Sermon Tone Analysis

*“The People’s Court”*

*Mark 15.1-20*

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Perhaps you’ve watched the television show, “The People’s Court” before.

I must admit I haven’t watched it much since it left prime time with Judge Wapner, I think it was.

From what I recall, the producers rightly noted that people are often entertaining when they vehemently demand rights and their innocence.

I think that this also provided people an opportunity to have cases settled that they might not otherwise be able to afford and~/or to resolve their case in a more expedient manner.

I’ve entitled this morning’s sermon, *“The People’s Court” *for other reasons, however.

In fact, if our drama wasn’t so tragic, it could almost be comical how we come by the verdict in our case this morning.

Actually, our “courtroom” is carried out in a very unorthodox and unjust way.

We are going to see how the prosecution riles up an audience which persuades a judge to pardon the guilty and sentence the innocent.

Yes, I said that right.

It’s that bad.

Please turn to Mark 15 with me.

We are nearing the end of our study in the Gospel of Mark.

Mark has recorded many of the highlights of Jesus’ teaching and ministry.

He has moved through these events at a quicker pace than the other Gospel writers.

And then he slows down things down as we near the cross.

We have seen with great vividness, the entrance of Jesus and the disciples into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the institution of the Lord’s Supper, the astonishing foretelling of Peter’s denial, the great anguish as Jesus prays in the Garden and continues his submission to the Father’s will.

And then we saw the band of soldiers who came with Judas to apprehend Jesus, the makeshift interrogation at the house of the high priest at night.

And then we were dumbfounded when the prediction came true and Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times that very night.

Then he broke down and wept.

That’s where we left off last week.

Let’s read Mark 15.1-20 as we get under way.

*READ.

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In the midst of this unconventional courtroom, we will observe some very significant spiritual truths.

These are not just some things that we can look at and interpret and say, “wow.

This is pretty good information.”

This is eternal, supernatural truth that has very relevant implications for us today.

This is not merely a case of a botched trial but the focus of all of history.

This is the way that God’s plan of redemption will be carried out.

The first thing I would like us to look at is the *“Silence of the Lamb.”

*The text begins with “and as soon as it was morning…” We recall from the last scene that the Sanhedrin had met at the house of Caiaphas at night.

This was not standard procedure because they would normally carry out judgments during the day and in a chamber in the temple court area of Jerusalem.

We also noted that the religious leaders were trying to do away with Jesus – permanently.

The only problem was that they did not possess the authority to sentence Jesus to death.

This had to come from the Roman authorities.

And so the Jewish leaders had spent much of the night trying to accumulate evidence against Jesus.

You remember, it was testimony against Jesus.

But when Jesus declared himself to be divine, it was too much for the high priest to bear.

He charges Jesus with blasphemy and they all condemned him as deserving of death.

Only they couldn’t carry this out.

So they had to bring Jesus to the Roman authorities.

And… “as soon as it was morning…” the chief priests consulted together, bound Jesus and led him to Pilate.

Pontius Pilate was the procurator of Judea.

Normally, he would have been stationed in Caesarea but because of the Passover festivities, Pilate would come and stay in Jerusalem in order to prevent rebellious activities.

And so he would have had control over the military stationed in Caesarea and in the Antonia Fortress which was in the area of the temple.

As procurator, he would also have control over the Temple and its funds.

He appointed the high priests and had full powers of life and death – including overturning capital sentences passed by Sanhedrin.

Pilate’s initial arrival on the scene was not without controversy.

He really upset the Jews when he introduced effigies into the city – contrary to the Jews strict standards on such images.

There was a major uproar and Pilate eventually conceded.

He also built an aqueduct to convey water to the city from a spring stone 40 km away.

The only problem was that he used the temple monies to fund this project.

So it is safe to say that he was not so popular with the Jews at this time.

And now they bring Jesus to Pilate.

As we also discovered last week, the Sanhedrin were permitted to judge cases pertaining to religious matters.

Pilate would be less interested in such things.

So, in order for the religious leaders to accomplish their goal of capital punishment, they had to introduce other charges than the ones that they had recently acquired.

“Blasphemy” would not cut it for Pilate.

Verse 2 provides with a clue to the charges.

Pilate asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews?

You are forced to wonder where this came from.

I thought the high priest was just distraught over Jesus referring to the fact that he claimed to be the Son of Man and would be seated next to the Father in heaven.

He did not claim to be the King of the Jews here.

Well, Luke tells us that they spread more false witness against Jesus.

According to Luke’s gospel, “they began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.’”

To which Pilate asks this same question, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

This certainly would have concerned Pilate more than blasphemy.

This had political ramifications.

The Romans were already wary of any uprisings and rebellions.

So, if the Jews had someone declaring himself to be the King, this would be relevant to the discussion – and the charges.

This would have been a challenge to the rule of Caesar – and thus a capital crime in the eyes of Rome.

Jesus’ response to the question is answered in the indicative, and the affirmative.

“You have said so.”

You might think that he could have answered the charge more forcefully.

And some have suggested that he didn’t really confirm the claim.

But the context would suggest that he accepted the title and the charge that would come with it.

Pilate continues to refer to him with that title.

If he had denied it, he would have been referred to in another manner.

And the soldiers would not have mocked him as they did in verses 16-20.

Verse 3 tells us that beyond this charge, they accused him of many things.

Based on the proceedings to this point, you would likely conclude that these charges were fabricated and false.

We saw this last week as well.

The religious leaders were doing everything in their power to eliminate this rebel, Jesus.

After all, Jesus had repeatedly identified them as hypocrites and enemies of God.

I think that these guys were getting desperate and were just throwing accusations and charges against Jesus hoping that something would stick.

I realize that there is not an exact parallel here because Jesus is going to the cross to pay for sins.

But if we are followers of his, we can expect to undergo many of the same things that he encountered.

And so we are not exempt from them.

Has anybody brought charges against you?

The reason I ask this is because if we are attempting to obey what Jesus has commanded us, the world will also try to discredit us.

A biblical worldview and a secular one are diametrically opposed.

The former indicates that life revolves around an understanding of God and an attempt to honor him.

The latter worldview suggests that life revolves around anything else and attempts to honor and serve ourselves.

So when Christians attempt to call people to serve God, there is opposition and charges brought against us.

There are attempts to discredit us and the God we serve.

So it becomes real easy to look for moral failures in the lives of popular preachers and teachers.

They become greater targets.

Of course, if you look close enough, you will find failures in any Christian.

But then there are also the fabricated ones.