Sermon Nuggets Fri Nov 28
Theme: Mockery
Verses John 19:13-16
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).
14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
Hysteria 13-16
Mocking grows. It moved from resentments, to empowerment, to humliation, to humor, to hatred, and now hysteria. Sometimes we witness crowd hysteria. It seems that on the news we see people so emotionally worked up you cannot talk sense to them. It seems with the right instigation people can be lead one way at one time and the opposite another. During riots people get caught up in the mob presence and do things they might not do normally.
Part of this reaction is witnessed where it doesn’t make any difference anymore. The crowd wanted Jesus dead. Hysteria set in.
Now I cannot help but think the evil behind all this is revealed when we understand the spiritual conflict that goes on between God and Satan. We cannot talk about Christ suffering without relating it to the Spiritual conflict of Heaven and Hell. This is the fury of Satan bruising his heel as prophesied in Genesis. Satan enslaved the minds of the people to hysteria, increasing the fear of Pilate to the point of merciless treatment. Yet when given the choice of saving his position or doing what is right, Pilate choose his job.
The suffering was all preplanned. It was foretold that the Messiah would be betrayed by Judas. (Ps 41) and be rejected and scorned by his own people (Is 53:3). Specific prophecies include the use of false witnesses (Ps 35:11) Christ’s silence before his accusers (Is 53:7) His beatings (Is 50:6) His being offered gall and vinegar to dink (Ps 69:11) His crucified with thieves (Is 53:12) His being pieced with a spear (Zech 12:10) And his burial in the tomb of a rich man (Is 53:9)
But how can all these people shout we have no king but Caesar? They actually were rejecting the Kingship of God. They would have normally been incensed with the rule of Caesar, but they were picking their ruler of this world over the rule of God in their lives. They hated Caesar but they hated Jesus more. They would not have Jesus rule over them and if that meant his death, then so be it. That’s why Jesus could compare sins and say one is worse than the other. Outward rebellion is carrying worse consequence that ignorance but both are held accountable before the greatest of Judges.
I couldn’t help but look at the frenzied crowds in Iraq. Some of the images of what is must have been like before Pilate came to my mind as people clenched their fists and shook them in the air with of shouts that make them hoarse, “Crucify, Crucify Him, and Satan thinks he is succeeding.
He was willing to take all those sins and place them upon himself that we may be saved.
Pastor Dale
