Jesus Before Pilate

And so, the the problem we have with your word is not your word at all. The problem is often our own hearts. And so Lord, give us meek hearts that are ready to hear, ready to take your word at face value and live by it and do it. Lord, help us, I pray especially to stand in awe of everything and who you are lord. Even as we examine this the truths of the gospel and this event where you bore our sins to the tree and you died as a sinner in place of sinners.

Lord, help us to see these things in perfect clarity. Help us, Lord, not just to see them, but Lord, that our hearts would be moved by them. And Lord, that we would, these these truths would affect our life and would affect our love to you. And so Lord bless our time in your word we pray. In Jesus name. Amen. So you can see in verse number two that the Bible calls Pontius Pilate the governor.

And a a pilot in a in the in the the word of God in the in the scripture, the word governor is used. That’s that’s a common word. The the technique it’s not a technical word though. The technical word used at this point in history for this particular office was the word prefect. But it’s a it is a governor because in the same way that we would use as a governor for a state, the prefect of a Roman province, in this case, the province of Judea functioned in the same way that a that a governor of our states would would function, just over a smaller area.

And so he was the the prefect or the governor of Judea or the any governor of a Roman province was appointed directly by the Roman Emperor. And he he was the commander over the Roman auxiliary soldiers that were in the province. He also was in charge of collecting the taxes and keeping order and and enforcing the the laws of the emperor because of course, seeing how he was he was appointed by the emperor. He was directly accountable to the emperor. He wasn’t elected. He was appointed by the emperor and so directly accountable to him.

Now, one other thing to note as we go forward in this, in this story, it is it is that it is very important. It is it is very important to the gospel story that and to the fulfillment of prophecy that the Jews after they have condemned Christ at the council. Now, understand in chapter 26, we saw the trial before the council and the trial before the council was that was a Jewish council.

That had nothing to do with Rome. That was the council of only the elders of the Jews. And you remember that their question and what ultimately led to their condemnation of Christ was their When they asked him, art thou the son of God? Or I’m paraphrasing, but he says, well I’ll just read it in verse 63, tell us whether thou be the Christ, the son of God. And so, the council was concentrated on whether Jesus made the claim that he was the Son of God.

But in order to fulfill their purpose, in order to satisfy their bloodlust of Christ, and their hatred and murderous desire toward him, they had to, they didn’t have the power to execute him themselves. And so that’s why we see in verse two, when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Alright, now if you would, we’re gonna come back here, but if you would take a peek at John 18, we’re actually gonna be going between Matthew 27 and John 18. So if you wanna hold your place there, that might save you a little bit of time. John 18, verse 28, the Bible says this, then they led Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, and it was early. Remember, we talked about that this morning, right? It was basically dawn as soon as everybody got up because there’s not much time left before the Lord’s on the cross.

And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passover. I’ll just pause here. Remember this morning, we talked about the gross hypocrisy of of the Jews that they were so scrupulous about the way they used that blood money that they had paid Judas without without even taking into consideration that they had paid Judas. Well, here it is again.

They won’t go into into the judgment hall because they because the Passover is I mean, today is the Passover day, and so they they’re afraid of defiling themselves. Totally missing the fact that their murderous hatred and what they’re doing to the Lord Jesus is itself far more defiling than any ceremonial defilement. That like them walking into an area that was primarily occupied by Gentiles, which is essentially what it is.

So, just another layer of the hypocrisy of the Jews at this time, it says this, verse 29, Pilate then went out unto them and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, if he were not a male factor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, this is key, take ye him and judge him according to your law.

The Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. That’s interesting. Historic, that’s a a little historical particle there might seem insignificant but it’s really not. You see, just a few years prior to this, because of all the turmoil that had been taking place in Judea, and it’s not all covered in Scripture, although it’s hinted at here and there, especially in relation to Pilate, the Romans, the Roman the Romans had taken away the power of capital punishment away from the Jews. They were no longer permitted to exercise capital punishment and so, in truth, at this moment, now, a few years prior to this, that would not have been the case. But at this moment, they were not permitted to execute Jesus, which is why they bring him to to Pilate, because Pilate did have the authority to do it. Now here’s the kicker, the Jews did not execute in the same way that the Romans did. The Romans had basically two methods.

If you were a citizen, you would be beheaded, Jesus is not a citizen of Rome. But if you were a non citizen or you’re a common person, then you would be crucified. And but the Jews did not did not have that form of execution. The Jews primarily did what? Everybody know? They they they practiced stoning. And so the the problem with stoning though is that that is not what the prophecy literally hundreds, even a thousand years before Christ would come. That is not what the prophecy said, must be the method of his death. Remember Psalm 22.

David speaking of Christ, he says, they have pierced my hands and my feet. That’s not true if you stone a person. And if you read if you read John 18 here again, notice what it says, verse number 31, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. Look at verse 32. That saying, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake saying, signifying what death he should die. See, Jesus told his disciples, he would be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, and would be crucified, and the third day he would rise again from the dead. Now, the Lord did not orchestrate that at all. You know what the Lord Jesus is doing as we’ll see in a minute? He’s sitting silently.

He’s not he’s not orchestrating this behind the scenes from a human perspective. He’s not. These are just actually wicked men who hate him with all their heart, who are without their knowledge fulfilling the scriptures.

And so they brought Jesus back in Matthew 27. They brought Jesus to Pilate because he must be killed in this way. To fulfill the scriptures and his own prophecy concerning his death. He must be pierced and he must be hung on a cross and that could only be done by the authority of the Romans. That’s verse two of Matthew 27. Now, if you would jump down to verse number 11.

And Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked asked him saying, art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, thou sayest, which is to say, yes. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Now, I want you to I want you to pay close attention to this.

Now, before Pilate, so they bring Jesus to Pilate and they put him in there and they say, you need to judge this man and so Pilate, you know, obviously, being a man of a man of a man of position, right? A judge if you will. Pilate wants to know what the accusation is. So, he asked them. Now, I want you to think about what the accusation that the Jews had of Jesus in the council that we saw in Matthew 26 versus where we’re at now. Do you notice that the accusation is not the same?

In the council in Matthew 26, what is the primary question? Are you whom? Are you the son of God? The Christ, the son of God? That’s a completely different question than are you the king of the Jews? One has a primarily religious connotation, and one has a political connotation. And so, what they’re doing is, is they’re manipulating the system. The Jewish people, the especially the elders of the Jews are manipulating the system. They’re not even bringing up the thing that really drove them crazy which is his claim to be the son of god. No, they’re trying to manipulate Pilate in order to in order to use him to fulfill their bloodlust and kill the lord Jesus.

And so, they bring him they bring him an accusation of Jesus that would that would touch and interfere with his role as the Roman governor appointed by the emperor. In other words, to present Jesus as a threat, as a seditious threat against the Romans. In hopes that that would prompt Pilate, that would prompt Pilate. Now, if you read between the lines here, know, not only in this passage, but also in history, the Jews and Pilate had a very complicated and antagonistic relationship.

There were sometimes Pilate was very brutal, I mean very brutal. Whenever there was a sedition, there was an uprising, he would just put it down with total brutality, just wipe everybody out. The Jews knew that. He had been in this role for some time, and this had happened repeatedly, and it’s actually covered in the New Testament to some degree.

Now, notice if you would go back to John, John 18, look at look at that because I want to show you kind of the fuller picture of what the Jews are accusing our lord of. John 18 verse 33, the Bible says this, then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, art thou the king of the Jews? So, this is the first question because this is the first accusation.

So so, of course, Pilate rightly asks Jesus this question. Jesus answered him, sayest thou the sayest thou this thing of thyself or did others tell it of me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Verse number 36, Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence. Now, is a this is a an interesting contemporary question.

Let me ask you a question. Is because this is if you if you pay attention at all to the kind of the Christian I don’t know, media, maybe is the best way to put it. If you pay attention to any of that, then you probably have heard this catchphrase. Jesus is king. Jesus is king. Now that sounds simple, and on on its face we agree with that. Is Jesus king? Well, of course, he’s the king of kings.

Like he’s the blessed and only potentate, which means king. He is the king of all kings. No one is higher than he. Not Not Donald Trump and not some king in another country, no one is king over Jesus. Jesus is king. But oftentimes when people say that, they have another meaning. They have another meaning and it’s sometimes a kind of a political tent to that statement. And sometimes when people say that, what they are, they rarely kind of say it out loud, but they kind of intimate that somehow the kingdom of God should kind of usurp or replace the kingdoms of this world.

And there’s where it gets, the lines get really blurry and how exactly that’s applied, because all of us want to see righteousness in our land, righteousness, right? We we we don’t wanna see evil. We want to see righteousness but the lines get kinda blurry sometimes. When you start and I I mentioned this before, when you start talking about, you know, you know, like the the catch, another catchphrase, Christian nationalism and Christians talk, I mean, I I was listening to a podcast not too long ago and to hear the the particular and this is a very popular person to hear him talk, I mean you think, he calls himself a Christian and on the basis of Christianity he is advocating for what is essentially some sort of uprising or something like that against the government, to overthrow the wicked government or something like that. You know, it just gets really blurry.

But we read verse 36 and we have a certain amount of clarity. Because here’s what I want you to see. Is Jesus king? Yes. Without question. How do we know? You don’t have to look any further than this chapter. Because Pilate asked him, art thou the king of the Jews? And he answered, yes. Because he is. He can’t deny it. Jesus is the king of the Jews. Not he’s not only the king of the Jews. He’s the king of kings. He is the king of all kings.

Now, verse 36 though is where the is where that truth comes into clear focus. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight. Now stop. Are you a servant of King Jesus? I hope so. But it is not our place to fight. You see this? That’s what this is saying. It is not our place to fight.

That I should not be delivered to the Jews, now notice this, but now is my kingdom not from That little three letter word now tells us something. It tells us that the kingdom of Christ right now is not of this world. There will be a day when the kingdom of Christ will be in this world as as Pilate is asking here. We’re not there now. This world is ruled by civil rulers, all of whom will give an account to god and the kingdom of god is not of this world. As you see in verse 36, one day it will be and you know what? The lord will not need us nor use us to take that kingdom. He will do it himself.

He will do it himself. And that’s one of the for those of you that are keyed in on the whole doctrinal things between the two, that’s that’s that’s really where the crux comes. Whether Christians will bring in that kingdom or will or whether Jesus will come and take the kingdom, and we rule and reign with him. The latter is the one that is scriptural. The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, but he is king. He is king. Look at verse 37.

Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? In other words, if your if your kingdom’s not of this world, what does that even mean? Like, Pilate can’t even understand the spiritual realm at all, like, at all. He thinks king can only mean soldiers, emperor that he’s familiar with. Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am king, to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. And classic, that classic answer of the Lord Jesus where he he’s asked one question and he answers the one that that person really needs needs to hear.

Notice verse 38, Pilate saith unto him, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews. You see that? So he’s having a conversation with the Son of God and really Jesus has been very quiet. And finally, at this point Jesus speaks up and says, I’m a king, yes. My kingdom’s not of this world. And Pilate says, what are you talking about?

And Jesus confronts him with the truth, the truth, the truth. And Pilate, not wanting to hear that, his only focus is on the kingdoms of this world, his job, his role as the governor. So Pilate is not interested as a man, he’s not interested in the truth. He’s not one who’s wanting to interact with the truth. That’s not on his plate at all. Now, go forward a little bit further into John 19, look at verse 12.

John 19 verse 12, And from thenceforth, this is a little bit later on, and from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out saying, if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar. When therefore, when Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in judgment seat with a in a in a place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, behold your king. But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he there, he him therefore, unto them to be crucified and they took Jesus and led him away. Now notice this, all of this time for many years, for many decades at this point, the Jews have hated the Romans.

They have hated Caesar. You remember we talked about that when the Lord was talking about the tribute money. And he asked them, or they rather asked Jesus, are we supposed to pay tribute? And Jesus said, bring me a penny. And he showed them, he says, whose image and superscription is on that? Because there was a question whether they should even pay taxes. And Jesus had to settle that question.

They didn’t wanna pay taxes because that was that was a way of of giving giving homage and showing respect to a an empire over them that they despised and here now, with a choice between Jesus and Caesar, the one they hate. Man, what a statement. As much as they hated Caesar, they hated Jesus more.

That is a summarization of humanity. Whatever human beings hate, they hate Jesus more. That is the natural state of man. It’s sad, especially knowing that our Lord is without fault. Luke 23 verse two goes on and says this, they began to accuse him saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, that’s a complete falsehood, saying that he himself is Christ a king. So what are they doing? You know what they’re doing?

What religion is doing is weaponizing the state to accomplish their ends. You know, that is basically exactly what happened during the Middle Ages. Did you know that? When the Roman Catholic Pope had great sway over the the kings of Europe, and would use religion to prod and and and drive them to do their bidding. That’s what the inquisitions were all about. And if you ask about it in history, a lot of times they’ll say, oh, no, no, we didn’t put anybody to death. Well, no, but but at the prodding and influence of the religious leaders, the king of Spain and France did.

This is the same thing that’s happening here. So, before we go on, just want you to note this. The nature of Christ’s kingdom is spiritual. That’s what he’s saying here. But you know, all of these years that have passed since the days of Christ until our day, even to our day, secular government, right? Civil government, our own government looks suspiciously at Christians. You say no, no. Oh yes they do.

They And I know when I was a missionary, that was the way it was. Christianity was always looked at a little bit suspicious. They wanted the front of liberty and you know, of religion, but there was always a little bit of suspicion that the Christians are gonna try to take over, right? That’s exactly what we see here. And Jesus is trying to tell Pilate, my kingdom’s not of this world. In fact, the Christians among a nation are the are the greatest asset.

Because the Christians represent the moral backbone and fiber of a nation, whether they be few or whether they be many. And as that degrades, well, and as Christians diminish, so the moral fiber diminishes because righteousness is only found in Christ.

And so you see this accusation of Jesus being a king was a big deal and was a big driver to what happens next. Now, back if you would to Matthew 27 verse number 13. Then said Pilate unto him, hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? Let me ask you a question. If you were accused of something that you knew for certain was not true, how would you respond to that accusation?

Would you sit silently? That’s about the most difficult thing you can do. When you are falsely accused, probably the most difficult thing to do is not say a word. That is not natural, that is not natural. This is exactly what Jesus is doing. Notice, even Pilate was stunned. Verse 14, and he answered him never a word insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Now we don’t read that that Pilate was angry because Jesus is giving him the silent treatment. No, Pilate is stunned.

Jesus is not defending himself. Jesus is not begging for his life. Jesus is not attempting to get out of what is happening to him. Look if you would at First Peter chapter two.

First Peter. This is the reason I think Jesus is not saying a word. Obviously, there’s a prophecy there, but I think there’s a reason for us to see here. First Peter two, look at verse number 21.

First Peter two twenty one says this, for even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not. But, here’s the key, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. In this context, according to verse number 24, or verse 23 rather, the reason why Jesus was silent when he was reviled, the reason why he didn’t give a reply when he was accused is because he had committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, that is his father.

Now, we know that started in the garden, when there was that struggle, not my will, but thine be done. But ultimately, the Lord yielded his will entirely to his father. And that’s why he’s not saying anything. He’s not defending himself because his judgment is with his father. Now why does that matter?

Because the things that are happening to Jesus are righteous. First Peter two twenty four, it says, He committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Jesus is in that place. You remember in the Old Testament when you had the Day of Atonement? They would take those two goats, remember? And the high priest, once a year, would, and of course, that is a picture, that is a foreshadowing, a type of Jesus, right? The goats in the day of atonement.

But the Bible says that the high priest would lay his hands upon the goats, the head of the goats, and would confess the sins of the children of Israel for that year. And the Bible says that when he did that, the sins of the children of Israel were reckoned or transferred if you will, from Israel to the goat. God counted them as upon that goat. I think that happened, I mean if you wanna kinda nail it down, my theory is that happened in the garden.

And so now, because Jesus says that He would be turned over to the hands of men, right? The hands of men. And in the garden is where man’s hands grabbed Him. And from that point on, He has no control, right? So why do I say that what is happening to Him is righteousness? Here’s why.

Because since that time until this in the narrative, Jesus is not bearing his own sin, but Jesus is bearing your sin. You see, all of the things that are happening at Jesus since the hands of men were laid on him and he did not put up a resistance at all, our Lord standing in my place and our Lord standing in your place. So, when the Bible says he committed himself to him that judgest righteously, we’re not talking about a kind of peaceful passivity.

No, we’re talking about a substitute. He is righteously being judged as a guilty sinner with the sin of the world upon him. He dare not say a word, he is guilty. Now we know Jesus himself is not guilty. But as the substitute, he is guilty. What can he say? He is being judged.

He is being judged voluntarily in your place and mine. You see, this is what the gospel is all about. That’s why he’s silent. In your place, he has no answer. That, and really, that’s us. And really anybody that comes to Christ, that’s the answer. Lord, I have no answer. I have no defense, I have no excuse, I’m guilty. And the only reason we can say that and know that as we saw this morning at the end is actual forgiveness from God is because a savior sat bearing our sin, guilty as we, and was judged righteously in our place. And that’s what’s happening.

He’s silent. Knowing that what is taking place is righteous. It’s righteous. Now notice what Pilate says, I’ll just give you one example. In Matthew 27, if you wanna go back there, Matthew 27 and verse number 34, or 24 rather.

We talked about it this morning, the sinlessness of Jesus, here it comes up again. This will not be the last time we see it. Matthew twenty twenty seven verse 24, when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying, now notice his words, I am innocent of the blood of this just person.

You know what that is? That is Pilate’s statement of the sinlessness of Christ. Pilate having examined the Lord Jesus found no fault. John nine John 18 verse thirty thirty eight, Pilate said the first time, I find in him no fault at all. John 19 verse four, the second time Pilate says, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. You know it’s again, it’s important that that we understand that the lamb of God who is our substitute be examined as being without blemish. And in in multiple times in this chapter, Jesus is examined and then declared to be without fault. First Judas, now Pilate three times, and there’ll be others that are coming later.

Acts chapter three verse 13 says this, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus, whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the holy one and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.

So Jesus was once again declared to be without sin. And so Pilate’s decision in Matthew 27, we read it in verse 26, then released Heberabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he he delivered him to be crucified. Pilate showed terrible moral compromise right here. Three times, he has no fault, he says himself. The Bible says that Pilate wanted to release Jesus because he found no fault.

He wanted to release him. In fact, he tried to release Jesus three times just like he stated Jesus’ innocence three times. But what a pitiful moral state Pilate is in. This is a man of great power. He was appointed directly by the emperor. Basically, the the leader of the world. He was directly chosen by name. A man of great power. How can a man of such power find himself in a place where he cannot do that which is right.

He cannot do that which he sets out to do. He set out to release Jesus, but he here he finds himself unable to do it. In other words, he must give in to the urges of these wicked people even though he knows for certain that they are wicked. What a sad state. Listen, this is a sidebar, it is a sad, sad state when a person is in a place of leadership and they have convinced themselves that they cannot do what is right.

Circumstance, listen, circumstances around them make it so that they must do evil. I’m gonna tell you something, if you’re ever in that place as a mom, as a dad, as a leader, as a Christian, where you have any level of responsibility, you need to let the thing burn to the ground before you give in to those pressures and those urges to do evil. You hear me? This, but he is compromised.

He has to crucify Jesus. I’m gonna have a big problem if I don’t. You know what that is? That is rationalizing moral compromise. That’s what it is. So, we as we saw in verse 24, what did he do? He took water and washed his hands before the multitude and then declared Jesus innocent, but he so he’s trying to symbolize this idea that he what he’s about to do. So, he’s already made his decision. What he’s about to do is not his guilt.

That does nothing before this before God. In fact, he washes hands of the blood of Jesus symbolize in symbol here, does nothing before God. He was not innocent of the blood of Christ. He was guilty of the blood of Christ. Here’s why. He was guilty because when a man has the power to prevent evil and does nothing, he is guilty of that evil to the extent that he had the power to thwart it.

Listen now, when a man has power to prevent evil and does nothing, he is guilty of that evil to the extent that he had the power to thwart it. So Pilate was guilty because of what he refused to do.

It’s just a In a negative way, it’s an example to us. Sometimes we do have opportunity and power to do right. And we, for various considerations, fears, fear of man, fear of shame, whatever, fear of the fallout, we refuse.

And we have the power to do right, but we choose to do evil for fear of those things. This is exact, that is the definition of moral compromise. And it’s exactly where Pilate is in this place. What a sad place to see a leader in that place. A leader is supposed to be someone who is decisive. Someone who is clear eyed about what is right and wrong, and is willing to risk it to do it.

But the last thing I want to show you, we’ve seen Pilate and I’ll I’ll just give you a brief summary and we’ll we’ll close. Is I want to show you the gospel.

Even though you have all these evil things happening, even though you have Pilate doing evil and pretty much everybody doing everything in this in this whole passage is all evil. And they’re all doing it of their own volition. I mean, they they have they they’re not trying to coordinate at all but they’re fulfilling the scriptures step by step. They are doing all doing evil. And yet, even still, you have a beautiful picture of the gospel that comes out.

Even before we get to the cross. A picture of the gospel. Here you have Pilate. Well, let’s look at this one first. Who brought Jesus to Pilate? The Jews did. So, did the Jews condemn Jesus? Yes.

Did Pilate condemn Jesus? Yes. So, you have this coordination between the Jewish people and the Gentiles. The Jews have condemned Jesus, the Gentiles have condemned Jesus. And it had to be that to fit the picture. Because here, as Jesus bears the sin of the world, he’s bearing the sin of the Jews, he’s bearing the sin of the Gentiles. When Jesus goes to that cross, he goes and tastes death for every man, whether it Jew, or whether it be Gentile. So, it’s fitting and and and somehow somehow expected that it wasn’t all the Jews fault, but neither was it all the Gentiles fault. It was both the Jews and the Gentiles with the blood of Jesus on their hands.

Now, we know that in a literal sense here, but what was it that was taking Jesus to the cross? It was the guilt and the sin of the Jew and of the Gentile, of yours, and of mine. That was the the driving force ultimately that led Jesus to the cross. So in some way, there’s a there’s a picture here. Both Jews and Gentiles were involved because Jesus is dying for both.

But there’s another picture. Pilate here condemns our Lord though he knew that Jesus had no sin. And so Pilate, what did he do? He condemned the guiltless. So once again you have the Gospel. You have Jesus, He who knew no sin became sin for us, right? That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We see Pilate condemning one who had no sin as if he did have sin. He had no sin, he was not guilty, but he was condemned nonetheless.

That’s a picture of the gospel. Pilate has no clue but that’s a picture of the gospel. The just condemned for the unjust. And so Pilate, I see Pilate as a poor, sad figure in this. I see a man who even his own wife warned him. She had a dream about Jesus and said don’t touch this guy.

But was obstinate, was pragmatic, was compromised, was without moral integrity and moral strength, unwilling to do the right thing due to pressures though he held such great power, Uninterested in engaging with the truth of the one standing before him?

But yet at the same time, by his actions unwittingly giving us a picture of the gospel just prior to that gospel actually being fulfilled. Would you pray with me?