In Jesus' time Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea. During Jesus' trial, he had the power and the responsibility to decide Jesus' fate. At one point he asked a very important question ...
Matt 27:11-26Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor. Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.(vs 22) What do you think Pilate is feeling when he asks this question?
What were his options?
Is this an important question for Pilate, or does he even care?
What makes it such a big deal for him?
There is something here that makes this question an enormous question, and tonight I want us to discover it in the bible together. To do this, we will have to go back beyond this story to the Old Testament, 700 years before the time of Christ.
Isaiah was a prophet that spoke a great deal about the Messiah (Jesus), even though he lived 700 years before Christ was even born, and never saw him, never knew him!
Isaiah 53:1-12Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
- vs 1-2a
What is meant by the phrase "root out of dry ground"? (an unlikely place)
Was this statement fulfilled?
Where did Jesus grow up? (Nazareth in Galilee)
How many Jewish scholars and teachers of the time thought the Messiah would come from Nazareth? (John 1:45,46) Isaiah knew!- vs 2b
Is this how Jesus is portrayed on TV, newspapers, paintings, etc? (No)
How is he portrayed? Why?
The world's view of Christ has always differed from the biblical view.- vs 3
Who would have believed that they would actually treat their own messiah that way? Nobody! Why not?
Then what did the phrase "familiar with suffering" mean to them?
-- That the Messiah would "feel their painn" of being in captivity by Rome.
"Man of sorrows" -- Do we ever see this side of Jesus?
"We esteemed him not" -- Was Jesus held in high esteem in his day?
- Mark 3:20 -- His family thought he was mentally ill.
- Mark 6:1-5 -- His home town rejected Him as a blasphemer.
- John 6:60-66 -- Many of His own disciples rejected Him.
- vs 4-6
"Pierced for our sins" -- How was this fulfilled? "By his stripes we are healed" -- How was this fulfilled?- vs 7
"Yet did not open His mouth" (Mark 15:5) Isaiah knew!- vs 8-9
"Assigned a grave with the wicked" -- How was this fulfilled? In Jesus' trial, He was pronounced innocent 3 times!- vs 10
Why was all of this God's will? Re-read vs 5 & 6. Who is Isaiah talking about here? Us!
II Cor 5:21"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, ..."
Rom 5:6-8"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
We've all heard that Christ died for the sins of the world, but have you heard it the way Isaiah and Paul have told it: that Christ died for YOUR sins! He died for YOU -- personally!
Christ had to die for your sins because you (nor I) can do anything about your sins (or my sins). It was YOUR sins (and mine) that put Jesus on the cross! We are responsible! We are just as responsible as Pilate himself was for putting Jesus on the cross! YOU are. I am.
This is what the bible teaches, and if you really believe this tonight, then there's a question you must answer, one that you cannot ignore or remain neutral about. Do you know what that question is? It's the same question that Pilate asked during Jesus' trial 2000 years ago: "What shall I do with Jesus?!"
John 14:6Jesus said "No one comes to the Father except through me."
What are you going to do with Jesus, now that you know He died for YOU, and he died because of YOUR sins? He is the only way to the Father (God)! So how are you going to answer that question?
What are your options? They are similar to the ones Pilate had to choose from.
Do you have the audacity to say: "not me!" "not my sin!"
That is what we are saying if we refuse to answer that question! And here's the real kicker: If it wasn't YOUR sin that put Jesus on the cross, then He didn't die for you! What is the implication of that, since He is the only way to the Father?
Tonight if you really believe what the scripture teaches, that Jesus died for you, then Pilate's question deserves an answer: What are you going to do with Jesus?
Close with prayer.