Pilate s Questions Don t You Realize I Have Power Over You? John 19: 10-11 Don t you realize I have power over you? asked Pilate of Jesus. I m surprised that Jesus did not laugh in his face. Power over the one who without Him, nothing that was made was made? Power over Him? Hardly! But there Jesus stood, a prisoner in chains, awaiting His cross. Watching, anticipating, expecting the moment when Pilate would cave in before the leaders of the people and send Him to Golgotha. The Place of the Skull. Allowing the temporary power of Pilate, of the Sanhedrin, of Rome, to do their worst. Of course, He could have called down an army of angels to rescue Him. He could have just waved His hand and dispersed a whole legion of Roman soldiers. He could have brought an end to the Roman occupation with just a word. But He did not. Could not. Would not. It was not His destiny to use His absolute power. You know, it s almost laughable the way this final exchange between Pilate and Jesus goes. Pilate is a little nervous through the whole interrogation. After all, there were suggestions that Jesus was some sort of divine presence. Not that Pilate was religious - hardly. But superstitious? Definitely. I have a feeling that Pilate never walked under a ladder, always had his rabbit s foot with him, and never opened an umbrella inside his palace (if there were umbrellas in those days). So here he is, dealing with some sort of maybe, perhaps, might be, could be, god-like someone. If he went too far, maybe this prophet from Nazareth would zap him, set him on fire, give him seven years of bad luck, even if he hadn t broken a mirror. There was another question that Pilate asked Jesus, one I didn t treat in a sermon. But it reveals something about the Roman governor: Where did you come from? Nazareth? Galilee? Some other place in the world? Or from somewhere beyond this world? If that was so, Pilate was in big trouble. He couldn t afford to antagonize the leaders of the Jews they were hounding him as much as they were hounding Jesus. But what if this prophet WAS the Son of God? What then? If Jesus was, He had power over him. Of course, Pilate didn t realize that the power God had instilled in Jesus was the power of forgiveness.
One of the most important parts of the Good Friday narrative is the story of the two thieves who were crucified next to Jesus. One mocks. If you really are the Messiah get down off the cross, and get us down too. But the other admits to his guilt. We belong here for our crimes. But this man is innocent. And looking into Jesus eyes, he realizes he can be forgiven. His cross is not the end result of his life. Which is when he asks Jesus to remember him when He comes into His Kingdom. And Jesus speaks the words only God Himself could speak: Today you will be with me in Paradise. Was this thief ever baptized? Was he a Bar Mitzvah? Did he go to synagogue services? Did he pray? Did he read the Torah? Did he follow the laws of Moses? Was he religious at all? Spiritual at all? We don t know. But it s unlikely. He certainly wasn t the kind of person who would be welcome in polite company. dose. But there he was, looking at Jesus for forgiveness. And Jesus gave it to him. In a rather large Jesus had power over there wind and waves; power over leprosy and demons and paralysis and blindness and deafness and the grave itself. Bu His greatest power was in His ability to dispense forgiveness. To forgive even the most venial sinner. Once that sinner looked in His eyes. Pilate s superstitious attitude made him afraid. If only he had known that he didn t have to be afraid; Jesus could forgive him, too. And us. We don t have to be afraid to confess our failures and failings and rebellions and disobedience and sins to God. His power is not of punishment, but grace. Too often, we do not reach for it. But it s there. But Pilate knew he had other issues to deal with as he dealt with this extraordinary prisoner. The first question he asked Jesus, the one that began the whole examination, was: Are you the King of the Jews? Are you a king? Do you think you can overthrow Caesar and the whole Roman Empire? Is this peaceful attitude just a cover-up for a bloody rebellion that is about to begin? Do you have an army of guerilla warriors waiting in the wings? There were two kinds of provinces in the Roman Empire. Those that were essentially trouble free were under the control of the Roman Senate. No troops were garrisoned in these provinces. Those that were full of trouble were under the direct control of the Emperor, and were governed by a procurator appointed by the emperor and had troops stationed there, Judea was, for many apparent reasons, an imperial province. And Pilate was there to keep the peace, even if by force. No wonder he was a little nervous about this so-called King of their Jews. He had put down other rebellions successfully much to the pleasure of Caesar. But was another being fomented? Would he need to call out troops? Again?
Was Jesus about to seize David s throne? Pilate stood ready. But not ready to embrace the kind of king Jesus was. A king who put His people first. A king whose sole purpose was to protect and provide for his people. A king whose life was given to His subjects. Pilate never heard of a king like that. Someone once wrote that the reason the Roman Empire fell was because the palaces had mirrors and not windows. The emperors could only see themselves and not their subjects. Perhaps if they had seen their subjects and their misery, they might have done nothing anyway. But perhaps they might have. It s a bit like that famous comment from French Queen Marie Antoinette on hearing that the people had no bread, she said: Well, let them eat cake. It wasn t sarcasm that led her to say that it was just that she had lived such a life of privilege that she could not conceive of anyone not having cake if they had no bread. The famous Hall of Mirrors in the Palace at Versailles kept the French royal family from having windows into the lives of their subjects. There are no mirrors in Heaven; only windows, windows through which God looks down upon the suffering of His people. And through those windows He sent King Jesus to give them bread the Bread of Life. To offer them an abundance of all meaningful and purposeful things. To lead a rebellion not against Rome, but against everything that kept His people oppressed. I m not sure just why Pilate put a sign that read: King of the Jews on Jesus cross. Was it sarcasm or to annoy the leaders of the people? It may not have meant anything to anyone on Golgotha that day, but it reminds us we have a king who will die for us. Die to give us a life worth living! Pilate didn t understand. We do. Or we should. If we confess Jesus as our king, what a life He has to offer us. In Jesus, the windows of Heaven were thrown wide open! Of course, there is one more aspect of the power Pilate had over Jesus. As governor of Judea, he was the ultimate judge. Well, yes, prisoners could appeal to Caesar as the final court, but only if they were Roman citizens. Paul, for instance, did that. But Jesus? His final court of appeals was right there in front of Him. Pilate could free Him or send Him to the Cross. It was his choice. But Pilate didn t realize that standing right in front of Him was the absolute judge of all the universe. There is a story about a king who went to visit a prison in his realm. As he approached the prisoners in their cells, he asked each one what crime they were guilty of. The first prisoner declared his innocence he was a victim of the system; a second prisoner too affirmed his innocence he had been framed.
In each cell he passed, there was an innocent victim of some miscarriage of justice. floor. The king reached the final cell. In it, there sat a prisoner in a corner, eyes gazing down at the And you, too, the king said, I suppose you are innocent too. No, your highness, the man replied, I am not. I am guilty as charged and I deserve my punishment. Turning to the warden who had been accompanying him, the king said: Warden, release this man right away. I don t want this criminal corrupting the lives of all of these innocent people. I suppose you could say that Jesus was a hanging judge only He was hanging from a Cross. And hanging from that cross, He pronounced judgement upon us. But He didn t pronounce us Not Guilty. We are guilty as charged. And fully deserving of our punishment. Our Cross. But He took the punishment. Now can you imagine any judge who would take the punishment for a convicted, guilty criminal? The king on that old story did free the man, but he didn t jump in the cell and complete his sentence. Can you imagine Pilate telling Jesus: I ll take your cross for you? And let s be honest how many of us innocent people would offer to accept the punishment someone else deserved? I know there is an old Greek story about a man named Damon who was willing to be executed for his friend Pythias, so deep was their friendship. But there aren t a lot of Damons around these days. But Judge Jesus, who had power over Pilate, Caesar, the Sanhedrin, and anyone else who would dare to judge Him, took the guilt. Wrapped himself in it, and carried it to our cross. All of our crosses. I remember reading a question a youth group member asked of his pastor. He couldn t understand why there is such a big emphasis on confession in the church. Why do we have a prayer of confession in church? Why do I need to confess anything? I m not so bad. No, I suppose he wasn t. None of us are. As far as I know, there are no ax murderers in our congregation. But is anyone of us not guilty? If the judge came here this morning and we had to plead our case before Him, how would He find us? I ll tell you how He d find us not innocent, but free. As He hung from a cross. Pilate didn t know. We do. Don t we? A professor in a small college taught a freshman class in Christianity. Some students took it because they wanted to. Others heard it was easy. But the professor wasn t always able to get the full measure of the faith across to his students. So he enlisted the help of one of his students Steve who was a Christian. He was also an imposing physical specimen. Steve, the professor asked, how many push-ups can you do?
I do 200 a night, Steve replied. Do you think you can do 300, in sets of ten for a class project? I ll try, Steve promised. On the appointed day, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. The professor asked the first girl in the first row: Cynthia, do you want a donut? Sure, was the reply. Steve, the professor said, would you do ten pushups so Cynthia can have a donut? Which he did. As the professor walked around the room, asking the students if they wanted a donut, he had Steve do ten push-ups for each student. But after a while, Steve was slowing down. The professor came to Scott. Scott, do you want a donut? Scott said: Can I do my own pushups? The professor said no. Then I don t want one. Steve, would you do ten push-ups for the donut Scott doesn t want? He did. Other students refused their donuts, but Steve did ten push-ups for each one anyway. A student passing by the room stopped by the door to see what was happening. Students in the class told him to stay out. But Steve told the professor to let him in, and he did ten more push-ups. The last student in the class, Susan, was crying as she watched the effort Steve was putting into the push-ups. Can t I help him? she asked. No, the professor said, as Steve did ten last push-ups 350 in all. And fell to the floor. And the professor said to his class: And so it was that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross said to the Father: Into your hands, I commit my spirit. With the understanding that He had done everything required of Him. He yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten. The professor then concluded: God spared not His Only Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole world, now and forever, even for those who refuse His gift of everlasting life. Whether or not we choose to accept the gift, the price has been paid. Don t leave it lying on the desk. Don t you realize I have power over you? Pilate asked. Hardly. The sad thing is: Pilate had all the power in the universe right in front of him, and he chose to leave it lying on the desk. And you know something? We can t just say: Oh well, I accepted that gift one time in my life. That s enough. do. It isn t. Every day we will hear Jesus say: Don t leave it on the desk. What power we miss if we He did push-ups for us. Don t waste them!
Worship March 18, 2018 Call: Litany Assurance: Litany Children s Message: Thomas couldn t be. Prayer: Great God who gave Jesus the power He would use on our behalf, we thank You that in Him, we do have the forgiveness we seek, that through Him we can find the way to the paradise You prepared for us. Great God who gave Jesus the power He would use on our behalf, we thank You that You sent Him to be the king whose top priority was our needs and pains and struggles, that In Him, we can be lifted up over all that would bring us down. Great God who gave Jesus the power He would use on our behalf, we thank You that in Him, we know that though we are guilty as charged, He took our place, carried our Cross, died in our stead. Great God who gave Jesus the power He would use on our behalf, we thank You that in Him, we have a life worth living, in this world and in the world to come. May we embrace it every day, for only by embracing it every day can we be truly free. Needs, etc. LORD S PRAYER