Mark 15:1-15

Father in heaven, we come before you this morning about to open your word to a very difficult passage.

In fact, the remainder of Mark's account of Jesus' earthly ministry, the rest of it is very difficult.

But Lord, in it, well, number one, you gave it to us so that we could read it.

And in it, there are many instructions on how to live like Christ.

But more than that, it is an account of Christ himself that we get to behold him.

And Lord, beholding him, we are changed.

Help us this morning to behold Christ for who he truly is.

And by your Holy Spirit, we ask that we would be changed.

And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

If you have your Bibles, we'll be going through the portion of Mark's Gospel that I read, Mark 15, 1 to 15.

By the way, if you want to grab a Bible at the back, please feel free to do so.

Before we get into the text, just a bit of a story.

In 1970, a 17-year-old teen from Winnipeg named David Milgard was sentenced to life in prison

for the rape and murder of Gail Miller that took place in Saskatoon.

Milgard, he was traveling across the prairies, and he denied that he committed the crime.

But under duress from police who were themselves pressured to solve the crime,

David Milgard's friends changed their testimony, which led to his wrongful conviction.

And he was incarcerated for 22, just over 22 years, until DNA evidence exonerated him, and he was released.

David Milgard served 22-plus years for a crime he didn't commit.

And some six years or so later, maybe seven years later,

he settled with the Saskatchewan government and the federal government for $10 million.

$10 million for 22 years.

Now, if you haven't heard of David Milgard before, that's okay.

You might have heard of him if you're a fan of the Tragically Hip.

The song Wheat Kings references him.

But it's a Canadian story, and it's a terrible blot on our recent history.

It's an injustice of the first degree.

A terrible stain on the justice system.

There's something incredibly unsettling about injustice, isn't there?

When justice is expected, but injustice is what we get.

Justice, and those tasked with safeguarding it,

is very foundational to an orderly, safe, and stable society.

Take away justice, things unravel awfully quick.

Society begins to crumble.

In our text this morning, Jesus will be subjected to the second unjust trial in 12 hours.

He is before Pilate.

He's already had the ridiculous charge levied against him that he was a blasphemer.

It was drummed up by the chief priests and the whole council of the Sanhedrin.

And now, he's quite literally dragged in front of Pontius Pilate and accused again.

And they are seeking, not life in prison, not 22 years,

but the death penalty and crucifixion at that.

Jesus will be unjustly condemned, ultimately.

We'll see in the weeks to come leading up to Easter,

as we wrap up our time in Mark's Gospel.

And we will see this morning the conviction of Jesus,

which will be the most unjust act in human history.

The sinless, perfect Savior,

who is condemned to death for something that he 100% did not do.

So,

how does this unjust sentence go down?

And what does it teach us about human nature?

And what injustice does to us and to our society?

So, we'll look at this scene,

and we'll go through the whole text,

but what we're going to do is we're going to break it up

in terms of specific characters

and taking a look,

doing a bit of a deep dive in three characters that are featured here.

The first one,

I'd say character as it's singular,

but really the chief priests.

We're going to take a look at them.

The second group,

or the second person rather,

so that's the first group.

The second person is Pontius Pilate.

And the third and final one is Jesus himself.

So, let's get right into it.

We'll take a look at the chief priests.

The chief priests,

they have been engaged in

a plot to destroy Jesus

all the way back from Mark chapter 3.

Mark 3 · chapter mention

Jesus,

he is proclaiming the gospel,

he is healing the sick,

he is casting out demons,

he's doing miracles,

and people are being

blessed

blessed

in ways that they've never been blessed before.

And by doing that,

Jesus is

showing

the religious establishment

to be wanting.

And since chapter 3,

they have hated him.

And it says

in chapter 3,

verse 6,

that they sought

a way to destroy Jesus.

They have been plotting

and scheming

since chapter 3.

And here,

we're going to see

three ways

they engage in

injustice.

The first way

is their strategy.

they're engaged

in a very

unjust strategy

to get Jesus

eliminated.

The second is

they will engage

in deception.

And the third,

we'll see their motivation

in all of this,

which is envy.

So if you have your Bible,

we're going to look

at verses 1 to 5

of chapter 15.

It says this,

And as soon as it was morning,

the chief priests

held a consultation

with the elders

and scribes

and the whole council

and they bound Jesus

and led him away

and delivered him

over to Pilate.

I'll pause really quickly there.

The chief priests,

I mean,

they're incredibly calculated

with their strategy

and their plan

to destroy Jesus.

Like I mentioned,

it's a culmination

of some three years

of planning

Jesus' downfall.

They have found

a willing accomplice

in Judas,

Jesus' own disciple

who betrays him

and they take him away.

And notice with me

the strategy

in verse 1.

They held a consultation

first thing in the morning.

This is, by the way,

on top of what happens

at the end of chapter 14

where Jesus is,

he is before the whole council,

a bit of a rump court.

We looked at that last week.

And he has the charges

levied at him.

They don't stick.

And finally,

he's asked a question

about his identity

and he answers

in the affirmative.

The chief priest

rips his garment

and he cries out blasphemy.

Death penalty it is.

But in the morning,

it continues.

Because you have to understand,

at this point,

the sovereign power

is not the Sanhedrin.

It's not the religious elites.

It's Rome.

Judea is a colony of Rome

and they do not have

the ability

to sentence Jesus

to death,

but specifically

a crucifixion.

Sure,

maybe they could just

have a hired hand

to take Jesus out.

I mean,

they've had three years

to do that.

But they want it

to be crucifixion.

Because crucifixion is public

and it's embarrassing.

And we'll see

for the rest of chapter 15

that the emphasis

of the crucifixion

and the death of Jesus

is not in the brutality of it.

And I mean,

the other gospel writers,

they'll talk about

the brutality

of their crucifixion.

But Mark emphasizes

its humiliation.

How do you rehab

somebody's reputation

after they have hung

on the cross

as a naked,

beaten criminal

to die

so that the body,

this is the way

it works in crucifixions,

the body rots off

and falls down.

It is the most shameful

thing that could happen

in a shame-based society.

The Sanhedrin

can't do that.

Rome can.

So they meet

in the early morning

to figure out a way

to meet with Pontius Pilate

so that Jesus

gets the stamp

of death

by crucifixion.

It is remarkable

their strategy

in place in all this.

It's completely unjust

and they're going

in the early morning.

Why?

I mean,

quite the gig.

If you're a Roman official,

you wake up super early,

you deal with

the business of the day,

9, 10 o'clock,

it's leisure time

for the day.

Not too bad.

So it has to be

early morning

because there's going

to be a lineup

of people

to try to get

their issues

or their cases

or their disagreements

dealt with

by Pontius Pilate.

So there is

incredible planning

that is happening here,

incredible strategy,

but it needs deception

and this is the other part

of it.

And if you continue

on with me

in verse 2

and following,

Pilate asked Jesus,

are you the king

of the Jews?

And he answered him,

you have said so.

And the chief priests

accused him

of many things.

We'll pause

really quickly there.

If you remember,

in chapter 14,

Jesus is condemned

by the religious

establishment

for being king

of the Jews,

for being the Messiah.

King of the Jews

is like another term

for the Messiah.

No,

but for blasphemy.

For Jesus saying

that he will be

at the right hand

of the Father.

Essentially equating

that he and the Father

are one.

Now,

there's a lot

of overlap

of what Jesus said

and him claiming

to be the Messiah,

but they're very

different things.

But here,

the chief priests

and the religious

establishment,

they know that

blasphemy is not

a charge that sticks

in Rome.

Especially among

the Jewish people.

I mean,

people had to worship

the Roman gods

and especially

Caesar himself,

but the Jewish people

had a bit of

an agreement

with Rome.

They could worship

their gods,

their God,

as long as it

didn't interfere

with the Roman god.

But if somebody

blasphemes their god,

who cares?

If it's Rome,

who cares?

Who gives a rip?

I mean,

it's a backwater

Judeans who believe

in God,

but it's a false god.

Let them have their thing.

Who cares if it's

blasphemy?

So what do they do?

The religious

establishment,

the chief priest,

what do they do?

They say,

this man is claiming

to be the king

of the Jews.

Who's the king

of the Jews right now?

It's Caesar.

It's not Jesus.

And if they're,

all of a sudden

shows up

a rival king,

now that's a problem.

Now that's something

to crucify somebody for.

And since

about 30-ish,

40 years

before Jesus

comes on the scene,

this idea of the Messiah

started to take

a political,

um,

era,

like it started

to transform

into like a political

position,

a political office

so that the Messiah

would be understood

as the one

that would liberate us

from our oppressors.

So,

how do they make

the charges stick?

They cook.

They cook the charges.

They're going to come up

with something crappy,

something that's really

going to get Rome's attention.

And they do.

King of the Jews,

that's a big problem.

Their strategy

is,

uh,

is,

is by any means

necessary.

And that's exactly

what they're doing.

But what's,

what's so interesting here

is that we see

a great irony.

The chief priests

in trying to condemn

Jesus to death,

they will affirm

who he truly is.

The king of the Jews.

The Messiah was always

supposed to be

the king of the Jews.

Not the king

that, um,

would come

to just defeat

Rome

and install,

um,

a new

throne of David

that would be

passed down

kind of from

generation to generation.

But that David's throne

would be reestablished.

King David's throne

would be reestablished

in Israel

forever.

That,

that,

that the Messiah

would come

and he truly would

reign over his people.

Not just the Jewish people.

The Bible talks about

all people.

And in trying to get

charges to stick to Jesus,

they affirm

who he truly is.

He is.

It's incredible.

They don't believe it,

but the words

come out of their mouths.

We'll see that

when Jesus is hung

on the cross,

it will say

king of the Jews

above him.

Mark doesn't record this,

but in another gospel,

um,

another gospel account,

the Jewish leaders

will say,

take that down,

that sign.

He is no king of ours.

Pilate says,

I've done what I've done.

It is so interesting

that,

that,

that,

the irony,

that it's just,

it's all over the page here.

Wicked men

often fulfill

God's prophecy

at their own ruin.

And we're seeing

this happen.

So not only

do they participate

in this injustice

with their scheming

and their deception,

but we see

that their motivation

is rooted

in envy.

Where do we see this?

Look with me,

verses 9 to 11.

And Pilate answered them,

saying,

do you want me

to release for you

the king of the Jews?

For he perceived,

verse 10,

for he perceived

that it was out of envy

that the chief priests

had delivered him up.

But the chief priests

stirred up the crowd

to have him release

for them Barabbas instead.

Verse 10,

for he,

Pilate,

perceived that it was

out of envy

that the chief priests

had delivered him up.

They're envious of Jesus.

Pilate put words

to what we have been witnessing

throughout the Gospels

and especially

in chapters 11 and 12

where Jesus has

the triumphal entry

and he

condemns

the temple,

but really

the religious establishment

of the day

that did not seek

to serve the people

of God

but instead

to be served

by the people

of God.

He exposed them

and he has had

a following

and he has fruit

in his ministry

where they have none

and they're envious.

What's the result

of their self-exaltation?

they become blind

to God himself

who came not to

be served

but to serve

and give his life

as a ransom

for many.

That's

chapter 10

verse 45.

To not be served

but to serve

and give his life

as a ransom

for many.

The religious establishment

minus the one guy

in

who comes up to Jesus,

the one scribe

who Jesus

commends for his faith,

but the entirety

of the religious establishment

is looking

to be served

and to give their lives

as a ransom

for ours.

It's the complete opposite.

Not only have they

become spiritually blind

but their envy

has led to a dehumanization

of Jesus

and their people.

They desire

something

that somebody else has

and by doing so

they dehumanize them.

Envy always

reduces a person

to what they possess

or what they can do

for you

or what they have

their life

the image

that they project

it reduces somebody

to that

and elevates desire

to an eternal end.

An unquenchable

thirst for more.

And what's the result?

Jesus is going

to his death.

No longer do people

have intrinsic value

as reflective of God's image

but are merely

a sum of their stuff.

It's a problem.

It's what envy

reduces people to.

And it's hard

because we want

to be better

and we want more things.

And we want good things

but we elevate them

to ultimate things.

And we look past

the fact that

in front of us

is an image bearer

of God himself.

We dehumanize people.

That's what envy does.

But it goes further.

Their envy

doesn't just send

Jesus to the cross

but they foment

the crowd.

Remember

it's hard to really

hammer this home

enough.

These people

are there

to serve

those people

to open their eyes

to the scriptures

to the way of God

that the people

of Israel

God's people

are supposed to be

light to the nations.

And because

of their envy

they stir up

the crowd

so that the crowd

really is only

a means

to achieve their end.

They

lead the crowd

astray.

The same crowd

that chanted

Hosanna

Hosanna

Hosanna

in the highest

blessed is he

who comes

in the name

of the Lord

in the triumphal entry.

The same crowd.

And now

they're stirred up

to say

crucify him.

There's power

in leadership.

And when leadership

goes awry

people suffer.

And it's not

to somehow

to take the blame

away

but it's to show

the power

of leadership

both good

and bad.

Their envy

has shipwrecked

the people

of Israel.

And what's

interesting

in all of this

is that

that same

mentality

that same

fomenting

aggression

towards Rome

will ultimately

get Israel

raised to the ground

and Jerusalem

destroyed.

The temple

completely

toppled over.

Friends

we need to be

violent

in our fight

against envy

in our lives

and especially

in a day

when image

is truly

everything.

It truly

is.

It is

everything.

And in a day

where image

is everything

envy

it is like

fertilizer

and the

envy

just continues

to grow

and grow

and grow.

We need to be

violent

in how we

attack it.

It's very hard

and we can't

do it alone.

We ask

the good Lord

for help.

We cry out

to him

maybe literally.

you know

in a time

of Lent

we strip

away

some of

the

image

some of

the things

that we

hold on

to as

dear to

us

and we

realize

that we're

actually more

frail than we

think

and that we

need God

a lot more

than we'd like

to admit.

We also

worship together

in a church

and

I've said this

in the past

I'll say it

again

confess your

sins to

one another

and pray

so that you

may be healed.

We come to

the faith

one by one

but we walk

it out

side by side

and I'm not

sure you can

walk out

the faith

any other

way.

How do you

fight against

envy?

By God's

strength

and by the

help of

your brothers

and sisters.

God's word

as well

washing over

us.

So that's

a chief

priest.

How about

Pontius Pilate?

Pontius Pilate

was a

prefect

a Roman

prefect

in Judea.

He was the

ultimate

sovereign

in the

land.

Ultimate

power to

wield the

sword.

And he

wielded the

sword.

Pilate did.

He was

bloody.

He would

kill hundreds

and hundreds

and hundreds

of people

and yet

at the

same time

there's

historical

proof that

he would

placate the

crowds to

avoid

rebellion.

Apart from

what we

see here

in chapter

15.

So he

used brutality

and political

expediency to

keep the

peace and

to keep

order.

And here

is an

example of

that in

verse 6

and to

the end

of our

section

verse 15.

Now at

the feast

that is

the Passover

Pilate used

to release

for them

one prisoner

for whom

they asked.

and among

the rebels

in prison

who had

committed

murder

in the

insurrection

there was

a man

called

Barabbas.

And the

crowd came

up and

began to

ask Pilate

to do

as he

usually did

for them

and he

answered

them

do you

want me

to release

for you

the king

of the

Jews?

For he

perceived

that it

was out

of envy

that the

chief

priest

had

delivered

him up.

But the

chief

priest

stirred up

the crowd

to have

him release

for them

Barabbas

instead.

And Pilate

again said

to them

then what

shall I

do with

the man

you call

the king

of the

Jews?

They cried

out again

crucify him

and Pilate

said to

them why

what evil

has he

done?

But they

shouted all

the more

crucify him

so Pilate

verse 15

wishing to

satisfy the

crowd

released for

them

Barabbas

and having

scourged

Jesus

he delivered

him to be

crucified.

What a

sham of a

trial.

Pilate

uses Jesus

to secure

political

favor

for the

crowd.

There is

at the

Passover

year by

year

there

was

a

heightened

kind of

political

fervor

in the

land.

There was

rebellion

always

kind of

in the

air

during

the

feast

the

Passover

feast.

And he

sees

here

an

innocent

man

but a

very useful

man.

Somebody

that he

could use

to get

through one

more year.

To deal

with this

crazy crowd

in front of

me.

I mean

it's almost

nine o'clock

I have

things to

do.

Who knows?

It's very

easy to

kind of

speculate

what Pontius

Pilate was

thinking.

The scripture

doesn't say

that at

all.

But we

know

it seems

that Pilate

thinks Jesus

is innocent

at the very

least.

He thinks

he's

innocent.

Now

whether

or not

Pilate

has

a conscience

in all

of this

or whether

it's been

seared

from years

of being

a Roman

governor

we're not

sure.

He knows

that

Jesus

is

innocent

but does

he think

it's

wrong?

Not

sure.

Maybe

maybe

not.

The

scripture

doesn't

say

Mark

doesn't

record

any

of

Pilate's

kind

of

inner

thinking.

But

nevertheless

it's

instructive

for us

to see

how the

desire

to

appease

rather

than

do

what

is

just

results

in

not

peace

now

and

peace

later

a little

bit

of

peace

now

and

calamity

for

everybody.

In

this

case

an

innocent

man

is

sent

to

his

death

and

a

crowd

is

merely

appeased

but

nothing

more.

The

Bible

is

crystal

clear

on

the

evil

of

political

corruption

and

injustice

and

this

is

where

the

scriptures

help

us

in a

sense

to

understand

I

guess

I'll

say it

this way

the

scriptures

has

formed

western

civilization

it

has

formed

Canada

it

has

formed

the

US

it

has

formed

the

West

and

we

take

it

for

granted

that

governments

should

not

be

corrupt

and

governments

should

be

just

and

politics

should

be

there

should

be

a

general

desire

to

bless

the

people

and

not

use

the

office

for

gain

checks and

balances

we take

that for

granted

but that's not the

case in ancient Rome

and it's

scripture verses

like this

that help

us

to see

our eyes

to the

deep

impact

and the

lasting

impact

of the

scriptures

on our

society

it's

remarkable

something

like this

we see

and we

say

yeah

Pilate

he's

corrupt

in the

first century

that wasn't

the case

we've

had the

scriptures

wash

over us

for

centuries

and

centuries

and

centuries

and we

take it

for

granted

but

our

standard

for

political

life

is

in a

big way

formed

by the

scriptures

we

revolt

rightly

at

political

cover ups

and political

decisions

that only

benefit

the elite

few

because we

have an

innate

sense

that

injustice

is

unfair

and

dangerous

and so

it is

because

God

has

created

the

world

with

order

he's

created

the

world

to

reflect

his

goodness

injustice

is

neither

orderly

or

good

is

it

I mean

the

story

of

David

Milgard

it

testifies

to

that

we

recoil

at

that

story

it's

a

tragedy

earlier

in Mark

we saw

something

very

similar

didn't

we

with

Herod

John

the

Baptist

is

a

problem

for

Herod

but

Herod

is

intrigued

by

him

but

his

brother's

wife

whom

he

shouldn't

have

married

and

John

the

Baptist

calls

it

out

wants

John

the

Baptist's

head

and

Herod

gets

himself

into

a

pickle

and

off

comes

John's

head

again

another

example

of

weak

leadership

doing

something

that's

wrong

to

placate

the

crowd

injustice

may

take

different

forms

but

it

never

ever

results

in

human

flourishing

or

blessing

never

does

again

peace

now

but

it

will

be

problems

later

injustice

never

never

results

in

human

flourishing

or

human

blessing

but

back to

Pontius Pilate

here

again

we see

an irony

in the

text

because

Pontius Pilate

is the

sovereign

over

everything

and yet

he is

manipulated

by the

crowd

and in a

sense

he bends

a knee

to the

crowd

and he

sacrifices

Jesus

like an

animal

on the

altar

of political

success

and expediency

and yet

the Lord

uses it

to fulfill

the prophecy

that Jesus

will be

he will

he will

be

crucified

like a

lamb

led

silently

to the

slaughter

and it's

unmistakable

that this

is an

image

from

Isaiah

53

the

suffering

servant

who

is

sacrificed

for the

sins

of many

Pontius

Pilate

what does

he do

he attempts

to satisfy

the injustice

of the

chief priests

and the

mob

they've

worked up

they've

stirred

up

but

Jesus

will

satisfy

the

justice

of

God

all

because

Pontius

Pilate

is

trying to

do

what is

politically

expedient

for him

again

just like

with the

chief priests

we see

that

wicked

men

fall

into

doing

the

will

of

God

but

why

does

this

injustice

have

to

happen

why

couldn't

there

be

another

way

why

why

does

Jesus

have

to

go

through

this

injustice

why

would

God

deliver

Jesus

over

to

unjust

men

we see

that

both

the

chief

priest

delivered

Jesus

over

to

Pontius

Pilate

and

Pontius

Pilate

delivers

Jesus

over

to be

crucified

why

would

God

in a

sense

deliver

Jesus

over

to

unjust

men

and let's

look at

the

third

and final

character

of this

completely

farcical

unjust

trial

look at

Jesus

go back

with me

verses

one

to

five

and as

soon as

it was

morning

the chief

priest

held a

council

with the

elders

and scribes

and the whole

council

we'll go down to

verse two

and Pilate

asked Jesus

are you the

king of the

Jews

Jesus answered

him

you have

said so

and the chief

priest accused

him of many

things

and Pilate

asked him

have you

no answer

to make

see how many

charges

they bring

against you

but Jesus

made no

further answer

so that

Pilate

was amazed

more than

the accusations

of the chief

priests

the roars

of the

the crowd

and the

sliminess

of Pilate

in all of

this

the silence

of Jesus

dominates

this portion

of scripture

I mean

what he

says

what

you have

said so

that's

in a sense

Jesus

simply saying

you would

do well

to consider

what you're

saying

but other

than that

he is

silent

and it

and it

is deafening

his silence

I mean

who doesn't

defend

themselves

when they're

facing

the chair

in a sense

except that

it's not

the chair

it is

the most

gruesome

way to

die

how is

he silent

in all

of this

but he

is silent

he says

nothing

absolutely

nothing

the end

of verse

five

what does

it say

so that

Pilate

was

amazed

Pilate

has seen

criminals

in his

day

and it

I'm sure

it would

have taken

a lot

to amaze

Pilate

but here

he is

amazed

Jesus

doesn't

plead

his

case

he

doesn't

oppose

the

false

charges

he

says

nothing

and

Pilate

is

amazed

to be

clear

this isn't

weakness

it is

not a

sign

of

defeat

but rather

it's the

outworking

of

Jesus

who is

God

the son

of God

come down

in the

flesh

fully

man

and

fully

God

who in

a sense

left

all of

his

divine

prerogatives

all of

his

authority

in a

sense

when he

came to

earth

it is

him

submitting

to the

father's

will

it's

the

outworking

of what

we see

in the

garden

of

Gethsemane

not my

will be

done

but yours

and Jesus

is resolute

he knows

what's

happening

he is

silent

and it

is a

silence

of strength

not of

weakness

he is

completing

the

father's

will

and what

is the

will

of

God

that

both

justice

that

both

his

justice

will be

satisfied

both

his

justice

will be

satisfied

because of

the sin

and evil

that we

have

committed

and also

at the

same

time

that

the

human

race

may be

redeemed

from

the sin

and evil

that we

have

committed

the

justice

of

God

or the

will

of

God

is that

justice

and mercy

meets

in the

person

of