Automatisch generiertes Transkript

Möge der Name des Herrn verherrlicht werden. Noch einmal zur Info. Heute ausnahmsweise wird die Predigt ins Englische übersetzt werden. Nur nochmal zur Info. Die Predigt wird ins Englische direkt übersetzt werden.

Let us open to Luke chapter 23 and read verses 13 to 25. Luke 23:13-25: „Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, ‚You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us. And behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him. Therefore I will punish him and release him.‘ Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner. But they cried out all together, saying, ‚Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!‘ He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city and for murder. Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. But they kept on calling out, saying, ‚Crucify him! Crucify him!‘ And he said to them the third time, ‚Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in him no guilt demanding death. Therefore I will punish him and release him.‘ But they were insistent, with loud voices, asking that he be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. And he released the man they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.“

Let us pray. Almighty and good Father, we thank you for the blessed day you have given us. We thank you for your word that you have given unto us. We thank you that we can see in this passage what suffering, what persecution your Son had to go through to redeem us from our sin. We ask you that you may bless these verses. We thank you in Christ’s name. Amen.

We are currently in our ongoing exegesis of the Gospel of Luke. Through these examinations, we have seen how Judas, how Herod, and how Pilate were dealing with Jesus. In the past weeks, we have looked at this passage and seen that in verse 13, Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers, who were already present, but now also the people.

We have seen the last time that Pilate tried to be a just ruler. Three times he testifies to Jesus‘ innocence: in Luke 23:4, verse 14, and verse 22. We have even seen how Pilate’s wife comes to him, saying that Jesus is innocent and he should have nothing to do with him. We have seen that Pilate is being pushed by the people to commit a serious crime, a serious fault. We have seen that Pilate was aware of who Jesus is. The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate with the accusation that he wants to start a rebellion against Rome. Pilate examined him and questioned Jesus but found no guilt in him. We have seen that Pilate even tries to satisfy the people by saying he will punish Jesus—he will scourge Jesus—but then release him in the end. We’ve seen the same people who welcomed Jesus almost like their Messiah on a Monday are now calling for his crucifixion. We’re seeing that they were shouting and calling out without interruption, continuously.

The focus of today’s sermon will be Pilate’s fear of men. What is fear of man? A person who fears men is primarily occupied with what other people, the people surrounding him, are thinking about him. I am more concerned about what other humans think of me than I am concerned about what God thinks about me. Fear of men tries to satisfy men; it’s a life that wants to please men. The life characterized by fear of men is a life in bondage; it’s an enslaved attitude. Instead of being concerned about what God thinks of me, instead of trying to please and glorify God, I am trying to glorify, please, and satisfy men. That is the fear of men.

The Bible is full of warnings and descriptions of the fear of men. I want to read one example from Proverbs 29:25: „The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.“ It says here that the fear of man brings a snare. It’s like a trap in which you get entangled; it’s like a net that captures you. We have many examples of people who had fear of men. For example, Abraham: out of fear of men, he lied about his wife Sarah to the pagans, which brought him into a very difficult situation. Isaac made the same mistake as his father out of fear of men. Aaron is another example: when Moses was delaying to come back from the mountain, he was pushed by the people to create the golden calf. When Moses asked Aaron why he did this, he said it was because the people pushed him to do it. We see Peter in the New Testament also being driven by fear of man. For example, in Galatians 2, he separated himself from the Gentile Christians because Jews were coming to see him, and he didn’t want them to think he was having fellowship with Gentiles. Even before that, Peter, out of fear of men, denied Jesus three times. This is what we will also see here in this passage.

We want to continue here from verse 19: „He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city and for murder.“ In verses 16-17, we see that Pilate wants to release Jesus, and he also asks who should be released. It is described more in Matthew chapter 27, verses 17 and 18: „So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, ‚Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?‘ For he knew that because of envy they had handed him over.“ Here we see Pilate directly asking the people whom they want him to release: Barabbas or Jesus? The Jews were accusing Jesus of inciting an insurrection and a rebellion against Pilate and the Roman Empire. But Barabbas is the actual insurrectionist; he is the murderer who has committed crimes worthy of the death penalty. So we’re seeing that they are making Jesus equal to such a criminal. Pilate has to judge between the two, but he is asking the people what he should do. Pilate, who is in charge of judging righteously, is asking the people what he should do. He is discarding his responsibility and his authority and tries to please men by asking them what they want.

You may have heard about the Roman Empire and their laws and justice system—that it was a very strict one and highly regarded. But we see here Pilate breaking Roman law: he is condemning an innocent man while releasing a criminal. In Matthew 27:19, we see his wife coming to him: „While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, ‚Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of him.'“ Pilate’s wife understood that Jesus is innocent and she suffered greatly, and that’s why she brings it to her husband—not to harm him, not to have anything to do with him. So we see in Pilate, and also in his wife, their conscience telling them about what they know about Jesus: that he’s innocent, that he’s righteous. Pilate feels the pressure from the people, but his conscience is telling him that Jesus is innocent. So on one side, he has his wife as a witness saying that Jesus is righteous, but on the other side, the whole crowd of the Jews is putting pressure on him. We also see that all the other testimonies and evaluations have led to the fact that Jesus is innocent. Herod, Pilate, Pilate’s wife—all of them testify to Jesus being innocent. Who has the responsibility here? We know who has it.

Let us come to verse 20. In verse 20, we see Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. When we read verse 20 in Luke, we can also see in parallel Matthew 27, where he addresses the people again. In Matthew 27:22, he asks the people, „Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?“ And they all said, „Crucify him!“ In Mark 15:12, he asks, „What shall I do with him whom you call the King of the Jews?“ You have to imagine this is a very sarcastic or scoffing question. „What shall I do with the King of the Jews?“ when he’s asking the Jews that. It is a scoffing, disrespectful question. He is mocking Jesus, basically saying, „Is this your king?“ Think about how Jesus is standing before him and them. He was up all night being questioned, beaten by the soldiers, and spat upon by the soldiers of the high priests of the Sanhedrin. Then he was brought to Herod, who also treated him badly and ridiculed him with his soldiers. So Jesus is full of wounds and swellings; his face is probably disfigured from the beatings and all the humiliation. And this kind of person is standing before them, and Pilate mockingly asks, „What shall I do with your king?“ This question is like putting salt into the wound.

In verse 21, it says, „But they kept on calling out, saying, ‚Crucify him! Crucify him!'“ We see that it is a very tense situation; these people are shouting and calling out. The whole group that was summoned in verse 13—the people, everyone—wanted Jesus to be scorned and crucified. They don’t just want him to die simply; they want him to be stripped of his clothes, hit by the whips of the Romans with their brutal torture weapons, and then hung upon a cross until he dies gasping for air. That’s what these people want for him. Think about the situation: the Savior of the world is hanging on the cross for you and for me. Before these people, he is going through so much suffering, so much humiliation, so much pain. Crucifixion was the most gruesome death that could be imagined that day. That’s why Paul, writing to the Galatians, reminds them of the scripture that says, „Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.“ When he is hanging there on the cross, he eventually dies because he cannot pull himself up anymore, gasping for air. He dies because he cannot breathe anymore after all the other pain and suffering. It is truly the most gruesome death and execution at that time. But that’s what the people are asking for; he should die in this way.

Let’s come to verse 22: „And he said to them the third time, ‚Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in him no guilt demanding death. Therefore I will punish him and release him.'“ Pilate tries a third time against the shouting and calling out of the Jews, trying to release Jesus. He says, „I found no guilt in him; I will punish him and release him.“ We have seen continuously how many witnesses there are saying that Jesus is innocent. Pilate himself says it three times, Pilate’s wife says he’s righteous, Herod found no guilt in him. He is trying here a third time, saying there’s no guilt in him. Pilate is trying to act smart here; it sounds almost like he has already made the decision. But we will see how the fear of men still triumphs over this. „What if the people cause so much trouble that I get into trouble with Caesar and lose my position?“ He is not able to fulfill his responsibility rightly. The people—the evil people demanding Jesus‘ death—are making use of Pilate’s instability, insecurity, and his fear of men to force him to make a decision according to their will. He doesn’t have the guts to rule against them; he’s not brave enough because of his situation. He is the one who is actually in charge, who has the authority and the power, but by submitting himself to the will of the people, he commits one of the greatest sins here.

Let’s come to verse 23: „But they were insistent with loud voices, asking that he be crucified, and their voices began to prevail.“ They were insistent with loud voices; they kept asking continuously for Jesus to be crucified. And their voices—their volume, how loud they were—began to prevail. The Greek here indicates that it was like a storm, like a storm wind taking over; that’s how their voices took over. For Pilate, it was like a storm wind of voices and loud shouting coming against him. On one side, Pilate is concerned about his position, his power, his authority. On the other side, it is the same in our Christian life: we cannot walk with one foot in the world and one foot in Christ. To the question, „What evil has this man done?“ the response is just this overwhelming shouting and demanding of Jesus being crucified.

Let us come to verses 24 and 25: „And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. And he released the man they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.“ We see here something astonishing: how a ruler bends to the unrighteous will of the people. Pilate is defeated here. Pilate ends the ensuing riot. That’s we see in Matthew 27:24-25: „When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, ‚I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.‘ And all the people said, ‚His blood shall be on us and on our children!'“ We see that Pilate washes his hands, saying he has nothing to do with this innocent blood. What he does here with the washing is actually a Jewish custom. In front of the people, he brings a bucket of water and washes his hands in it. It is a Jewish custom to wash your hands to indicate being innocent of something. He probably learned this during his time as governor over Judea. We see that picture in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 21:6,9: „All the elders of that city… shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley… So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst… when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.“ So this is a commandment in the Old Testament. Pilate here is acting smart, indicating to the Jews, by doing their custom, that this is actually not his decision but theirs; he is innocent. But even after Pilate has done this, the people reply in Matthew 27:25: „His blood shall be on us and on our children.“ They say to Pilate, „Don’t worry about it; you’re innocent. We will be responsible for this death, we and our children.“ Is it not astonishing? The Creator of the world is standing before them; they condemn him to death and say not only are they responsible, but their children are also responsible. When you look into Jewish history, you know what happened to them and their children; they were destroyed. You see the pitiful state of Pilate: he pronounced sentence that their demand is granted. You see how a person in authority and power has become a slave to the will of the people. He is granting their will to release a murderer and an insurrectionist but to deliver the innocent Jesus. So he released Barabbas but delivered Jesus to their will. The people say they take responsibility, they and their children for his death. Without a shred of fear, they take responsibility for Jesus‘ death.

What can we learn from these verses? In the world, those who reject Jesus Christ are like the people here who are asking for Jesus‘ death. If you reject Jesus Christ, you are in this crowd asking for Jesus to be crucified. In the same way, everyone who rejects Jesus Christ will suffer the same fate as these people, and the same judgment will come upon you: eternal death. For you who reject Jesus Christ, you are among the same crowd as here. But if you repent and receive Christ as your Savior and your Lord, He will forgive you your sins and grant you eternal life.

What about our lives, those who have accepted Christ? Like Pilate, we can be tempted to act against our conscience. We can live a life silencing our conscience. If you live like that, silencing your conscience, then you have to repent and ask God for forgiveness. We may also have made the same mistake as Pilate. When we know God’s will and when God through His word speaks to us about His will, but we don’t want to put it into practice, we let other people decide and drive our lives. That’s what Pilate did: he said, „I do what you want.“ He was escaping his responsibility. Instead of listening to God’s word, he submitted himself to the will of other men. Pilate talked to Christ repeatedly. Jesus told Pilate, „You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above.“ Jesus said to Pilate, „You don’t have any authority in yourself, only authority granted from heaven.“ He was warned through his wife. He rejected and ignored all the warnings. Let us take caution and listen to God’s word and the warning from His word, to obey Him, to submit to His will. If we don’t listen to God’s word but submit to the people, we will not be victorious in our Christian life. See Pilate’s life here: how his submission to the people’s demand led to such a horrible mistake. In the end, he tried to escape his responsibility. In the end, Caesar summoned Pilate to come to Rome because of this affair. Historians say that later Pilate committed suicide. So we see how Pilate loses both: he loses the Roman Empire, and he also has lost a seat in the kingdom of God. We see this pitiful condition of Pilate today. We see on the other side Jesus being completely silent because He submits to the will of the Father. Let us listen to the voice of God and submit to His will and obey Him. He will guard us until the end. Amen.

Let us pray. Almighty and good Father, we thank you for these wonderful words that you have given us. We see, Father, how your Son was silent for our sake. He was beaten, mocked, and scoffed for our sins. He wore the crown of thorns, was beaten with whips, was wounded, was crucified, and died. So much pain, so much suffering, and He took our guilt upon Himself. Father, we see that, and we praise you and are grateful for this mighty deed that you have done through your Son. We thank you that you delivered your Son for us. Father, let us not live in negligence in this world but listen to your voice. You have spilled the precious blood of your Son for us; let us remember that and walk according to it in this world. We ask you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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