All of us are attracted to ease. As a matter of fact, we work hard to make our lives easier. We like things to run smoothly. We are attracted to messages which tell us how to solve problems and make our lives less a hassle.
In our culture, we can be bombarded by such message. I admit, the health and wealth messages are compelling. I am attracted by them because there is that within me which desires to be rich, successful and free of problems. There is only one difficulty however that message is not consistent with the whole counsel of the word of God.
In 1865, in the poor East End of London, William Booth began a mission work. At once, he encountered serious opposition. He erected a tent which was destroyed by a gang of thugs. He moved the work to a warehouse and delinquent boys threw fireworks, stones and mud through the windows. He understood he was at war. In 1879, William Booth changed the name of his Christian mission to The Salvation Army. He published a paper called "The War Cry." They were indeed in a battle. In 1889, an attack was made on some 669 Salvation Army members. During that assault, some were killed and maimed. Thus began the work of some who would live a godly life in Christ Jesus. The Scripture is true, where it says in 2 Timothy 3:12, "And indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."
The Scripture teaches that persecution comes to those who are willing to live like Jesus. That is the key. Living for Jesus is radical It is intrinsically counter-cultural. To walk like Jesus we walk against the flow of our culture. David Niringiye, one who suffered the torturing persecution of Idi Amin, tells us that if we are not experiencing opposition, we are probably traveling in the same direction as the culture. In other words, if we would live like Jesus, we will be persecuted, just like Jesus.
Sometimes we are tempted to think that if Jesus were to return today, He would be hailed as a glorious King. But why should we believe Jesus would be received today any differently than He was when He first came? We must remember that the reason we are persecuted when we live godly in Christ Jesus is because the world rejected Jesus. The same emotions still beat in the hearts of men which cause them to turn their back on the Lord of glory. The same heart trouble which caused the people to crucify the Savior of the world still exists in the human heart. No, if Jesus were to come today as He came two thousand years ago, He would be rejected. But He is not coming again like that; for the next time He comes, He will come in power and glory to conquer and to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In our text today, we see evidence of the attitudes which keep people from Jesus. These same attitudes can keep us from Jesus. What are the attitudes you have which keep you from Jesus? Let’s look at the attitudes expressed in our text; and in doing so, discover those attitudes to avoid and those attitudes to cultivate.
"And early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate. And Pilate questioned Him, ‘Are You the King of the Jews?’ And answering He said to him, ‘It is as you say.’ And the chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. And Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, ‘Do You make no answer? See how many charges they bring against You!’ But Jesus made no further answer; so that Pilate was astonished. Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. And the multitude went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. And Pilate answered them, saying, ‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews? For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him up because of envy." (vv. 1-10)
In an illegal act, the religious officials had Jesus arrested at night and conducted a trial. This was the powerful Sanhedrin, the seventy men who were the supreme council of Israel. Jesus was a threat to them, and they were intent on killing Him. Their own law stated that they could not conduct a trial at night. That is the reason that they reconvened again, early in the morning, with "The whole council" to make a final decision on Jesus.
They wanted Him killed. They knew that Pilate would never condemn Jesus for the real reasons they wanted Him killed. So they formulated some erroneous charges they believed Pilate would accept. Basically, they told Pilate that Jesus was a subverter, that He did not believe in paying taxes and that He wanted to be ruler instead of Caesar. This is the charge Pilate centered in on. He asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "It is as you say."
The night before, when the high priest was questioning Jesus, he asked Him a different question. He said, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" That was the real issue, insofar as the priests were concerned. Jesus gave the high priest a different reply. He said, "I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." Upon hearing that, the high priest tore his robes and accused Jesus of blasphemy. They were not about to forfeit their power; no, not even for the Son of God.
But Jesus did not answer Pilate as He answered the high priest. To the high priest he said, "I am." To Pilate, however, He said, literally, "You say." Jesus may have been saying, "Yes, but not the way you think." John’s gospel records Jesus as telling Pilate, "My Kingdom is not of this world." It is obvious that the priests saw that Pilate was not being convinced that Jesus was guilty of anything worthy of death, because they began to harshly accuse Jesus of many things. Pilate was amazed that Jesus made no rebuttal to their charges. It is apparent that Pilate believed Jesus was innocent.
Because Pilate believed Jesus was innocent, he offered to release Jesus to fulfill a custom surrounding the Feast of the Passover. Each year, Pilate would release one prisoner requested by the Jews. He offered, this year, to release Jesus. The reason given was, in verse 10, "For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him up because of envy."
The envy of the religious officials kept them from receiving Jesus. Envy is a powerful emotion. It drives many to cast their lives on the rubbish heap of humanity, as well as the lives of others, in order to pursue selfish gain. To envy is to desire to have what someone else has. It is similar to the word "covet," but "envy" carries with it the sense of being resentful at the advantage another has. Envy is an evil and resentful desire to have what someone else enjoys. This is the desire the religious officials felt towards Jesus. And just as envy kept them from Jesus, so it can keep you from Jesus. Beware of it.
"But the chief priests stirred up the multitude to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, ‘The what shall I do to Him whom you call the King of the Jews?’ And they shouted back, ‘Crucify Him!’ And Pilate was saying to them, ‘Why, what evil has He done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify Him!’" (vv. 11-14)
It is interesting to notice the reaction of the crowd. Pilate offered to deliver Jesus. This was something, however, the chief priests were violently opposed to. The Scripture tells us that they stirred up the multitude to ask Pilate to release Barabbas instead of Jesus.
Now, Barabbas was an insurrectionist. He was a nationalistic loyalist who sought, by his violent actions, to overthrow Rome. No doubt, he was popular among the people. The crowd cried for his release.
Pilate inquired what they would have him do with Jesus. And the crowd shouted back, "Crucify Him!" Pilate wondered, "Why? What evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify Him!’" What was the motivation of the crowd? Was it more than merely the chief priest’s suggestions? I believe it was.
It appears that the crowd was filled with disappointment over what was the course Jesus had been taking. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, He had gone willingly. There was no struggle, no fight. Before Pilate, He had quietly accepted His fate. The crowd wanted a powerful Messiah to lead them out of the bondage of Roman rule. They were looking for someone more like Barabbas than Jesus. It is interesting to note that Barabbas means, literally, "so of a father." The crowd rejected the true Son of THE Father, and opted for a militant son of a father, Barabbas.
The disappointment of the crowd caused them not to receive Jesus. They were disappointed that He was not the kind of Jesus they wanted. They did not want the way of the Cross. They wanted the way of victory. The Cross could be for Jesus, but not for them.
How about you? Have you ever been disappointed with God when God didn’t do things your way or in your time? Were you upset? Disappointment and anger sometimes are close friends. It’s so easy to become disappointed and angry with God when He doesn’t fit into our little box. But God says, "My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts." Be careful, lest you let disappointment keep you away from Jesus.
"And wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified." (v. 15)
Notice now the cowardice of Pilate. This was his major flaw. Pilate was a man who wanted celebrity and position. He was a man who put his career before everything. Though he was fully convinced of Jesus’ innocence, Pilate did not have the courage to release Him.
Pilate saw that the public opinion was against Jesus. People were accusing Him of subverting Roman rule, of even pretending to be a King. He knew if these charges reached Rome, he would not look good. Furthermore, if he was perceived by Rome as not being able to hand these Jewish people, that would not look good either. So because of cowardice, Pilate turned Jesus over to the soldiers to be crucified.
Pilate was a coward. He did not have the courage of his convictions. He rejected principle for position. He turned his back on Christ to protect His own interests.
Pilate is like many today. They turn their back on Christ and Christianity because they want what the world has to offer. Many are afraid to be identified with Christianity. They are afraid of what their friends may thing, what their boss may think. They are afraid that somehow it may cost them something. Even when they come to know it is true, because they lack the courage, because they are cowards, they choose not to stand and be counted. Their cowardice keeps them from Jesus.
Even sometimes as believers, our cowardice can keep us from Jesus. We must have the courage of our convictions. We must not only say we believe, we must act on what we believe. We are called to bold living and a bold witness for Jesus Christ. We are called never to be ashamed of Him or His people. We are not called to be cowards. God has not given us a spirit of fear. We are called to be bold. Be careful – never let cowardice keep you from Jesus.
"And the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. And they dressed Him up in purple, and after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting at Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, and put His garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him." (vv. 16-20)
Jesus had already been scourged. This was not normal practice for one who was to be crucified. Crucifixion was horrible enough. But Jesus was scourged by Pilate in order to gain some sympathy from the crowd for Him. A scourging was a horrible torture. A man was beaten by a whip called a flagellum. A Flagellum was a whim consisting of many thongs implanted with pieces of bone and lead. Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, tells us of martyrs who were beaten with this instrument. He says of them that they "were torn by scourges down to deep seated veins and arteries so that the hidden contents of the recesses of their bodies, their entrails and organs were exposed to sight." Indeed, Isaiah 53:14 describes how Jesus’ "appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form marred beyond human likeness" that He would be unrecognizable. Pilate had scourged Jesus in order for the crowd to have sympathy to let Him go. This had failed. Now, Jesus was delivered to the soldiers.
But the soldiers, upon receiving Jesus, engaged in a cruel mocking of Him. Why did they do that? In fact, the Scripture say that they "called together the whole company of soldiers." In other words, the soldiers got their buddies out of bed, some of those who were even off duty, in order to mock Jesus. They put a purple robe on Him. They wove a crown of thorns and pressed it hard on His brow. They struck Him on the head with a stick and spit on Him. They fell to their knees and engaged in mock worship. Why did they do such an uncalled for and evil thing?
I believe the answer can be found in what they were calling out to Jesus. They said, "Hail! King of the Jews!" These soldiers were filled with prejudice. To them, Jesus represented the whole Jewish nation. Their hearts were filled with prejudice and hatred against the Jews. The prejudice of the soldiers kept them from receiving Jesus.
Prejudice can be a powerful and intoxicating evil in the hearts of people. Prejudice is deeply rooted in pride and is closely akin to hatred. When people are not like we think they ought to be, it is easy to judge them. Prejudice is strongly rooted in selfishness. The soldiers’ prejudice was not directly focused against Jesus. It was focused against the Jewish people whom Jesus represented. Nonetheless, it kept the soldiers from seeing who Jesus really was because their hearts were filled with prejudice. Prejudice can keep you from Jesus as well. Beware, lest that root of bitterness spring up in your heart, because it will keep you away from Jesus.
Envy, disappointment, cowardice, prejudice. These and attitudes like them keep us from Jesus. We must avoid attitudes like these. When we see them begin to rear their ugly head, we must stand against them with all the fiber of our being. And we must cultivate the attitudes which draw us to Jesus.
Instead of envy, we must have humility. Instead of disappointment, we must replace it with surrender. Instead of cowardice, we must have boldness. And instead of prejudice, we must have love.
What keeps you from Jesus? Are their attitudes in your heart which ought not to be there? What we’ve been thinking about here is heart trouble. Heart trouble can keep a person from Jesus. But while heart trouble can keep you from Jesus, you must remember that Jesus came for troubled hearts. If your heart is troubled, turn to Jesus. He will lay His hand on you and give you what you need. It does not matter how twisted your attitudes have been.
On the twenty-first of April, 1864, in the little village of East Leister in England, Jane Merrick, a precious Baptist woman and school teacher, cradled in her arms, her precious little son that had just been born. Taking a character from the Bible whom she loved, John the Baptist, she named her son John – John Merrick. The joy was short-lived. Before very long, he began to develop hideously. John Merrick, later to be called the "Elephant Man" was an indescribable genetic disaster. Soon his head began to take on the misshapen effects that would later cause women to gasp upon seeing him, and run sick to their stomachs from the encounter. One of his arms grew so large that it looked as though it were the trunk of an elephant, while his left arm remained entirely normal. His spine began to curve and he began to develop huge segments of skin unnecessarily, and they putrefied and had a terrible odor. John Merrick then lost his mother – the only one who loved him, at age 12, in a tragic accident. All he knew was gone.
As a teenager, rejected of society, looking increasingly more obnoxious and hideous by the day, John Merrick ran away from home. He soon found himself in the hands of an unscrupulous exhibitor, who made a sign advertising the Elephant Man, and charged two-pence apiece for a look at this hideous human.
He was suffering from what was later called Van Recklehausen’s syndrome, a genetic disease now known as multiple neurofibermetosis. And that poor man, at age 20, had become so deformed, such a recluse, and though he was a sensitive spirit, so utterly beaten down, that he could scarcely even look up through his one good eye at those who stared at him. When he was 20 years old, in 1884, one day a physician by the name of Fredrick Trebis happened to pay the two-pence to see him, and became interested in him. He eventually moved him to London Hospital where he practiced. Trebis thought that this man would never be able to communicate. But then one day, he finally understood him for the first time. And do you know what he was doing? He was repeating one of the two things he had read – the Bible. And that young man, the Elephant Man as he is known today, was repeating the twenty-third Psalm: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil."
Realizing that he was a thinker and that he was sensitive, Trebis, began to bring into his life various people. One day, a beautiful widow stood there, and when she was ready to leave, instead of the same reaction that most women had, she pressed forward and took John Merrick by the hand. And when she did, it was the first human touch from a woman that he had felt since his mother died, and he began to weep. Trebis, sensing the unusual situation, and knowing that Merrick had become a student of the theater, brought to see him a person that Merrick thought he would never see. Mrs. William Kindle of the Drury Lane Theater came into the room. Like most people, the first moment she saw him, she was utterly repulsed. She managed to keep back the expression that she felt in her heart so that it did not come to her face. But as often as Merrick would look away, as she later testified, she herself would turn away and shake her hands and head and fight back the tears from her eyes. She could not imagine a human being so hideously misshapen, so totally repulsive. How I the world could she even carry on a conversation with him? Then God began to do a work in her heart. Do you know what happened? When she got ready to leave, God spoke to her heart. She got up; she crossed the room. And she approached John Merrick, the Elephant Man, and not only did she extend her hand, but she embraced him in her beautiful arms. As she leaned over, this famous, beautiful actress, planted on the misshapen, inarticulate lips of John Merrick, the only precious kiss he ever experienced in his whole life. His shoulders began to wrench. Tears burst from those eyes. And he began to weep, understanding what it had taken for her to do that.
Do you not understand that that’s exactly what we’re talking about in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, when the Eternal God, holy and exalted, above sin, without the taint of iniquity in heaven above, looked down at our misshapen, malformed sinful selves. And what was at first a gasp of holy disgust suddenly broadened into a smile on the face of God. And He said, "I’m going to send the Prince of Peace." And there in Bethlehem of Judea, He sent Him. And on the Cross, our Lord Jesus Christ stretched out His hands, embraced us everyone, and it was heaven kneeling down to plant upon our lips the kiss of the Divine. Jesus came for troubled hearts.
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