Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 24 March 2024 by Major Michael Ramsay. The original version was presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 03 Feb 2013
This is the BC 2024 version, You
can view the original Saskatchewan 2013 version here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2013/02/john-1828-1916-pilates-at-6am.html
I know it is Palm
Sunday today but nonetheless I am going to start our time today with a Christmas
story:
There is this boy. He starts out writing a letter to Santa but
then realises that he will get better results if he writes directly to the
Lord. So he writes: ‘Dear Santa (crossed out). ‘Dear Jesus, I have been good
for six months; please give me what I want for Christmas.’ He thinks a minute.
Crosses it out and writes, ‘Dear Jesus, I have been good for one month; please
give me what I want for Christmas.’ He thinks a minute. Crosses it out and
writes, ‘Dear Jesus, I have been good for a week; please give me what I want
for Christmas.’ He thinks a minute. Crosses it out and writes, ‘Dear Jesus, I
have been good for a whole day; please give me what I want for Christmas.’ He
thinks a minute and as he is thinking, he spies a nativity scene. He walks over
to it. He picks up the statue of Mary and he walks back over to his desk. He
places her in front of him; he picks up his pen again and he writes, ‘Dear
Jesus… if you ever want to see your mother again…give me what I want for
Christmas.’
Today’s pericope
(John 18:28-19:16) is also about violent and awkward situation. Here we have
the Jewish leaders bringing Jesus before Governor Pontius Pilate to receive his
death sentence. We remember the historical setting and the political
situation at this time of Palestine. The Romans are the superpower of the day
and the Romans are occupying Judea. They conquered Israel by force and their
forces are stationed all over the country. Just like in the nations that the US
occupies today, some people are fine with it, conspiring with the occupiers to
achieve and maintain position and privilege and some people are not: they are
looking for an opportunity to revolt. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Priests
and officers conspire with the Romans and they receive the power to exercise
their authority by submitting to Rome. Others however do not. The Sicarii, the
Zealots, they are like today’s suicide bombers. They are terrorists. They walk
through the crowded marketplaces looking for Romans to stab with their short,
concealed Sicarii knives. When our story today is taking place, there are a lot
of crowds for people to walk through. It is Passover in Jerusalem and hundreds
of thousands or even by some accounts millions of visitors are pouring into
Jerusalem.
Governor Pontius
Pilate, who is the leader of the Roman forces in Judea, does not normally
reside in Jerusalem. He is usually posted in Caesarea Maritima but it is the
Passover so many Jews are descending on Jerusalem for the Passover.
It would be like
when the Olympics came to Vancouver. The city was seemingly completely full. In
preparation for the event, they even flew people with criminal warrants back to
the cities from which they came and the city imported police officers from all
over the country to help with policing all of the visitors. Now imagine that
the next Olympics are to be held in Kabul, Afghanistan; Baghdad, Iraq or some
other US-occupied country; Imagine they are held in Palestine or Kiev. Think of
all the extra security forces that would be needed. This is the situation in
Jerusalem. Governor Pontius Pilate who usually resides in a fortress in a
different city comes to oversee the crowd control. He and Rome are afraid of
the potential for a Jewish revolt as all these people are converging on their
ancient capital city.[2]
It is this
situation that the Jewish leaders, the chief priests and officers, decide to
capitalize on (cf. John 11:45-57). They want Jesus dead. Jesus has been making
problems for them. Jesus has been attracting massive crowds. Jesus has been apparently
challenging them at every possible opportunity. In the book of John here it is
no secret that Jesus is the Messiah. The Messiah is the one to deliver his
people. He is to deliver the people from their occupiers. The religious leaders
are afraid that Jesus will start a rebellion that will not only cost them their
privileges under the Romans but will also cost many innocent people their lives
(cf. John 11:49-52). Jesus, in their eyes, is their adversary and this is the
opportunity to get rid of him for good. They decide to bring Jesus to Governor
Pontius Pilate, accuse him of treason and have the Romans kill him.
Now this is
interesting. We know from the scriptures that there are times when mobs of
Judeans had picked up stones to kill Jesus (John 8:32, 10:59) and we know that
one such mob would later kill Stephen (Acts 7:54–60); so, why did the Jewish
leaders need the Romans to kill Jesus for them? We know this was needed to
fulfill prophecy (Deuteronomy 21:23; John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32–33) but there were
other reasons: One is that the Jewish leaders were afraid of the people. They
were afraid of what would happen if they seized Jesus and executed him publicly
so instead they grabbed him at night in the garden, held their trials for him
and then first thing in the morning, as soon as the governor began work – which
was probably before six o’clock in the morning by the way - still under the
cover of darkness, they bring Jesus to the Romans.[3] This way if the Romans kill Jesus, the Jewish leaders can
easily say to the people that it wasn’t them. And we must remember also that
because Judea is an occupied territory, the Jewish authorities don’t really
have the authority to execute anyone [4] Sometimes the Romans would turn a blind eye to their
unauthorized executions in order to maintain order. But during the Passover,
with so many forces stationed in Jerusalem, it probably wouldn’t be worth the
risk and – like we said – with the Jewish leaders bringing Jesus to Pilate to
be condemned, this way the Romans could take the blame for killing this popular
leader so they can be both rid of Jesus and off the hook for his murder. This
is the scene in the pericope before us today.
Now Verses 28-38 show
some very interesting parts of Pilate’s interview of Jesus and his relationship
with the Jews. At first it reads as if Pontius Pilate is annoyed by the Jews.
Here they are arriving at his doorstep, at the beginning of his workday at 6am,
at Passover season, which is the busiest time of the year for him. He
interviews Jesus but doesn’t seem to have any patience with the Jews at all.
After the interview, Verses 38-40: “…With this he went out again to the Jews
gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is
your custom for me to release to 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 Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.”
Here is an
interesting tangent. Does anybody know any Aramaic? Do you know what the
murderous revolutionary’s name Barabbas means? Break it into the two parts:
part 2 is ‘Abba’; what does ‘Abba’ mean? ‘Abba’ means father. ‘Bar’ means ‘Son
of’. Therefore, Barabbas means ‘son of the father’. So ironically, Jesus who is
‘the Son of the Father’ dies in place of Barabbas whose name means ‘son of the
father’. But that is a side note; let us return to our story.
Pilate and the
Jewish leaders are having a bit of a standoff. The Jews want Rome to execute
Jesus and the leader of the Roman forces in Jerusalem is not really interested
in this for two or three reasons. We know from Matthew’s account that Pilate’s
wife has had a vision that would make him not want to kill Jesus (Matthew
27:19) and we know from non-Biblical historical documents that Pilate didn’t
really like the Jews and he ruled with an iron fist.[5] Pilate, I think, knows what the Jewish leaders are up to; he
doesn’t like them and he doesn’t want to be dictated to by a conquered and an
occupied people. He is Roman. Rome is the Superpower of the first Century. They
are the Americans of their day. They are not going to be dictated to by a
subjugated people.
Chapter 19 begins
with Pilate possibly thinking that he can just brush this whole thing aside
still; he has just tried to release a convicted revolutionary in place of an
accused revolutionary but to no avail. Now he resorts to having Jesus beaten.
This beating can take place for one of two reasons. One, they did often beat
people before crucifixion; or two, they would also beat people in place of
crucifixion as a form of brutal humiliation. Given that Pilate ordered this
beating and then humiliated him further by having Jesus dressed in a robe with
a crown of thorns, this was probably an attempt to avoid signing Jesus’ death
warrant and to get rid of these pesky Jewish leaders before they cause some
real problems for Pilate.[6]
Now in the lines
that follow, John 19:12ff., Pontius Pilate is still apparently trying to decide
what to do and Jesus isn’t really helping any by refusing to answer certain
questions. The Jewish leaders and their mob are getting anxious and no doubt impatient
as time goes on. They need this done quickly before anyone might form a rival
mob and come to Jesus’ aid; so they push Pilate’s buttons. They know how to get
to the governor and they do. They say to Governor Pilate, Verse 12,
“... If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to
be a king opposes Caesar.” The implication here is not subtle; it is that if he
does not order Jesus’ execution they will write to his boss, the Emperor in
Rome, saying that Pilate let a revolutionary live who was trying to lead a
revolt against Rome and as the Roman Emperor at this time seemed somewhat paranoid
in general and was not afraid to act militarily at the first perceived threat,
Verse 13, “When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the
judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is
Gabbatha).”
This next part is
the part that I want to focus on. It is where we can ask ourselves what is the
author of John telling us in the text here and what is God doing here in this
story?
We know that the
Romans promoted, among other things, an Emperor cult.[7] The Emperor was worshiped as a god. These Jews have just let
Pilate know that if he does not kill Jesus, they will report him as supporting
a rebellion against his own god-king. Pilate’s response is as masterful as it
is vengeful, as it is tragic for the Jews. Verses 14-18:
It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally
Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but
Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Do you know what Pilate has just done here
to the Jewish leaders? Do you know what the religious leaders have just done?
They have just denied their God. In effect the Jewish leaders said to Pilate
that if you do not give the orders crucify Jesus we will tell your god-king
Caesar that you are disloyal to him; so Pilate responds by saying to these Jews
that if you want me to crucify Jesus, you must first deny your God-King. When
Governor Pilate got the Jewish religious leaders to confess that “We have no
king but Caesar”, that is exactly what they were doing – denying YHWH, the
LORD, God.
This is Passover. Every Passover the Jewish people concluded the great Hallel (Psalms.
113–118) with this prayer: ‘From everlasting to everlasting thou art God;
beside thee we have no king, redeemer, or saviour; no liberator, deliverer,
provider; none who takes pity in every time of distress or trouble. We have no
king but thee.’[8] The Jewish leaders here are not only indirectly disowning God by
rejecting Jesus but they are also openly and actively rejecting God in this
scene by saying that they have no king by Caesar (cf. John 1:11).
The Chief Priests and Officers want this big problem of Jesus removed from
their lives so much that they are willing to disavow God in order to do it. This is what the Jewish leaders have done. What profits a man to
inherit the whole world and yet forfeit his soul (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36)?
This is a tragedy of this story. He came to his own but they did not accept him
(John 1:11). The Jewish leaders rejected God and we know that for many this
rejection continued. God came to them in their time of need but they thought
that they could deliver themselves from their suffering; so, rather than rely
on God, they rejected him and suffered without Him. Did God leave them? No,
they - the Jewish Chief Priests, Officers, et el. - left God and so they did
not have Him.
The question for
us today then is this: When life starts to get out of hand, when –like the
Jewish leaders - there is nothing that we can humanly do; when tragedy strikes
our life, do we turn to God and live or do we turn on God and die. Do we turn
to God and live or do we turn on God -in our own anger, vengeance, self-pity or
arrogance- and suffer the consequences?
I want to bring
one more thing to our attention here. Immediately preceding the Jewish leaders’
denial of Christ in our story is Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus (John 18).
We are all familiar with that. As surely as the Jewish authorities here openly and
publicly disavow God’s lordship, Peter, just prior to this episode denies
Christ for a third time (John 18:27) – but Peter, after the resurrection, in a
couple of chapters will be reinstated and Peter will not deny Christ again, he
will follow him even unto death (John 21:9-19). Peter will confess his sin and
Peter will be saved.
Today is Palm
Sunday. Today is the day we celebrate people welcoming Jesus as King. Today we
have the same opportunity, the same choice. As our life comes crashing down
around us, as trials and tribulations mount, as enemies and adversaries seem to
be raised up from every corner of our world, as our life becomes overwhelming,
it is like we are in the courtyard with Jesus and we can either turn on him by
indulging in and holding onto our anger, our rage, our righteous indignation,
and our own self-pity or we can turn to him and live. So today when life is
difficult, let us take courage and let us turn to him who is able, more than
able to accomplish what concerns us today. Let us turn to him who is able, more
than able to handle anything that comes our way. When life is difficult, let us
turn to him who is able, more than able to do much more than we could ever
dream. Let us turn to him who is able, more than able to make us what He wants
us to be. He is able. Amen.
Let us pray.
.---
[2] Kruse,
Colin G.: John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL :
InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 351
[3] cf.
William Hendricksen, John, New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Mi: Baker
Academic, 2007), 400
[4] Gail
R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander
E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995),820.
[5] Gerard
Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching,
ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 204, Gail
R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander
E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), 815
[6] Colin
G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL :
InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 355
[7]Cf. N.T.
Wright, 'Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans', originally published in A
Royal Priesthood: The Use of the Bible Ethically and Politically, ed. C.
Bartholemew, 2002, Carlisle: Paternoster, 173–193. Reproduced by permission of
the author. Available on-line at
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Paul_Caesar_Romans.htm
[8] Gail
R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander
E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), 823; Colin G. Kruse,
John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press,
2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 359, red 422.
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