I invite you to turn with me this morning to John chapter 18 and chapter 19 as we read beginning at John 18 verse 28 through chapter 19 verse 16 considering in a particular way the first few verses the first five verses of chapter 19 this is Jesus before Pilate John 18, beginning at verse 28. Let's bow asking for our God's blessing upon His Word this morning. Father, as we come to Your Word, we come to a rich treasure. We come as empty vessels. We pray for Your blessing. We pray for the power and the work of Your Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives that we might see the truth of Your Word. The beauty of it, even as we consider the suffering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the hands of men. We pray, Father, that You would indeed bless us. That You would encourage us as Your people. And lead us in the way that You know we need to be led. so hear our prayer we ask for Jesus' sake and in His name Amen John 18 beginning at verse 28 this is God's word then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor by now it was early morning and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace they wanted to be able to eat the Passover So Pilate came out to them and asked, What charges are you bringing against this man? If he were not a criminal, they replied, we would not have handed him over to you. Pilate said, Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. But we have no right to execute anyone, the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked Him, Are you the king of the Jews? Is that your own idea, Jesus asked, or did others talk to you about Me? Am I a Jew? Pilate replied. It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to Me. What is it you have done? Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews, but now My kingdom is from another place. You are a king then, said Pilate. Jesus answered, You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. What is truth? Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? They shouted back, No, not him. Give us Barabbas. now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head they clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again saying hail king of the Jews and they struck him in the face once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews look I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him when Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe Pilate said to them here is the man as soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him they shouted crucify crucify but Pilate answered you take him and crucify him as for me I find no basis for a charge against him the Jews insisted we have a law and according to that law he must die because he claimed to be the son of God when Pilate heard this he was even more afraid and he went back inside the palace. Where do you come from? He asked Jesus. But Jesus gave him no answer. Do you refuse to speak to me? Pilate said. Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you? Jesus answered, You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin. From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar. When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judge's seat at a place known as the stone pavement, which in Aramaic is Gabbatha. It was the day of preparation of Passover week, about the sixth hour. Here is your king, Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, Take him away, take him away, crucify him. "'Shall I crucify your king?' Pilate asked. "'We have no king but Caesar,' the chief priest answered. Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. May God add His blessing to the reading and consideration of His Word this morning. Beloved in the Lord, we believe and we confess that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered the torment of hell as our sins were laid upon Him for which He was punished by and rejected by His Father though He was completely without fault. Yet we cannot truly comprehend, we cannot truly imagine the magnitude of that suffering and praise be to God that for those who are in Christ Jesus, we will never, ever, ever have to find out or experience God's wrath against even one sin. However, even before He went to the cross and even before He suffered all of that, as the Bible says in Isaiah 53, He was rejected by men. Not only did they simply turn their backs on Him and walk away from Him, but He suffered physically by the abuse of their hands and He was rejected by the scorn of their mouths. And sadly, we can understand, we can identify, at least in part, with this rejection Jesus suffered at the hands and by the mouths of men, either because to some degree we have been on the receiving side or, worse yet, maybe we have been on the giving side. His rejection by men, as recorded in Scripture, demonstrates the utter sinfulness of sin. It demonstrates the hatred of man for God. It demonstrates the very sin for which Jesus came to die. It demonstrates man's desperate need, but His rejection by men also magnifies the amazing grace of God as Jesus Christ did so much. He did everything for those who deserved absolutely nothing. And only He could, because He was faultless. Yet as we see here in this passage, man was blind to his need for this one, as the faultless Christ was rejected by man. Now beloved, as Christians, we cannot miss the prelude to the cross orchestrated by God. This prelude orchestrated by God to confirm the faultlessness, the sinlessness, the innocence of Jesus. And as well to confirm how utterly and completely He was rejected by those who needed Him most. We notice here as Jesus is rejected by men, first of all, He is rejected though Pilate attempted to free Him. Now again, we cannot miss the sovereignty of God here. Pilate had the authority to release Jesus and to do so justly. He said, I find no fault. I find no basis for a charge against him. Yet without Pilate even knowing, without him even understanding, and even unwillingly, he couldn't help but to submit to God's will, which as Isaiah 53 says, was to crush him, to crush the Messiah, to cause him to suffer. Jesus made it clear to Pilate, you have no power except for the power that's given to you. indeed Pilate would be a tool in the hand of God to sentence our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all the way to death however God's will also included Pilate's attempts to free Jesus three times that we're told about the first time we find in Luke 23 verse 16 after Jesus returned from being interrogated by Herod Pilate said on behalf of himself and Herod he says he has done nothing deserving of death I will punish him and then release him The second attempt was Pilate trying to use the Jewish custom of releasing a prisoner at the time of the Passover. Certainly these Jews, who really knew that this Jesus was without fault, certainly they would never choose a hardened criminal, a convicted criminal over Him, but the people chose the convicted Barabbas over Jesus. And the third attempt to free Jesus is here in this text, flogging Jesus, whipping Jesus, and presenting Him as pitiful before the Jews, possibly to gain their pity. But all the attempts failed. The Jews would have none of it. But they failed as well because Pilate too was a sinful man. And Pilate was only concerned about his self-preservation. Pilate was not a just judge. He was not a righteous judge. and we are not to think that He was just because He said, I find no basis for a charge against Him, and just because the Bible says He tried to set Him free. The truth is, He was corrupt. The truth is, He didn't care at all about the Jews or Jesus for that matter. He hated the Jews, and He would do whatever and use whomever, even Jesus here, to do whatever He could not to give them what they wanted. History teaches us that Pilate intentionally created circumstances that would attack the Jewish religious system and greatly offend the Jews, make them angry, for which they would protest and they would riot and even send a complaint off to Rome. And that's what we find here too. We find that threat. We find here that what was most important to Pilate was that he was out to protect himself. He was out to protect his own position. It almost seems again like he is to be commended as if he was a little bit ethical because he found no basis. He found no fault in Jesus. He was doing the right thing. It almost seems like he ought to be commended a little bit. But maybe he was just stuck between a rock and a hard place. Yet, when the people shouted in verse 12, if you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar. And when they themselves claimed allegiance to Caesar by saying, we have no king but Caesar. When he was threatened with this, they would go over his head and the threat of Jesus, another king would be made known to Caesar. He looks at Jesus as it were and figures this man is not worth losing his job over. So Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. Yet even before Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion, Secondly, he was treated as guilty. Simply by being placed side by side with Barabbas, he was already treated as a convicted criminal. But he was treated as guilty even though he was declared innocent countless times. He was declared innocent by others. Judas Iscariot said, I have betrayed innocent blood. Pilate's own wife said to him, don't have anything to do with that innocent man. Again, Herod found no cause against Him, as was reported by Pilate. The dying thief on the cross to the other dying thief said, this man has done nothing wrong. The centurion said, surely this was a righteous man. And the crowds at the cross at the time of the earthquake and the other supernatural events said, surely this was the Son of God. He was declared innocent. God would have us to know by the mouths of sinful people that the one they rejected himself was sinless. But also by Pilate. In this passage alone, as we read three times, in chapter 18, verse 38, in chapter 19, verses 4 and verse 6, he says all three times it's recorded, I find no basis for a charge against him. I find no fault. Pilate had interrogated. Pilate found no fault in Jesus which failed the test of his scrutiny. Nothing that stood up to the charges that were made against him. In the earthly civil court, Jesus was found not guilty. More than that, innocent. Because we know that one who was found not guilty might still be guilty. He might have gotten off by way of a technicality, but not Jesus. He was completely innocent. Yet he was still treated as guilty by being punished. A criminal's punishment at Pilate's command. Even before the cross. And this demonstrates the injustice and the sinfulness of this earthly judge. It demonstrates Pilate's inconsistency to acquit Jesus with his mouth on the one hand, yet to inflict punishment upon him as if he deserved it. The punishment of a criminal by flogging, scourging, whipping, whatever you want to call it. Unbelievable torture. It was cruel. It was sometimes fatal. Carried out with a whip that had a short handle and a long leather strap with sharp pieces of bone and metal and rock woven right into it. And the victim was stripped of his clothes and tied to a post in such a way that his chest and his back were completely, fully exposed. And as the victim was mercilessly whipped, His flesh was severely torn and shredded. It's reported as well that sometimes major organs were exposed as a result of the flogging. There was severe blood loss, extreme weakness. All of this Jesus suffered even before being crucified. Even before suffering the punishment of God against sin, He suffered the punishment of sinful man. Yet as Scripture says, He did not open His mouth. He did not retaliate. He did not fight back, even though He was mocked as a king. Verse 2 begins, The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They clothed Him in a purple robe and went up to Him again and again, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck Him in the face. To the soldiers, it was just a joke. It was a game of dress-up, boys and girls. Kind of like when you dress up in a costume, maybe a superhero costume. It's just pretend. You're not really that superhero. To the soldiers, it was just pretend. He wasn't really a king. Oh, he claimed to be a king, so let's treat him. Give him his 15 minutes of fame. We'll treat him as a king. They mockingly treat him as a king, ridiculing the authority of a king by striking him. Who would ever strike a king ridiculing the authority of this king? You see, in their ignorance, they were not realizing that they will come face to face with him again. As Paul says in Philippians 2, Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Indeed, just a few days before, the people had shouted, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, treating him as a king. And now he is ridiculed as a king, treated as a pretend king. Yet this is the very one that the psalmist spoke of in Psalm 2. You are my son. The one who is enthroned on high. This is the one who, really a short time after this, would be enthroned on the throne in the glory of heaven. In ignorance they taunted him, not realizing that they would come face to face with him again. They will bow before him. They will be a part of the company of every knee and the company of every voice. But apart from faith in him, one will bow in terror, crying for the mountains to cover them from his presence. because to them, indeed, His presence, the very sight of Him will be terrible to them. It will be threatening to them. But as for now, on this occasion, while He's weak, He's helpless, He's no threat, they reject Him and they subject Him to all of the hatred and abuse that man could press upon Him. Beloved, we have a picture here of how severe of enemies of Him we were when He died for us. as Paul says in Romans 5. A Jesus did not suffer for Himself. The Word of God makes it clear that He was sinless. He was innocent. He suffered for others. And in doing so, He not only experienced God's wrath against sin, which is indeed the ultimate. Nothing can compare to that. But He also, before that, experienced the very wicked expression of that sin for which He came to die. As finally he was presented as powerless. Verses 4 and 5, Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him. I've just treated him as a criminal. I've just treated him as if there were charges against him. But I find no basis for a charge against him. When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, Here is the man. Pilate had Jesus paraded before the people. Here is the man as if to say in question form, this is the one that you're worried about? Just look at him. His very appearance and his inability to stop all of the verbal and the physical abuse ought to be proof to you why I find no fault in him. He's incapable of being and of doing what you say. He's not a king. He's the furthest thing from it. He's not powerful. He's weak. Yet, beloved, again, as they did not understand, but we are to understand, He was paraded as the victor. He was paraded as the victor in the hour of His seeming defeat. Foretelling of His victory seen in that crown of thorns. He was not given a crown of gold or silver. He was not worthy of that. He was given a crown of thorns, a crown of shame. and is well meant to inflict pain upon Him. But the word crown here is the word primarily used of a victor's crown. They gave Him a victor's crown. And thorns, we know, were a symbol of suffering, a symbol of the curse that God had spoken in the Garden of Eden because of sin. He took our curse of sin upon Himself and He would be victorious with a sure victory for all those trusting in the Savior's precious blood. Beloved, as they laid their eyes on Him, all they saw was a pitiful and a weak man, bleeding, one to be mocked, a pretend king. But Beloved, this one upon whom they laid their eyes, we are to understand, was the picture of the King who came to do battle on behalf of, in the place of His kingdom's citizens, to take their place, to be subjected to all of this all the way to death, for you and for me. His pathetic appearance was a picture of incredible love. He was paraded before the people, no doubt Pilate planning on their pity, no doubt Pilate expected the Jews to be moved with compassion at the very horrendous sight of Jesus, but instead the Jews were hardened in their hatred. Verse 6 says, As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw Him, they shouted, Crucify! Crucify! There was no pity in them. The very sight of Him, even dressed as a mock king, fanned the flame of their evil desires, their desires that He suffered to the uttermost. They wanted Jesus destroyed. They wanted Him dead, not just embarrassed. And that was God's plan. That was God's plan because we needed nothing less than the death of His Son who was handed over as the Jews sighed with Caesar in total rejection of God. But they shouted, Take Him away! Take Him away! Crucify Him! Shall I crucify your king? Pilate asked. We have no king but Caesar, the chief priests answered. the Messiah for whom they had waited the Messiah whom they had desired the Son of David whose kingdom they sang of a few days earlier stood right before them their Savior and they sided with an earthly king beloved anytime anyone places anything or anyone is higher in their life than Jesus. It only leads to disappointment. It leads to hardship. To death as it did for the Jews as history proves. In essence, they said, we don't want Him. We don't need Him. What a contrast here between the repeated declaration of Christ's faultlessness and innocence and the Jews' sinful treatment of Him as a criminal, their rejection of Him. Yet in God's wisdom, in God's plan, sinful man represented by Pilate was used to declare the truth of Christ's sinlessness. A sinlessness necessary for our forgiveness. Necessary for our righteousness before God. Necessary for our salvation. Pilate declares Jesus to be the spotless Lamb, to be the worthy sacrifice. And then he senses Him to death. And this Lamb of God here magnifies the picture of sin's offense against God with hatred beyond description as it was cast at Jesus. Yet that sin for which Jesus died, that sin which God forgives, the greatness of the need for salvation, ours too, ours too, beloved, is demonstrated in the sinful treatment of Jesus, the faultless Lamb of God. Yet they had no idea the torment Jesus would still endure far beyond what they were able to inflict as he would face the wrath of God even for this sinful treatment inflicted upon him. Beloved, the evil displayed against the Lord Jesus Christ represents the sin and evil of all of our hearts. You and I may have gone through periods of time or, let me put it this way, growing up in a Christian home, maybe you've never felt that way. But we need to understand that this represents the sin of every single one of our hearts. it describes each and every one of us apart from the grace of God. We were the guilty. We were those who were treasonous. We were truly the undeserving, as we just sang. It represents the sin and evil of all of our hearts and of our rejection of Him. Even as believers, in many ways, our rejection of Him by remaining silent when His name is abused. Our rejection of Him by not wanting others to know that we are Christians because they might make fun of us. They might embarrass us. Our rejection of Him by willfully, willfully and knowingly living and acting and speaking in ways that we know do not please God. Our rejection of Him by not trusting that all things, even the difficult circumstances of life that we face, work together for the good of those who love Him. It's at times like that, beloved, that we are called to remember what He endured for you and me. He did not reject us, but He took a stand for us. He went to battle for us. He died for us, and we are forgiven as those who turn to Him alone in faith. He died even for our sin of rejecting Him. And for those who humble themselves, for those who confess their sins and repent of their sins, He promises, I forgive, you are my child. And His table, beloved, is a visible confirmation of this promise. And as we prepare to come to the Lord's table, the Lord willing, may we see in Christ's rejection by men, may we see, as one commentator said, Here then is the gospel of our salvation. The Savior was scourged that we might go free. He was crowned with thorns that we might be crowned with blessing and glory. He was clothed with a robe of contempt that we might receive the robe of righteousness. He was rejected as king that we might be made kings and priests under God. Indeed, He may have looked powerless on this occasion, but all power and all authority and all glory belongs to Him. And His kingdom alone is forever. The faultless Christ, rejected by men, was rejected by men so that we too who would have shouted crucify Him, had we been there, might be saved by Him and transformed from enemies to brothers and sisters of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And therefore, may we respond in faith, beloved, standing up boldly for our King who saved us. He is worthy of our lives devoted to Him and His promises. I will never reject or forsake those who come to Me in faith because indeed My kingdom is forever. We who rejected Him are accepted by God. For Jesus' sake. Indeed. That is the amazing love of God. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, as we come before You, Again, we thank You and praise You for that gift beyond compare. The gift that we cannot even begin to describe. Even the words undeserved can hardly cover it. How can we give expression to the suffering and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ? We thank You, Father, that for we who were the least deserving, You have given everything through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit and the precious work of sanctification by Your grace. Continue to mold us and make us after Your will, as those who delight in You. as those who delight visibly and publicly in our Lord Jesus Christ, as those who delight to share the good news of the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Father, when we have those opportunities, so often we are cowardly. Remove that from us and give us a courage that is unsurpassed. We ask that you would hear our prayer. We thank you and praise you for your goodness to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.