Pilate on Trial

I know that some of you came in this morning, you looked at the sermon title and you said, yeah, I thought so. John is absolutely losing his mind. I was thinking that was the case, but this confirms it. Pilot on trial. Really? I thought we were in a portion of the Gospel of John where Jesus is on trial. And you're telling me pilot is on trial? Yeah, actually, I do recognize that Jesus is on trial just to lay any fears that you may have about my sanity. I do recognize that is Jesus who is on trial, but in reality, it is pilot who will end up being on trial on this Friday that Jesus is in his courtroom. Pilot, as he seeks to determine who this is in front of him and what he has done, the tables will be turned and pilot will end up being on trial. Pilot, by the way, is a very interesting character. He is historically and biblically, I think one of the most interesting characters to have ever walked across the pages of history and of scripture. I think the word that best describes him or the words maybe that best describing would be he was an ambitious opportunist. He grew up in Spain in a small village, but he always wanted to be somebody. And so he decided the best way to make his mark and maybe climb into success would be through joining the Roman army. And so he did. He joined the Roman army and he did climb through the ranks. And one day he is in Rome and he meets a lady who will become his wife. Her name is Claudia. She is the granddaughter of one of the greatest Roman emperors ever to rule. Caesar Augustus. And so he does end up marrying her and sure enough, that opens all kinds of doors for him. And finally, he's given that really peach of a job that a lot of people would have loved to have had. Governor of Judea. It's the center of the world. And the Romans have a strong presence there. And so he is now the governor of Judea. But pilot was politically foolish. He was brutal. He hated the Jews. And he made a royal mess of things in Judea. His very entrance into Judea. Was with great Roman pomp and circumstance with troops carrying banners of the Roman Caesar Tiberius. Well, obviously that was a no-no. That was a graven image to the Jews and they hated it. So there was a riot. And pilots squashed the riot with brutal force. On another occasion, pilot was sent his troops into the temple to rob the temple treasury so that he could build a Roman aqueduct to bring water into the city. Well, Jews didn't like that either. Another riot. And this time, pilots sent his troops playing clothes into the temple. And at just the right moment, as they spread out, they pulled out swords and clubs out from under their robes and mercilessly slaughtered Jews in the temple. On another occasion, the Bible records this that he mixed the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices, killing Galileans as they worshipped in the temple. He was brutal. He was cruel. Politically foolish. He would only last 10 years in Judea. And he would be called back to Rome as incompetence sent into exile in Gaul where he committed suicide. It just makes you wonder what all was going through that man's mind in the later years of his life. We know a little bit of what was going through his mind on a Friday in Jerusalem as a certain prisoner is brought into his courtroom. On this Friday morning, he will come face to face with a prisoner unlike any he has ever seen or heard. Jesus Christ will be brought before him. And Jesus will try his own soul, the soul of Pilate. As Pilate tries to figure out who this guy is and what he has done to merit any kind of punishment. Well, it is clear who Jesus is. The Bible makes that very clear. In fact, the Bible's focus and our focus this morning is on what the trial of Jesus shows about who he is. But in so doing, when it shows who Jesus is, it also shows that he was the one who was actually judging Pilate. So this revelation of Jesus Christ, of the person of Christ, ends up putting Pilate and all of us on trial. So Pilate is on trial on that Friday. I would submit to you that we are on trial on this Sunday. So we are in the courtroom. Pilate is standing before Jesus, not the other way around. And we today sit and stand before Jesus as he conducts a trial of our hearts. Who is this man? Who is this Jesus? The scripture is very clearly portray him in this trial in five different ways. First of all, we find that he is a prophet versus 28 to 32. We're in John chapter 18 verse 28 where we find Jesus as a prophet. Verse 28 says, then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. Now, Paul's right there. John's left out a lot of information. The other gospels fill in some of the details. John is more concerned about the legal trial, the Roman trial. So he skipped over most of the Jewish trial, the religious trial. He tells us that Jesus was brought before Anas, the former high priest, but then he kind of jumps right to the legal trial. What John left out was that Anas had sent him to Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the raining high priest. Caiaphas interrogates him, charges him with blasphemy, tears his robes as a sign of horror and shock that Jesus would claim to be God and greater than the temple and then calls together quickly to send headroom to have some kind of legal formality about this trial. So that's the end of the religious trial before the religious leaders and then Caiaphas sends him to pilot. And that's where John picks up the story. Middle of verse 28, by now it was early morning, probably somewhere between six and seven o'clock in the morning. And to avoid ceremonial uncleanness, the Jews did not enter the palace. They wanted to be able to eat Passover. Now the actual Passover meals already happened on Thursday evening. But the whole festival of Passover and unleavened bread, which lasted for more than a week, was sometimes called the Passover. And so in order for the Jews to be a part of Passover and continue the festivities on this Friday and then tomorrow on the Sabbath and then through the rest of the feast of unleavened bread, in order to do that, they cannot contaminate themselves. And to walk into the house of a Gentile would render them ceremonially, religiously unclean. And they did not do that. Of course, the whole reason they're there is to falsely accuse a man and put him to death. But they don't want to be unclean. What hypocrisy on the part of the religious leaders? Verse 29, pilot frustrated with these Jews whom he hates, knows about their little custom. They will not come inside. So he's got to go out to them. So verse 29, so pilot came out to them and asked, what charges are you bringing against this man? Why are you getting me up so early? What are the charges? You got legal charges against him? Tell me what they are. Let's get this thing done. That's the tone here. Well, actually the Jews don't have any legal charges. All they've got is the charge of blasphemy. That's the only charge that came out of the Jewish trial. And so they know that's not going to stand up in a Roman court. So they try to bluff their way through. And in verse 30, they say, if you were not a criminal, they replied, we would not have handed him over to you. So they think that'll satisfy pilot. We know you hate us. We know you don't really want us here. We know he's a criminal. Just give us the execution sentence and we're done. Well, pilots not going to play that little game. So in verse 31, pilots said, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. In other words, you don't have a Roman charge. You don't get a Roman trial. Get out of here. Basically, what are you saying? Take him and do him your, what you want to do with him. Crime yourself. Well, you see, that's not really what the Jews want. They want him executed. And while Romans sometimes tolerated Jewish fanatical stoning people to death like they would have Stephen in the book of Acts, they're not, Jews are not legally able to really execute anyone. And this is where their heart really shows as to why they're there. Middle of verse 31, but we have no right to execute anyone. The Jews objected. Ah, that reveals their real reason for being there. They don't really want to try out. I mean, they want to Jesus out of there as quickly as possible. They want him dead and they want him executed. Now their hearts are open. Now it's really known why they're there. But the next verse tells us that it is not pilot who is in control of these proceedings. It is not Caiaphas, nor the Sanhedrin, nor the Jewish priests, or Jewish religious leaders that are in charge of this. Notice what verse 32 says. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. Jesus has already prophesied the exact details of his death, including the mode of execution. Exactly how it would be done. I mean, this is incredible when you think about it. Pilots not in control here. Caiaphas is not in control. The religious leaders are not in control. Everything is happening under Christ's control. This whole trial, the whole idea to take him to pilot so that a Roman death can be carried out rather than a Jewish execution. The whole idea is not the Jews idea. I mean, they had the idea. But all this is playing out just as Jesus had said it would. You say, where did Jesus prophesy his death like this? Oh, lots of times. Look at these verses. John 3.14. John 3.14, Jesus says, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Jesus said, you know, just like Moses lifted up a snake on a pole that the Son of Man Christ has to be lifted up on a pole. And then he specifically said to his disciples in Matthew chapter 20, notice this blow by blow account weeks before the entrance into Jerusalem. Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem on the way. He took the 12 aside and said to them, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priest and the teachers of the law. That's what's happened here. They will condemn him to death that has just happened and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged that is happening right now and crucified Jesus. This is weeks before they get to Jerusalem. Jesus says, on the third day, he will be raised to life. This is a blow by blow step by step account of exactly how it will happen. Jesus has foretold the details of everything that will happen in Jerusalem two days before he dies or two days before the Passover on Tuesday of the last week of his life. He says this in Matthew 26 to his disciples. As you know, the Passover is two days away and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified. Jesus had at least on these three occasions prophesied that he would be crucified and so he can't be stoned to death. He must be crucified. Now, I believe Caiaphas wants that. I believe Caiaphas wants him on a Roman cross because he could stone him to death. He could get rid of him some other way, but he wants him to die in torture. He hates him that much. And he also wants a public display and lesson to the Jews, which crucifixion was. Crucifixion was usually on a main road outside the city where people were coming and going and everybody would see the might of room. And so crucifixion would be a public display, but even more than that, it would be a sign that in Caiaphas's mind, Jesus is not your Messiah. He is cursed of God. Jeff, sorry, I skipped a hit of this verse. Let's go back to the Deuteronomy 21 verse where Caiaphas no doubt was thinking. If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it the same day. Why? Why do you not leave someone hanging on a pole? Because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. In every Jewish mind, in the mosaic law, it said, if you are hung up on a pole as a form of death and execution, you are considered cursed of God. And Caiaphas wants that message to be given to the Jewish people. This is not your Messiah. This man is cursed of God. And yet, Caiaphas is not calling the shots and Pilate will not call the shots. Jesus will die just as he has prophesied. He would die on a Roman cross. After all of the events of the trial, the beating, the scourging, everything he's already said, that's going to happen. Jesus is a prophet and he's prophesied exactly how he will die. Again, as we saw in the arrest, as we saw in the trial before Annas, Jesus is the one in control. It's not Pilate. It's not the Jewish leaders. It is Jesus who is in control. And it reminds me and it blesses me and encourages me to know that he is always in control, even when events seem to be out of control because that means I can trust him with my life. You can trust him with your life. He is always in control, even when it looks out of control, even when it seems like the events are crazy, even though it seems like at times God's absent, God may not know or care what's happening to you. Jesus is always in control. God is always in control. He has prophesied this would happen. He is not at the mercy of Pilate. He is working to fulfill his own purpose and fulfill his own prophecies. So Jesus, regal, majestic, the God of Splendor stands before Pilate as a prophet, but he also stands before Pilate as a king. He is a king, verse 33. Pilate that we went back into the palace, inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, are you the king of the Jews? It would have been very easy. Let's stop right there for a moment. It would have been very easy for Pilate just to go ahead and give the execution sentence and be done with this and go back to bed. You know, this is crazy. Why I go through all of this? It would have been very easy for him to just let them kill him and let it be done. He hates the Jews anyway. He doesn't like their little legal wranglings, but something has happened and it's got Pilate spooked. Matthew's gospel tells us in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 19, while 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. Now we know from Roman historical records that Pilate was a very superstitious man to begin with and this wife sends him a note while he's on his judicial seat, ready to carry out Roman justice. Don't have anything to do. That man is innocent and I've had a dream about him. You can imagine how that must have peaked his interests, concerned him, intrigued him. And so for that reason, he goes back inside the palace and calls Jesus over and says, are you the king of the Jews? Somewhere he's heard this and he wants to know, are you the king of the Jews? Look at Jesus' response, verse 34, is that your own idea Jesus asked or did others talk to you about me? Now Pilate is wondering, are you the king of the Jews in the actual original text, the word you is the first word in the sentence. It's always moved up in the sentence for emphasis in the Greek language. That's the way they did. A verb or a direct object or something would be moved to the beginning of the sentence out of order to emphasize it. So we know what Pilate's thinking here. He's looking at Jesus and he's saying, you, you are the king of the Jews. I mean, Jesus is in the dress of a commoner. He's already been beaten by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. So he's already bloodied and swollen in his face, bruised. You, you are the king of the Jews and Jesus answers with a very intriguing question. Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me? Now at first glance it doesn't seem to make sense. You would ask that question, why did he ask that? Actually, Jesus is calling Pilate to a point of order, legally, just like he did Annas. He's saying, you are here to deal with the charge. What is the charge? Because see, if Pilate is saying, are you the king of the Jews from his own idea, then Jesus is being charged with being a rebel against Rome, with trying to usurp Roman authority, with trying to overthrow Roman authority and become a king. But if somebody else has mentioned this to Pilate, who else would mention it to Pilate? The Jewish religious leaders. If they've mentioned that the Pilate, then it's a totally different charge. It's a religious charge. It's a charge of being the Jewish Messiah. And Jesus basically is saying, what is the charge, Pilate? Is it Roman insurrection or is it Jewish Messiah? Which charge is it? And Pilate blusters out this answer in verse 35. Am I a Jew, Pilate replied, it was your people and your chief priest who handed you over to me, why is it you've done? I can just hear the exasperation, the hatred for the Jews dripping off his tongue. How do you expect me to know who you are? Yes, it's a religious charge you've been brought to me on. It was your own chief priest, your own religious group that brought you here. Now tell me what you've done. And Jesus answer is penetrating and prophetic. Look at verse 37, verse 36. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. Stop right there for a moment. Don't misunderstand that. Jesus is not saying it's not an earthly kingdom. It is. He came to offer a literal earthly kingdom to the Jews. It was rejected. He will come a second time and will set up that literal kingdom on earth for a thousand years. He's not saying this is some kind of mystical spiritual kingdom has nothing to do with earth. What he's saying is my kingdom is not of, does not originate from, does not come from and does not have the philosophy of this world's kingdoms. This kingdom, my kingdom is not like your kingdom, Pilate. It is not like the Roman kingdom. It is not of this world. It is not a worldly kind of kingdom. And he goes on to say, if it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place. My kingdom does not originate like Rome's does by sending out big armies and destroying your opponents. I got plenty of people. I could do that. Remember the 72,000 angels just waiting to free Jesus. He had told Peter in the garden. I got plenty of power. But that's not my kind of kingdom. My kingdom is not the Roman kind of kingdom. It's not of this world. It's not the king, not kind of kingdom that is forced down people's throats by military might. What kind of kingdom do you have then? Pilate basically says in verse 37, you are a king then, said pilot. 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. What kind of kingdom are you? What kind of kingdom do you have, Jesus? My kingdom is not a worldly kind of kingdom. It's not enforced by military power. It comes from a different place. It comes from heaven. And it is a kingdom based on truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father, but by me. Jesus came offering the truth. A kingdom built on the truth. And pilot responds in verse 38, what is truth? Pilot asked. I don't think pilot was saying that in a joking way. Some people have understood this to mean pilot this kind of thing. What is truth? Who cares about truth? I want power. I don't think pilot was saying it that way. If I had my guess, I would say that pilot is confused and in despair. Pilot is admitting the emptiness of his own heart. I have sought for truth. Pilot is saying in power, in position, in wealth, in sexual freedom. I've tried it all. I've got it all. And I'm empty. I don't have truth. I don't even know what it is. It's the same way you may feel this morning. If you come here to this church this morning and you've been seeking all week to find real truth, real meaning, real purpose in life, the real truth of what it means to live in the things of this world, whether it be education or wealth or power or a name or a position, and you've been striving hard. And listen, even those of us who claim Christ the Savior sometimes look for that in this world. And we're seeking everything we can to try to find meaning in the stuff of this world and the activities of this world and the things this world has to offer. And Jesus says, I'm offering you truth, genuine truth, purpose in life comes through a relationship with Christ and through following him. There's some of us in this room who know Jesus as Savior, but we're following the world. And we're seeking for all that the world has to offer and all that can give our families and our kids to climb the ladder to be the best to succeed, to have all this world offers. And Jesus says, I'm offering you truth. I'm offering you meaning and purpose through me, through my kingdom, through a relationship with me, through a passion for Christ. And that's the only place you'll ever find it, my friend. You'll not find it in this world. Jesus did not come to give us all of our creature comforts. Jesus is not like a candy machine, stick in a dollar, punch the right buttons. The candy doesn't come out, kick the machine, I want my candy. That's not why Jesus came. He came to offer you truth and a kingdom built on spiritual principles, not a kingdom like this world, not a kingdom that like Hollywood presents, not a kingdom like this world shows. It is a kingdom built on truth. In my friend, you can search all of your life for meaning and purpose and truth in everything else in this life. And you will come up just like Pilate just as empty as he was. Pilate is on trial. His heart is being revealed. Jesus is showing him how empty his heart really is with these penetrating questions and statements about the nature of his kingdom. It's a pilot that didn't know what to do with this. So look at the middle of verse 38. With this, he went out again to the Jews and said, I find no basis for a charge against him. In other words, I'm going to let him go. I think Pilate wants to get rid of him for more than just a legal reason. Jesus has penetrating his heart. Jesus has put him on trial. And Pilate wants to get rid of him. Now again, John doesn't give us all the details. Luke gives us some of the details here. Fills in some of the blank spots that John doesn't have. Luke says that when Jesus or when Pilate went out and said, I'm going to release him. The Jews said, wait a second. Wait a second. He stirs up stuff. And he has stirred up trouble ever since he started in Galilee. And when Pilate heard Galilee, maybe that's the way I can get rid of him. That's Herod's territory. That's where Herod is king. And Herod's in town speaks to Passover. Austin, they move over to Herod. That's the way I can get rid of him. I won't have to deal with this. And so Luke tells us he did send him to Herod. Herod's in town. Herod gets Jesus there. And basically, Herod just wants to see a magic show. Herod says, you know, I've heard about you. Do a miracle. Come on. I want to see what you can do. And Jesus never says a word. He will not even dignify Herod's stupid question and demand with a response. And so Herod has him beaten and sent back to Pilate. So he shows back up at Pilate's court. And that's where John picks up the record in verse 39 where Jesus now is seen as a substitute. He is a prophet. He is a king. But now notice, he is a substitute, verse 39. But it is your custom for me to release for you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? They shouted back, no, not him. Give us Brabus. Now Brabus had taken part in a rebellion. It was a custom of the Jews, by the way, that the Romans kind of went along with, keep the peace, to release one prisoner at every Passover feast. And if you think a little bit, you can understand that. What's Passover celebrating? It's celebrating the Jews release from bondage in Egypt and that God brought them out of Egypt and brought them to their own land. So to kind of symbolize that as a symbolic gesture, the Jews requested that one prisoner be set free. And that kind of shows what Passover is all about. And so the Romans said, okay, you want a prisoner? We'll give you one. And so pilot kind of figures, okay, maybe this is my way out. So I'll offer them a choice. I'll offer them choice between Brabus and Jesus. Surely they'll let Jesus go. I mean, Brabus, after all, is a known criminal. You put all the gospel records together and there's several things set of him. He's a thief. He's an insurrectionist. You let a rebellion against Rome, and he's also a murderer. I mean, this guy is deserving of death and everybody knows it. And so surely they'll say, okay, yeah, given that choice, let Jesus go. He's had enough. But not so. They want Brabus freed and Jesus executed. Now, I love the way Matthew tells the story. And if you'll indulge me for a moment, I want to put Matthew's account here into Johns because it shows how grippingly this idea of a substitute really is. Brabus was being held in the same palace on a lower level, not too far away from where the events are taking place where Jesus is being tried, but on a lower level. So he can probably hear the shouts of the crowd, but he's too far away to hear the voice of one person. Matthew tells us that it is this dialogue that happened between pilot and the crowd. Pilot actually offers him a choice. Who do you want released? Brabus or Jesus? And the crowd cries out Brabus. And Pilot says, well, what am I supposed to do with Jesus then? Crucify him on what charges pilot says. What has he done? And the crowd, Matthew says, cries out even louder. Crucify him. And Pilot says, I wash my hands of this. His blood will not be on my hands. And the crowd cries out loudly again. Let his blood be on us and our children. Now put yourself in Brabus's sandals for a moment in chains on a lower level. He can hear the shouts of the crowd, but all he hears is the crowd side of that dialogue. So what he hears is this. Brabus crucify him. Crucify him. Let his blood be on us and our children. That's all he heard. So as he's dragged up and changed up to this porch level where the trial is taking place, you know what's in his mind. He's going to his death. And he comes out into that blinding sunlight and it's this orienting and he's trying to get his bearings and he just knows they're going to take him off to death. He's going to die. Maybe right there on the spot or they're going to take him and crucify him. And all of a sudden somebody loosens his chains and he looks around trying to figure out what's going on and there's another man standing over there. He looks awful. He's bloody. He's bruised. He's beaten. And he hears what Pilot's saying now and he hears what the crowd's saying and he realizes that Jesus is the one that's going to be crucified and he's going to be set free. Literally Jesus is going to become a substitute for Brabus. Jesus is going to take Brabus's place. He can't believe it. He's going free. And Jesus is going to die. There's a divine irony here. The name literally means son of a father. Bar Hebrew word for son. Abba Hebrew word for father. Son of a father. And now the son of the father is going to die for son of a father. Jesus is going to take Brabus's place. But as I look at that as I see that scene in my mind, Brabus fully expecting to be dragged away to be crucified and all of a sudden the chains are gone and he's being set free and he looks over and it's this bloody bruised man that's going to take his place. When I look at that scene, I see myself in Brabus's sandals. I see myself standing before Pilot. I see myself condemned because I deserve that. You deserve that. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. We all deserve to die. But then I see Jesus taking my place and he takes your place and he offers himself to die instead of me so that my chains can be lost. And I can go free. Let the Bible declare it for us. God's holy word declares it so powerfully. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21 says God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. That in him we might become the righteousness of God. First Peter chapter 3 or 2 in verse 24 says he himself speaking of Christ. He himself bore our sins in his own body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live. Live for righteousness by his wounds. You've been healed. Peter says in verse 3 18 for Christ also suffered once for sins. The righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. Jesus the righteous one dying for the unrighteous me. You dying for us. Jesus is our substitute just like he took. Brabis's place. He took my place. He took your place. He is our substitute. Dying for us. Could there be a more majestic picture than Jesus offering himself as a substitute for our sins? Could there be anything more divine, more grand, more majestic than this? Jesus is our substitute. But the story is not over. Jesus is not only a prophet, a king, a substitute. He is also a sufferer as he makes his way to the cross. The story continues in chapter 19. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. Now think about it. All of Pilate's attempts to escape responsibility for Jesus' execution. All Pilate's attempts to let Jesus go have failed. He's tried to persuade the crowd. There's nothing to charge him for. There's no offense legally why Jesus should be put to death. That failed. He tried to shut him off the hair to let hair deal with that failed. He tried to offer him to be released for their Passover custom. That failed. So now Pilate comes up with another idea. Well maybe I can have him flogged and Luke again tells us so that he could let him go. Luke says it's clear that Pilate thought of this as another escape mechanism for him so that he wouldn't have to deal with Jesus. And he could flog him and the Jews would say, okay, that's enough punishment. Let him go. And Pilate could get rid of him. So he offers to flog him. That will satisfy the crowd. No doubt. The scourging or the flogging was short of crucifixion, maybe the most cruel barbaric, torturous punishment ever conceived by the human mind. Now I realize there's a different word used for flogged here and some think this was a more gentle flogging if there can be such a thing. And the full final gruesome flogging is in verse 16 when he hands him over to be crucified. But regardless, whichever time it was, Jesus was flogged. To be flogged was absolutely torturous. It was done by a particular Roman soldier who was known as an agent of torture. A lictor was his title. And he was in charge of torture. And so he would take a whip, a whip that had nine leather strands on it. And mixed in with those strands and on the end of those strands would be pieces of metal that were bent to form a hook and pieces of bone. And the lictor would literally lash the back of the victim with that floggellum it was called. But those pieces of bone and pieces of metal would wrap around the torso, the side, the ribcage, the back of the person being whipped and would literally rip open the flesh. And this would happen over and over and over and over and over again. Many people died on that post undergoing this scourging. Some went into shock and completely lost their mind because it was so gruesome. Jesus did not stumble on the way to the cross because he was a weak man. He was a strong man even to make it through this, even to live through this. This was so gruesome that quite often the ribs would be pulled open. The internal organs and the intestines would be freely seen because the flesh would just be ripped away. It was absolutely gruesome. And the soldiers got carried away, verse two. The soldiers twisted together, crowned of thorns and put it on his head. Oh, always a king, they say, let's make him a crown. And so they twist thorns together. These are not the little fissiles on your rose bushes. The thorn, the word that's used here is of an inch and a half to two inch long thorn that does not break easily. It's sturdy. And when mashed down into the head, it would create profuse bleeding that would cover the face and roll down the neck. But they weren't satisfied with that. They clothed them in a purple robe. Robe, a purple sign of royalty. Probably one of their military robes, the Roman robe for red. This one had probably gotten faded in sunlight. Looks purple. Let's put a purple robe on it. Let's make him a real king. Well, crown him. We'll put a robe on him. And then they went up to in verse three again and again, saying, hey, all king of the Jews and they struck him in the face. The other gospels tell us that they played a game with him. They would, somebody would hit him in the face. And then they would say, you're king, you're a prophet, prophesy. Who hit you? Tell us the name. This was gruesome torture friends. Grusum torture. Jesus was suffering terrible cruelty. So much so that the prophets indicate what it was like. Look at what Psalm says. In this messianic Psalm, the Psalm of the crucifixion, Psalm 22 or 17 says, all my bones are on display. People stare and gloat over me. The result of this scourging would be literally bones showing the ribcage, showing ripped flesh ripped off of them. The prophet Isaiah would say, in Isaiah 52, just as there were many who were appalled at him. His appearance was so disfigured. Please get this. His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form, marred beyond human likeness. You have never seen a picture of what Jesus looked like on the cross. Not even the movie, the passion could do it justice. I'm not sure anybody could and have it publicly displayed. Jesus was so torn, beaten, bloodied, bruised and swollen. He did not even look human. His form, the shape of his midsection of his face was so disfigured. He didn't even look human. Why? All of this suffering is just a prelude to the cross. It was for you and it was for me. Jesus prophesied it would happen. He knew what he was facing and it was all for us. He went through all of this terrible mockery and cruel torture. All of this for you and for me. He hasn't even gotten to the cross yet. No wonder, no wonder, he will stumble trying to carry that heavy wooden beam to the cross. Most men would have died before now. But Jesus will not die until he lays down his life at the cross for you and for me. He is a sufferer. But there is one last majestic picture of Jesus at his trial. Not only is he a prophet and a king, a substitute and a sufferer. He and he alone is the judge. He is the judge in this trial. Look at verse 7, verse 6. Go back up. Verse 4. Once more pilot came out and said to the Jews, look, I'm bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him. Again, he's trying to let him go. He doesn't want to deal with Jesus. He doesn't want the execution on his hands. Verse 5, when Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns in the purple robe, pilot said to them, here is the man. Literally, look, look at this poor creature. Look at this man. Isn't this enough for you? Look at him. Verse 6, as soon as the chief priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, crucify, crucify, but pilot answered, you take him and crucify him. And he knows they can't do that, but he is so fed up with these Jews. He hates them. And he doesn't want this on his hands. And so an exasperation is that you take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him. Third time, he said that, this man is innocent. There is no legal charge that would stand in this court against this man. Now the Jews realize they're about ready to lose it again. They're about ready to lose Jesus. He's going to be let go. Pilot has had it. He's done. And so the Jews up the ante. And they bring a fresh charge not against Jesus now as much as against pilot. Notice what happens. Verse 7, the Jews insisted we have a law. And according to that law, he must die because he claimed to be the son of God. Verse 8, when pilot heard this, he was even more afraid. I mean, he's already spooked by the message he got from his wife. He doesn't want to deal with this. But now someone's claiming to be the son of God in pilot's mind, a Roman. Which God? This guy coming from anyway. So verse 9, he went back inside the palace. Where do you come from? He asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. Do you refuse to speak to me, pilot, said, don't you realize I have power either to free you or crucify you? Who's in control here? Pilot, right? Pilot's got the power. Pilot can say the word. And it happens. No, he's not really the judge. Verse 11, Jesus answered, you would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you, speaking of Caiaphas, is guilty of a greater sin. Pilot, I know you think you have power. I know you think you've got the power to say the word. I mean, the free or I'm crucified. You are not the one in control here, pilot. You only have the power that is given to you by God. There's only one judge in this courtroom, and that's Jesus. There's only one free man in this courtroom, and that's Jesus. Pilot has tried every way he can to get done what he wants, and that is to get Jesus out of his sight and get this execution off his hands, and he has failed. He's not able to accomplish his purpose, but Jesus is solemnly, painfully, and yet purposefully marching toward the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose and fulfilling God's eternal plan for him to die on the cross. It is Jesus who is in control. It is Jesus who is the judge in this courtroom, and pilot is on trial. Pilots had enough. Verse 12, from then on, pilot tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, if you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar, now that puts things in a whole different light for pilot, because he's already in trouble with Rome. He'll be called back before long to stand for his actions in Judea. So he didn't like this, he didn't want to hear this. So verse 13, when pilot heard this, he brought Jesus out, sat down on the judges seated, a place known as the Stone pavement, which in Aramaica's Gabatha. It was the preparation of Passover week about the six-hour, somewhere around six o'clock in the morning. Here is your king, pilot said to the Jews, but they shouted, take him away, take him away, crucify him. Shall I crucify your king, pilot asked? We have no king, but Caesar, the chief priest answered. Really? These Jews who hated everything Rome stood for are willing to go this far to say that Caesar who claims to be worshipped as God is their king. Really? This is really the blasphemy. This is really worthy of divine punishment, and it is total hypocrisy, and pilot is done with this group of Jews. So verse 16, finally, pilot handed him over to them to be crucified. He gives up and he hands him over. Go ahead, crucify him. I don't care. The trial is over. The trial is over. According to Matthew 27, pilot has washed his hands. The trial is cheering. The disciples are nowhere in sight, and Jesus stands alone. But I assure you he is not an object to be pitied. Don't miss this. He is not an object to be pitied, even though he is bloodied and bruised and battered and swollen and disfigured. He is not to be pitied because Jesus stands tall as he fulfills God's purpose. From eternity past, the plan of God for Jesus to become our substitute, our Lamb of God, our sacrifice, he is marching resolutely toward that in control of these proceedings and going to the cross. Jesus is in control and he stands tall as the prophet, the king, the substitute, the sufferer, and the judge. What about us? We are still on trial. We are still on trial. You see on that Friday, many, many years ago, it was pilot who was really on trial and Christ bared his heart, tore open pilots' heart and revealed it for what it was, and spoke truth to him. Today, he stands before us, and we are the ones on trial. Jesus stands before us today as the prophet who knows all things and will fulfill all that he has in mind to do in this world, in this nation, in your life. He stands before you as the prophet. He stands before you as the king who invites you to bow the knee to him and let him be your king. He stands before you as your substitute, the one who died for you, who took your sins on his own body on the cross and who paid the full penalty for your sins. He stands before you today. Your heart is on trial. He is your substitute. What would you do with him? He stands before you as the divine sufferer, the one who gave himself his body to be crucified for you, and for me, he stands before you, offering his wounds. For your cleansing spiritually, for your salvation, he stands before you as the judge, the judge of your heart, the judge of my heart. He sees everything in our hearts, and just like he saw straight into the heart of pilot, he sees straight into your heart. He knows where you are spiritually. You're on trial. He is judging you today. He knows whether or not you've trusted him as Savior. He knows whether or not you're playing religious games. He knows whether or not you're trusting in your own goodness to get to heaven. He knows you, even as a believer. He knows your heart and whether or not you've turned your back on him and you're chasing the things of this world when he went to the cross for you. He knows your heart, you and I are on trial today. What will the verdict be? What will be said about us? Today he wants you to come. He opens his arms. He wants you to come to him to be saved, to be redeemed, to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be set free. He's calling for you today. Where you come? It's pretty together.