John 19:10-16
Sunday Morning Bible Study
March 2, 1997
Introduction
We continue our look at the last day of Jesus earthly life.
Last week we saw Pilate scourging Jesus, allowing the soldiers to mock Him, and then returning to the Jewish leaders to say that he found nothing wrong with the guy.
But when the Jews said that He must die because He was claiming to be the Son of God, Pilate got a little worried.
John 19:8-9 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; {9} And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
:10-16 Rejected by His own
:10 knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
Pilate is amazed that Jesus would keep silent at a time like this.
If Jesus would just talk, perhaps Pilate could help Him.
:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above
From above
Pilate only had the authority to crucify Jesus because he had been given that authority by God.
Paul wrote:
(Rom 13:1 NKJV) Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Does this include William Jefferson Clinton?
Yes.
It is generally agreed upon that Paul wrote to the Romans around 57-58 AD.
This was about three years after the accession of a new emperor in Rome, Nero. (who came to power in 54 AD).
Some would point out that Nero didn't start acting crazy and killing Christians until 59 AD.
Later, around 63 AD, Paul wrote:
(1 Tim 2:1-4 KJV) I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; {2} For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. {3} For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; {4} Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Lesson:
Respect and pray for your government.
I'm not saying this because I'm a closet Democrat. I'm not a Democrat.
I'm saying this because God wants us to do it.
We need to pray for those in authority over us, and not prayers like "God get them good "
We need to pray sincerely, lovingly, as if we were praying for our best friend who suddenly found himself in the White House with all the decisions of the most powerful man on earth before him.
This doesn't mean we have to agree with everything the president does. (Acts 5:29)
It just means we pray lovingly for him.
:11 therefore he that delivered me unto thee
This could be talking about two different people:
In actuality, it was Caiaphas who handed Jesus over to Pilate.
:11 hath the greater sin.
Both Judas and Caiaphas were liable for a greater sin than Pilate because they had greater knowledge about Jesus.
Judas had lived with Jesus for three years.
He heard Him teach, he saw Jesus' miracles.
He had no excuse.
Caiaphas was the high priest over Israel.
There should have been none more familiar with the ancient prophecies concerning the Messiah than he.
There should have been none more familiar with the plan of God than he.
He had no excuse.
Lesson:
Basic Theology: There are degrees of sin.
There is a sense in which all sin is the same.
All sin carries the same basic penalty, death.
(Rom 6:23 KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But there is also a sense in which some sin is greater than others.
(Luke 12:42-48 KJV) And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? {43} Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. {44} Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. {45} But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; {46} The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. {47} And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. {48} But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
The one who breaks the law, but claims ignorance of the law, is still punished, just not as much as the one who knew the law.
Summary:
We are accountable for what we know to be right, and whether or not we do it.
:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him:
You almost get the idea that this man Pilate was kind of an okay guy.
He already said several times that he saw no fault in Jesus.
After talking with Jesus the first time
(John 18:38 KJV) Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
After having seen how Jesus reacted under the scourging
(John 19:4 KJV) Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
When the Jews responded with cries of "Crucify Him"
(John 19:6b KJV) Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
And even now, he is actively seeking to have Jesus released.
He seems to want to do the right thing, but he's not going to do it.
He's going to give in to the pressure that the Jewish leaders are going to put on him.
Lesson:
The power of peer pressure.
It's funny, we think of this as a teenage issue, the pressure of belonging to the "in-crowd".
But it never really stops.
It's why one gal will call up another gal and ask, "What are you wearing to the party?"
You don't want to stand out in the crowd, you want to be like everyone else.
It's why public opinion polls are so powerful.
Politicians want to do whatever makes the people happy.
And that's not always what is right.
It's basically the fear of man.
(Prov 29:25 KJV) The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
:12 thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
They're throwing out an attack on Pilate, aimed at his very being.
It's a pretty heavy thing for a bunch of rebellious Jewish leaders to accuse a faithful Roman governor of not being a "friend of Caesar".
What if they go and tell his boss?
:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying,
John makes a point of showing us that Pilate's next reaction was based upon hearing these words from the Jewish leaders.
Pilate is a "reactor".
He is constantly "reacting" to the things that are being said to him.
John has been very careful to show us how Pilate is reacting to things that are being told to him.
(John 19:7-8 KJV) The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. {8} When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
And now he reacts to the charge that he must not be a friend of Caesar.
Lesson:
Persuader or persuaded.
This kind of goes along with the peer pressure.
When we are faced with tough, moral decisions, we can be one of two types of people.
We can either be a person who has a firm grasp of right and wrong, or one who is easily persuaded.
David wrote:
(Psa 1:1-4 KJV)
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. {2} But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. {3} And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. {4} The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.You have a choice of either listening to ungodly advice, or listening to the Word of God.
A person who listens to ungodly advice, and is swayed by peer pressure, is going to be "blown away".
The person who makes his decisions based on the unchanging Word of God, won't be blown away, but will be planted, and will be fruitful.
:13 and sat down in the judgment seat
It's time for the final sentencing.
:13 in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Pavement - lithostrotos - a pavement of stones, or a mosaic.
Gabbatha = "elevated or a platform"
The common view is that this is an area at the "Antonio Fortress", which was built by Herod to protect the Temple from attack.
It was actually on the Temple grounds, in the northwest corner.
Today there is a church there, the "Sisters of Zion", and underneath it are large paving stones, one foot thick, where you can see where the soldiers scratched their game patterns into the pavement, indicating that the soldiers' barracks were probably nearby.
:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and
It is Friday morning before the Passover.
John gives us his times in Roman hours (not Hebrew ones), and the sixth hour would be 6:00 a.m.
Jesus will be crucified at 9:00 a.m. (Mark records it as the "third" hour, in Hebrew time).
:14 he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
Was Pilate being sarcastic, or was he being serious?
There is great irony here.
Even if Pilate is mocking Jesus, or even mocking the Jews, the fact is that this is indeed their king!
Isaiah had prophesied concerning the Messiah:
(Isa 9:6-7 KJV) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. {7} Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
It was just a few days ago, when the crowd acknowledged Him as King as He rode into the city on a donkey:
(Mat 21:9 KJV) And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Whether Pilate meant it or not, the truth was that this WAS their king!
:15 The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
The traditional Jewish prayer says something like, "We have no king but God".
Now the chief priests have it backwards.
It's almost like when the nation of Israel asked Samuel to get them a king, to be like the other nations.
1Sa 8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
Lesson #1:
Who is your king?
Is God the King of your life?
Is Jesus the Lord of your life?
Who is your king?
It's sad that this comes from the mouths of the very men who should have most been in touch with the things of God, with the plans of God.
Yet the ancient prophet, Isaiah had written seven hundred years earlier -
(Isa 53:2-3 KJV) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. {3} He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
John recorded:
(John 1:11 KJV) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Lesson #2:
He understands rejection.
Some of you are hurting from the pain that comes when someone close to you rejects you.
Some have been rejected by a mother or a father.
Some have been rejected by a husband or a wife.
Some have been rejected by a close friend.
The writer to the Hebrews records:
(Heb 2:18 KJV) For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
(Heb 4:15-16 KJV) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. {16} Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus knows what you're going through when you've been rejected.
He was rejected by the very people He came for.
Lesson #3:
Be an acceptor, not a rejecter.
We need to be careful that we don't become rejecters.
It's strange how sometimes those of us who have felt the greatest rejection, can uncaringly turn around and reject others.
The Scripture in the bulletin was:
(Col 3:12-14 TLB) Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of his deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others. Don't worry about making a good impression on them, but be ready to suffer quietly and patiently. {13} Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. {14} Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony.
Illustration
Infatuation is when you think that he's as gorgeous as Robert Redford, as pure as Solzhenitsyn, as funny as Woody Allen, as athletic as Jimmy Conners and as smart as Albert Einstein.
Love is when you realize that he's as gorgeous as Woody Allen, as smart as Jimmy Conners, as funny as Solzhenitsyn, as athletic as Albert Einstein and nothing like Robert Redford in any category. But you'll take him anyway.
Judith Versed, Love & Guilt & the Meaning of Love (New York: Simon & Shuster, 1984).
Illustration
I heard Jim Baker tell of some of his life in prison. His job in prison was to clean the latrine, and it wasn't exactly a glamour job, nor a clean one.
One day he was told that he had a visitor, who walked up to him and gave him a great big hug, despite what he looked like, despite what he did, despite how he smelled.
It was Billy Graham.
We need to look past each other's shortcomings, and learn to accept and love one another.
:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them
Pilate handed Jesus over to the Roman soldiers to be taken away and crucified.
Next week we look at the crucifixion of our Savior.