The Road of Rejection

Bible's coming to Mark 15 this morning.

Mark 15 as we begin a new chapter here in the book of Mark as we've been going through.

He knew the road when he left Galilee was going to be a road where he was ultimately going to be rejected by everyone around him.

And to reject in the reality of that, of what he had come to do though,

while he was going to be rejected, it was also a path that he had chosen long before.

He came exactly at the appointed time to accomplish exactly what he came to do.

And Christ came for that purpose.

He wanted to provide what was required to reconcile me and you to God.

Because everything Jesus came and did was for our benefit.

It was for us.

And the culmination of this purpose was quickly approaching as we find last week as he had been arrested and interrogated.

And having prepared his disciples for what was to come,

Jesus was facing the public trial and the official rejection of those very ones that he came to save.

You know, as you think about that dynamic of Jesus came and was rejected,

refused to be accepted by those very individuals that he came to redeem.

I mean, that's a hard thought sometimes to wrap our mind around.

Why would Christ come knowing he would be rejected?

You know, the road of rejection was real and the difficulties that were there.

And when you consider the council that had arrested Jesus in the night is preparing their case against him here.

And remember, witness after witness came with accusation.

Yet we know none agreed.

And it was only after Jesus declared himself to be the son of God when he was asked directly,

are thou son of the blessed?

And we see that Jesus is I am.

If you remember, as we talk through that about the reality of who Jesus has declared himself to be,

but we find now that the morning has come.

And we're going to see that they begin the official trial, you might say, of Jesus

and the progress towards the penalty they'd already predetermined.

You know, when you think about a set-up trial,

I don't think you get any more of a set-up trial than Jesus.

They arrested him for the purpose of charging him with death.

That was the intended purpose.

They arrested him.

They were plotting that out.

That was the whole ploy in that.

And so as we're going to see here, as they openly call for his death.

And so if you found your Bible this morning, Mark chapter 15,

Mark 15 · chapter mention

let's stand together in honor of reading of the Word of God here this morning.

And we'll look here and just read the first five verses here,

and then we'll pray and get into the message here today.

But notice here it says in verse 1, in the Word of God, it says,

And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders

and the scribes and the whole council,

and bound Jesus and carried him away and delivered him to Pilate.

And Pilate asked him, Art thou king of the Jews?

And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it?

And the chief priest accused him of many things, but he answered nothing.

And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing?

Behold, how many things they witnessed against thee.

But Jesus yet answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Fathers, we come before you once again this morning.

Lord, we're thankful for your Word.

We're thankful for all that you've given to us.

Lord, we're thankful for the reality that you came knowing that you would be rejected.

Lord, you understood the full price that was required for our salvation.

Lord, what love you've shown to us.

While we were yet undeserving, you loved us enough to come.

Lord, as we look at this passage,

as a reality of what you faced, what you went through along the road to redeem us.

Lord, we just thank you for all that was needed that you took care of for us.

Lord, I pray just have your hand upon each one today.

Lord, if there's one that doesn't know you as Savior,

if they're not sure that today would be the day,

that they would say, Lord, I recognize what you've done,

and I need you as my Savior.

But Lord, help also anybody that knows you as Savior to be reminded

of the price that you paid on our behalf.

And Lord, we just love you and thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

You know, as we see here all night, if you remember,

Jesus had not yet got any rest.

You know, they'd been up all night.

They were rested in the garden where Jesus was praying,

and the disciples were exhausted.

Remember, Jesus told them to watch and pray,

and they fell asleep.

Why? Because it was getting late.

They were tired.

Jesus has been up all night now,

and they're getting ready into the fourth watch of the day,

it's called, as we'll look here in a moment,

and we'll see as he is being brought forth to the full council

to finalize the charges.

And all night, the high priest had sought for a reason

to put Jesus to death.

And we know that when Jesus said, I am,

and he identified himself as God,

we know what the high priest was saying.

He says, I got you.

Because they said, you just blasphemed.

I mean, you made yourself associated with God.

That was the charge.

You're going to see the Jews.

That was their reasoning.

But I want you to see here,

they had to come up with something better,

because as this final declaration,

as Christ, the promised deliverer,

set the stage there of what he was soon to be cut off,

as Daniel chapter 9 describes to us,

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

he's fulfilling prophecy every step of the way.

But if we notice in our text,

it says straightway in the morning.

The word here is the fourth watch.

That's between 3 and 6 a.m.

So this is real early morning yet,

and they've been up all night.

And the exhaustion that is happening,

but we see their vigor as they want to press forward.

And they begin with a meeting together.

Notice here, it says,

in the morning the chief priest held a consultation

with the elders and scribes and the whole council.

You know, why did they hold a meeting

after they'd just been up all night talking about it?

You know, that doesn't make much sense to us,

but their problem was, as we're going to see here,

their problem was that they could not put

someone to death on their own authority.

Not legally, anyways, under the Roman rule.

They had to go to the Romans

to have permission to do that,

or to allow the Romans to do that.

So they're sitting here thinking,

how are we going to do this?

Because if we take Jesus to Pilate,

and we tell him,

well, Jesus is guilty of blasphemy.

He's violated our laws.

You know what Pilate would have said?

Go home and deal with it.

You know, he basically,

so you have another guy declared to be God.

As a Roman, he would have said,

well, we got many of them anyways.

I mean, the charge that they had wanted,

they found against Jesus didn't hold any water

when it came to the Romans.

It had no punch, no authority.

There's nothing they could do with it.

So they're thinking in their mind,

okay, how do we make this happen?

What do we have to do

when we go to Pilate,

what needs to be the accusation?

How do we manipulate the information

to get the desired outcome?

You know, we thought that was something modern.

You know what?

I want you to understand it's human nature.

Jesus had the same exact,

that's how they crucified him,

by manipulating information.

To say something contrary

to what Jesus said.

And we're going to look at how that is happening here

because the scribes and elders come together

and they have how to say,

how to have the Romans kill him.

It says they held a consultation

before they brought him to Pilate.

Because we're going to see here this morning

the first place that Jesus was rejected

in this,

was he was rejected by the pious individuals.

You know, there was those religious leaders,

those in authority,

those that thought they were in greater position

than God,

if you want to see ultimately what they did.

They said, we are the authority.

God has given us ultimate authority.

The only problem is

they thought their authority,

God gave them,

superseded God.

That they had authority above God

of what God had said

because they were looking for themselves.

You know, the council is convened

to legitimize what's happening.

Because you need to remember

they could not,

what happened the night before,

what happened early morning hours

was not legal for them to be doing.

To call a council in the darkness,

that was against Jewish law,

Jewish custom,

to have a trial in the dark.

One of the things they required

was it would be day

when everybody could pay attention

to what was happening.

Have you ever noticed

good things don't happen at dark?

You know, most people try to manipulate

and use the darkness.

You know, men love darkness

rather than light.

Why?

Because their deeds are what?

Evil.

Why did they do this

in the middle of the night?

Well, they didn't have to worry

about too many crowds gathering

because they were all sleeping.

They wanted to manipulate

and be prepared

because they were going to have to soon

face the crowd.

To face what was going to happen.

And so we see here

these pious individuals

said, okay,

how do we manipulate this

to condemn him to death?

You know, take a look over

to Luke chapter 22.

Luke 22 · chapter mention

Because here in Luke 22

it reveals that Jesus

was once again

when they convened this council together

we'll find that

they once again

as a whole council

try to confirm

what Jesus said.

You know, we find here

in Luke 22

look down at verse 66

with me this morning.

You'll have to bear with me

I bought a new Bible.

New preaching Bible.

First one in 25 years.

Pages are a little sticky

so not near as nimble

but we'll get it limbered up here.

But take a look here

in verse 66

it says,

As soon as it was day

the elders of the people

and the chief priests

and the scribes

came together

and led him

into their council

saying,

aren't thou the Christ?

Let's tell us

and he said unto them

if I tell you

ye will not believe

and if I also ask you

you will not answer me

nor let me go.

You know, that's interesting.

Jesus looks at him

and says, you know,

you're asking a rhetorical question here

because it doesn't matter

how it's answered.

You've already made your mind up.

You know?

One thing you need

to always realize

is Jesus realized here

if somebody's got their mind made up

there's not much

you're going to do

to change it.

They already had their course

they had their plan

they had their thoughts

laid out

and where they were going to go

and Jesus here once again

I think that

Jesus' statement revealed to us

just kind of

pokes them once again

and says,

hey guys

I know your heart.

I already know who you are

and what's going on

but I still came

for you

because notice this

it says,

Hereafter shall the Son of Man

sit on the right hand

of power of God

and they all

and said they all

art thou then

the Son of God

and he said to them

ye say that I am

and they said

what need we

any further witness

for we ourselves

have heard

of his own mouth.

You know

consider that

they say

hey

we've heard him

blaspheme

but they still had a problem.

They had a problem

because blasphemy

didn't allow the Romans

to execute him.

But you know

the other part of this

that Jesus said

he was going to sit

in power

in the power

of God.

The implication

there sometimes

we miss some of those

little nuances

when we don't stop

and think about it.

What Jesus is saying

I am the one

that is sovereign

I am the one

in authority.

In their mind

what they heard

is Jesus is saying

I'm the one

over everything.

I am king

and we're going to look here

because what's going to be

their accusation?

When they go to Pilate

you're going to find

their accusation

isn't he claimed

to be God

he claimed

to be king

over Caesar.

Now ultimately

that is true

because God's

over everything.

There's nobody

he sets up kings

he takes down kings

he establishes governments

does away with governments

I mean we've looked

and studied

all those things

so it's true

there's nothing untrue

what they're saying

but what they were using

that is twisting it

to get Pilate

the governor

of Judea

to kill Jesus

because he's now

an insurrectionist.

He's one that wants

to overthrow

the authority

the sentence of death

required something

the Romans

would find

to be a problem.

So they had to come up

with an argument

they had to come up

with the accusations

they had to produce

a charge

that Pilate

would act upon.

And so what

did they settle on?

Jesus is inciting

rebellion

and overthrow

against Caesar.

That's what their

accusation boils down to.

You know look over

in Luke 23

for a moment.

Luke 23

in verse 2

tells us this

and they began

to accuse him

saying we found

this fellow

what notice

is perverting

the nation

forbidding to give

tribute to Caesar

saying that he himself

is Christ

a king.

Now that's another

interesting phrase

because they're

just saying

Jesus proclaims

himself to be

a king

and we know

he is the king.

He is the authority

and we know this

but they're perverting

those words

and we see here

these religious men

these pious men

manipulated the truth

to fit the need.

You know the fact

is that religious

people

still do this

today.

You can find

religious people

who try to

manipulate

the things

of God

for their own

benefit.

To try to get

the outcome

that they desire.

You know

it's a manipulation

that seeks

to control

and seeks

its own place

and its own

power

because these

religious leaders

of the people

had no place

for Jesus.

You see Jesus

was turning

everything they had

all their stability

all the things

they thought

they were in

control of

upside down.

Because remember

earlier in the same

week what did

Jesus do?

Jesus had entered

into the temple

and what did he do?

He purged the temple.

He cleansed the temple.

He overturned the tables.

He drove them out

that were selling

and exchanging

in the temple.

Remember they were upset.

Why?

It wasn't because

Jesus made a mess.

He interrupted

their income.

He interrupted

their authority.

They weren't upset

about the table

being turned.

They were upset

because he interrupted

their authority,

their place,

their position,

their income.

They were skimming

off the top.

You know the one thing

it doesn't take long

to learn in life

when you start messing

with somebody's income

they get upset.

I mean if you want

to make somebody mad

start messing

with their money.

I mean just look

at the news

you'll find that out.

I mean as soon

as you mess

with somebody's money

man the meanness

comes out.

And we see here

that they were there

they had established

their own righteousness.

They rejected Jesus

and they were

justifying their actions.

Think about it.

Here's the very ones

that say they're going

to uphold the law.

Now last I checked

you know even the

Ten Commandments

is pretty clear

on this one.

It says thou shalt not

what?

Kill.

Thou shalt not murder.

What are they doing?

They're literally

having the government

they want the government

to murder Jesus.

The very people

that say they want

to uphold

the law of God

are working

and manipulating

through envy

and jealousy

and you know

covetousness.

Huh that might be

another one on the list.

I mean think about

all the very things

they said they wanted

to uphold

that they're violating.

They're violating

all the basic

simple commandments

that they tried

to hold everybody

else to

in nuance.

They were trying

to do that

and we find here

that this religion

though

is always a problem.

You know the problem

with religion is

religion is based

on what people do

of how they look

and how they can control

and how things

are present

but you know what

God

I want you to

understand something

that's important

because this is where

I think we get in trouble

because what we do

and how we act

and what we say

on the outside

is important

but when you understand

that what that needs

to come from the heart

out

not the out in.

Now you can dress

somebody up

and make them look good

but don't change the heart

and they're still

the same person.

But you know what

if you have a heart change

it ought to be

reflected outwardly.

That's going to reflect

in the choices you make

what you do

how you want to

present yourself.

All those things

are going to be

impacted from within.

Religion wants

an outward dress up

and relationship

with God

changes us

from the inside out.

You've got to keep in mind

that sometimes

the problem is

it's hard for us

because all we see

is the outside

but don't be fooled

God sees the inside.

God sees the thoughts

and intents of the heart.

He knows you better

than you know you.

He understands

exactly what's

happening here

but religion

wants to have control

and manipulation

and God says

I don't want to

manipulate you

I want to rescue you.

I want to provide a way

for you to be saved

and that salvation

is by faith.

You know

think about very simply

Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

tells us this

it says

for by grace

are you saved

through faith.

It doesn't say

you're saved

by how you look

it doesn't say

you're saved

by what you do

it says

you're saved

by faith

but you need to

keep in mind

if you're saved

it's going to

transform you

from the inside out.

but notice

it says

and not of yourselves

it is the gift

of God

not of works

lest any man

should boast.

Romans 5

adds a little bit

to this idea

that we're talking

about here

in chapter 5

of Romans

in verse 1

it says

therefore being

justified

by faith.

Justified

being declared

righteous

before God

being declared

that your sin

has been taken

care of

because of that

we have peace

with God

through our Lord

Jesus Christ

who also

we have access

by faith

into this grace

wherein we stand

and rejoice

in hope

of the glory

of God.

You know

rejoicing

is another one

of those things

that comes

from the inside out.

You can paint

on a happy face

but a rejoiceful

heart comes out

inside out

always keep that

in mind

religion is worried

about the outside

God's worried

about the inside

and the relationship

you have with him.

The outside

if you have a right

relationship with God

you know what

the outside

will take care

of itself.

It will transform

how you think

how you want

to present yourself

and how to present

because you're

representing the one

who has saved you

you're not your own

you're bought

with a price.

You know

what really matters

are some very

simple things

when it comes

to the pious

individuals

because ultimately

it doesn't matter

how pious you are

it only matters

where you stand

with Christ.

What have you

done with Christ?

Have you believed

the gospel message

of Christ's death

burial

and resurrection?

Because what we're

getting into

is essential.

You know

I want you to

understand

it's important

that Jesus

went to the cross

and paid the price

for our sin.

I want you to

understand

good people

can do something

for benefit

somebody else.

They can give

their life

for their friend

but you know

Jesus didn't

just give his

life for us

it says

he resurrected.

I want you

to understand

that makes

all the difference

because we don't

worship somebody

who just died

for us

we worship

a living savior

that he's alive

he is resurrected

the Bible says

that resurrection

is the victory

the cross

is the payment

and the resurrection

is the victory

over death

that we can

have life

in Christ

and are we

trusting Jesus

and Jesus alone

for your salvation?

You know

religion wants

to do Jesus

plus

Jesus if you

add this

or Jesus

if you put that

you know

some people

want to be

Jesus plus

baptism

or Jesus

plus

taking some

juice

and some bread

and add that

to it

I want you

to understand

they take

things

that are

important

but misplace

them in order

they take

what they

represent

and turn

them into

something

they don't

we need

to understand

that you

don't receive

Christ

through a piece

of bread

or some

juice

or wine

or whatever

they want

to try to do

you don't

receive Christ

and your sins

aren't washed

away because

somebody put

you under water

I want you

to understand

both those

things are

important

but they have

nothing to do

with your

salvation

you can go

to heaven

without being

baptized

you can go

to heaven

without ever

partaking in

the Lord's

Supper

because that's

not the

determining

factor

those are

things of

being right

and being

in obedience

to God

and celebrating

what Christ

has done

for us

they're not

about our

salvation

it's because

of after

what Christ

has done

and we can

celebrate

those things

what we see

here

the rejection

of the

pious

these

individuals

were rejecting

him

how do we

get rid of

him

how do we

remove him

so they

prepare their

case

and they

come to

Pilate

look down

here at

verse 3

with me

excuse me

verse 2

in our text

here

and it says

and Pilate

asked him

art thou

king of the

Jews

and he

answering

said unto

him

thou

sayest it

and the

chief priest

accused him

of many

things

but he

answered

nothing

we're going

to find

here that

ultimately

Pilate's

going to

reject

him

he's

going

to

be

rejected

by

Pilate

Pilate

knew

that

Jesus

was

innocent

the text

makes it

very clear

he knew

Jesus

was

innocent

and didn't

take a

stand

he says

I'm

going to

turn

my back

on you

and I'm

going to

let him

kill you

even though

I know

you're

not

guilty

that's

a whole

other

form

of

rejection

you know

Pilate

begins

with an

inquiring

question

about

to

Jesus

initial

accusations

of being

seditious

or trying

to overthrow

the Romans

you know

ultimately

you know

remember

one of the

accusations

was what

well

Jesus

told them

not to

pay their

taxes

you know

what

that's

the biggest

lie

there was

no place

did Jesus

ever tell

the people

not to

pay their

taxes

matter of

fact

he said

render unto

Caesar

that which

is Caesar

unto God

those things

that are

God's

but

he asked

them

there

very

simply

he looks

at

Jesus

and

basically

says

are you

who

they

say

you

are

are

you

king

of

the

Jews

that's

what

he

asked

him

he's

saying

are

you

what

they

accuse

you

of

let me

hear

your

side

of

the

story

I

want

you

to

see

here

Pilate

was

actually

at the

beginning

here

doing

his

job

he

says

they're

coming

I'm

supposed

to

be

judge

of

this

I

want

to

do

somebody

is

accusing

you

what

what

what's

your

side

of

this

Pilate

starting

out

pretty

good

here

really

he's

like

hey

I

want

to

know

the

right

information

I

want

to

know

what's

needed

and

he

asked

Jesus

of

who

he

is

and

when

asked

about

his

identity

by

the

pious

religious

leaders

Jesus

was

clear

and

said

I

am

!

but

yet

to

Pilate

!

he

responds

now

take a

look

over

to

John

John 18 · chapter mention

chapter

18

for

a

moment

because

as

we

look

here

in

John

John 18 · chapter mention

chapter

18

we

find

that

Jesus

has

a

little

more

John

records

a

little

more

conversation

here

now

I

want

you

to

keep

something

in

mind

here

because

John's

gospel

gives

us

more

details

and

nuances

of

conversation

now

I

want

you

to

remember

something

we

talked

about

here

a few

weeks

ago

where

was

John

was

in

a

position

to

hear

these

things

John

was

the

one

disciple

that

was

in

a

position

to

hear

the

nuanced

conversations

that

were

taking

place

and

he

records

some

things

for us

here

in

John

18

in

verse

34

it

says

Jesus

answered

And

sayest

thou

this

thing

of

thyself

or

did

others

tell it

tell it

thee

of

me

and

Pilate

answered

am

I

a

Jew

thine

own

nation

and chief

answered

my

kingdom

is

not

of

this

world

now

that's

a

whole

other

lesson

to

discuss

because

I

want

you

to

understand

that

Jesus

didn't

come

to

establish

a

physical

kingdom

at

this

time

that's

future

Jesus

will

one

day

return

and

establish

his

kingdom

the

physical

kingdom

to

fulfill

his

promise

to

Abraham

Isaac

and

Jacob

fill

his

promise

to

David

he

was

going

to

fulfill

those

things

when

he

comes

but

he

still

promised

to

do

it

those

things

are

going

to

happen

but

when

he

came

the

first

time

it

was

not

to

establish

himself

as

king

of

a

nation

or

people

here

upon

the

earth

in

the

way

we

think

about

it

physically

when

you're

saved

you

become

a

member

of

the

family

of

God

you

become

part

under

God's

authority

you

put

yourself

under

his

authority

at

salvation

and

we

realize

that

necessity

he

says

his

kingdom

is

not

of

this

world

if

my

kingdom

were

of

this

world

then

would

my

servants

fight

that's

a

key

indicator

what

Jesus

tell

Peter

to

do

Peter

wanted

to

fight

what

Jesus

say

put

away

the

sword

now

is

not

the

time

now

is

not

the

purpose

but

now

is

my

kingdom

not

from

hence

now

I

can

just

imagine

the

puzzled

look

that

Pilate

had

Pilate

is

probably

looking

at him

like

I'm

trying

to

piece

this

together

I'm

trying

to

make

sense

of

the

chaos

here

I've

got

these

religious

leaders

that

are

already

on

my

case

because

you

need

to

understand

a

little

bit

of

history

that

Pilate

and

these

religious

individuals

had

a

lot

of

clashes

Pilate

was

not

a

good

governor

in

many

ways

he

was

really

pretty

foolish

!

Pilate

was

a

politician

looking

to

skip

up

the

ladder

of

power

and

wasn't

really

concerned

about

the

people

and

he

made

some

pretty

foolish

decisions

about

how

he

might

look

good

to

rule

not

thinking

about

how

all

the

other

impacts

came

about

we

don't

have

time

this

morning

to

get

into

all

that

but

I

want

you

to

get

that

context

of

what

happened

!

These

two

groups

knew

each

other

to

understand

this

was

not

just

something

random

but

there

was

a

lot

more

context

put

into

it

you

know

over

in

Luke

23

Luke

records

this

he

says

in

verse

4

he

says

then

said

Pilate

to

the

chief

priest

and

to

the

people

I

find

no

fault

in

this

man

and

they

were

more

fierce

saying

he

stirreth

up

the

people

teaching

throughout

all

Jewry

beginning

from

Galilee

to

this

place

now

that's

the

time

where

you

realize

when

Pilate

is

a

good

politician

because

he's

listening

to

little

words

how

do

I

get

out

of

this

how

do

I

bail

this

is

an

uncomfortable

situation

I

know

Jesus

is

innocent

but

if

I

let

him

go

these

people

are

going

to

have

a

conniption

there's

going

to

be

a

meltdown

!

in

the

community

because

they're

going

to

raise

up

all

sorts

of

crowd

that's

going

to

cause

me

problems

and

then

their

accusation

well

all

the

way

from

Galilee

you

know

let's

say

when

you

read

through

it

and

you

don't

stop

to

really

consider

what

that

means

because

this

is

where

Mark

doesn't

record

it

but

it

is

recorded

we'll

find

that

at

this

point

right

now

we

find

that

Pilate

says

Galilee

he's

under

Herod's

authority

I

make

Herod

be

the

bad

guy

that

was

Pilate's

plot

he's

like

hey

I

don't

want

to

have

to

deal

with

this

this

is

not

going

to

end

well

for

me

no

matter

what

happens

Galilee

that's

under

Herod's

authority

oh

Jesus

is

a