side. He didn't really want to bend to their desires either, did he? Just take him yourself and do it, he's saying. You wanna do it, just go do it. Is he giving him a pass to the Roman law? Is he creating an exemption clause in the Roman law? Seems like it. Seems like this is the second time he's done it. John MacArthur says this. Whether Pilate was officially granting them the right to execute Jesus or merely mocking them again is not clear. Perhaps he knew the Jews did not crucify people, but that Pilate would have even mentioned granting them the right of capital punishment, one of the most jealously guarded prerogatives of Roman rule, is yet another sign that he was losing control. He wasn't in control of the situation. But as we know, scriptured, the Jews really weren't either. God was in control of this whole situation. Pilate seemed to want to get clear of this whole affair, but they weren't done with him yet. Verse seven, the Jews answered him, we have a law. And by that law, he ought to die before he made himself out to be the son of God. At least now they're finally bringing a charge against him. Have y'all caught that this whole time? They haven't ever brought a charge against Jesus yet. He's an evildoer. He's inciting this, and now they say, all right, here's why we wanna kill him. He calls himself the King of the Jews, we have a law against that. Or he calls himself the Son of God, we have a law against that. They knew that Pilate was trying to get out of it. They'd already put the responsibility firmly on themselves. They remind him, they'd already judged Jesus and found him guilty. according to their law. So if you're not gonna kill him based on your law, guess what? We found him guilty of our law, but we can't kill him. You say you let us carry out our law and our religion, which was a Roman edict. When they would go into an overthrown country, they would allow them to keep their law up to a point as long as it didn't go over Roman law, and they would allow them to worship freely as long as it didn't upset Roman law. They said, we've been doing that, but we need you to carry it out for us. Plus they also knew they had him. This was further proving that. So they were demanding that Pallett acknowledge that they had kept their part of the law by judging him like that. They were within their legal rights to ask him to kill this man, because he violated their law. But to stay quote unquote legal, He had to be the one to carry out the capital punishment. Otherwise, they would be outside of the Roman law. Church, when you read this, it brings this quote to my mind. I don't know who said it. Hypocrisy truly knows no bounds. Hypocrisy truly knows no bounds. Their specific charge shows their true limitations, their true limitations. They knew Pilate could care less about what this man about himself. Pilate would have been a pagan who worshipped a pantheon of gods if he worshipped anybody at all. The fact that this man claims to be a son of God wouldn't have affected him there, but when we look at next week, it does affect him a little bit. So their first attempt to label him as a threat to Rome failed because Pilate had interviewed him, he's like, this man is no threat to Rome. Now they have to lean into the violation of the Jewish law. That law, I've referenced it 10 times already, Leviticus 24, 16. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the sojourner as well as the native when he blasphemes the name shall be put to death. Blasphemy warranted death by Jewish law. That's exactly what the chief priest accused him of, Matthew 26, 63 and 66. But Jesus kept silent and the high priest said to him, I put you under oath by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the son of God. Jesus said to him, you yourself said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his garments and said, he has blasphemed. What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said, he deserves death. That's that scene with the high priest that we don't have in John's gospel. The real issue was how he was upsetting their religious and their industrious monetary enterprises. But this was a legitimate claim if it was true, I'm sorry, if he made this claim and it was false, right? It was legitimate according to Levitical law to kill him if in fact he were a liar or a lunatic, but he was neither, Jesus is Lord. True enough, he had claimed to be the son of God. The difference is, he actually is the son of God. Now I know this is largely narrative, and I've been thinking all week about this. I even asked Claire last week about the notes she took, because last week was largely narrative. As we get nearer to the crucifixion, I was really hopeful that as we look through this and we harmonize the gospels, it would, for one thing, it would help paint a picture of what's going on in all the events that took place that we're probably vaguely familiar with, but how did they happen and when did they happen? So I hope the past couple of weeks and probably part of next week, you will see that too. But there's also some practical application in all this as well. On one hand, it's a tragic picture. but it's also in perfect accord with God's plan and purpose. Jesus, the Messiah, the long-awaited Messiah, the Messiah promised in Genesis 3, long before there ever was a nation of Israel, this Messiah had come. And he was rejected by his people. He was handed over to the Gentiles. He was unfairly accused, beaten, scourged, mocked, spit on, and eventually he would be crucified. But I've said this before and I'll say it again. Jesus is no victim. Jesus went willingly. God's plan and purpose. Jesus went willingly. As he's taken those beatings and those lashings, he had the names of his children. He had your name in his mind as those were happening. This morning, first and foremost, Jesus is on display. We've talked about a lot of other people, haven't we? Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas, the Sanhedrin, all the people gathered around. Herod's even brought into the drama here. The focus is on Jesus. The focus is on Christ. But we must consider the actions of these men. I've already called Pilate a coward at least once. Pilate was more concerned. Pilate knew that he was innocent. of the charges that the Jews brought to him, at least. He had interviewed him. He had sent him to Herod. Is there something I'm missing? So I find no guilt in him. And yet, being a, finding no guilt, he still punished him and beat him. And let the soldiers mock him and spit at him and slap him and put this crown of thorns upon his head, digging into his scalp, digging into his, all the way to the brain, I mean, to the skull itself. Not just a little poke, I'm talking about crushed in there. Then you got the Jews on the other side. So I kind of put a little note down here for myself. And I think about the world, and I think about the response to Christ today. Because Christ is before them, as it were, also. The book of Hebrews actually tells us, the writer of Hebrews tells us, to deny him as Lord is to crucify him all over again. The Jews took a firm stance against Jesus, didn't they? and they riled up the crowds to get along. Think about the world today, guys. Think about as you witness or as you evangelize or just sharing the gospel with somebody. The Jews were the militant firmly against Jesus. Pilate. Pilate's trying to ride both sides of the fence, isn't he? I find no guilt in him, but I still don't lift him up and thank him very highly or much esteemed. He just wants to be in the middle ground. Have you dealt with someone like that as you've witnessed to them or shared Christ to them? I don't hate Jesus. He's a pretty good guy, he's a good teacher, he's a good moral example, da-da-da-da, but I'm not willing to go that far. There's no middle ground. Jesus himself said, you are for me or you are against me. So the way, the path is narrow. The gate, small. The road to destruction is broad, and there are many on it. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through the Son. There's no middle ground, there's no lukewarmness. You're either for Him as Lord and Savior, or you are against Him. All men are. Everyone you come across is. So the question we must consider is, and I think I know the answer for the majority of you, because I've had conversations with you, where do you find yourself? But as you go out into this world and you go out into your mission field and you go out into your families and in your homes and whatever, there's no middle ground. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has that conversation where the people say, Lord, Lord, did we not do this and not do that? And we preached on that five years ago. There's no middle ground. Christ suffered these things for those that he loves, that he calls by name. Let us not take light our own confession of him as Lord and Savior. When we think about that, It's not just a cherry on top to our lives. He poured out his life for his people. What have you given him? Do you trust him? Look at what he went through for you. We didn't even get to the cross yet, people. We haven't even got to the cross yet. As we close, I reference this chapter all the time. I'm gonna read Isaiah 53, written 650 to 700 years before the events we're reading right here. Let us see what God gave the prophet Isaiah to put down in words as we close. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root at a parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hid their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities and the chastening for our peace fell upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearer, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, therefore the transgression of my people striking was due to him. So his grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. But Yahweh, the Lord, was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If you would place his soul as a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many. as he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide for him a portion with the many and he will divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors." We've seen three quarters of that already come to fruition in our account of John's gospel. Father, we come to this point in the life of our Lord Lord, I have no long-winded prayer. I just pray that you, through your spirit, would work upon the hearts of your people. Cause us to trust you, love you, and be humble before your throne. And Lord, if somebody here today doesn't know you, I pray that, as we said on the outset, that you would give them the new birth. Give them the gift of salvation, Lord, and bring another child into your kingdom. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen.