The Trials And Denials Of Jesus – Part 3

Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

John 18:38b-19:16 …After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. ³⁹ But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶ So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

INTRODUCTION

Guests and those of you who are joining us for the dedication, once again, welcome. As I begin my sermon, it’s important for you to know that I’ve been preaching through John’s Gospel for some time now. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John’s main aim, which he tells us at the end of the Gospel (20:30-31), is to convince his readers, including you and me today, that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in His name.” That’s our main aim and prayer as well.

To this point, we’ve made our way through John’s description of Jesus’ eternality as the Son of God, John the Baptist’s ministry preparing the way for Jesus, and Jesus’ calling of His disciples, teaching, miracles, and continual confrontations with the Jewish religious leaders of His day. We’ve seen Jesus feed thousands with a few pieces of bread and a few fish, heal decades-old sicknesses, raise people from the dead, teach with unprecedented authority, make claims no mere man could truthfully make, and forgive people of their sins.

Throughout this Gospel, we’ve seen person after person encounter Jesus and then have to decide what to do about it. Everyone was impressed on some level, but many angerly rejected His claim to be the Christ. Others were simply indifferent after initial intrigue. Still others believed they believed in Jesus for a time, only to fall away later. And some, those entrusted to Jesus by God the Father, really did believe in Jesus and followed Him through increasing persecution.

Jesus’ ministry on earth lasted just over three years and we’ve come to the last hours of the last day of His life. Tragically, rather than spend those hours as He should have, receiving the thanksgiving and praise of those He came to save, Jesus under arrest, bound, and forced to undergo a series of trials at the hands of both the Jews and the Romans. We already considered the three Jewish trials and the first Roman trial.

The Jewish trials, we saw, were not about discovering the truth and rendering a just verdict. They were about finding a way—any way—to get the Romans to put Jesus to death. The Jews believed they found what they were after when Jesus publicly claimed to be the Christ during the second Jewish trial. In the mind of the Jewish leaders, the Christ would necessarily be seen as an insurrectionist by the Romans. With that charge in their pocket, they took Jesus to a man named Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea for the first of the Roman trials.

And the three main things to remember concerning Pilate’s initial interrogation of Jesus are, first, Pilate could tell that there was something different about Jesus. Second, Pilate wanted to release Jesus, declaring, “I find no guilt in Him.” And third, Pilate was on thin ice with the Roman leaders above him, so a Jewish revolt (which they were threatening) would likely have ended his career (or worse). He was, therefore, trying hard to navigate the turbulent waters of dealing with the extraordinary Jesus, manipulative Jews, and breathing-down-the-neck Romans.

Perhaps, hoping to buy himself a bit of time, or perhaps hoping to pass the buck entirely, after his initial interrogation, Pilate sent Jesus off to Herod, king of Judea. That’s where we pick up this morning.

As I hope to help you see, the big idea of this passage, indeed, the big idea of all Jesus’ trials, is that although they were anything but just, they were, nevertheless, the means by which God had sovereignly chosen to save the world. Did you catch that? It is a truly remarkable aspect of God’s perfect providence that He chose to use the sins of sinners to save sinners from their sin.

The main takeaway for us is to trust in Jesus in such a way that gladly causes us to stand firm against any opposition that comes our way for doing so…which, once again, is what we see in such significant ways in the families who just dedicated their children to the Lord this morning.

THE FIRST ROMAN TRIAL – PILATE (JOHN 18:29-38A)

As I mentioned before, just as there were three Jewish trials, there were also three Roman trials.

John 18:29-38a describes the first Roman trial which, as I just mentioned, was before Pontious Pilate. By the end, of it, Pilate was convinced of Jesus’ innocence and could clearly see what the Jews were trying to do (get him to execute Jesus apart from any real crime against Rome). Not wanting to be in the middle of it, he decided to send Jesus to Herod (for the second trial).

THE SECOND ROMAN TRIAL – HEROD (LUKE 23:6-11)

The Background (Luke 9:7-9)

Herod was one of the rulers (along with two brothers and an aunt) of his father, Herod the Great’s, kingdom. Within the Roman empire, he was in charge of both Jesus’ hometown and Jerusalem (the city in which the events of our passage take place). In other words, Herod was over Pilate and controlled each area of jurisdictional significance in the case against Jesus.

It’s not obvious from John’s Gospel, but Jesus’ first Roman trial ended in the middle of v.38. That’s why (if you have an ESV Bible) there’s a new paragraph in the middle of the verse. The second half of v.38, where our passage for this morning begins, is actually the beginning of the third Roman trial (again before Pilate). In between, we know from Luke’s Gospel, that Pilate sent Jesus to Herod.

Before getting to the nature of the trial itself, let me take you on a quick aside concerning the nature of the differences in the different Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus.

Some have considered things like the fact that John leaves out the trial before Herod to be evidence of the fact that the Bible is just another in a long line of human religious books. Others have suggested it means there are errors in the Bible or that it’s merely a collection of stories passed down and modified over time.

Rather than prove or even suggest any of these things, these kinds of differences highlight the wisdom of God. Rather than a single story, from a single person, for a single purpose, God inspired four different men to retell the story and significance of Jesus’ life for slightly different audiences and with slightly different aims in mind.

For John, for instance, as I mentioned earlier, his aim was to retell the stories of Jesus’ life that were most likely to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ. Luke, on the other hand, was far more concerned with providing a detailed and “orderly account…that [we] may have certainty concerning the things…taught” (Luke 1:3-4).

Together, the four Gospels give a fuller and perfectly harmonious picture of the events and significance of Jesus’ life; fuller and more harmonious than if there were only three, or two, or one. What a gift it is that God has provided for us several accounts of the Means by which He saves us.

We can trust His Word, Grace. We can build our entire and eternal lives upon it. It is how we know who God is, who we are, why things are the way they are, how to properly order our lives, and the hope we have in light of the fact that we haven’t. Grace, God’s Word, as unique as it is, tells us of the straightest path to the greatest joy.

With that, let’s look first at Luke 9:7-9 to get a bit of insight into Herrod’s mindset.

⁷ Now Herod the tetrarch [ruler over ¹/⁴th of his father’s kingdom] heard about all that was happening [in Jesus’ ministry], and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John [the Baptist] had been raised from the dead, ⁸ by some that Elijah [the OT prophet] had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.

The main thing for us to see here is that early on in Jesus’ ministry, word of His teaching and miracles had reached Herod in a way that left him confused, frightened, and intrigued. He didn’t know what to make of Jesus, was concerned that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist (whom he’d reluctantly beheaded out of an impulsiveness fueled by lust), and he was interested in seeing some of the “tricks” of Jesus for himself.

Therefore, because Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time of the events described in our passage, and because Pilate was looking to pass the buck, the opportunity finally presented itself for Herod to question Jesus and see if Jesus really warranted all the buzz He’d generated.

The Trial (Luke 23:6-11)

All of that brings us to Luke 23:6-11 and the second Roman trial of Jesus.

⁶ When Pilate heard this [the response of the Jews to his reluctance to prosecute Jesus], he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.

In light of what we’ve already seen of Pilate and Herod, this looked a golden opportunity for both. Indeed…

⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.

Herod saw Jesus more as a parlor trick or a circus act than the Son of God. Just as we saw back in Luke 9, Herod’s interest in Jesus was much the same as the draw to viral videos today. Jesus was the talk of the town for all kinds of unbelievable reasons and Herod was hoping to catch a glimpse.

⁹ So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.

Jesus initially responded to Pilate this way as well and Pilate understood the insubordination that Jesus’ silence represented. Herod was above Pilate and so the insubordination had even higher stakes. On top of that, Jesus’ restraint was not what the Jews were after. They wanted Him to continue to say things that reinforced their case. Neither the Jews nor Herod were content with Jesus non-response and so both sought to antagonize Him in their own way.

¹⁰ The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.

It seems that Herod quickly became bored with Jesus. Just like Pilate, then, Herod didn’t want anything to do with Jesus either. After Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate (for the third trial, our passage for this morning), Pilate reported to the Jews, “I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.”

Once again, Grace, the thing to see here is that it was obvious to everyone who hadn’t decided in advance that Jesus needed to die that the charges being leveled against Jesus were baseless. Jesus was innocent and the charges were illegitimate. And the other thing to see is the total lack of courage, integrity, and justice in anyone charged to lead a people with courage, integrity, and justice.

Being convinced of Jesus’ innocence ought to have led Pilate and Herod to work to secure His safe release from the Jews. Instead, concerned only for their own comfort and position, the two Roman leaders simply jockeyed with one another to avoid responsibility.

Men and women of God, look to Jesus and see what it looks like to embrace all the responsibilities that God has charged you with. We must follow Jesus’ example in carrying the weight of our responsibilities and paying their price, however heavy and costly they may be. Jesus perfectly demonstrated this and promised to strengthen His followers to follow in His example.

THE THIRD ROMAN TRIAL – PILATE (JOHN 18:38B-19:16)

Jesus’ third and final Roman trial, the second before Pilate, went much the same as the first. It began with Pilate reiterating to the Jews that “I find no guilt in [Jesus]” (18:38) and trying, therefore, to release Him in a way that would not incite the Jews to riot. Look at 18:39.

Before the Jews (18:39-19:8)

³⁹ … you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

The goal was to release Jesus peacefully, but at the same time Pilate just couldn’t help himself from including a jab in his attempt. He knew the very source of their anger toward Jesus was tied to His claim, that Jesus was King. He was mocking them.

This lack of self-control is likely what made him a bad leader, in hot water because of his poor leadership, and vulnerable to this kind of manipulation. Oh, how true is the Proverb, “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back” (29:11).

While the slight certainly didn’t help, the fact remains that the Jews had their hearts and minds set on Jesus’ murder; so much so, that they would rather Pilate release a robber and a genuine insurrectionist than Jesus. In their thirst for justice, the Jews would rather release a dangerous man than the One who had come to save them.

⁴⁰ They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!”

Not one to give up, Pilate continued to probe for a way to release Jesus without inciting mob violence and endangering himself. Seeking to placate the Jews, Pilate had Jesus flogged (19:1), he allowed the soldiers under his command to mistreat and mock Jesus, covering Him with a “royal” robe, crowing Him with a crown of thorns, punching Him, and mocking Him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (2-3).

Hoping that would do…

⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

Pilate essentially declared, “He is innocent, but see how I abused Him. You’ve gotten your pound of flesh. You claim He is dangerous, but behold Him now, look how weak He is, now let’s move on.”

Once again, in this display, and this proclamation (behold the man), Jesus was flipping everything upside down. Pilate meant “behold the weak man, the man so easily subdued and mocked.” But it was Jesus’ strength, indeed His omnipotence, that allowed Him to endure this injustice, in love, for the sake of those who betrayed and mocked and beat Him.

Grace, may we learn this lesson. In Jesus’ kingdom, strength is about lovingly laying down our lives for those who would do us harm. It is about running with the gospel into the scorn of those who remain lost in sin. It is about serving in Jesus’ name, those who have no means of repayment. It is about living lives wholly dedicated to freely giving sinners the same grace we received as sinners.

Still oblivious to all of that and undeterred once again, rather than relent…

⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!”

Void of any mercy, grace, or love, cloaked in the appearance of godliness but lacking it entirely, the chief priests and officers betrayed the fact that their anger against Jesus was anything but righteous. It was self-serving and tragically misguided. It was merely and purely horizontal anger at Jesus for threatening their place of “honor and power”. It was not vertical anger (which is a prerequisite for righteous, horizontal anger) that God’s glory was being hidden and marred.

With the wicked cries calling for Jesus’ crucifixion still ringing, for the fourth time in John’s Gospel, Pilate tried to release Jesus as an innocent man, charging the Jews to crucify Him themselves (which was another jab, since he knew they couldn’t/wouldn’t) (6).

But for the fourth time the Jews refused to let up on their pressure. Indeed, they increased the pressure, reminding Pilate of Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God and the fact that Jewish and Roman law demanded that one making such claims be put to death (7).

Sensing things slip from His fingers and only now having heard the fullness of Jesus’ claim, John tells us that Pilate was “even more afraid” (8). We’re not explicitly told what Pilate had been less afraid of previously, but every indication is that it is of the fact that Jesus was clearly different; unintimidated by the combined power of the Jewish leaders and Roman empire pressing down on Him, entirely in control in spite of what was at stake in the agony of crucifixion, and confidently focused on truth in the midst of all the lies and liars around Him.

Privately (19:9-12a)

One last time, then, Pilate brought Jesus inside his headquarters for private interrogation. Away from the added pressure of watching eyes and listening ears, Pilate asked Jesus about His origin, “Where are you from” (9).

Jesus didn’t answer once again. And once again, Pilate was quick to pick up on the insubordination that implied.

¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”

And here’s where, if this had an accompanying musical score, it would reach a crescendo. A measure of the hidden Kingliness of Jesus broke forth. The Lion, for just a moment, didn’t entirely contain His roar.

¹¹ Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

In this simple, but almighty statement, Jesus simultaneously affirmed Pilate’s sinfulness and God’s sovereign hand in it. Pilate really had made wicked, cowardly decisions, and at the exact same time those wicked, cowardly decisions were instruments in God’s redemptive hand.

Grace, there is more to what I’m about to say than what I’m about to say, but there’s not less: Just as this was true of Jesus, if your hope is in Jesus, so is it true for you in every mistreatment and injustice and abuse you’ve ever received. Evil acts perpetrated against you by sinful people are truly evil acts perpetrated against you by sinful people. But they are also tools of God’s grace in your life.

As you know, it’s often hard to see exactly how that works in real time. And yet, we must learn from God’s use of the even greater mistreatment of Jesus (than anything you or I will ever receive) to accomplish the salvation of the world, that no matter how visible or invisible the gracious hand of God is in your suffering, it is there.

Clearly humbled and probably all the more frightened…

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release him…

That’s the clearest statement of all that Pilate wanted nothing to do with Jesus. He clearly didn’t really understand what he was dealing with, but he knew it was nothing he wanted to be dealing with.

Before the Jews (19:12b-16)

Jesus continued speaking for one last time, condemning the Jews who had handed Him over. His own people—those who had the law and the prophets that spoke of Him and the promises of the deliverance He would bring, who claimed to have longed for His coming for centuries—they were less able to recognize Jesus as the Christ than were the pagan Romans. Jesus pointed this out to them, engaging them one more time.

Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

Understanding the implications and condemnation of Jesus’ words, the Jews played their final and highest trump card…

…the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

Just as the Jews understood the seriousness of Jesus’ charge against them, Pilate understood the seriousness of the Jews’ charge against him: to release Jesus, one claiming to be a king over Caesar, is to oppose Caesar’s rightful rule. And all who oppose Caesar’s “rightful rule” will know nothing but the wrath of Caesar.

¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews [with yet another slight], “Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them [with one last act of defiance], “Shall I crucify your King?”

And here it was, Grace, the Jews’ final chance. What Pilate meant and the Jews took as a slight was the truest truth and the greatest news. Jesus was their King and He was standing before them, offering Himself to them for their good. This was their last chance to see it and believe. And yet, just as when Caiaphas had earlier held the truest truth in his hand, but grossly and tragically misinterpreted it, the Jews followed in his footsteps. Therefore…

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

And in this, the Jews finally played their whole, wretched hand. God alone was their king, but in their hatred for His Son, they renounced Father and Son.

And that led to Pilate’s final chance. This was his point of no return. His King was standing in front of him. Offering Himself to Pilate as much as to the Jews for his highest good. Pilate could see the uniqueness and innocence of Jesus. Would he act according to his own judgment and conviction or would he play the coward and pay the price of an innocent man’s life to save his job? According to the example of the religious leaders, Pilate…

¹⁶ … delivered [Jesus] over to them to be crucified.

Israel was charged by God to be a light to the nations. They were supposed to live in such a way as to demonstrate the goodness of God, so that the nations would be drawn to their light. The nations did follow, but instead of following Israel into the light, they followed Israel into the darkness.

And that’s how it is, Grace. God has put His power in His image bearers and even more so in those who hope in Him. But God has made us in such a way that we can use that power in both directions, for good and evil. It can have as much of a significant impact for harm as it can for what it was intended.

CONCLUSION

Let me close, then by highlighting the three great contrasts of this morning. In the dedications we saw an example of God’s people using God’s power for staggering good. In this passage we saw a contrasting example of God’s people using God’s power for staggering evil. Most importantly, and in greatest contrast, we saw Jesus’ example of making use of the full measure of the power of God for the full measure of God’s good.

Once again, then, the main takeaway for us is to look to Jesus’ example, as did the parents of the kids dedicated today, and ask the Lord to send us out in His power to pour forth dozens more bursts of light this week as we all give ourselves to living, no matter the cost, for God’s glory and the good of the world.