Luke

Page 88, Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Luke is a doctor and he writes this, he says,

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative to write the history of the things that have been accomplished among us,

just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,

just as we've been taught about what's happened.

Verse 3.

It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past,

to write an orderly account for you, singular, most excellent Theophilus,

that you may have certainty concerning the things that you've been taught.

And it's 20 years today, actually, that I was on camp in Bala in North Wales,

and a friend of mine who has now given his testimony,

and he finished the testimony with this hymn that many of you know,

When I surveyed the Wondrous Cross, we sang it, I think, last week.

And the last verse goes like this,

Were there whole realm of nature life that were an offering far too small?

Nothing has been the same since in many ways.

That last verse, love so amazing, so divine, so God-like,

demands my life, my soul, my all.

As I think back to these past 20 years, you never get beyond that, do you?

You never get beyond that.

The love of Jesus Christ so amazing, so divine, demands.

It doesn't ask you, it demands.

Your life, your soul, your all tonight.

And that is why Luke is taking his time, walking us through the humiliation,

and the suffering, and the passion of the Lord Jesus.

He takes his friend, Theophilus, who he wrote the Gospel for,

and he takes him to the very heartbeat of what Christianity is all about.

And Luke is a kind of genius.

What he does is he tells the story as it was.

But he tells the story as it was,

so that Theophilus and you and I would see the meaning,

and see the significance of the story,

not just for Jesus, but for ourselves,

and for those around us.

And so Jesus is moved from scene to scene tonight.

And that's really what we're going to do.

I'm not going to point, so we're just going to walk through the passage.

That he was despised and rejected.

He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

He's hurried by the high priest,

in order, first of all, at the beginning of chapter 23,

to be placed on trial.

Do you see it, verse 1, before Pontius Pilate?

But, it's fascinating, in the opening words,

then the whole company of them arose,

as a single man.

They arose like one.

And we see the sheer isolation,

and the desolation of this for the Lord Jesus.

It is utterly unimaginable.

They moved from their proceedings,

which had begun as this kangaroo court.

They began at midnight, or earlier, kangaroo court.

And now they are deciding legally,

what they decided illegally to do long ago.

That Jesus must be dealt with.

That there must be something done about him.

That Jesus must be crucified.

And so they bring their charge,

which could never stick.

Why could it never stick?

Against the Son of God,

that he has committed blasphemy,

making himself the Son of God.

Well, he is the Son of God.

But more than that, you notice,

when they arrive at Pontius Pilate,

they use legal language

to describe what they have done illegally.

They use legal language,

but it doesn't change that their accusations

are just as illegal.

I don't know, I've not been in court,

but when the judge turns to the jury,

and he asks for the verdict,

he says something like this,

he says,

how do you find the accused?

And the foreman of the jury will say,

we find the accused guilty,

or we find the accused not guilty.

And they say,

we find this man guilty.

We find this man guilty of misleading our nation,

and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar.

We find this man guilty of sedition.

Now, it is contrary to all natural justice,

in that they hurried Jesus away,

having accused him of blasphemy,

but they go to another court,

and they say,

we find him guilty of,

not blasphemy, treason.

The charge is utterly false,

on two accounts, isn't it?

They say,

he was telling people,

not, verse 2,

to give tribute to Caesar.

But we know, don't we,

we've seen it earlier on in Luke's Gospel,

that Jesus had urged people

to pay their taxes to Caesar.

Remember,

when he asked for a denarius,

and he says,

whose face is on this coin?

And they say,

well, it's Caesar's face.

Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

Pay your taxes.

But make sure,

since God's image is on your life,

that you give to God what is God's.

So far from committing treason,

far from misleading our nation,

and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar,

he's encouraging his disciples to be the very best citizens they can be.

Or they possibly could be.

And how false of them to find him guilty of blasphemy,

and then to say that they've actually found him guilty of treason.

And Pilate sees through the whole thing.

It's amazing.

This man,

Pontius Pilate,

who's so deeply unpopular,

a man who is of desperately flawed character,

as the story makes clear,

but he's at least got enough grasp of Roman law,

and natural justice,

to say,

I find this prisoner not guilty.

And then having heard,

and this is his out,

having heard that Jesus is a Galilean,

taking the opportunity that's given to him,

by the legal system,

to have him tried under the jurisdiction of residence,

rather than the jurisdiction he is,

he was being charged with this crime of treason,

he sends him to out her it.

But his verdict,

Pontius Pilate's verdict,

is absolutely essential to the story.

And you will not understand Luke's story,

unless you see that here,

and on six other occasions in this chapter,

the Lord Jesus is announced,

by a variety of individuals,

to be not guilty.

The Lord Jesus is utterly innocent.

And so he's hurried off to Herod Antipas.

And do you notice,

in verse 8,

when Herod saw the Lord Jesus,

he was very glad.

Now this is the Herod,

who has executed John the Baptist,

who cut his head off,

and put it off a plate,

when he was in a drunken sleeper.

This is the Herod,

who earlier on,

seems to have at least,

have some sensitive conscience.

To be frightened of who Jesus really was.

He thought,

perhaps this is John the Baptist,

back from the dead,

and he's afraid of that,

to haunt me.

But all of that is now in the past.

Herod is like the person,

who comes to church,

and goes from church,

and on his way,

although the preacher,

has maybe raised his voice,

and spoken about the depth of sin,

and the wonder of the Lord Jesus,

says on the way out of church,

he says,

well actually,

I didn't get much out of that today.

It's like water off a duck's back.

This person can hear the most moving sermon,

can hear of their need of Christ,

and they think,

but I didn't really get much out of that.

It's like being like Herod.

This man who is interested,

and then scared,

and now hardens.

And it's like being like Herod,

isn't it?

And the danger is,

the next day,

and the next day,

well actually,

you get to the stage,

where you can make fun of Jesus.

And you can make fun of Jesus' people.

And you join in the fun,

about Jesus and his people.

How foolish that is to do.

How glad he is to see Jesus.

You have a conscience,

that is peaceful,

and is clear,

clear enough to make fun of the Lord Jesus.

Well if that's you,

your name is Herod.

And your need is desperate.

And this was his situation.

Can you see what happens?

It is appalling.

We don't often linger on this.

And of all the gospel writers,

Luke may be the most careful.

So just stand a little bit back,

from all that the Lord Jesus is going through.

But look what happens.

Here is a man,

who gathers the chief priests,

who are accusing Jesus vehemently.

Here is a man,

who encourages his soldiers,

his soldiers of all people.

His most disciplined of people,

his most disciplined of men,

who obey his will.

He encourages his soldiers,

to mock and derive the Lord Jesus.

To play games with the Lord Jesus.

And he joins in.

And they array him in splendid clothing.

And even from a human point of view,

it should break our hearts.

But the Lord Jesus Christ,

who has been declared,

just been declared,

by the highest court in Jerusalem,

to be utterly innocent of all the charges,

should be treated with such contempt.

It's interesting.

You must have noticed it in your own life.

People who have no reason to do it.

And they blaspheme in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Every single day.

And their consciences,

they go home at night,

they eat their meals,

they lie down,

they sleep the sleep of death.

Because nothing touches their consciences.

And they're the most desperately needy people,

in all the world.

And you can be one of them,

this evening.

You've heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,

it touched your conscience,

you know,

I need to get right with God.

I know that I'm a sinner.

And yet you've hardened your heart,

again and again and again.

So now you can sit through all the sermons in the world,

and it doesn't affect you.

I'm reading,

John Elias,

his biography.

He's a Welshman in the 18th century,

he's a great preacher.

And it's a good story.

And John Elias used to go down to his blacksmith.

And his blacksmith obviously helped John Elias

with his transport problems.

The blacksmith used to put shoes on his horse.

And he put new shoes on his horse.

And Elias loved to go down and speak with the blacksmith

every couple of weeks.

And each year,

the blacksmith hammering on the anvil,

you know that noise of sparks

and bright red metal coming up the water.

And as he prepared this new shoe

for John Elias' horse,

he went down one day

and he discovered that John Elias had a new dog.

And every time the hammer went down on the anvil,

the dog went absolutely crazy.

The dog would howl and howl and howl.

The hammer would come down,

bang, bang, bang,

and the dog would respond with howl, howl, howl.

Elias got on his horse,

thought nothing of it.

He went on his preaching tour.

And he came back from another part of North Wales.

And as he was approaching the blacksmith,

he heard the hammer,

bang, bang, bang,

on the anvil.

But there was no howl, howl, howl.

What had happened?

Well, the dog was lying fast asleep

when he went in.

Because the dog had got a used and sound

with the bang, bang, bang, didn't it?

And your conscience can be like that dog.

You can have a peaceful conscience

that knows the message of the Lord Jesus Christ

but has done nothing about it.

And it used to disturb you,

but now it doesn't disturb you at all

and you sleep the sleep of death.

And that's what this man has.

And we don't often reflect

on how awful it must have been for the Lord Jesus.

Maybe we should do that more.

None of the ransomed knew

how deep were the waters crossed

or how dark was the night

that our Lord passed through

to find the sheep that was lost.

Well, now he's back to Pontius Pilate.

They've taken him to Annas the Caiaphas,

to the Sanhedrin, to Pilate, to Herod,

all in a matter of hours.

He's been poured to and fro geographically,

physically.

He's been despised, demeaned, rejected.

His glory has been turned into shame.

And now he is back with the man

who lives in notoriety

because every Sunday,

millions of believers around the world

confess the Apostles' craze,

that he suffered under Pontius Pilate.

And so he's on trial before Pilate.

And he's taken to Herod.

And now he suffers under Pontius Pilate.

Do you see it?

Mob violence breaks out.

This is your saviour.

This is not some figure in a stained glass window.

This is our saviour.

And mob violence breaks out against him.

And they demand that he should be crucified.

Pilate begins to wilt.

He stays with Roman justice.

Strict Roman justice.

He says, doesn't he,

he has done nothing deserving death.

Do you see that?

Look at verse 22.

I have found in him,

just over the page on page 884,

I have found in him

no guilt deserving death.

Therefore,

I will punish him

and set him free, release him.

What kind of logic is that?

Do you understand that?

Therefore, I will punish him

and set him free,

even though he's done nothing wrong.

What kind of logic is that?

What kind of court does that stand up in?

He's done nothing wrong,

therefore I will punish him.

And Pontius Pilate is saying this, isn't he?

I don't want to yield,

but the pressure is too great.

Theophilus, who,

and we read about right at the start of Luke's Gospel,

he was probably a Roman figure.

A patristic figure.

Probably he was a government figure, perhaps.

Perhaps this is one way,

as Luke writes this,

he is praying,

Lord, break through into Theophilus' heart.

Show Theophilus,

this is where he is

with respect to the Lord Jesus.

Show Theophilus,

that this is where he is

with respect to the Lord Jesus.

I want the Lord Jesus to be free,

but I'm not willing

to pay the price of him being free

in my personal life.

And so over and over again,

they cry out,

crucify him, crucify him.

And they shout out for Barabbas,

give us Barabbas,

the insurrectionist,

the localized terrorist,

the murderer,

instead of the Lord Jesus,

the Savior.

And Pilate hands him over.

And I wonder,

as Luke is writing this,

he's projecting forward,

isn't he?

Because he wrote this

years and years

after the event.

He wrote this

when he already knew

what would happen.

In the first 15 or so chapters

in the Acts of the Apostles,

Luke doesn't personally appear

in the Acts of the Apostles

right until the middle.

So he already knew

of that occasion

when the early church

saw this

as the fulfillment

of all kinds

of biblical prophecies.

Luke knew that.

That the kings

of the earth,

set up to,

would gather together

against the Lord

and his anointed one.

Or that wonderful story

of Philip

and the Ethiopian eunuch,

who's reading

Isaiah chapter 53,

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

that he was led

as a sheep

to the slaughter,

as a lamb

before his shearers,

is dumb,

and again and again

in this passage.

Luke goes to great lengths

to say,

Jesus said nothing.

Jesus said nothing.

Jesus said nothing.

It is as though

he is saying to you,

do you see what's

happening here?

Do you see that Jesus

is the suffering servant?

He is despised

and rejected of men.

Do you see that Jesus

is the Lamb of God

who will take away

the essence of the world?

Do you see that Jesus

is standing silently

because while judged

to be utterly innocent,

he is willing to be treated

as though he were guilty?

And not least,

how significant

that he is innocent

of,

but he is condemned

for blasphemy

and treason.

Which,

as you read

through the passage

with me,

did you notice

they were the two crimes

of Barabbas?

That he was charged

with treason

and murder.

And murder,

if you know your Bibles

at all from the early chapters

of Genesis,

murder is a capital crime

in the Bible

because it is an offence

against the image of God.

And I wonder if Theophilus

ever saw what is really

being acted out here.

Of the man

who was guilty

of blasphemy

and treason

was being set free.

Because the man

who was the son of God

and who lived in obedience

to God

was going to be crucified.

I wonder if it ever

dawned on him

that he was in the same position.

Because these are actually

my essential sins

as well as yours.

Blasphemy,

what have you done?

What have I done?

I have made myself

rather than the Lord

the centre of the universe.

If I asked you

to stand up tonight

if you've never done that

you know, don't you,

there wouldn't be

a single person

that hasn't made themselves

the centre of their universe.

It's the very heart

of our sin.

We are so accustomed

to being the centre

of our universe

that we don't even

begin to think

that it's actually

blasphemy against God.

But he hasn't become

to you and I

the centre of our universe,

of our life,

of our adoration,

of our homes,

of our ambition,

of our families,

of everything that we do.

And treason.

That we have denied

Jesus as absolute king

over our lives.

And so this is

the story of the gospel.

That Jesus again and again

is innocent.

He is innocent,

not guilty.

He is pure

and righteous

and holy

while I am a blasphemer.

And I am guilty

of treason

against the most high God.

And in the most amazing

providence of God,

Jesus is the one

who is crucified

and Barabbas

and I

and you

are the ones

who may go free.

And if you ever

really want to understand

how awful

your sin is,

if you ever want

to understand

how awful

your sin is,

how awful

your blasphemy is,

how awful

your treason is,

please do not

compare yourself

with anyone else.

But you go to the

cross of the Lord

Jesus Christ

and you watch

everything that takes

place in these

24 hours

before his crucifixion.

And you say to yourself,

if this alone

will take away

my sin,

how profound

and how awful

my sin must be.

And the amazing

thing is this,

the amazing

thing is this,

that the name

Barabbas

means

son of the

father.

That's what the name

means.

Bar

Abba.

Son of the

father.

And so you

might say,

the very first

man in history

during the

life and story

of our Lord

Jesus,

who would ever

be able to

say,

in my place,

condemned

he stood,

sealed my

pardon with

his blood.

Hallelujah,

what a

saviour,

was a man

who was

privileged to

live the rest

of his life

and somebody

said to him,

who are you?

Who are you?

He could say

if he ever

came to trust

in the Lord

Jesus,

my name is

the son of

the father.

I am the

son for whom

the eternal

son of the

eternal father

took my

flesh and

bore my

judgment and

paid the

penalty for my

sin to set me

free to live

as a child of

God.

We don't know.

We don't know

whether that was

ever true of

Barabbas.

But the one

thing that really

matters is that

it should be

true of you

and it should

be true of

me.

Have you ever

seen your

sin?

There is no

way to the

joy of

grace without

seeing your

sin.

But there

just isn't

another way.

There is no

other way to

see the

marbles of

his grace and

his kindness

and his

fatherly

care until

you realise

why that

grace is

marvellous.

So the

gospel's first

word to you

tonight is

have you seen

your sin?

Have you seen

how much Jesus

suffered for you?

He suffered

and bled and

died for you

and he did that

for you

in order to

take away

your sin?

And I wonder

if I and

perhaps you

are in the

position that I

think I was

in 20 years

ago.

But reading

this chapter I

want to say

with all my

heart,

whatever the

future holds,

love so

amazing,

so divine,

shall have my

life,

my soul,

my all.

And if you've

never done

that,

why not do

that tonight?

Let's pray.