The lies at his trial: He opposes payment of taxes! He’s like all those other riot-starting Messiah/Kings! The hypocrisy of the Sanhedrin to accuse Jesus of starting a riot and then starting one themselves. Pilate and Herod become friends. All of these opposing political forces working together in the end. This doesn’t smell right.
The lies at his trial: He opposes payment of taxes! He’s like all those other riot-starting Messiah/Kings! The hypocrisy of the Sanhedrin to accuse Jesus of starting a riot and then starting one themselves. Pilate and Herod become friends. All of these opposing political forces working together in the end. This doesn’t smell right.
How many of you are fans of the TV show Survivor? Since 2000, this reality show has brought suspense, drama, and intensity into American households. If you’ve never seen it, no judgment, okay maybe a little 🙂, but the basic idea of the show is to be the sole survivor. The show usually starts off with 16 or more players divided into tribes. They are then taken to a remote location and forced to live off the land with meager supplies for about a month. Each tribe strives to win each challenge especially to earn “immunity” from the Tribal Council. No one wants to go to the Tribal Council because it is there that a tribe is forced to vote out one of their teammates. As a viewer, it’s crazy how a reality show can send you on such a crazy ride of emotions! For 23 years this show has kept its status as the king of reality shows, but why? In part, it’s because of our obsession with tribal culture. Why is peer pressure such a strong influence? Why do we get nervous about sharing our opinions at times? We fear labels or being classified with a certain group. This is “Captain Obvious” type information, but have you noticed the tribalism in America? There is no fence-sitting in our modern world. You are either in one camp or another. You’re either Republican or Democrat. You’re a Christian, or a humanist. You’re a lover, or a hater. You’re pro-Resees’ peanut butter cups, or you’re insane. As much as we talk about how our world is a gray area, we gravitate toward black and whites. We are part of alliances. We’re drawn to taking sides. But when you boil it down, there truly are only two alliances in this world. The question is: What are they?
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Palestine in the 1st century AD, had to choose between the two. Pilate started his day on edge. He usually tried to steer clear of Jerusalem, but he knew during Passover he had to be in town. Passover brought back memories of independence from Egypt and naturally led Jews to dream about being free of foreign rule. Bloody revolts had happened on Passover, and Pilate needed to be ready to squash any rebellion. That particular Friday morning, nothing seemed out of place, no fights being had until he hears shouting and the shouting grows in volume. Talk about a crowd no one wants to see: A screaming group of priests and temple guards, nearly dragging a man with bruises and cuts anyone could see were recent. What Jesus had said to them at their council early that morning, how he had declared himself the “Son of Man,” the “I AM” they hit their breaking point. They start dropping these accusations to Pilate: “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.” (Luke 23:2) All lies. Which alliance would Pilate choose? Would he choose to stand up for what seems to be simply a bloody, broken, weak, lonely Jewish man, or to keep the peace and make nice with the chief priests? He knew the influence of the chief priests among the people, would he people-please, try not to rock the boat, or would he choose to align himself with truth and justice?
Pilate faced peer pressure, and the benefits of giving in to the loudest voices were strong. The urge to people please was right there. As a recovering people-pleaser, I can relate to that. If you struggle with people-pleasing, it won’t surprise you that research has shown that excessive people-pleasing can often lead to fear of rejection and disappointing others, low self-esteem, and difficulty setting healthy boundaries. As Pilate would discover, people-pleasing never really pleases anybody. You will never satisfy that person enough and never feel satisfied in the process. We often in our sin search to get from people what only Jesus can give us. Only he can satisfy our thirst for love, for purpose, and for identity. We so often align ourselves with our sinful nature and its off-based desires. All of us here can talk about moments in life when we knew what God would have us do, and we chose the alliance of sin to avoid conflict, to fit in, or to make someone happy. But people-pleasing isn’t the only factor that leads us to align ourselves apart from God’s alliance of truth. Fear motivates us in our life alliances too.
Look at how fear directs Pilate here. He says in no uncertain terms, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” That right there should’ve ended the discussion! But then Pilate hears this, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” Pilate sees the loophole. Technically, this puts Jesus under Herod Antipas’ jurisdiction and so he passes Jesus off to him. Pilate was looking to save his own skin, get rid of this issue, and avoid any possibility of losing his posh position as the prefect of Judea.
Fear leads us to try to pass off what we know we need to do. We are so often afraid to disrupt equilibrium. We look to save our skins rather than call out our sins. God puts us in moments to stand up for him, and we try to avoid them, even though they grow our faith. We make an avoidance alliance, instead of trusting that God will bring us through. Fear leads us to avoid controversial social issues because we don’t want to be labeled. Fear leads us to hang out with the wrong crowd at school. Fear directs us to see Jesus as weak, out of touch, and ineffective.
It’s here we see the first of the only two real alliances in the world: Satan and his alliance of lies. Satan’s vision for your life is that you look at Jesus like Pilate did: Weak, a nuisance, alone, and outnumbered. In the process, he wants you and me to buy into the illusion that he’s the strong one, he’s worth allegiance, he’s the one who really loves you, an alliance based on nothing but lies. But as always when it comes to Jesus, there is so much more to him than meets the eye.
Jesus is so resolute in all this, just as Isaiah had said centuries before, “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter…so he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7) Such resolve can only come from one who’s in total control. The religious establishment of that time, the chief priests, by rejecting him were affirming that he truly is the Messiah because that’s exactly what the Old Testament said would happen! That’s why Jesus says, “You have said so” because by their rejection they were ironically confirming his Messiah status! Only someone in total control could make something like that happen! It was the same thing when Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews, same answer “You have said so.” Jesus was surrounded by hundreds of men, beaten, and bruised, but he stood resolute because he stood in the alliance of truth. Jesus wasn’t about people-pleasing, but people-saving. If he would’ve been a people-pleaser, we may have good a cushy 70-90 years, but an eternity of pain. He instead of pleasing chose to satisfy all of your deepest needs.
Jesus wants so much more for you than to fit in or to be in the right cultural tribe. He wants you on his side of “forever.” He knows how we struggle with perception and our obsession with image, and he says, “Forget what anyone says about you. The only opinion that matters is mine. I sacrificed myself on the cross because that’s how much I want you on my team, in my family.” Jesus satisfies our thirst to be known and loved. His grace has exactly what we’re looking for.
It is here we see the second alliance in the world: Jesus and the army of truth. His truth overcomes fear! His truth opens your eyes and mine to see Jesus for who he really is. Such vision comes through the miracle of faith. It’s a sight the chief priests, Pilate, and Herod couldn’t see. Think about it, Jesus is ridiculed by the so-called “Scripture experts” of his time, the Roman governor, and King Herod, who wanted to see a Messiah-magic show, but the entire time he stood before them as the all-powerful, universe-creating Son of God. Unknowingly, these enemies were falling right in line with God’s plan to save you and me. Jesus fearlessly took every last bit of beating, mocking, and humiliating so you never would. Think about how fear drove each of these characters: Herod killed John the Baptist out of fear, fear of lost influence drove the chief priests to hatred of their Messiah, and fear drove Pilate to pass the buck on Jesus. Fear ironically made Pilate and Herod friends that day, the most unsteady alliance ever because it was all based on fear. But Jesus…he faced our greatest fears in the face, unfazed. He looked beyond them, and through him, so can you.
On the morning of Good Friday, it seemed like everything was stacked against Jesus, but in reality, he was in total control. You may feel like life is stacked against you right now. You might be afraid of what tomorrow might bring. You might be afraid like Elisha’s servant as we heard about earlier, but your eyes aren’t closed to the truth like Pilate’s were. By faith, you have open eyes of faith. You know the angel armies that surround you. You know the Savior who is for you. You know you are never outnumbered. You long to stand with Jesus. Even though in this world, the alliance of evil will keep up portraying him as weak, ineffective, defeated, outdated, bigoted, and not worth believing, you have open eyes and you know the truth. You stand with the forces of truth that nothing can shake. You stand in the tribe of Christ, one made up of every ethnicity on the planet, a tribe that crosses the aisle, the ocean, and skin color. A tribe that will be together one day rejoicing in Jesus when we see him as he is, in full glory.
Such a thought leads us to never be driven by people-pleasing, but grace-motivated truth-living. We have Jesus at our side. What can people do to us? NOTHING! In the grand scheme of things…NOTHING! Why align with anyone but Jesus? On the surface, it may make us look weak, ineffective, and powerless like our Savior on Good Friday, but just like Jesus, there is so much more to you, dear Christian, than meets the eye. When you face peer pressure, you remember whom you belong to. You remember you’re in the tribe of the Trinity, the Savior squad, the Father’s family.
Yes, as sinner-saints, fear will constantly be calling us to join the alliance of evil, but who you really are has no place for fear. You trust. You stand with Jesus. You take your place next to the Christians who have gone before you. You consider everything else as nothing compared to Jesus. You have the God of angel armies at your side. The alliance of grace is untouchable!
The fray of life stands before you. Two alliances are battling for your heart, but you know the One who will keep you at his side, who will fight for you, and with whom you stand now and forever. Have no fear little flock, for the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom. Much will come into your life to scare you away from Jesus but see again the resolute face of your Savior. He isn’t intimidated. He’s in control. He rules your heart. You’ll be at his side one day. Amen.