Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Introduction

As we look at this text together, we are going to consider it under the title: “Rejection of the King of kings”.

We are going to see how Jesus is utterly rejected by various people, either as groups, or individually.

1) Rejection by the Religious Leaders (v.1)

The first rejection of Jesus that we find is His “Rejection by the Religious Leaders.”

In verse 1 we read:

The first thing that we should note from this is that what unfolds here happens very early in the morning - we see this in the beginning of verse 1.

What takes here happens just as the sun was rising.

The word “morning” in this verse refers to the fourth watch of the night, or some time between 3 AM and 6 AM.

You will recall that this mock trial of Jesus has been going on through the night, as Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane, and taken to the home of the High Priest.

Mark 14:55-65 told us that tell us that, after Jesus was arrested, He was subjected to a trial before the chief priest.

But there was nothing legitimate about that trial… it was purely for the reason of finding some reason - whatever reason they could find - to put Jesus to death.

Ultimately, during this mock trial Jesus was accused of blasphemy and thus condemned to death.

And then they started spitting on Him; they blindfolded Him and punched Him, and mocked Him by telling Jesus to prophesy and let them know who it was that had hit Him.

And so now, as dawn begins to break, the chief priests convene all the rulers of Israel together in order to “come to a decision” on Jesus.

This early morning meeting was held for just one purpose; these men wanted to add a sense of legitimacy to the illegal decision they had made during the night.

All they’re really trying to do is legitimize the decisions that they had already taken.

The entire trial had begun with them wanting to put Jesus to death.

But here, they reach this decision concerning Jesus… meaning, we’re going to put Him to death!

The problem that they were now faced with was that the Jews were under Roman rule.

And while they did have some measure of freedom to try cases and pronounces sentences on their own people, they were not allowed to hand down the death sentence.

That went beyond their powers!

The only person who had the authority to hand down the death sentence was the Roman governor who had been appointed to rule over their district.

And so, what they now do is, they bind Jesus up - probably tied Him with ropes - and they lead him to the person who does have the authority to condemn someone to death.

So they bound Jesus like a common criminal and led Him away to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.

But the next struggle that they would face would be that they would not be able to condemn Jesus of blasphemy before Pilate, because Pilate wasn’t concerned with their religious beliefs!

To tell Pilate that this Jesus had blasphemed by making Himself equal with God would have done nothing for them - because there was no Roman rule in this regard - there was nothing that would have said that this is a charge worthy of death.

Quite frankly, Pilate wouldn’t have cared.

He would never intervene in a Jewish religious argument.

And so they are thus forced to bring in all sorts of other charges against Jesus, again, making things up, so that there can be some grounds for putting Jesus to death.

According to Luke 23:2...

Now, were these the charges that they had found him guilty on as a Jewish council?

Not at all!!

They had found Him guilty of blasphemy.

But now the raise all these other charges against Jesus, all of them designed to rouse the suspicions and concerns of the Roman ruler.

“He is subverting our nation...”

They hoped that this would lead the Roman governor to be concerned that He was a man stirring up trouble, which would create challenges in maintaining peace.

“He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar...”

Obviously if Jesus is seen to be opposing taxes being paid to Caesar, then he will be in trouble.

Now this was clearly not true - Jesus himself had had a trap set for Him when He was asked if taxes should be paid to Caesar, and having taken a coin with Caesar’s inscription on it, He said “Render to Caesar that which is Caesars, and to God, that which is God’s” (Mark 12:17)

Before we look at that final charge that they were bringing against Him, just consider for a moment the motivation behind these leaders.

Nothing other than self-centered pride.

There actions show us that religion is useless, absolutely useless and ineffective in transforming hearts and lives of people.

We can call Christianity a “religion” - and yes, by label this is what it is.

But religion is useless!!

The Jewish religious rulers had a good thing going.

As far as daily life in Israel was concerned, they held all the power over the people.

They were making vast amounts of money through the buying and selling that went on at the Temple.

They were rich.

They were powerful.

They were “good”

They believed that they were right with God.

These men thought they were justified in all their actions.

They believed their religion was enough!

BUT!!!!

The Jews rejected Jesus because religion has no room for Jesus Christ.

Their religion (and all other religion) was based in external works.

Biblical Christianity, on the other hand, is always based in faith in what God has done.

Religion seeks to approach God on the basis of what man can do.

Biblical Christianity seeks to approach God on the basis of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is a very clear and straight forward message.

It can be summed up in these verses:

Have you believed the Gospel message of Christ’s death and resurrection?

Are you trusting Jesus and Jesus alone for your soul’s salvation?

Things like giving, praying, good works, baptism, church attendance, etc., are all good things, but none of them has the power to save the soul.

Religion has the power to make people respectable and decent, but it does not have the power to make anyone right with God.

On the other hand, biblical redemption has the power to make people holy.

It has the power to save the soul, secure the soul and alter one’s eternal destiny.

Seeking God man’s way will always result in eternal damnation in Hell.

Coming to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will always result the soul’s salvation and eternal glory in Heaven!

So, are you saved?

Or, are you lost?

2) Rejection by Pilate (v.2-5)

The Second point that we must consider this morning is Christ’s “Rejection by Pilate.”

We’ve seen his rejection by the religious leaders, and now we must consider his rejection by Pilate.

Now at the end of verse 1 we read that the leaders “handed him over to Pilate” and then brought all sorts of charges against Jesus.

You will recall from Luke 23:2 that we considered two of these charges (He is subverting our nation; He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar…)

And the one that we didn’t consider further was that charge: “…he claims to be Christ, a King.”

But when we arrive at verse 2 of our text, we find Pilate’s question to Jesus:

Pilate immediately picks up on this one accusation that the religious leaders bring against Jesus.

The reason is that here may be a true threat to the Roman empire - if Jesus is truly a king, and is acting as a king to the Jews, He may end up subverting the Roman rule.

If Pilate failed to address this issue, then he himself would possibly have been taken to task!

And so Pilate addresses Jesus on this particular accusation: “Are you the King of the Jews” - asked Pilate..

You will recall that when the Jews asked Jesus about His identity as the Son of God and the Messiah, Jesus simply said, “I Am”! (Mark 14:62)

When Pilate asks Jesus if He is the King of the Jews, Jesus responds by effectively saying “You say that I am..” (depending on Bible Version)

This statement has three possible interpretations.

“You got it just right!

That’s Who I am.”,

“That’s for you to decide.”

“I am the King of the Jews, but I am not a king in any way you would understand.”

This third This latter interpretation is, I think, the correct one.

It is confirmed by what John records in John 18:33-36.

As Jesus engages in this discussion with Pilate, we find that Pilate is uncertain about why Jesus is being labeled as a King.

And Pilate then asks the question: Am I a Jew??

Clearly, Pilate didn’t know what to think, and he didn’t have an understanding about who Jesus was, or the fact that the Jews were expecting a Messiah to come.

The Jews had every reason to believe that Jesus was Who He claimed to be.

They had the Old Testament with its laws and prophecies that predicted the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus fulfilled every one of them to the letter.

He proved He was their Messiah.