He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels Lenten Sermon Series: The Final Week Mark 15:25-32 Rev. Michael D. Halley March 20, 2016 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Sixth Sunday in Lent/Palm Sunday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jesus final week is coming to a tragic close. They came for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and arrested him. But the religious authorities did not have the power to condemn Jesus to death, only the Romans could do that. So, they had to have a charge against Jesus that would be in violation of the Roman law. Pilate, the Roman governor, would not have intervened if it were purely a religious dispute. So, the Sanhedrin 1, the Jewish ruling council, took Jesus to Pilate and said, We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah 2, a king (Luke 23:2). So, Pilate s question to Jesus was this: Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus response was this: You have said so. Or, in other words, If you say so, then, yes, I am king of the Jews. And he said nothing else. He didn t have to say anything more. The hatred of the Jews was an iron curtain which no words could penetrate. The cowardice of Pilate in face of the mob was a barrier no words could pierce. 3 There was a glimmer of hope, though. It was a custom that the 1
Page -2- Roman governor could release a prisoner of the people s choosing. So, Pilate resorted to this custom. However, he had two prisoners, Jesus and a criminal named Barabbas 4. And when presented with the choice, the crowd chose Barabbas to be released. Most of us have wondered how this could be. Just one week before his trial before Pilate, Jesus was riding into Jerusalem and being hailed as a king. The people loved him. What happened in just one week? How was it that the entire mood of the crowd changed so dramatically? The answer must be that this was a different crowd. This surely was a crowd of supporters of Barabbas, and their voices overwhelmingly called for his release, not Jesus. Pilate then had Jesus whipped and turned him over to the soldiers to carry out his execution. Mark tells us the soldiers played a little game with Jesus, putting a purple robe on him and fashioning a king s crown out of a thorn bush. They hit him and spat upon him. They bowed down before him, mocking the charge that he was a king. Utter humiliation. Then they led Jesus away. It was customary that the accused carry his own cross, but after the torture Jesus needed help to do so. So they forced a man to help Jesus, a man named Simon, from Cyrene (sigh-reenee), a city in northern Africa. It was probably the last kind act done to Jesus. Listen to this description: The routine of crucifixion did not alter. When the cross was prepared, the criminal had himself to carry it to the place of execution. He was placed in the middle of a hollow square of four
Page -3- soldiers. In front marched a soldier carrying a board stating the crime of which the prisoner was guilty. The board was afterwards affixed to the cross. They took not the shortest but the longest way to the place of execution. They followed every possible street and lane so that as many as possible should see and take warning. When they reached the place of crucifixion, the cross was laid flat on the ground. The prisoner was stretched upon it and his hands nailed to it. The feet were not nailed but only loosely bound. Between the prisoner s legs projected a ledge of wood called the saddle, to take his weight when the cross was raised upright--otherwise the nails would have torn through the flesh of the hands. The cross was then lifted upright and set in its socket--and the criminal was left to die. The cross was not tall.... Sometimes prisoners hung for as long as a week, slowly dying of hunger and of thirst... 5 Many of you no doubt saw some years back the incredible movie, The Passion of the Christ 6. It was brutal to watch. I cried out in my heart for the beatings to end. The suffering endured by our Saviour, no doubt accurately depicted in that film, is beyond belief. Yes, we know who actually carried out this awful deed. We don t know their names in every case, but we know who they are. But there is more to it than just those who were there that day. It is you and I who are also responsible. Every week during Lent we have prayed a prayer of confession, admitting our own role in the crucifixion of Jesus 7. As someone once put it, He came to pay a debt he didn t owe because we owed a debt we couldn t pay. Thanks God, for our wonderful Saviour! Rarely has a hymn-writer been led to faith in Christ by his own song, but such was the case with Ray Overholt 8. In 1958, at the height of his show-business career, Ray Overholt wrote his now-famous song, Ten
Page -4- Thousand Angels. Here is his story 9 as he related it: One day I thought to myself, I ve written secular songs, I d like to write a song about Christ. I opened the Bible. I knew a little about it from my mom. I began to read how Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane told Peter to put away his sword. Jesus told Peter that he could ask his Father and he would send twelve legions of angels. I didn t know at the time that would have been more than 72,000 angels 10. I thought a good title for a song would be He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels. The more I read about Jesus, the more I admired him for what he had done. I was playing in a nightclub in Battle Creek, Michigan, when the Lord impressed me to write the song. I wrote the first verse and put it in my guitar case. I then told the club that I was quitting. I finished the song and sent it to a publishing house, which reluctantly agreed to publish it. Sometime later I found myself singing at a small church. I sang He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels. Following my singing, a preacher spoke a message that gripped my heart. I knew I needed Christ. So I knelt there and accepted, as my Savior, the One about whom I had been singing and writing. They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where He prayed; They led Him thro the streets in shame. They spat upon the Saviour so pure and free from sin; They said, Crucify Him; He s to blame. Upon His precious head they placed a crown of thorns; They laughed and said, Behold the king.
They struck Him and they cursed Him and mocked His holy name. All alone He suffered ev rything. To the howling mob He yielded; He did not for mercy cry. The Cross of shame He took alone. And when He cried, It s finished, He gave himself to die; Salvation s wondrous plan was done. Chorus: He could have called ten thousand angels To destroy the world and set Him free. He could have called ten thousand angels, But He died alone for you and me. 11 Let us pray together: Holy God, we stand in awe before Jesus, who willingly suffered on our behalf. He died alone for us. May we live for him. We pray this, gratefully, in the name of our Saviour Jesus. Amen Page -5- +==+==+==+==+==+==+ All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome!
Page -6-1. The Sanhedrin was the highest Jewish council in the first century. The council had 71 members and was presided over by the high priest. See Sanhedrin, by Robert J. Dean, Holman Bible Dictionary, http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hbd/view.cgi?n=5477, copyright 1991. 2. Messiah is a Hebrew word which means chosen one. Christ is the Greek word which means the same thing. 3. Dr. William Barclay, Daily Study Bible, Mark 15. 4. Dr. Barclay says, Of Barabbas we know nothing other than what we read in the gospel story. He was not a thief, he was a brigand [a robber who travels with others in a group]. He was no petty pilferer but a bandit, and there must have been a rough audacity about him that appealed to the crowd. 5. From Dr. Barclay s commentary on Mark 15. 6. Directed by Mel Gibson, screenplay by Benedict Fitzgerald and Mel Gibson; starring Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, and Maia Morgenstern. The film was released in February, 2004. 7. The prayer we prayed today is as follows: Reader: Let us confess our sins and our participation in the death of our Lord Jesus: All: Eternal God, in whom we live and move and have our being, whose face is hidden from us by our sins, and whose mercy we forget in the blindness of our hearts: cleanse us from all our offenses, and deliver us from proud thoughts and vain desires, that with reverent and humble hearts we may draw near to you, confessing our faults, confiding in your grace, and finding in you our refuge and strength; through Jesus Christ your Son. 8. Ray Overholt was born in 1924 and died in 2008. You may read his obituary/biography at http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2008/09/christian_singersongw riter_ray.html. 9. Told by Lindsay Terry, at www.tanbible.com/tol_sng/sng_tenthousandangels.htm 10. Matthew 26:53, Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 11. 1959 Lillenas Publishing, reprinted here under license of Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI), #568163.