I invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Mark chapter 15. Mark chapter 15, we continue our study in the Gospel of Mark nearing the end. And we're right in the heart of this section here on Jesus going to the cross. Chapter 15, we'll read through verse 20 this morning. That's found on page 1084 in your pew Bible, 1084. This is the word of the Lord beginning at verse 1 of Mark chapter 15. As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and they bound Jesus and led him away to be delivered over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, you have said so. And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, have you no answer to make? see how many charges they bring against you but jesus made no further answer so that pilate was amazed now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked and among the rebels in prison who had committed murder in the insurrection there was a man called barabbas and the crowd came up and began to ask pilate to do as he usually did for them and he answered them saying, do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priest had delivered him up. But the chief priest stirred up the crowd to have him released for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, then what shall I do with the man you call the king of the Jews? And they cried out again, crucify him. And Pilate said to them why what evil has he done but they shouted all the more crucify him so pilot wishing to satisfy the crowd released for them barabbas and having scourged jesus he delivered him to be crucified and the soldiers led him away inside the palace that is the governor's headquarters and they called together the whole battalion and they clothed him in a purple cloak and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on him and they began to salute him hail king of the jews and they were striking his head with the reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him and when they had mocked him they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him and they led him out to crucify him may the lord bless the hearing this morning of his work Well, how could we take the Lord of glory and all of His gentleness and all of the grace that He had exhibited, did nothing but help to care for the poor, feed the hungry, encourage the downhearted, cared about the depressed, confronted the lost, healed people, loved in the world with a love that had never been seen before. How could we take him, spit in his face, revile him, twist a crown of thorns, dig it into his skull, end up murdering God's gift to us? How? It says something a lot about the human heart, doesn't it? Doesn't it? It says a lot. What's even more shocking is that we never found one reason to do it. You don't find it in the Scriptures. What did he do to deserve that, what I just read? This is the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. That's the worst story I've just read from an outward human perspective, isn't it? I mean, think of the atrocity of this whole thing. That's a sweeping indictment against us all. That were that evil, human nature could do this to God's beloved Son. That's the heart. of Christianity this message isn't it and if this message is so you can appreciate really why the Lord would care a lot about a message of salvation by grace through faith alone he wouldn't want anyone to come along and then be very proud in their own works and in their own doings and in their good upstanding moral life you see why that would be a great offense to him to put his son through that for people to claim that about themselves what an offense he's not putting his son through all of this to make salvation possible for you if you will just accept him who's bowing to who here he is unfolding for us in the very act of our deliverance why we need this i mean it's really remarkable what's woven into this this very story why we need this with no real reason they just tortured this man shamed him stripped him beat him and yet the message of christianity is through all of this it was god's good pleasure to bruise his son for you so that you would know peace forgiveness and love what we have uh this morning before us in Mark chapter 15 is the finality of the trial that Jesus was to face. After this, the judgment is rendered and he is now cross-bound heading there. And as we study this this morning and reflect on these verses in Mark chapter 15, we see the greater story of Jesus taking our place, in our place, being tried, being executed for us, him willingly and purposely laying down his life for us so that we might enjoy a full release from all the consequences of the judgment that we and our sins have deserved and merited. That's where we are this morning in our study in Mark's gospel. And what I want to do, it's a little bit challenging looking at what Mark is doing, so what I want to do is make sure I give you the big picture, but I don't want to lose the particular purpose of Mark in the way that he records things the way he does. He has a specific reason and a specific purpose in his record. And Mark is showing, at least what we've been learning from all the way back in chapter one, Mark has been showing that the king is being unjustly crucified when there was nothing that anyone could find to render him guilty. The kingdom of God was at hand and from the beginning jesus said repent and believe this gospel you're understanding what this gospel is right here in chapter 14 15 that's showing us the gospel what it means to repent and believe the gospel why did that matter to mark well there are a few different reasons for that but all the early church fathers believed that mark's gospel was written to the christians in Rome. And that takes on a little bit of meaning here, doesn't it, as Jesus now goes before Roman authorities to face the judgment. Many of these people who Mark is writing to are going to face the Roman tribunal themselves. Many of these people who Mark is writing to are going to be subjected to the same injustices and persecutions, not to pay for sin, but as witnesses of the one who did. And this really ties together with tonight because we consider in Revelation the persecuted church, a church on earth left and often persecuted and struck down and facing these very things. But here Jesus' suffering and death is all unique because it is an offering for sin. Jesus here is making this clear for those who would actually soon have to face this tribunal. And remember he had said earlier in Mark's gospel that they wouldn't even have to worry about what they say. I think there's something to that this morning in the way that Mark records the details of this and how he speaks before Pilate. Mark has in view this morning that Christians would take heart in all of the hardships and persecutions that they would endure to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, considering what he would do for them and what he did do for them, and that motivates the way that he records these things. At this point, Jesus has been arrested and now is in the second stage of his trial. There really are two kinds of trials that he had to undergo for us. The first was, and that he faced, we saw last time somewhat of an unjust trial before the Sanhedrin of which he was accused for blasphemy, a blasphemy. Each trial came in three parts. The first was before Annas and Caiaphas and the whole thing really was a scam since we know it was put on, he was put on trial between the hours of 1 in 3 a.m. on Friday, a terrible thing to do to the Savior. It was done at the blood money of Judas, and he was asked to incriminate himself after hours of this, with no real charge being made. They made their charge, but it was no charge because it was the truth. Remember that he spoke blasphemy saying that he was the messiah the son of god he he admitted to that and confessed that before them the council decides between 1 and 3 a.m the sanhedrin that he should be condemned to death so what we have this morning is now them handing over jesus to the roman authorities and this great transfer takes place so that he would be judged under pontius pilate and it's important to say that this is what jesus always said would happen jesus always said he would be condemned and go before the gentiles to have this happen but in verse 15 we see this transfer begin to take place and it's important to see what's what's going on here we read in verse 15 and as soon as it was morning the chief priest held a consultation with the elders and scribes in the whole council. They bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. What they did here was bring him over to what we know the other gospels call the Praetorium. This was the governor's house, probably loosely connected with Herod's palace. You'll notice it says it was early since jesus had been on this trial in the very early uh hours of the morning they probably brought him up to pilate's praetorium at about five to six a.m if they could have the jews would have put him to death themselves but this prerogative was only given to rome in capital offenses they were the only ones that could execute the judgment uh and death penalty as soon as it's light they bind up jesus and they lead him off to this praetorium they lead jesus right to the door of the palace this is this is important the details uh will be important as important as we see this unfold they lead him right up to the door and we know they won't go any further some of this i'm going to put together from the other gospels we know they stop because they won't enter the house of a dirty Gentile, the courtyard. The hypocrisy in this whole thing. It's Passover time. They can't be defiled. They stop outside the gate there, and they're handing over Jesus. Pilate comes out, again, probably 5 to 6 a.m. We know he asks, what accusation do you bring against him? why are you delivering them to me? Pilate hated the Jews. He couldn't stand the Jews. He was the governor of the southern half of Palestine, and he ruled over that province and was directly accountable to the emperor of Rome. He had a big position. He was under a lot of pressure because remember, these Roman emperors were constantly being taken out. They hated insurrections. They hated rebellions. Pilate was under strict order from the emperor. You put this stuff out. You put this stuff out. Pilate was proud. He was the kind of leader who in any insurrection would take the sword even against his own people. Remember, Jesus referenced this when these people came to him, these worshipers, and said that Pilate had mingled the blood of worshipers. He had killed people worshiping. Think of this moment for a minute. Pilate knew Jewish theology. Pilate knew that the Jews were notorious for revolts. He knew that they believed that their Messiah would come one day and crush the emperor of Rome and restore the kingdom to Israel. That's what they were all looking for. They wanted it all back the glory and greatness of israel pilot's nervous about the jews and couldn't stand them so they're expecting a king think of think of this whole scene they're expecting a messiah and he's used to them uh doing nothing but upheaval in his kingdom and here they come with this bound king. Think of the irony of this. Here they come with the Savior of the world. Jesus had said to His disciples, Behold, we're going to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they'll condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles. Deliver Him over to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify, and the third day He will rise again. Here they stand. here's the delivery here's the package what accusation what we have here is a real struggle that goes on between pilot and the jews it's not captured in mark and that's purposeful but pilot knows they've brought him and basically the jews say to pilot if he will not if he were not an evildoer we would not have delivered him over to you you confirm our judgment you confirm our judgment. And you'll see what they're doing here in a moment. Jews were not permitted to put people to death. This is where Mark begins right here. This is where Mark starts. He's brought to the praetorium. Pilate looks at Jesus and asks him a straightforward question. Are you the king of the Jews? Pilate's taking this as opportunity. I'd like to think about how he asked that question. What do you think he asked it? I think it went something like this. Are you the king of the Jews? You? This is the best you Jews bring me? This? You? You're the king of the Jews? He's somewhat scoffing, I believe, at this moment that the Jews have brought this lowly figure, no glory, not dressed in all the long phylacteries and robes, not dressed like a king. This is who you Jews bring me to deal with? This is what you bring me? Are you? As a matter of fact, remember what he does on the cross to mock the Jews. When Jesus is crucified, he puts up a saying right over the cross, hangs it to the cross. This is what? The king of the Jews. And they said, don't you put that. Don't you put that. What I put, I put. So all the Jews would walk by and look over and there on Golgotha, as you pass by, you'd see king of the Jews right over the cross. Are you the king of the Jews? Now, Jesus has not been presented as answering anything. The Jews have asked him, except at this point, the identity issue. And he answers it both times. He answered it in front of the Sanhedrin and now he answers it to Pilate. It is Pilate, as you say. I am, I am the King of the Jew. Now this is a big moment here in Mark because he had said before the Sanhedrin that he is the Messiah, the King, that he is the Son of God. We read that in their trial, they had tried him for blasphemy because he had said these things. But we know that now the Jews have shifted and you'll see that here in Mark's gospel in the way that they assault him. What Mark says is in verse two, actually three, and the chief priest accused him of many things. Pilate again asking him, have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you. But Jesus made no further answer so that Pilate was amazed. The Jews begin to level other accusations against him outside of the blasphemy charge and we know what they are we know what these other accusations are luke tells us they made three of them and it was this we found this fellow perverting the nation which nation forbidding to pay taxes to caesar and saying that he himself is christ a king see what they just did they now made him an insurrectionist against rome jesus says i'm king of the jews they have twisted it and said he is against caesar a very big moment in the gospels of their accusation so they've twisted their own charge of blasphemy and now they've tried to play the high treason card which will get automatic death if they could get him guilty of high treason against the emperor he's done so they're trying to box pilot in with this he's a rebel he's an insurrectionist he has assaulted caesar's treasury pilot he's messing with your money my friend claims to be a king over caesar that's the only concern pilate has isn't it that's what he's asking roman emperors were constantly being assassinated they took this threat very seriously this is what he's questioning jesus about and you put this in our day it would it would go something like this jesus have you come to take your seat in the white house you you claim to be over our president? Is that what you're claiming? I have to interject this here because John does this. This is at the point when Jesus talks to Pilate in private that Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world, Pilate. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight that I would not be delivered over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. He made a distinction in the kingdoms didn't he my kingdom is not this kingdom my kingdom is not from here interesting my kingdom doesn't assault the emperor i'm not a rebel against civil authority if i wanted to make this this world my kingdom right now we could take up the throne i'd fight i'd win but i got a whole different kind of kingship that's not of this world i didn't come to take over civil governments i'm not doing this by revolution i'll do it by a craw i'll get back to that i'll get back to that in the face of all this notice what mark wants you to see he answered nothing in other words we're outside the jews are hurling the accusations pilot says are you the king i am and here come all the other accusations nothing he doesn't say a word what a moment you know i thought about this you don't always owe people who are charging you maliciously a response to you you don't always owe it all we uh we want to do is defend ourselves and it plays into oftentimes the wicked scheme of people and it shows a lot of weakness in us. It's this very thing that Pilate observes. He looks at this calm, resolute man who gives so, he's so dignified, he gives none of this the time of day. Pilate is absolutely taken with that. Pilate is overwhelmed with that. How can you say nothing to this? silence. Fulfilling Isaiah 53, he opened not his mouth. But there's more to it. They are murdering God's gift of the promised Messiah to them. Well, that's true. Jesus would not let the Jews pass their guilt to the Romans in this. He would not let them pass their guilt. Are you the king of the jews i am nothing else he won't answer and you're going to see why that's important in a moment it's important to all of gospel proclamation it's important for us today you don't pass the guilt in this after a period of interrogation pilate is convinced that this man has done nothing i mean there's just nothing with which to put a man this man to death for what what could i find to put him to death i i don't see anything he has some odd teachings he's saying as a king we see many of these guys. I've dealt with insurrectionists, but I see nothing that proves he's an insurrectionist. Remember what happened at this moment as Pilate's working through these things? Pilate's wife comes up from the Matthew gospel. While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him a message. Don't have anything to do with this innocent man. I've suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him. Pilate is superstitious. He's looking at this guy, I don't, Pilate believes in the gods. He believes in numerous gods. I don't know what's exactly going through his head, but I know this, he is intent on having nothing to do with this man. He listened to his wife. Pilate's ready to release him. At this point, the Jews request that they would, Pilate would fulfill the custom of releasing somebody during the Passover feasts. And Pilate thinks to himself, well this is my opportunity. I'm going to get rid of this man this way. Surely this will be the one. The crowds love Jesus. Remember all that he did for the crowds. It's Passover and their custom during the Passover, now think of this for a minute. Their custom during the Passover was to release somebody. Why? You should know by Exodus now, from Exodus. Release a prisoner? It's the whole story of the exodus. They celebrated this. Their own release. So they would say, oh, well, let's get a notoriously wicked criminal and release him. We would release him just like we were released from Egypt by our king. So Pilate, do you want me to do this for you? Do you want me to release the criminal? Yes, we want you to release the criminal. Pilate knew that they had delivered him over for envy. Verse 11 says that. And Mark now introduces a contrast of a man next to Jesus whose name was Barabbas. You read that he was chained there in prison with fellow criminals. And ironically, this man you'll notice is directly called a what? Insurrectionist. He had committed murder in the insurrection. It's an absolutely stunning comparison and interjection by Mark. Barabbas was a known political hero in Israel. Barabbas was a tough guy. Barabbas had muscles. I didn't write that down, but he was it. His name meant son of the father. Isn't that interesting? You know, in some of the early manuscripts of Matthew, Barabbas' first name is Jesus. Jesus Barabbas, Savior, son of the father, is presented now. insurrectionist draws the sword fights murders takes down out to set israel free and restore the kingdom to israel here he is he's presented and here's where it all turned it says that pilot asks do you want me to release the king of the jews jesus the messiah the scribes hear this and they begin to go around stirring up the crowd. You can only hear what they're saying. Barabbas is the hero. Barabbas is the deliverer. Barabbas has shown power. Barabbas has shown delivering power. This guy has done nothing but disrupt our whole nation. Are you seeing the wisdom of God in all this working in the background here? Barabbas, do you want me to release the king of the jews what do you get and they cried out verse 13 notice it says it crucify him crucify him there was a problem all the crowds now for pilate are calling out for the crucifixion of jesus the christ this is a problem for pilate because if it gets back to rome that he didn't deal with this insurrection at the will of the crowd who even said it. And this guy does turn out to be something. He's done. Mark says Pilate does one other thing to try to stop this whole thing. You'll notice it in verse 15. So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. You have to understand what took place in the order here, I believe. Jesus was scourged. Don't ever read over that too quickly. Scourging was an awful form of torture. Jesus spoke of it as such. The Son of Man, He kept saying, will be scourged. The flagellum was a whip with many strands, each almost three feet long, and the strands were weighted with lead balls and bone so that when it struck your flesh, it was designed to lacerate. It was designed to split open. These long straps struck the skin so violently. Fogging was something you never wanted to have to face. They did it right before your death because it would make the death on the cross go quicker. The church historian Eusebius of Caesarea recounts with vivid, horrible detail scourging. He says, he describes one of his day, for they say that the bystanders were struck with amazement when they saw them lacerated with scourges, even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members were exposed to view. They'd take a criminal, they'd strip him, they'd take off his clothing, they'd beat him till he's covered with blood with this. unimaginable pain, often killing people it happened to. Mark captures it and says they scored, Pilate scourged him. Why? It didn't happen out in front of everyone. Pilate took him back into the praetorium. The Jews don't see this, but Pilate's reasoning is clear. He had apparently ordered this by the officers. And you'll notice here all the detail that comes out in verse 16. and the soldiers led him away inside the palace that is the governor's headquarters and they called together the whole battalion and they clothed him in a purple cloak and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on him and they began to salute him hail king of the Jews and they're striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him and when they had mocked him they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him and led him out to crucify him comparing the gospel accounts the reason mark says he scourged him is that pilot that was pilot's last ditch effort you only did that after the sentence was read pilot does it before the sentence for what reason takes him back there pulls out the whip soldiers get in ranks they begin to salute the whole thing is in ridicule they give him a mock coronation they take a reed and they start hitting him with it and they'll put it in his hand john says it's a reed of a king they'll start yelling out hail king of the jews bowing in mockery and in shame and as they're doing this as he's been scourged each of them are taking big blows with their hands to his face bowing and worship listen you know there are certain things as a preacher you stand back and you say, I'm just, as I prayed before coming into church today, why do you take a wretch like me to preach these things? This is heavy. Pilate comes out and says six times with his mouth, I find nothing wrong with him. He's not guilty. The judgment hall was constructed in such a way it faced the street. This is how the executions, the verdicts, the trials happened. It was public. Everyone's standing there. They had a palace or terrace and it came out. Pilate would sit in the seat. Everyone would see it would be low, probably about this height. Everyone would be right here. And Pilate would then put on the apparel and sit in the judgment seat. He brings them out hoping this will have humiliated Jesus enough for the Jews to say, that's enough. That's enough. He got what he deserves. Behold the man, says Pilate. Purple robe, bloody. They twisted a crown of thorns. He's wearing it, stuck into his head. Is this enough for you? Look at him. Look at him. You know, I expect some cry of mercy, don't you? I mean, even, you know, we try to look at this on a human level. The best you could get is Braveheart. And they're all crying out, Mercy! Mercy! Nothing. Is this enough? Is this enough for you? That's a good question, isn't it? Is this enough to pay for your sins? Is it? Not enough, Pilate. We want you to take him and give him the worst cursed death that we know in the Roman Empire. You give it to him and you put him in the center. You nail that body up there. You keep him there until he suffers long and hard and dies. You crucify Him. You know, it's really, you have to stop and say, these people, and even in Christianity today, who want to downplay sin, you think God's putting His Son through this so that you could say you're not that bad? You don't want to say that. You don't want to play that game. Gory, torn, flogged, wounded, not enough. Never lifted a finger to hurt anyone. Spoke only true, completely pure, never sinned, never abused someone made in God's image. True God of true God. God's gift to the world, the Father's gift. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Here's what you did. You flogged Him. You beat Him. You mocked Him. The rage was so fierce, you said crucify Him. Get rid of Him. Meaning, Christ here is wearing the sign of the curse. It was thorns in Genesis 3 that were introduced as the curse. It's on His head. He's become the curse. He's become your curse. Judged under Pilate. Bigger story, the imagery for you of what happens to those who are cursed is right here. You want to know how serious God takes sin? Study this. There's another judgment taking place here right now. It's God's judgment. Another has taken His seat. Mark began this gospel by saying, the beginning of the gospel of the Son of God. Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom saying the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Do you know what he's saying now? Jesus was handed over and delivered up because of you, because of me. And he wants us to study this and think about this, that look at human nature. What wickedness could be in our hearts to crucify God's Messiah to us? And the Jews are a looking glass. This is what gets rid of the anti-Semitic card. The Jews are a looking glass to show what we are. We don't want any accountability. We want to shift the blame. This story is our fault, the blows, the scourging, because of us. We hate God, and if we could, here's the lie from the Garden of Eden. We hate Him so much, if we could, we'd put Him out of existence so that we could be our own gods. That's our life. Y'all want to go do your own thing. I do. You don't want to be under this God. You'd put Him out of existence if you could. That's human nature. Our cat Heidelberg says it. We hate God and we hate man. And the story? Yet, it pleased God to bruise Him for you. What wisdom. What a marvel. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He's put him to grief, Isaiah 53, when you shall make his soul an offering for sin. Wrapped into this narrative is the story of a who? A rebel. A rebel who deserved all the judgment for being a murderer. And God interposed the blood of his son and released him. That's what Mark wants you to consider. This is the gospel. Repent and believe. The gospel of the kingdom, the Son of God, who was given to release you. You're a rebel. I'm a rebel. And the worst of sorts. And don't play the pious card. We're rebels. When Peter preached, that's how he preached it, by the way. This is how 3,000 people came into the church in one day. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. And yet it was God's purpose to announce a gospel to the ends of the earth. You know what it says when they heard it? After all the games people play in this thing, when they heard it says for the first time in Acts, they were cut to the heart. It was the crucifixion that got them. That they did it. You did this. I did this. And Peter said, repent. Let every one of you be baptized. We have a baptismal font to announce the washing away of our sins by the blood of Jesus. let every one of you be baptized identified with him for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit for the promises to you and to your children that's a wonderful gospel that we preach we crucified the lord of glory and yet it was god's will to do it so that whoever confesses with his mouth the lord jesus and believes in his heart that god raised him from the dead, that person will be saved. You tell me if this is not the most important message you'll ever hear. Right here. Right preach. Right now. This is God's answer to you. Believe him. And receive, as Peter would later say, this indescribable gift to you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for so wonderful a salvation. No man could make this up. It's your inspired story that actually happened in history that in A.D. 30, in the month of Nisan, about the sixth hour of the day, Jesus would say, it is finished. But at every last sin laid on Him, you were pleased to bruise, putting Him to grief, making His soul an offering for sin as the wrath fell on His soul so that we, rebels like Barabbas, by faith, might be freed forever from that judgment. Thank You for proclaiming this to us. And thank You for forbearing with us that we know what we've been to You. Remember the Gospel of Your Son. Remember what He went through. May we never downplay sin. May we take it seriously and always keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen. Thank you.