Sermon 3-14-2010 24 hrs Jesus, Pilate & Barabbas Mt 27:11-26
11Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. 12When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" 14But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. 15Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. 19While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." 20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. 22"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" 23"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" 24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" 25All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" 26Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Series pt 4- last supper, garden, before religious rulers, today with Pilate.
Themes
The drama of good and evil unfold into today's passage
As each person must choose a life of Good or a life of evil.
The leaders in the crowd, the people, Pilate’s wife, Pilate, Jesus. Us
Us. We can learn from all of them.
The leaders choose to incite a riot
The role of leaders….Stirring up emotions in others
Crucify him. Give us Barabbas
Does this happen in our world today?
Bad leadership is neg & demeaning- protects its turf – hurts others
I hate the president
Get on my bandwagon
Lets get em……..
If we get a chance to be leaders, & we do, I hope that we provide better.
Leaders give people something positive to follow
They challenge them, inspire them
They invite them
They help them to be comfortable in the neutral zone
All of us are leaders somewhere in life
The people-the crowd, make their choice
Evil and hatred at work
Following bad leaders….
Give us Barabbas - Jesus= crucify him
It is hard to sleep at night when you sell your soul
The people chose evil over good
I want to celebrate at least one non Jesus human in this story.
Pilate’s wife exercises common sense- has a dream
Pizza, neurotic dreams, or
Have you ever had a dream that you thought meant something?
Joseph had dreams, Daniel had dreams….
Jerusalem Hilton-
You know- when they mean something, you know.
Pilate's wife is one of the bright spots in this story
Pilate makes his choices.
He does the expedient thing. The safe thing – the pol correct thing
Pilate to Herod, to Pilate
Lk 23:12 Herod and Pilate became friends
12That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.
Friendship based on evil
Politics makes strange bed fellows
He releases Barabbas-----bad choice
What happened to Barabbas
Movie – 1962
Anthony Quinn earnest borgnine, jack palance
Barabbas seeks to find his place and lives with the pain of what happened
Back to Jesus
Jesus says very little before Pilate.
Pilate finds no fault in him.
Yet he refuses to stand for right
Sometimes no decision is a decision…..
Jesus talks about truth
John 14:6 I am the way the truth and the life……..
john 18:36-38 truth- what is truth
36Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
37"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
38"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.
Truth is an issue for humans
Johnny cash- what is truth- 1970
Young man sitting in the witness stand
The man with the book says raise your hand
Repeat after me, I solemnly swear
The man looked down at his long hair
And although the young man solemnly swore
No one seemed to care anymore
Cause it really didn’t matter if the truth was there
It was the cut of his clothes and the length of his hair
And the lonely voice of youth cries, what is truth
Truth is an issue of every generation, every person, for all time
We think our issue with truth is that others don’t get it like we do
Fact of the matter is, most of us have never considered truth outside of our box
A passenger was completely lost between the decks on a cruise ship. He finally ran into a steward and asked for help in finding his cabin. What was the number of your cabin sir, asked the steward? I couldn’t tell you, but I’d know it at once because it had a lighthouse outside the porthole.
A frog lived his whole live in a well. One day he was surprised to see another frog there. Where have you come from, he asked. From the sea. That’s where I live said the new frog. What’s the sea like, is it as big as my well? The sea frog laughed. There’s no comparison, he said. The well frog pretended to be interest in what his visitor had to say about the sea. But he thought, of all the liars I have known in my lifetime, this one is undoubtedly the most shameless.
The truth that sets us free is almost always the truth that we would rather not hear.
So when we say that something is not true, often what we mean is, I do not like this idea.
Truth does not change to accommodate us
If God is a circle and we think he is a triangle., he does not become a triangle to accommodate our thinking
We cant throw people away who do not fit into our Jesus box
Is god bigger than or smaller than our ideas about him?
Fact is, when we get to heaven and see him, our Jesus box is going to get much bigger.
Us. How do we choose between good and evil. Right and wrong?
Does our spirituality hurt people, then is it spiritual?
Every day, we have choices to make. protect our turf. Hurt those who hurt us. Get even., follow the crowd. Or –
Love the truth. Look inside. Do the right thing. Help others. Live the love
Taking responsibility?
Can we ever wash our hands?
“His blood is on your hands,” but then Pilate has Jesus flogged. Hmm
taking responsibility in life is so important
One of the most spiritual things you can do is to take responsibility
Eccl 12:13-14
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
Spirituality isn’t a feeling or a sense that I have life figured out all the time. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is get up & do the rt thing. To stand for what is right. To bear responsibility. To take up one’s cross.
This is what Jesus does
We are invited to follow him.
Let us pray
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