Jesus Before Pilate

Well, the first important thing that I will say is open your Bibles. Turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 23.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

Let's pray.

Our Father, this morning our prayers are instructed by Scripture.

And for one, I'm reminded of the text in Psalm 119 where the psalmist prayed,

Open thou mine eyes that I might behold wondrous truths of thy law.

And apart from your working to give us understanding, we will leave here unchanged, indifferent,

no more drawn to the glory of Christ than we were before.

And so we are thankful for the instruction of Scripture that reminds us to beg for those things that are appropriate and honoring to Christ.

We are also reminded of the words of Zechariah where he said,

Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.

And we are dependent upon the Spirit of God making your word clear, persuasive, encouraging, convicting for the glory of Christ.

We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

So allow me to do something just a little different here.

The second service.

I'm going to ask whoever's running the slides, would you just not do them?

Because I'm not used to this.

Okay.

So bear with me.

Just follow me.

How's that?

And don't look for little prompts on the screen because they'll throw you off and they'll probably throw me off.

And we'll all wonder what happened on the way to Gethsemane.

So let me start by saying this.

Earlier as I was sitting here on the front, which is my place, a little girl asked me,

Are you preaching?

I thought, how is she?

Well, it's this, you know, the rig that gives me away.

And I said, Yes, I am.

I said, Will you pray for me?

She got this little quizzical look on her face.

And I said, Did you know that you're supposed to pray when the pastor preaches?

And with a little innocent face, she said, No, I didn't.

I said, Well, the Bible says to do it.

And how many of you know that praying is part of your obligation while someone is preaching the word of God?

Wave your hand just kind of like this so I know you don't need fresh instruction.

Go ahead.

The scriptures are explicit that you have an obligation to pray for the preaching of the word of God.

Now, when a pastor says something like that, there's a little follow-up that should always happen.

Do you know what it is?

Where's that in the Bible?

Shouldn't that be the thought?

Where do you find that?

And that Tim Kenoyer really has no authority,

nothing of significance to say apart from Scripture.

2 Thessalonians 3, verse 1 and 2.

2 Thessalonians 3:1

Pray that the word of God would have free course and bear fruit among you.

And if I'm redundant and repetitious about one thing in particular,

apart from believing the Lord Jesus Christ,

it ought to be pray when a man's preaching.

And I will not be put out, if you think it's necessary,

while I am preaching, to go ahead and say out loud,

Lord, help him.

It's not going to bother me.

I say it when I'm preaching.

Because apart from the enabling of the Spirit of God,

the preaching of the word of God is not made effective,

either in the hearts of believers or in the lives of unbelievers.

So, with that as an introduction,

let me say that it will also be my privilege, Lord willing,

and the creek doesn't rise,

that I preached on May 18th.

And I'm going to tell you ahead of time what I'm going to preach that week

so that you can appreciate this morning the organic unity of Scripture.

What I mean by that is how the Bible fits together.

And what we are going to be looking at this morning has bearing

on the central theme of the Scriptures,

which, by the way, is Jesus.

The first passage that became significant in my life was passages that convicted Tim Kenoyer

of the darkness of his soul and his absolute depravity.

And I remember the terrible burden of realizing that I was a sinner that stood justly condemned before a holy God.

And I was broken by that.

The second passage that became very significant to me was in Romans,

several different texts that say,

believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, that's not the Romans passage,

but it says,

whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Romans 10, 11.

And I remember crying out and finding the blessing and the relief of salvation through the Lord Jesus alone.

Later on in my life,

the Lord used 1 Peter 1, verse 8 in particular

1 Peter 1:8

to really change some of the trajectory of my life.

Some of you may know it by heart.

Whom having not seen, we love.

Though now we see him not yet believing,

we are filled with joy, inexpressible, and full of glory.

And that verse got a hold of me.

Because I realized that while I didn't want to admit it,

more often than not, I was like that nasty little queen,

you know, mirror, mirror on the wall,

who's the fairest of them all?

Now, I know none of you think that way.

But you know when other people are talking about what's a blessing to them,

you're thinking you're it?

Or when people aren't thinking about you,

you're a little put out, right?

Huh?

And that verse began convicting Tim Knoyer

that he didn't love Jesus like he should.

And that began a journey.

That will end up in eternity.

And I will be satisfied

when I see him as he is,

and I shall be like him.

Isn't that good?

So how does that relate to today?

Well,

our pastors have been working their way

through the last portion of Luke,

and one sermon after another

has just reminded us

of the beauty and the glory of Jesus.

Isn't that right?

I mean, I remember Pastor Andrew

preaching about the love of Christ for Judas.

Judas.

It's like,

you're kidding me?

And I just,

that's my Jesus.

And you know,

if he can love Judas,

Tim's within his range.

And then the other week,

Pastor David was talking about

Jesus praying in the garden,

and he was talking about the burden

of what it was to go to the cross,

and he was willing to do that.

Nevertheless, not my will,

but yours, right?

That's my Jesus.

And last week,

Pastor Andrew,

by the way,

how many of you are praying

for Pastor Andrew

on a regular basis

before he goes,

raise your hands.

Everybody get your hand up.

Just out of practice.

Go ahead.

Look at me.

Pray for your pastors,

right?

Okay?

But last week,

come back to the subject.

Pastor Andrew was talking about

Jesus and his love for Peter.

how broken Peter must have felt

when he denied the Lord Jesus.

And Jesus loved him anyway.

Never changed his mind about Peter.

And if Jesus won't change his mind about Peter,

he won't change his mind about Tim.

And so here we are this morning

in another portion

where the takeaway

that I want you to take with you

when you leave this morning

is that,

wow,

that's my Savior.

And I have every reason

to love him

because he is so unbelievable

in his love

and his grace.

I want us to look in

three simple steps.

Number one,

what do we see in the text?

And we're not going to spend

a lot of time there

because I think the text

is fairly well known

and while there are

some important pieces

to draw from it,

I think the

overarching

question

is going to be

why did Jesus

do what he did?

namely in being quiet

in the face

of false accusations.

Then the last thing

that we're going to look at

is

how does this fit

into my life?

One of the characteristics

of Bible preaching

is that it's not just

an explanation

of the text itself

but it is a spirit-enabled

application of

how does that fit

my life

and how should I live

because of Jesus?

Well, let's look

first of all at the text

and just a reminder

to you here

that where we are

in chapter 23

is we are

after chapter 22

and in chapter 22

Jesus had been

before the Sanhedrin,

the high court

of the nation of Israel

and they had brought him in

and their intention

was to accuse him

and to put him to death

and their accusations

across the board

were all false.

Every one of them.

They lie about this,

they lie about that,

they lie about the other thing

and they couldn't even get

their lies to fit

and I've thought about that.

That must have been

profoundly frustrating

for the individuals

who are bringing

the accusations of Jesus

to get,

you know,

hey, would you mind

telling a lie about Jesus

and that the next guy

couldn't pull off the lie

to make it fit

with the previous one?

It was a mess

and he was quiet.

One false accusation

after another,

he was quiet.

I had the privilege

of raising four children

and one of the things

I learned about children,

maybe my mind

were different,

but in our children's case,

sometimes things would happen

in the basement.

Do you understand

what I'm saying?

things would happen

in the basement

and more often than not

it happened with my boys,

not as much as my girls,

but my,

and I'd hear something

going on down there

and then suddenly

I'd hear running,

coming up the steps

and sometimes I thought

to myself,

the first person

is probably guilty.

But one of the things

I noticed is that

when my boys came up

to deliver a report,

they were always innocent

and they were ready

to declare their innocence

with all sincerity

and passion

just befitting

of the moment.

You know,

it's like,

yeah,

innocent as,

you know,

wind-driven snow

and it's normal

and so here

we kind of find Jesus

with all these accusations.

He didn't say a word.

Didn't say a word.

Finally,

you know the scene.

The high priest says,

are you?

And he says,

yeah,

you got that one

and he says,

by the way,

the day is coming when?

And he makes it clear

that judgment

is going to happen

and there's no question.

Well,

we've heard what you said.

You're guilty of blasphemy.

You deserve death.

They decide

we can't put him to death

formally,

legally

so we have to march him over

to the Roman authorities.

That's Pilate.

That's where we pick up

in the passage

that we're looking at

this week

and we find that

they come in the morning

before Pilate

and they come to accuse him

and interestingly enough,

and I want you to notice this anyway,

in verse 2,

they begin to accuse him saying,

we found this man

misleading our nation

and forbidding us

to give tribute

to Caesar.

completely different accusation

than what had gone on

all night

in that trumped up judgment

against Jesus,

completely inappropriate

and contrary

to a Jewish law.

So here they come

to the civil authorities

and instead of saying,

you know,

we've got a problem

with a theological issue

in the fact that

this man is saying

that he is God's son,

no,

we're concerned about

something completely different.

This is a political matter

and we're very concerned.

What was their accusation?

You're misleading the nation

and that word means

to kind of twist

and take the people

away from where

they should be.

Now we get to the second part

and that's really

the interesting part

and part in fact

because here they are

accusing Jesus

of something completely contrary

to what his public teaching

had been.

they said

that Jesus

was encouraging

the nation

not to pay

their taxes.

I'm not going to ask

if any of you

have ever been audited

because I would expect

you not to wave at me

if you have.

But if you think

that an audit

by the IRS

is something

that you prefer

not going through,

I assure you

that not paying taxes

to the Roman authorities

was far more severe

and the consequences

more destructive

to your well-being

than what we go through here.

And the Romans

were very, very interested

in seeing that

all of their taxes

were gathered.

And they brought a charge

that should have

made Pilate's hair

stand on end.

It's interesting actually

when you read

the portion

of scripture here

that Pilate

was really not

put out by that.

Now there's a reason

because Pilate

was not ignorant

of what was going on

in his jurisdiction

and he fundamentally

knew that

the problem

that the Jewish leadership

had with Jesus

had nothing to do

with Rome

or taxation.

It had to do

with their

internal

dispute

with Jesus

and what he was teaching.

But they come

and they make

these charges

and once again

I want you to recognize

that in the face

of these false allegations

for all practical purposes

Jesus is quiet.

He doesn't say anything.

And you stop

and recognize

that apart

from the earlier response

that he had given

to the high priest

regarding his deity

fundamentally

his communications

with Pilate

were quite similar.

And it was striking

to Pilate

that in the face

of these accusations

Jesus was quiet.

in particular

because Pilate

knew

that he was

in the position

at least he assumed

that he was in the position

of putting Jesus

to death.

What's the deal

with you?

I'm in the situation

that should I decide

you can be executed

or should I decide

you could be

forgiven

and excused.

In the text

it is interesting

that in the face

of the false accusations

that Jesus

was subjected to

that eventually

as we read there

in the passage

Pilate says this

I find no guilt

in this man.

I want you to understand

that in making

that statement

Pilate was making

a judgment

that had standing.

He wasn't just giving

a little bit

of an opinion.

You know what

I'm not real sure.

No, this man

is innocent.

Practically speaking

the matter should

have stood there

but as you read

in the text

in verse 5

it says

but they were urgent

when they found out

that Pilate

was not willing

to accommodate

their false accusations

against Jesus

they became

even more animated

and more concerned

with the fact

that their ambitions

of seeing Jesus

crucified on the cross

were going to come

to an end

and they weren't going

to accomplish

their agenda.

I do want you

to understand

that by this point

in Pilate's

public life

he had already

endured several

very significant

political upheavals

among the Jews

and the powers

that were in Rome

were becoming

a little suspicious

of Pilate's ability

to reign

to govern

and that helps us

understand a little bit

why once the

public outcry

became so significant

and so pointed

that Pilate went ahead

and listened further

and eventually

accommodated

the unjust

ambitions

of a wicked people

in a desire

to crucify Christ.

Well as things

are playing out

okay

we also read

not usually stirring

up people

but he's teaching

throughout all Judea

and from Galilee

even to this place

and when Pilate

heard those words

Judea and Galilee

he thought to himself

ha!

a brilliant

opportunity

of political

dodgem.

Why?

Because he knew

that Herod

who was

the one

responsible

for these areas

Judea and Galilee

was in town

and the Roman

court system

allowed for an

individual to be judged

where he committed

the crime

or where he was

accused of the crime

where he lived

or in

Rome

okay

and so when

Pilate

heard that

Herod was in town

he thought to himself

now I have an out

I really don't

be responsible

for putting this

guy to death

because I know

this is just

a matter of

political

intrigue

and hateful

attitude

towards an

undeserving

individual

who's falsely

accused

let me hand

this off

to

Herod

how many of you

have ever found

it convenient

to have somebody

else do your

dirty work

we've all done

that

it's like

yeah I saw

that hand

go talk

to your

dad

that was

terrifying to me

because he would

always say

go pick a belt

I never found

one that worked

okay

so

here is

Pilate

thinking to

himself

ha

I have this

opportunity

of handing

off judgment

to

Herod

now we do

know

that

when Herod

had the

opportunity

he was

quite

intrigued

by this

and he

thought to

himself

you know

what

I've been

curious

about this

Jesus

remember

earlier

is this

John the

Baptist

come back

from the

dead

and didn't

know who

he was

and he'd

heard

now by the

way

you do

have to

understand

that

authoritarian

individuals

like Pilate

and Herod

did work

hard

to have

kind of

a pulse

on what

was happening

in their

region

because

they were

responsible

particularly

for civil

obedience

and so

they would

have known

well there's

this guy

going around

doing miracles

he turned

water into

wine

and he

walked on

water

and he

healed

the sick

and he's

raised the

dead

and Herod

thought to

himself

you know

what

I'd

really

like to

see him

do one

of these

you know

Jesus

shows up

they mock

him

Jesus

doesn't

answer

doesn't

show a

miracle

he's

quiet

he's

quiet

and it

frustrates

Herod

and he

sends him

back

to

Pilate

who

ultimately

gives

in

and has

Jesus

delivered

to be

crucified

that's

in broad

terms

the

what

of the

text

now you

can work

through

the particular

details

and see

it for

yourself

and it's

there to

be

considered

and it's

there for

our record

to understand

what happened

but I think

another thing

that is very

important for us

to understand

as we are

working our

way through

the text

is it's

appropriate

when we are

engaged in

personal Bible

study

to ask

the question

why

why do

you do

that

and you

probably have

done that

when

one of your

children has

come to you

or somebody

else has

come and

said

so and so

did such

and such

to me

and you

ask yourself

why

why did

you do

that

and so

what I want

us to do

next is I

want us to

think about

the why

behind the

silence

of our

Savior

because it's

significant

the why

is significant

in part

because

the truth

of the matter

is the

silence

is not

normal

now you

may think

to yourself

oh well

I am very

guarded

in what I

say

but the

truth of

the matter

is you're

not

we all

struggle

with our

tongue

James makes

that clear

doesn't it

we struggle

with our

tongue

I will tell

you that the

older I get

the more

pleasure I

take in the

things I

don't say

rather than

the things I

do say

and in

relationship to

that one of

the things that

I found that

has helped

me and I

have said so

many things

that I

shouldn't have

said

is a

passage of

scripture

there are

many of

them that

come to

mind

but one in

particular

Proverbs

Proverbs 10:19

chapter 10

verse 19

when words

are many

transgression

is not

lacking

when words

are many

transgression

is not

lacking

do you know

what that's

saying

the more

I talk

the higher

the probability

that I'm

going to say

something I

shouldn't

now in

relationship

to that

because I

would I

would make

the assumption

that most

of you

here are

believers

and since

you are

believers

I'm going

to make

another

assumption

that you're

concerned

with your

ongoing

spiritual

development

and your

progressive

hatred for

sin

right

I don't

want to keep

on doing

those things

that I

have done

in the

past

if there

is a

sincere

desire

to grow

and change

it will

show up

in the

battery

of bible

verses

you have

that are

supportive

of your

struggle

did you

understand

what I

said

I'm a

deer

hunter

and I've

learned that

more arrows

are better

than fewer

arrows

and what do

I mean

by that

if I miss

with one

I'd like

to have

another

and another

and another

until I

accomplish

my end

okay

same thing

with bible

verses

you're

struggling

with a

matter

of sin

whether

it is

in the

matter

of

moral

purity

or it's

the matter

of

pride

pride

cometh

before

a

and a

haughty

spirit

before

I hope

that that's

not the

end

of the

passages

that you

have

that relate

to that

ongoing

struggle

my point

is this

is that

when we

recognize

that we

are dealing

with a

battle

of sin

in our

heart

one of the

indications

that we're

taking that

struggle

seriously

is we

begin to

fill up

our mind

with passages

that the

Holy Spirit

will bring

to mind

to help

us with

that battle

amen

the Holy Spirit

is really not

obligated to

help me

with my

self-talk

how many of

you know

what I mean

by self-talk

now Tim

the Holy

Spirit is

obligated to

take the

scriptures

and use

them

is not

my word

a fire

is not

my word

a hammer

the word

of God

coupled with

the spirit

of God

is going

to help

Tim

Knoyer

be a

little

less

inclined

to do

and say

and think

some of

the things

that I

do

my point

the larger

focus is

that silence

is not

normal

and it

would have

been normal

for Jesus

to defend

himself

secondly

we do

have many

Bible

examples

of individuals

who when

they're falsely

accused

they went

ahead and

had something

to say

Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4

Peter and

John

before the

Sanhedrin

they had

something to

say

how is it

that these

unlearned

men

are so

proficient

well

they figured

out they

had been

with Jesus

I think

about

Stephen

in Acts

Acts 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

brought with

false

accusation

and any

of you

who have

read

Stephen's

little

brief

sermon

know

that he

starts out

with just

a wonderful

recitation

of Old

Testament

history

and he

ends up

what does

he do

you hard

hearted

stiff

neck

he lets

them know

that they

are having

a problem

with sin

and it

just

turned

them

angry

well we

think about

Paul

falsely

accused

he defended

himself

and I

think about

the passage

in Luke

Luke 12:11

chapter 12

verse 11

and 12

let's look

at it

just for

a moment

you're in

Luke 22

so turn

back

just for

a second

Luke

Luke 12:11

chapter 12

verse 11

and 12

here's what

it says

and when

they bring

you before

the synagogues

and the

rulers

and the

authorities

do not

be anxious

about how

you should

defend

yourself

or what

you should

say

a little

comment

here

probably

most of

us here

when we

know we're

going into

an adversarial

conversation

we write

down

I hope

some of

the things

that we

think

need to

be said

am I

right

I used

to put

them on

a little

three by

five card

or a little

note

somewhere

so I

knew

where I

was

and I

knew

what

I

thought

needed

to be

said

at the

moment

after I

prayed

and

thought

about

it

and

Jesus

says

by the

way

when

you're

in

this

situation

don't

fret

about

it

why

for

the

Holy

Spirit

will

teach

you

in

that

very

hour

what

you

is

this

here's

Jesus

who

was

quiet

contrary

to the

general

nature

of

humanity

number

two

he

was

quiet

contrary

to

the

passage

in

Luke

Luke 12 · chapter mention

chapter

12

that

tells

us

when

you're

brought

in

and

false

don't

worry

about

it

the

Holy

Spirit

will

give

you

something

to

say

so

we

have

to

ask

ourselves

why

didn't

Jesus

say

anything

it's

important

now

when

we're

trying

to

figure

out

why

Jesus

was

silent

let me

again

give a

little

note

in

relationship

to

that

question

when

we

are

looking

for

a

significant

answer

to

a

difficult

question

make

it

clear

in

your

thinking

that

the

Bible

is

the

best

resource

to

get

a

reliable

answer

can

I

say

that

slowly

the

Bible

is

the

best

resource

to

get

a

reliable

answer

I

am

grieved

of

heart

by

how

often

I

see

believers

professing

to

believe

in the

sufficiency

of

scripture

who

will

rely

upon

every

other

form

of

advice

than

scripture

well I

quote

such and

such a

psychologist

or I'll

quote

such and

such a

therapist

or I'll

quote

such and

such a

person

who

had

a

screed

on

Facebook

or

wherever

else

and

those

things

really

kind of

wrap me

around

the

axle

and

I

am

fully

persuaded

of

their

significance

and

the

scripture

is not

in

them

it's

not

a

bad

idea

to

consult

the

internet

when you

want to

figure out

how to

change

your

oil

okay

but

when

you're

trying to

deal

with

a

problem

of

your

soul

a

person

who

has

a

Ph.D.

in

psychology

and

an

SS

in

theology

is

not

your

best

resource

what do

you mean by

SS

I mean

you know

something they

learned in

Sunday

school in

fourth

grade

it's

not

significant

enough

to stake

your

life on

it

I don't

have a

problem

with

individuals

who

don't

on

the

instant

have a

Bible

answer

I

have

a

problem

with

people

who

don't

look

for

a

Bible

answer

can I

say that

again

slowly

I

have

a

problem

with

people

that

don't

look

for

a

Bible

answer

there's

something

wrong

when we

believe

that the

God

of this

universe

the

savior

of

mankind

can

be

trusted

to

get

us

to

heaven

but

not

give

us

adequate

counsel

on how

to

solve

the

problems

we

have

in

life

there's

something

wrong

and we

wonder

why

we're

in

the

mess

we

are

so

we

find

that

Jesus

was

quiet

and we

have

to

ask

why

well

first

I

want

you

to

know

that

Jesus

never

said

anything

that

his

father

didn't

tell

him

to

say

that's

pretty

striking

isn't

it

how

many

of

you

would

like

that

to

be

true

of

you

Jesus

never

said

anything

that

wasn't

according

to

his

father's

will

John

John 8:28

chapter 8

verse 28

listen to

this one

I do

nothing

of my

own

authority

but speak

just

as

the

father

taught

me

sometimes

I have

to

ask

myself

after

I've

said

something

and

you

know

the

alarm

bell

goes

off

in

my

conscience

any

of

you

have

that

problem

it's

like

and

and I

get

caught

between

two

things

self

justification

well

you

righteous

man

Tim

76

anything

yeah

right

where's

it

that

in the

Bible

Jesus

never

said

anything

that

his

father

didn't

instruct

him

to

say

hey

here's

another

passage

John

John 12:49

chapter

12

verse

49

and

50

I

have

not

spoken

on

my

own

authority

but

the

father

who

sent

me

has

himself

given

me

a

commandment

what

to

say

and

what

to

speak

and

by

the

way

the

best

way

to

know

what

the

father

wants

you

to

say

are

you

worried

for

this

one

is

by

being

sure

that

what

you

want

to

say

is

corroborated

supported

confirmed

in the

scriptures

right

I

can't

tell you

how many

harebrained

ideas

I've

had

that

I

thought

were

just

so

full

of

righteousness

and

later

on

I

thought

you

know

what

there

is

not

a

Bible

verse

that

comes

close

Jesus

said

I

never

said

a