Message Two: “Shall I Crucify Your King?”

Considering the Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ – 2005 – “The Death of A King”

TEXT: John 19:1-16 – Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee – March 20, 2005

John 19:1-16 ^ESV

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, "See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him." ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man!" ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him." ⁷ The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God." ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" ¹¹ Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin."

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Every one who makes himself a king opposes Caesar." ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" ¹⁵ They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." ¹⁶ Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

What kind of kingdom is the Kingdom of God? We are looking at four different passages as we consider together the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This Kingdom that Jesus brings is not a kingdom of ceremony. He does instruct us to do certain ceremonial things, but that’s not what His kingdom is all about. It is not even a kingdom of religion as that word is often understood and used by people to indicate a certain slice of life whereby they relate to God. The Kingdom that comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus is bigger than that. In our first message we saw that the kingdom of Jesus is a Kingdom of Truth. The truth that Jesus brings is truth for all time – truth that touches all of life. This morning we are going to see that the Kingdom of Jesus is a Kingdom of Power. The power and authority that Jesus demonstrates is surprising, since the King looks so weak. But long after all the other powers in this world are small footnotes of history, the authority and power of Jesus is very obvious.

flogged him… Our passage begins by telling us that Pilate, the Roman governor, had Jesus flogged. This could be a very brutal thing, and even fatal. However, the statement in John 19 gives us no real details about the physical ordeal, and we would be making a mistake if we focused on that aspect of the sufferings of Christ, since the physical suffering of Christ is not God’s focus in the Scriptures. Jesus was still able to speak after this flogging, and there is no particular surprise noted, as if He were displaying super-human strength in the face of a Roman scourging. There is something else going on here as the power of a civil authority is used against the King of Kings.

crown of thorns… Notice the profound disrespect that is shown to the Lord. Soldiers treat Him as a plaything to be mocked. He is ridiculed for all to see. He is so obviously weak – so obviously lacking any authority, that the contrast between the charge that he claimed to be a king and the reality of the abuse He is subject to is made to be a comical thing for the entertainment of all. This is why He is given a makeshift crown and a fake royal robe. He is presented as a joke to observers of this disturbing event.

no guilt in him… For the second and third time, Pilate, the man who ordered that Jesus be flogged, insists that he has found no guilt in this prisoner. This is truer than Pilate could ever realize, and it is this fact that enables Him to defeat the most powerful enemies known to man – sin and death. This team has been the ruin of millions, but now One strong man has been found who is without sin. The death that He will die is a willing death. Remember Acts 2:23 from our first message. Everything happening to Jesus here is in accord with the express plan and advance knowledge of God, even though it is also happening by the hands of wicked men. There is no guilt in Jesus. The death that He dies is for our guilt.

Behold the man! Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd now arrayed in the mocking guise of a king. Here is the man. Adam was the first man. Here is the new man. Behold Him! What do you see in this spectacle? Do not miss the disgrace and hatred He faced for you, and the amazing self-control of the one who was rejected by men!

Crucify him, crucify him! The Jewish leaders despise this man. They have brought Him to the Roman authorities so that He would be crucified, and they insist upon it. They do not want the soldiers joke to be the end of the story. They are indignant in their hatred of Jesus, and they want Pilate’s power to be used to grant them their wicked desire – that the sinless Jesus would be put to death.

We have a law… Pilate would rather not be a part of this. He insists that he has found no criminal behavior that would merit the death of Jesus on the cross. The leaders insist that Jesus is deserving of death because of His violations of their law. This is so ironic, since Jesus is both the Law-giver and the perfect Law-keeper. He has not only fulfilled all righteousness in lesser matters, but He has addressed the weightier matters of the Law from a heart fully in love with God, and with good will toward humanity. His supreme offence in the view of the religious leaders is that He has claimed to be the Son of God.

Where are you from? When Pilate hears this title – Son of God – he is all the more troubled. Not only is he being pressured to have an innocent man crucified, the man claims to be the Son of God. There is some measure of fear, or at least concern here. This provokes a question that Jesus does not at first answer. Where are you from? Remember again Paul’s contention in 1 Timothy 6:13 that Jesus gave a good confession of faith in His dealings with Pilate. Sometimes a good statement of faith may even involve silence.

authority… There ultimately is an answer given in a way. Jesus answers with authority about the authority that Pilate has. It has been given from above. Jesus knows this because He is from above. He is the Son of God from all eternity who became man to die for sinners. Look at His great authority and power in this interaction. What restraint Jesus shows! What determination He has to finish the work that His Father has given for Him! What an overturning of sin and death will be accomplished from the shedding of His blood.

Caesar's friend… The root of Pilate’s sin is found in the passage. The argument that eventually moves him to do what he knows to be wrong is this: He does not want to be viewed as an enemy of Caesar. The Son of God, who He does not know, must be killed to avoid the wrath of the one authority He considers most real – Caesar.

We have no king but Caesar… What is perhaps more surprising is to see the chief priests professing that they have no king other than Caesar. Their hatred for Christ is evident.

The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Power. See things rightly. See the power of the Son of God who gives His life for you. To pursue some form of spiritual life without Jesus Christ at the very center of the story is simply a fiction and a fable. There is no abiding power in spirituality without Jesus.

Paul warns his younger protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 that there are those who have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of it. Paul has three words of instruction for Timothy on this matter. “Avoid such people.” Apparently there can be danger for even someone as spiritually strong as the young minister Timothy. Through frequent association with those who deny the power of God, he might become like them and be swept away by their errors.

What kind of errors?

1. PILATE’S ERROR: By considering the power of civil authorities as somehow superior to the power of the One who puts all rulers in place and sets limits upon their authority.

2. PRIESTS’ ERROR: By considering it a safe thing to be ceremonially religious without truly humbling your hearts and lives before the King and Head of the Church.

3. PEOPLE’S ERROR: By ignoring or forgetting the sovereignty of Jesus Christ over every event of your life.

Do not misinterpret the weakness of Christ as He goes to the cross. It is a very dangerous thing to toy with the One who has all power and authority. Acknowledge Him now as the powerful King of all creation, over His church throughout the world, and over your life.