PIlate's Dilemma

We do have an opportunity every Sabbath to open up God's Word together. In particular, for this time of year, we are preparing ourselves for the Passover and for the days of Unleavened Bread. We're going to continue with our focus in that way today. The title of our study is Pilate's Dilemma. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them. We're going to turn to Luke 23. Our passage of study is going to be verses 13-25. Luke 23 verses 13-25. Here we are turning our focus on to the events leading up to Christ's crucifixion. Before we read this passage, I just want to set the scene for us. This is a very impactful moment which Luke records for us here. We're coming to a moment here in Luke 23 where we find Pilate.

Pilate is the Roman governor of that time, and he is absolutely at a crossroads.

We could actually say not just any crossroads. He is actually at the crossroad of his life.

He now finds himself confronted by the very Son of God himself, Jesus Christ.

He's faced with a decision. We could say a dilemma.

Here, confronted by Jesus Christ, he is confronted by one to whom he has heard about.

One to whom he knows the claims in which he's made.

He's also then also confronted by an increasingly furious crowd with their cries of, Crucify him. Crucify Jesus Christ. And again, now lies to his responsibility a decision. Will he be brave enough to stand for what is right? Will Pilate be courageous enough to do what true justice would demand? Or will he succumb to the evil cries of the crowd?

This is the decision, and it's a decision which is going to definitely shine a bright light onto Pilate's own moral compromises, onto his own moral failures.

And let me just state right here from the front, in case I fail to do it later, what we have before us here today, while it is miles and miles removed from us, while it is years and years removed from us, this event, may I humbly suggest that we're at the same crossroad today. Same crossroad that Pilate, that faced Pilate at that time, confronts us.

A reckoning with who Jesus Christ is, a consideration of his claims, a belief, a belief that that which he taught has an incredible impact on our lives.

And in fact, in this moment with Pilate, we find that there is an honest examination which is called for, for us to make today, whether we will have the resolve to stand up for what is right, bow to Christ's authority, no matter the pressure that we receive to do the otherwise.

Pilate's dilemma, ultimately our dilemma today. Luke 23, let's read verses 13 through 25 here. This whole Luke records how this dilemma unfolds here. Luke 23 verses 13 through 25. Here it is. Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, he said to them, You have brought this man, Jesus, to me as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined him in your presence, I have found no fault in this man, concerning the things of which you accuse him. No, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him, and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by him. I will therefore chastise him and release him. Verse 17, For it was necessary for him to release one of them at the feast.

Verse 18, And they all cried out at once, saying, Away with this man, Jesus, and release to us Barabbas, who had been thrown in prison for a certain rebellion made in the city and for murder. Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them, called out to the crowd, but they shouted, saying, Crucify him! Crucify him! Then Pilate said to them a third time, Why? What evil has he done? I have found no reason for death in him. I will therefore chastise him and let him go. But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. So Pilate gave the sentence that it should be as they requested, and he released them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison. So he released Barabbas, but he delivered Jesus to their will. Let's stop there. So he released Jesus to crucifixion here.

You know, it's interesting when you look at verse 14 there, and Pilate's words saying that Pilate examined him, examined Jesus Christ. And we could say, you know, in a sense, that's true, of course. And I think we could even say, as we sit here Sabbath after Sabbath, that we examine Christ. We examine Christ through the Bible, through God's Word. That's true. But we also must acknowledge that as we examine him, it becomes increasingly obvious to point, in fact, it is Christ who is examining us. And as we begin this study here in this moment, as Pilate looks at this man, Jesus Christ, and their people cry out for his crucifixion, what we're going to be revealed to you today is that it's not so much the trial before Pilate, but it is, in fact, the trial of Pilate, is what we're going to see here.

And in this exchange, we see a number of things. First, we see Pilate try to remove himself from the responsibility. He's unsuccessful. Then we see Pilate in a battle with the crowd. But ultimately, we see that there's a battle engaged from within Pilate as he has this battle from within, and fear comes into his experience pushing against the understanding of what he knows to do, which is right.

So I want you to really try to, as we look at this story, really try to connect with Pilate and be thinking to yourself, where am I in this? Where do I see myself in this experience with Pilate here? As verse 20 points out, the cries, they begin to build. You know, I think of the pace and the volume of this, crucify him. I can almost picture that just one from the crowd starts that chant.

Crucify him. Perhaps it's just one. Perhaps it's softer. The next time more are engaged, crucify him. More and more that cry begins to swell in the crowd, louder and louder, deafening words in the ears of Pilate. And he's trapped. Again, Pilate is trapped between executing justice and doing what he knows is right, trapped between that and this crowd pushing him to exercise injustice and to do what he knows is wrong.

Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him. That was the cry. And he's faced with this choice to free an innocent man or be pushed to do what is wrong. This is the dilemma. Again, he'd already tried to push Jesus off to Herod. If you allow your eyes to go up to verse 6 and 7, we can read of this attempt for Pilate to just simply get rid of the responsibility that's before him.

Negate. Ignore the challenge. Look at this. Staying here in chapter 23, but verse 6 and 7, Luke records, when Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, as soon as Pilate knew that, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. So that's good. That'll take care of it here. Unfortunately, as we continue to read here, Herod sends him back to Pilate, verse 9 through 12. Then he questioned Jesus with many words, but he answered him nothing, and the chief priests and the scribes stood and vehemently accused him.

Then Herod, with his men of war, treated him with contempt, treated Jesus in that way, and mocked him, arrayed him in a robe, a gorgeous robe, sent him back to Pilate, and sent him back to Pilate. So they go through this mockery, coronation, and then he sent him back to Pilate. And that day, Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other. So an unholy union is established here over their hatred of Jesus Christ.

So here he is back with Pilate, and let me tell you, the clock is ticking. It is ticking loudly here. Loud or more insistent. And Pilate now has to be as confronted with what to do. You know, as a Roman, Pilate was actually partial to law and justice.

The Romans have actually given us many of our laws today. If you look back in history, you actually see that much of the laws that we have in this country today, they have their foundations and structures in a law which Pilate and others adhere to in his day. So Pilate would have had a Roman dislike for gross injustice. And since he didn't like injustice, that fact would have pointed him toward letting Jesus go. And we see that it did. Along with that, Pilate's wife, even expressed to her husband, have nothing to do with this mockery of a trial. Now, Matthew records that fact. Let me just show you that. If you'll keep your marker here in Luke 23, let's turn over to Matthew 27 and verse 19. Keep your marker there in Luke. We're going to come right back. But just turn for a moment to Matthew 27 verse 19. And we're going to see that Matthew adds this detail. It's a fascinating detail of Pilate's wife during this dilemma that her husband's facing here. Matthew 27 and verse 19. Matthew records of this moment. While he, Pilate, was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him saying, have nothing to do with that just man. For I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him. Stop there. So imagine this. These are unsettling messages, unsettling dreams here. And they're so troubling to her. And they're so, it's moved her so much that she sends a note to her husband and saying, have nothing to do with the mockery of this justice. Have nothing to do with that just man, she says. But this is the dilemma because if you look at the very next verse, verse 20, there's that. His wife is trying to move him in the right direction. But verse 20, but the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. There. So if you never connected with Pilate before, I want you to try to connect with him today. Here he is in this moment. He is being confronted and seized upon by this crowd and these religious officials. Here he is the governor. He's presiding over the territory. He has that jurisdiction. He's trying to maintain order, quailing any civil disruption. His wife speaks to him, release this just man. His conscience is telling him that Jesus is innocent. Release him. Even his upbringing that speaks to executing judgment, justice, true justice in that position. That speaks to him. Pilate himself knows that Jesus Christ is absolutely an innocent man. Again, go back to Luke 23, if you will. Luke 23. Look at this. This is the inner struggle of his own conscience here.

Luke 23 in verse 13 through 15 again. Luke 23 verse 13 through 15 again. Here it is again. He had Pilate had called. He had called all the chief priests, rulers, and people together. You brought me this man. He's making this declaration. You brought him to me as one who misleads the people and indeed having examined him in your presence. Here it is, his consciousness. He knows. He says, I have found no fault in this man concerning the things of which you accuse him. And neither did Herod, or he sent him back to me. And indeed, nothing deserving of death has been done by him. Okay? So, but again, despite this, in the midst of all that's moving him to stand up for Jesus Christ and do what's right, the cries are there.

Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him.

Pilate knows, and he knows that he knows what he should do. Commit himself to the right thing. But it's such a dilemma. And I'll pause just a moment and say, this is not if you are honest with your human experience. This is not an unfamiliar dilemma, isn't it? We know this dilemma. The dilemma, the reoccurring questions in our minds through men and women, throughout all of history. Can you relate to Pilate? So let me ask, what decisions are before you that you can relate with Pilate in this way? You know, and you know that you know what to do is right.

But seemingly everything around you is pushing you to do the opposite. Even your, you know, fear, human nature, all of it. But deep down inside, the called son or daughter of God knows, knows what to do is right. This dilemma comes before us, frankly, every day.

I read a quote from an article speaking of the experience of a professional, world-class surfer. I don't know if you know anything about world-class surfing. Let me give you a quote from this article from one of the professionals who said this, quote, to be on the peak of the wave and to take the drop and commit in that moment you're facing all of your fears, unquote. This article has a picture accompanied with this article. It's a picture. And you just see this gigantic, massive wave. I think it's taken in Hawaii. And there at the very crest of the wave, you see this little speck of a surfer. They're at the top in this ominous wave that is before them. And they're right there at the top. And that's exactly where Pilate was. When I read this again, and I think to myself, to be on the peak of the wave and to take the drop and commit in that moment you're going to face all of your fears. Pilate was here. He was being asked to face down all those things. Do what's right. You know, if you have any study of surfers, what they an option they do have, when you're at that peak, you can actually sit back on your board and go back into the wave. And then the wave just goes on without you. It's an option. Let it move on without you. Or you can choose to make the drop and commit. What was Pilate going to do? What would you do in this moment? You know, I look at Pilate and I think surely he's been confronted with a crowd like this before. Crucify him. Crucify him. You know, we demand justice. This man ought to die for what he did. But this is different. Pilate had never experienced anything like this. This is an innocent man who's the recipient of those words. Crucify him. An innocent man. He had done no crime.

Unfortunately, he's about to lose the battle here. He's about to sit back on his board and allow that opportunity to stand up for Jesus Christ to pass him.

I think he loses the battle here. It's interesting to consider where he loses the battle. He loses the battle. You know, you can look at verse 23. Verse 23 there.

At the end of verse 23, we're told the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.

You can think, wow, that's probably when he really lost. I don't think that's when he lost the battle.

Rather, I think if you look at this narrative that he lost the battle in the very beginning, very first encounter with this evil crowd and evil leaders. Here in Luke's recording, we actually have three times in which Pilate implores the crowd for Jesus' release. Again, I think he loses the battle right at the outset. You'll notice here verse 13 through 16 where we have the leaders in this cry from the crowd. I want to show you that Pilate makes a crucial mistake here right at the beginning here. Notice again Pilate declares here in verse 13 and 14. Verse 13 and 14. Then Pilate had gathered everybody together. He was going to make his proclamation here. You have brought this man to me in the middle of verse 14 there. He calls him all together as one who misleads the people. Indeed, I've examined him in your presence. I have found no fault in this man concerning the things which you accuse him.

He then builds on that fact. Verse 15. Neither did Herod. Herod sent him back to me. Nothing deserving, verse 15, of death has been done by him. So, so far so good. The crowd must have been waited at this point for him to say, Therefore, because there is no basis of charge against him, and Herod even declared he is not deserving of death, therefore I release him. That's what he should have said. They could not believe their ears when in verse 16 he says, I will therefore chastise him and release him. What? What? What is that?

He should have said, I therefore dismiss him completely. I throw out the charges. Get out of my courtroom. I am sending out a free man into the Jerusalem streets here.

No, rather, instead of falling through his convictions, instead of doing what is right, he allows himself to be caught up in the discussion, doesn't he?

Allows himself to begin to have a discourse with bloodthirsty, wily prosecutors and a crowd here. And he capitulates. He bends. He compromises. He caters to this evil group that's gathered before him. Again, verse 16, I will therefore chastise him and release him. And just know that today we can never compromise with evil. Never.

I can tell you again, it is here in this very moment that he loses this battle and leaves the door open to sin. And often that's when we lose the battle as well. Small compromises. I don't know your experience. Fill in the blanks. You know, it's the Sabbath. I'm just going to go into work for a little bit. I just have to check in with my boss. I just have to do these few things and then I'll be able to leave. Is that a compromise? You know, I'm going to just dabble in this sinful activity. I'm not going to go all the way, of course. I'm just going to engage in it a little bit. Just a small compromise here. Compromises of sin. Small compromises. They always lead up to the actual event of sin. Every time. And I got to tell you, every time you make a compromise, whatever it is, you fill it in. Satan takes note and he's going to circle around with it. This is what we're seeing here. A pilot cracked open the door to evil. And so predictably, predictably. Look at verse 18 and 19. Look what it says there.

Verse 18 and 19. Now they all cried out at once. And they all cried out, verse 18, at once, saying, Away with this man and released to us for Abbess, who had been thrown in prison for certain rebellion made in the city and for murder. Amazing. In verse 17, you know, there it was customary that the feast of the governor would release a prisoner. This is the time of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, of course. So, Pilate actually saw this as another mechanism by which he could compromise with evil leaders and an evil crowd. Perhaps I can get out of this and compromise with this group because I can then rest upon this tradition here. Here's another mechanism by which I can work with them. And it's the feast I can release to you. Why don't you just let me release Jesus of Nazareth and I'll give you Barabbas to satisfy your bloodthirsty cries here.

But they say, no, release Barabbas. Set him free. Set Barabbas free of all people.

And he was in jail for insurrection and murder. Release Barabbas. Set him free.

Again, Pilate thought he could deal with this crowd, this evil crowd. And this is where he lost the battle, not standing firm from the beginning, standing firm at that crest of the wave, willing to commit, standing up for what was right. That's where he lost the battle. It's where we lose the battle every time. When the Bible talks about sin and cutting off the hand that offends you, it speaks to our perspective and how serious we are to take sin. We are to take sin that seriously where it's as if I'm going to treat this sin as the primary thing in my life. I'm going to treat it with that seriousness. That's how I'm going to approach it. Sometimes I go through counseling with individuals and they're going through different addictions and things and they will express their desire for change and they'll say, I've made progress. I've made progress. But, you know, I probably will end up giving in here and there later on. I'm human. Well, I've even said that before with particular things in my life. And that's true. But am I treating that sin with any compromise in my voice? If I come to that addiction, I come to that sin with the purpose to say, I'm going to overcome it. I'm going to put to death this part of my flesh.

Do I have the power to put it to death? No, not of it by myself. But if I attack it with that kind of perspective, Jesus Christ will come in and help me fulfill that if he so wills. And he'll allow me to make progress that I could never have imagined. That sin has been with me forever. But I approached it with the seriousness and then God helped me through the rest. What I couldn't do, God did. That's how we have to treat these things. We cannot compromise or deal with any sin in our lives.

We see the response. Here, verse 20 through 22 summarizes Pilate's second and third attempt. I really feel for Pilate here. He's human. Verse 20 through 22. Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus. That was in his heart. Again, called out to them. But they shouted, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And then Pilate said a third time, Why? Why? Why? What evil has he done? I have found no reason for death in him. I will therefore chastise him and let him go. So Pilate keeps coming back and back to them here. A third attempt here. Why? Why? I have found no reason for death in him. That's verse 22 there. Did you notice verse 22? It's a little bit of an indication of weakness that is happening with Pilate here. Because there in verse 22, it's a move, a slight move from verse 14. Verse 14, Pilate said, I have found no fault with this man. But here in verse 22, well, he shouldn't die, he says. I have found no reason for death. That's different than I find no fault in him. So you're seeing the progression here, the weaknesses, the weakness that's building in him.

And you see what is happening here. He's equivocating. He's allowing the evil voice to soften his resolve. You know, maybe we could find him guilty of something. Surely we can find something here. Can't we just say something and move on from this here, other than death? Therefore, I'll punish him. Would that satisfy you? If I really punish him, negotiating with evil here, do we do that?

Well, I'll just do this. It's not a full-blown sin. It's okay. You know, I wonder what Pilate's thinking about here. I think he's thinking the scourging. Think of the human psychology here. The scourging will induce sympathy with the crowd. The scourging will that they'll compromise with me.

The crowd can put pressure on the leaders, then, to keep Jesus of Nazareth from this horrible death. I think that's probably what he's seeking to do here. Why don't we just scourge him and then I'll let him go.

But I want you to know, even this seemingly kind gesture is anything but that.

This isn't a slap on the wrist. This is, I will flog him. I will get him, have him scourged, and then I will release him. This is no small proposal here. Scourging was a brutal thing. In fact, on the way to crucifixion, the scourging often led to the death before the individual even made it to the stake or the tree. The flogging. It's a pre-death death, is the way it's described. Horrible, brutal experience here. They take him out to the praetorium, execute all kinds of torture implements on the individual. Often the scourging was fatal. So this isn't, let me just, I'm trying to do something nice for Jesus here. Now this is as brutal and be as brutal as we possibly can be. I find no basis for a charge against him. Why don't you go ahead and flog him and then we'll release him?

Incredible. Incredible. Scourge him. Scourge him for what?

Scourge him for healing the death so they can hear again. Scourging him for healing the eyes of the blind, restoring the legs of the crippled, giving a deceased son back to his widow-mother. Is that what we're scourging him for? Taking children to himself, encouraging the disciples of such is the kingdom of heaven. On what basis do they find themselves to abuse him in this way? We read briefly earlier that before sending before Herod sent him back to Pilate, he put a robe on him. You can read it there in Matthew. A mockery coronation. They gave Christ a crown, but it was a crown of thorns.

Total mockery. Dressed him up. Bowled down to him. Hell, king of the Jews. Struck him in his face, then it spit at him. Some of that text, you can't even read it. It's like you guys just take your eyes away from it sometimes. To bring out the Lord of glory in that way. This was the experience of our Creator. The one who spoke the world into existence. This is the one who breathed life into the very individuals who are executing this heinous act. He subjects himself to all of this. It's in our hymn. When I look up into the heavens, which thine own fingers framed, and to the moon, and to the stars, which were by thee ordained, then I say, what is man that thou should be mindful of him? Or what the son of man that thou so kind to him should be? Well, you'll notice in verse 23 here, this proposal by Pilate of scourging and releasing. It's only met by louder shouts there. And I almost think, you know, the reason you can't negotiate with evil. One of the reasons is they will always want more. There is no compromising with sin. There's no compromising with evil. It will always induce more sin, more evil. I guarantee, at this point with this proposal, they smelled fear in Pilate. They saw he'd already set back on his board and came off the wave. They knew that. So if he's willing to scourge an innocent man, ah, I smell blood here. Let's move on. Let's bring death. We got it. We're going to keep going. We're not going to accept that. More pressure, more shouting. Keep pushing for the crucifixion. And so the saddest phrase in this whole passage is verse 23. Verse 23, Their shouts prevailed. The voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.

Pilate backs away from the wave here. Any last vestiges of courage or moral conscience is gone at this point. So, verse 24, Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. Verse 25, And he released to them the one they requested, that's Barabbas, release him free.

For who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison, but rather he delivered Jesus to their will? So Jesus would now take the punishment for the guilty Barabbas.

I'll repeat that. Jesus would now take the place of the guilty Barabbas. I'll take it. It stands in the place of sinners. It takes on the punishment. And of course, this is merely a precursor. This is a precursor to the purpose to which Jesus Christ came to ultimately fulfill, take the place and punishment for many guilty, all of humanity here. And Jesus, the one here, does it voluntarily. You know, this is the one who at this point could have called the legion of the angels, wiped the whole mockery out in an instant. Rather, he voluntarily is delivered up notice to their will, not his own will, ultimately to the Father's will. He did it for Pilate, ironically. He did this for Pilate, and he did it for all future Pilates, if you will. You and I. Ultimately, the reason he is even at this scene is because he has your name, he has my name, before him. In fact, engraved on the palms of his hands, your name, hands which are about to have nails driven through them, for your sake.

So again, this is not so much the trial that is before Pilate as it is the trial of Pilate, and I dare say it's the trial of you and I today. This is the trial that's before us. I can confidently say that we should all be able to see ourselves in Pilate's experience.

So often, we have the pressure of circumstances around us, back us down from that wave, or we can find ourselves at that crest that Pilate found himself at, determined to make that drop and to commit and to do what's right.

And I can testify to you today, my own testimony, if you are at that crest and you drop in and you drop in and you commit, God will be with you through it all. Absolutely. In fact, in that moment, God comes closer to us. He loves his children which are getting out there and exposing themselves to do what's right and to fight against the pressures. Test me on that. Test God on that. Drop in. Make the commitment. See if he doesn't take care of you.

We can't push off the decision. We can't negotiate or compromise our way out of it. The called man or woman today, there is no fading back from the responsibility here.

Jesus stands at the court of Pilate waiting for Pilate's decision. One day, Pilate's going to stand at the court of Jesus Christ. One day, you and I are going to stand at the court of Jesus Christ. On that day, Jesus Christ is not going to be a mere governor. He's going to be a king and king of kings. He's going to stand and he's going to pronounce the verdict.

To the called man or woman today, may we come to that day, having stood at the crest of all the waves in our life, ready over and over again to drop and commit despite all the pressures that we have, having stood strong and firm for God to the end.