Mark 15:1-15

Mark 15:1-15 - preached at IPC - 17/01/10pm
We’re coming towards the end of what has been a long series of studies on Mark. Ch15:1-15 where we see Jesus standing before the roman governor Pontius Pilate and this is a passage which has got a lot of resonance in our age.
We have seen the ugly side of political manoeuvres we’ve learnt a lot more than we need to learn about them, we know about various political parties secret talks.
We know about hidden agendas, we know about deals made under the counter and you have this situation in Palestine in early years of first century it is the background to what is happening in crucifixion of Jesus.
This evening I want to do something different.
I want to act as a reporter a political commentator.
To try to understand what is really happening here underneath the surface.
You know how the 10 o clock news you get the headlines and then it says we’ll now go to our political commentator at Westminster and whoever it is explains to us or tries to explain to us what is really going on behind the scenes to make sense of it for us.
I want to be that political commentator it is a complicated situation but I wan to try and make it as clear as I can and then at the end we’ll make some brief applications about the main characters in this whole scenario Pontius Pilate, the Jews and the leaders and the ljc.
I hope you’ll be able to stay with me.
Let’s recap for a moment the Jewish ruling council has the sanhedrin has already decided that J of Naz is to die,.
And they have decided to put him to death for blasphemy mark 14:64
Mark 14:64 you have heard the blasphemy what do you think?
They all condemned him as worthy of death so they want to see him put to death for blasphemy but they have key problems.
The first is they don’t have the power to put anyone to death.
Judea is an occupied territory occupied by the roman power and only the Romans can execute people so they may want to see Jesus executed but they can’t do it.
The second problem is that the Lj is still quite popular people like him crowds of people had cheered him as he entered Jerusalem and they don’t want to face up to the responsibility of having him killed.
In case that makes them unpopular and so they decide that the only way out is to have the Romans put Jesus to death.
They have the authority and they don’t care whether they are popular or not, they are unpopular already and it seems to be working out very well because a roman governor a man called Pontius Pilate is at present staying in jerus he doesn’t normally live in Jerusalem, his residence is in Caesarea.
A number of miles away but whenever there is danger or trouble he comes down and stays for a few days in jerus this is the time of the Passover when there is liable to be trouble so the roman governor has come down and he is staying in Jerusalem for a few days and his court will begin to sit at daybreak.
Every morning he holds a legal law court at day break.
And so they decide they are going to take Jesus at daybreak to the roman governor and get the roman governor to put him to death.
However the Romans don’t regard blasphemy as a crime as far as the Romans are concerned you can blaspheme as much as you like.
They weren’t going to punish anyone for that so they have to dream up some other charge, and that is where we come in at the beginning of ch 15 they meet very, very early before the roman court begins we read.
Very early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin reached a decision they bound Jesus led him away
Led him away and turned him over to Pilate they had decided on a new accusation something which the Romans will take seriously.
Not blasphemy something else.
What is the new accusation look at v2 read verse..pilate
This is the charge on which they are bringing Jesus before Pilate
They are saying he is a paramilitary leader he is a rebel against the roman power
He is a revolutionary agitator who is claiming to be the king of the Jews and wants to stir the people up in rebellion against the roman authorities now this is a very clever accusation.
It’s very persuasive and it is very dangerous.
The Romans were always extremely sensitive to any danger of rebellion in their empire and they stamped it out with great ferocity and remember this was the Passover the great festival of the Jews, were the times when the populists went out in procession throughout the streets when nationalist feeling was running high
When resentment against foreigners was very strong
It was a very dangerous time for the Romans and if they could persuade Pilate that Jesus was a revolutionary leader he would be executed at once without mercy without delay Pilate would have him crucified on the spot.
With me so far.
It gets more complicated because Pontius Pilate is not a fool he was governor of Judea for 10 years from 26 ad to 36 ad
A very experienced roman administrator and there are 2 things that are very fishy about this whole scenario for Pilate first of all
These people who are bringing Jesus the Sanhedrin are not in any way prop roman
Some of them were but many of them hated the Romans
The Pharisees hated the roman it was very, very unlikely that the Jewish ruling council would bring a nationalist leader to the Romans for punishment.
Eyebrows would be raised and Pilate knows perfectly well that something is wrong here we read in v10 that Pilate knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to them.
And the other thing that Jesus does not look or sound at all like a rebel like a revolutionary leader.
When Pilate asks him in v2 are you the king of the Jews he give s a very strange indirect mysterious reply an indefinite vague reply.
It is as you say
John tells us in jn 18:36
That Jesus said to Pilate my kingdom is not of this world.
If it were my servants would fight
But now my kingdom is from another place
He doesn’t sound like a rebel
He doesn’t sound like a fighter
And then there this strange silence
Pilate can’t get over the silence of this man v4,5 read verse.. amazed.
He’d been judging people now for 8 or 9 years he’d never met someone like this
When people were brought into court they said your worship I’m innocent Jesus doesn’t speak a word it is quite unparalleled and it is crystal clear to Pilate that this is an innocent man.
He doesn’t believe the Sanhedrin he knows they are telling lies.
They are acting out of envy he doesn’t for a moment believe that Jesus is a rebel.
A revolutionary leader v14 what crime has he committed said Pilate.
Twice in johns gospel Pilate says I find no basis for a charge against him.
No basis for a charge lk 23 v14 15 and 22 Pilate says I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.
As you can see
He has done nothing to deserve death what crime has this man committed.
I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty.
Over and over again the innocence of Jesus is stressed and underlined and Pilate the governor is saying in total puzzlement this man hasn’t done anything wrong.
He’s innocent
Well Pilate’s duty is clear
What should he do?
Well he should release Jesus
The roman empire was ruled by law.
He hasn’t broken any law he is guiltless he should set him free and again it is not so simple
Pilates own position is very weak.
History tells us that Pilate had several serious blots on his record.
There were a number of incidents in the past he had handled badly.
Jews had been massacred there had been unnecessary trouble aroused in the province and Pilate’s patron a man called sejanus had been executed in Rome shortly before this by the emperor Tiberius
Pilate had lost a very powerful friend at court and he really couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes
Remember how the Jews stick in the knife here and say if you let this man go your not Caesars friend this was dirty politics but very, very effective.
Pilate was walking on a tightrope he couldn’t afford another riot.
And he was sitting if you like on a barrel of gunpowder.
Probably up to a quarter of a million angry Jews in Jerusalem hating the Romans one spark would set off a massive revolt it was a very, very tricky situation.
And the Jewish leaders played Pilate like a fiddle.
they were clever politicians they knew where to exert pressure,. They knew exactly how to manipulate this man and they did manipulate him.
Pilate tried to avoid responsibility in 3 ways
He finds out for example that Jesus comes from Galilee oh he says the king of gal is in town he should be looking after you.
So Luke tells us that he sends Jesus to Herod.
Herod’s far too cute for that he mocks Jesus and send him back to Pilate.
Pilate says would you deal with him.
He says no no no no you deal with him.
Then Pilate says well at this time of year I always release somebody that is the custom how about releasing Jesus the crowd say no no we don’t want Jesus.
We want Barabbas.
And then we read in v15 that Pilate had Jesus flogged.
This was a really horrific punishment.
It was carried out with a leather whip in which pieces of bone and lead had been sown and in a flogging the victims back was cut to ribbons usually their bones and their inner organs were left exposed, sometimes eyes were torn out.
Very few people remained conscious after a flogging and they often died during a flogging so it was a very, very brutal punishment indeed.
and it is plain from John’s account that this was an attempt by Pilate to arouse the pity of the people or to satisfy their bloodlust.
After the flogging in John 19 Pilate says look I’m bringing him out to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.
Here is the man , here is the man and Jesus stands before them with his back mangled by the flogging.
But the chief priests cry crucify him crucify him and Pilate gives in.
He yields to the pressure so skilfully exerted
And Jesus is taken away to be nailed to the cross.
So that is the background to this story.
People who have decided to have Jesus murdered
That’s the background to this story people who have decided to have Jesus murdered who trump up a false charge of rebellion.
The roman judge realises that the charge is false but by clever party politics they manoeuvre him into a position where he has to give in now what we can we learn for our own lives form this episode.
Let’s think for a moment of
Pontius Pilate
By this one act of cowardice Pilate has earned for himself everlasting shame.
He is one of the best known Romans in the world,.
He is remembered everytime the apostolic creed is repeated he suffered under Pontius pilate.
Pilate is known to history known to the world as a weak corrupt judge his pathetic hand washing in front of the crowd has not absolved him from guilt and his life is saying to us that to play the coward is the path to shame.
To run away from duty is the path to shame an din fact pilategained nothing in the long run he was disgraced and deposed from office.
Soon after this.
Pilate teaches us also to expect little judtice on earth from human governments and human authorities.
The bible tells us they are established by god they are.
But they are composed mostly of unregenerate sinners.
And we have to realise that government will usually act in their own interest.
They will capitulate to pressure rather than follow principle.
They will bow tot eh strongest influence brought to bear on them.
They will take the easiest way out we are not to be cynical.
We are to pray for the powers that be.
But nor should we be naive ps 146:3 is clear do not put your trust in princes, government can cannot help us.
There are many people need to learn this lesson. This election year put not your trust in princes. Barack Obama –proised on election night that he would heal America and heal the world.
Let’s look for a moment at the Jews and their leaders think about the irony of what is happeneing.
Jesus is going to be put to death as a revolutionary leader. And that is precisely what he refused to be, that is why the people turned against him.
That is why he was rejected by the Jewish crowd over and over again they wanted to make him their king but he would not allow them and this is a fateful moment in the history of the Jewish nation.
They have a choice between Jesus and Barabbas a paramilitary leader and they chose Barabbas.
And in effect they were choosing the way of rebellion of armed resistance of a nationalist uprising and 35 years later their whole nation is going to be destroyed in a welter of blood.
They had the prince of peace and they had a terrorist.
They chose the terrorist and in that choice they were choosing their destiny and that is warning to Gods people ever since.
That the way of violence accept in lawful self defence is always wrong.
Christ or Barabbas the bible says all who draw the sword will die by the sword
Lastly LJC
What an illustration fo the gospel ehre
The gospel he was dying to give
Barbas is set free Christ is killed
He innocent dies the guilty is set free
Note the patience the silence
The submission of our saviour how majestic how dignified how impressive here these lies are being told about him, he is being beaten and tortured treated with extreme injustice not a word of reproach
Not a flash of anger
In silence he commits all to god
And this was surely a powerful example for marks first readers in th city of rome they are soon going to be persecuted they are soon going to have to stand before judges for their faith they are going to have to suffer as Jesus did and what an example for us also we are not going to be put on trial but in many ways in this world we are going to be treated unfairly injured abused cheated of our rights what are we to do
Peter tells us in 1 pet 2 19 if you suffer for doing good and you endure it this is commendable before god to this you were called because Christ suffered for you leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.
When they hurled their insults at him he did not retaliate when he suffered he made no threats instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly
To this you were called
Christ left you an example that you should follow in his steps he didn’t retaliate he didn’t hit back
He made no threats
He committed himself to god
May be given grace to follow his example amen