Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
At Faith Presbyterian Church we are seeking to exalt Jesus Christ the King and to exhibit and extend his Kingdom through worship, community, and mission.
Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Luke 23:1-5; 13-25; The Trial of Jesus
Jason Sterling April 6, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me this morning. Luke 23. Luke, chapter 23. We're going to look at verses 1 through 5, and then we'll skip down and look at verses 13 through 25. It's printed in your bulletin. It'll also be on the screen behind me in just a moment.
Speaker 1:But this year, in 2025, we've been studying through the Gospel of Luke. But this year, in 2025, we've been studying through the Gospel of Luke, and the past couple of weeks, we've slowed down and we have been looking and, in order to prepare our hearts for Easter, we've slowed down and we've been walking with Jesus through the last week of His life, up until the crucifixion. We'll obviously celebrate the resurrection on Easter Sunday, the crucifixion. We'll obviously celebrate the resurrection on Easter Sunday. This morning, we find ourselves in the last hours of Jesus' life. In this passage, he is on trial before Pontius Pilate, who's the governor over the Roman province of Judea, and so follow along with me. This is God's Word starting Luke 23, verse 1. The whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate, and they began to accuse him, saying we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself. Is Christ a king? And Pilate asked him Are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus answered him you have said so. And Pilate said to the chief priest in the crowds I find no guilt in this man, but they were urgent, saying he stirs up the people, teaching throughout Judea, from Galilee even to this place, down to verse 13. Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them you brought me this man as one who was misleading the people and, after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him. But they all cried out together away with this man and release to us Barabbas, a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting crucify him, crucify him A third time. He said to them why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him, but they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demands should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked. But he delivered Jesus over to their wills.
Speaker 1:This is God's word. Let me pray and let's ask for the Spirit's help this morning. Please bow with me. Father, this is the day that you have made, and you have called us to rejoice and be glad in this gloomy, dark, rainy day. And it's no accident that you have brought us here on this day to hear this word. And so would you make us alert, make us attentive, give us soft and receptive hearts, give us ears to hear this passage that you have before us this morning. I pray for nothing less than a divine encounter with the Lord, jesus Christ, through his spirit, for every person that is listening this morning. Only you can do that. That's what we're asking. Would you please do that, in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:There's a scene in CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. You might be familiar with this scene if you're familiar with that series, but there's this little girl, jill, who is very thirsty, and she hears in this scene running water, and so she wants to find the water, running water, and so she wants to find the water. And so she goes looking for this stream and she finally finds the stream. But laying in front of the stream is Aslan, who is the lion, who is the Christ figure in the story, and he doesn't say anything at this point but just simply stares at Jill and as the conversation goes, he says if you're thirsty? The lion says then drink, aren't you thirsty? And Jill says I'm dying of thirst. And the lion looks and says well then drink. And Jill looks and says well, maybe I would if you would just go away for a while. And then it says Lewis, says. The lion answered only with a look and a very low growl. And Jill says well, will you promise not to do anything to me if I come and drink? And Aslan looks and says I make no promises. And then she says well, do you eat little girls? And he responds and says I have swallowed up little girls, and I have swallowed up little boys and men and women and kings and emperors and cities and nations and realms. And Jill looks and says well then, I dare not come. And the lion responds by saying well then you will die of thirst and Jill says oh no, I won't, I will just simply find another stream. And Aslan says there is no other stream. You see? In other words, lucy is staring in the face of the lion and she's looking for another option. She's looking for another stream and Aslan says you drink here or you die. Lucy is trying to figure out who the lion is and who Aslan really is.
Speaker 1:And that's the exact same thing that's going on with Pilate in this scene. It's really going on for everyone the religious leaders, the chief priests, pilate and the crowd. They are trying to figure out what do we do with Jesus? Pilate doesn't want to condemn Jesus, but he doesn't want to crown Jesus either. Jill does the exact same thing with Aslan. Pilate is face-to-face with Jesus and he's looking for another stream. And you know, that's what people often, that's what we often do, that's what people in the world today often do with Jesus. They don't want to crown Jesus, they don't want Jesus to Jesus, they don't want Jesus to have authority in their life, but they also don't want to cast him off either. And so people say I'll just look for another stream. And Jesus says to every one of us this morning and we'll see that here there is no other stream. You drink deeply from my well or you die. You see, the question for us this morning from this passage is what will we do with Jesus? Will we crown Jesus or will we condemn him?
Speaker 1:This passage I want us to look at, and under three headings. Really, I want us to look at three people. I want us to look at the religious leaders, number one. Secondly, pilate. Thirdly, barabbas. So religious leaders, pilate and Barabbas, let's look at those in turn this morning.
Speaker 1:First, the religious leaders and the chief priest. Look at verses 1 through 5 with me. So they bring Jesus before Pilate. Pilate says are you the king of the Jews? Jesus says it is as you say. And if you look at the passage before this, they're accusing Jesus of high treason. He has confessed to being the Messiah and the Sanhedrin knew that Rome would not give the death penalty for just a generic charge of blasphemy. And so they want to make it clear to Pilate that Jesus is claiming to be the king, because if they do that, then he's rebelling against the emperor and you're guilty of treason, you get the death penalty. And so the chief priests want Pilate to see that Jesus is a threat to the empire, the chief priests and the religious leaders. You see, they have been plotting and wanting Jesus dead for some time. Why? Because he is claiming authority and he is challenging their authority and their power, rule and autonomy. To say it another way, their rule, the religious leaders, their rule and throne is being threatened, because if Jesus is king, that means they are not.
Speaker 1:The final four is this weekend. You all know I love college basketball and there's an official that officiates a lot of college basketball games. He didn't officiate the final four, but he does 90 plus games a year and his name is Burt Smith games a year and his name is Bert Smith. Bert Smith is in his late 50s. He's 6'3", 195 pounds. He's an athlete, he's a runner, he's one of the guys that always uses the stairs and never the elevator. He always parks away in a parking spot so he can get his steps in. And you might be familiar with this. Maybe you were watching the game.
Speaker 1:But in 2021, in the NCAA tournament, burt Smith, who appears to be in excellent shape, suddenly falls in the middle of the game like a tree. Just face first and they roll him over. His body is unmoving, his eyes are open, but he is unseeing. This should not be for a man in this kind or what appears to be this physically fit and trained. He went down because of an unknown blood clot in his lung and on the surface he looked active and he looked strong. And just below the surface there was danger lurking. There was something lurking that was unseen.
Speaker 1:And that's what we have going on here with the religious leaders and the chief priest. They show us that, no matter how spiritually strong you might think you are, how much of the Bible that you know, no matter if you stand in this pulpit every single week, that just below the surface there is something in each and every heart that is more dangerous than a blood clot, something deadly that is lurking below the surface, and it's pride, it's the desire in each and every one of us to want to be our own king, and if we ignore that or if we think we're above that, it will topple us, spiritually speaking, like a tree, just like Burt Smith went down. And so this morning, do you see that? Do you see that in your own heart this morning? It is much more subtle than what we see in this passage, but it is a heart that says yeah, yeah, jesus, I know you say that you have something to say about this area of my life, but I'm not ready to give that up right now.
Speaker 1:It's a heart Again. It's so internal. It's this stubbornness inside of us. It doesn't look angry, it doesn't look hostile, but it's a heart that says, yeah, I know I'm supposed to let you be the king of my secrets and freedom. It doesn't look hostile, but it's a heart that says, yeah, I know I'm supposed to let you be the king of my secrets and freedom and sexuality and finances, but I am not going to do that. It is a heart that says I want to be in charge, I want to have my own authority, I want to be the king.
Speaker 1:You see, when the true king comes, he reveals what we really love, and when he threatens what we really love, just like the chief priest and the religious leaders, it causes us to act and do some really ugly things. Friends, following Jesus is painful. It's a lot of joy, but it's disruptive, because Jesus says I will not share my throne with anyone or anything. Share my throne with anyone or anything. Jesus, when you follow him, you have to take the crown off of your own head and you have to put it on the head of Jesus. Will you let Jesus be your king this morning or will you seek to get rid of him like those we see in this passage this morning?
Speaker 1:Secondly, we see Pilate. So we see the religious leaders and the chief priests, but we also hear a lot about Pilate in this, and so look at verses 13 through 16. We're just going to walk through a typical and that's what this is a typical Roman sentencing hearing. He calls notice this. He calls everyone together, the rulers and the people and chief priest. And then, number one, he lays out the facts of the case and lays out the charges. He said you brought me this man. You say he's been misleading the people. Secondly, pilate lays out his findings. Pilate has done a little investigation and what's interesting notice? It says I looked into it, I didn't find him guilty of any of the charges. And neither we didn't read this portion, but neither did Herod. And so think about this, this portion, but neither did Herod. And so think about this. That's two people in charge that have looked into this and say there's nothing here, he's not guilty. And then it says he announces the sentence. Look at verse 16. I will therefore punish. Think about this. I will therefore punish. Think about this. I will therefore punish and release him. Wait, I thought you just said he was innocent, so why are you saying you're going to punish him and then release him? Let me try to explain what's happening here.
Speaker 1:This is Passover. Lots of people in Jerusalem in this moment. This is a very politically charged environment. The Jews are celebrating their biggest national holiday in their capital city that is under Roman control and rule. Okay, let me give you a picture. That would be like the United States being under the control of a foreign power and them saying hey, we really like some of these people and so, in order to be nice and accommodating, they're under our rule, but we're going to let them have their national holiday. They can celebrate in Washington DC, july the 4th. You have the picture. What kind of things do you think Americans would get into with something like that on our Independence Day? In that particular situation, my guess is that it would not take much to get really rowdy and for things to get completely out of hand and for chaos to ensue. That's the picture. That's what Rome is worried about. That is going to happen with Israel, and Rome is trying to accommodate the Jews We'll let you celebrate Passover but at the same time, they are on high alert for chaos and for rioting. Now, with that background, put yourself in this scene and it'll make a lot more sense.
Speaker 1:The religious leaders show up at the Passover with an innocent man, jesus. They want to kill him. Not only do they have the religious leaders, they have a mob of people that are on edge. And so what is Pilate going to do? Pilate's stuck. He's between a rock and a hard place. He's in a really difficult spot, because to kill Jesus would be injustice, but to let Jesus go, whoa, a riot and chaos might break out. And Pilate there's also this tradition where he can release one of the prisoners, a prisoner during Passover, which provided a possible way out of this situation for Pilate, and so it's very calculated. This is a very calculated move by Pilate. He is trying to walk the middle ground, he's trying to split the difference, and so he says hey, he's innocent. I know that Herod knows that, but I can't do nothing. We've got to do something, and so I will flog him, I will punish him in some way, but then I will release him. Everyone will be satisfied. Case closed. Done, let's move on.
Speaker 1:Pilate you see it again doesn't want to condemn Jesus, but he doesn't want to crown Jesus either. Pilate wants to play games with Jesus. Pilate wants to stay on the fence, he wants to stay in the middle. He wants to split the difference and the problem is that's not an option because Jesus in the Bible, he forces you to crown him or condemn him. Luke 11, verse 23,. Whoever is not with me is against me. The one response that's not an option is indifference. The one response that's not an option is splitting the difference.
Speaker 1:And Lewis is famous for saying CS Lewis says Jesus is either of utmost importance or no importance. But one thing Jesus cannot be is of some importance, and we see that. Just read the Gospels all the way through. You see people bowing and worshiping Jesus or wanting to crucify Him, and Pilate actually rubs up against that reality in verse 18. Pilate learns that you can't stay in the middle. Look at verse 18. Away with this man, release to us Barabbas. They don't want to release Jesus, they want to kill Jesus, and so they turn up the heat, they turn up the volume. Look at verse 21 and 23. Notice the language. They were urgent, demanding with loud cries crucify him and their voices prevailed.
Speaker 1:The crowd eventually wins out. Pilate knew this was the wrong thing to do. Pilate knows this is injustice, but he crumbles under the pressure. Pilate is ultimately deciding and decides that Jesus is not worth it. Jesus is not worth the riot, jesus is not worth the hassle, jesus is not worth cashing in political chips. Pilate decides I will stick my neck out for things, but I'm not going to do it for Jesus.
Speaker 1:And my question for all of us, including me this morning how is our heart like Pilate this morning, this morning? How is our heart like pilot this morning? How are we crumbling under the pressure? Where do we find ourselves on the fence with Jesus? Where are we tempted by the noise of the crowd? Where in your life, what situation are you saying it's just going to be a hassle and it's not really worth it for what I will have to go through? Surely I know I feel this, surely you feel this. And, friends, we're going to and I've said these things before we're going to continue, I think, to feel this. More and more Pressure is going to be coming at us and put on those who claim to be Christians, and there will be more and more pressure to cave on truth, to cave to the roar of the crowd and the pressure of the crowd in the world, because it's so loud and there's lots of areas, but at the moment it seems like there is lots of pressure to cave on a biblical view of sexuality, marriage and gender, sexuality, marriage and gender. And my prayer is that God would give us strength and courage, that he would hold us close so that we would bow the knee to King Jesus and not crumble under the pressure of the crowd. And how does that happen? That's hard, and so where do we get the motivation and the strength to stand? Well, that leads to the last point Barabbas.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 19. So they pressure Pilate to release Barabbas instead of Jesus. And verse 19 we get a picture of who Barabbas is. He's not a great guy, he's a terrorist. He's committed murder in the insurrection, but the Jews see Barabbas as a freedom fighter. They're like this guy's going after it. He's a zealot. Release him. But according to the law he's guilty and deserves death. Verse 22,.
Speaker 1:A third time Pilate says what evil has this man done? I have found no guilt in him that deserves death. And notice the crowd never answers the question. Because the crowd knows that Jesus is innocent too, they begin to shout all the more crucify him, friends Jesus, he knows injustice. He knows what it's like to be treated poorly. He knows what it's like to be treated unfairly and to be misunderstood. Verses 24 and 25, pilate satisfies the crowd. He releases for them Barabbas. But notice the emphasis. Luke's already told us who Barabbas is. He says let me remind you again who I just released. Did you notice that? Barabbas the man who was thrown in prison for insurrection and murder.
Speaker 1:If you want to understand what it means to follow Jesus and you want to understand Christianity and what it's like to have a right relationship with God, if you want to understand Christianity and what it's like to have a right relationship with God, if you want to see the gospel, you find it right here in this passage. How so? Barabbas is a criminal and he's guilty and deserves death and he walks away free. And he's guilty and deserves death and he walks away free. Jesus, on the other hand, is innocent and he's condemned and sentenced to death and literally takes what was supposed to be Barabbas' spot on the cross. And you see, lots of times we read passages like this and you heard me again. I've said these things before. But our temptation is to get sad or mad about the way Jesus is being treated. Yes, okay, okay, nothing wrong with that. But that keeps you outside of the story. And when you read the Bible, particularly in the Gospels and the parables, you should always be putting yourself in the story. And we've seen this morning that we are more like the religious leaders in Pilate than we care to admit. But perhaps an even harder truth to admit is the truth that we are all Barabbas that's what the Bible says that we're criminals, spiritually speaking, that we have committed cosmic treason against a holy God.
Speaker 1:There's an old movie in the late 90s, the Green Mile, and there is this scene in the Green Mile that stops you cold. John Coffey is a gentle giant. He has this supernatural gift if you've seen the movie. He's sentenced to die for the crimes that he did not commit. He has the power to heal, but instead he is strapped to an electric chair and everyone watching knows that he's innocent and they know that he does not deserve it, and yet they kill him anyway. It's heart-wrenching, it feels unjust, it feels backwards and scandalous.
Speaker 1:And now imagine that same injustice. Only the man on death row actually chooses it, not because he's guilty, but because you are. You see, that's the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus switches places with us. Jesus totally innocent, but is declared guilty and executed on a Roman cross so that you and I, who are guilty, might be declared innocent and set free. Dale Bruner, a commentator, and I love this. Only in Christianity, only in the gospel, are confessed sinners, declared innocent.
Speaker 1:It's the absurdity of the cross. God doesn't send down an angel, he doesn't put his arm down from the sky and sign a pardon. You know what God does. God comes down in the person of Jesus Christ and dies in the place of the guilty. Friends, the cross will always look wrong to the world until you realize it was meant for you. There is no other religion in the world like Christianity. And so this morning, I don't know who's here and where you are and what you've done and the shame that you feel, but come to this Jesus this morning, because this Jesus is your substitute and this Jesus will set you free.
Speaker 1:Friends, jesus is way better than we think. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Amen, let's pray. Father, thank you for living for us, but also for dying for us, for us, but also for dying for us. Would you forgive us for the ways we don't want to take our own crowns off, ways we refuse to bow the knee? Would you forgive us for bowing to the pressure of the crowd like Pilate? Thank you for your mercy, holy Spirit. I pray that you would help us to see ourselves in this story, so that we might change and so that we might have strength and courage to stand. Help us to see how deeply we are loved In Jesus' name, amen.