One Sacrificed for All

 

 

 

Passion -5

 

TITLE: One Sacrificed for All

TEXT: John 18:28-19:37

TONE: Somber

TARGET: All

TASK: To exhort my listeners to take up their cross and follow Christ because of His cross.

TEACH: Years ago, I took a mission to a coastal city in Mexico. I could smell the salty sea breeze as the fisherman were unloading their catch from the boats. The sound of seagulls filled the air as they would swoop down, hoping for a stray fish or two. I saw groups of fishermen working together to mend their fishing nets, each person skillfully weaving and repairing the intricate mesh. Their weathered hands move with practiced precision, a testament to the years spent at sea braving the elements. As I walked by, I saw small fishing boats bobbing gently in the water, their patched-up hulls telling stories of countless voyages and adventures on the open sea. As I walked out on the dock, the wood beneath my feet began to creak. I looked down and saw the wood stained by years of blood, sweat, and tears. These men sacrificed everything to provide for their families and the wood of the dock told their story.

 

However, I want to talk about a different sacrifice. A sacrifice that did not stain a fishing dock, but a Roman cross.

 

TRUTH: After being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was taken before the Jewish religious leaders, for a series of illegal trials during the night. During these trials, false witnesses were brought forward to testify against Jesus, but their testimonies did not align. Eventually, Jesus was charged with blasphemy for claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God. The Jewish leaders delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, because only the Romans has the authority to carry out the death penalty.

 

I.                             The Roman Trial of Jesus

 

PHASE ONE: Jesus before Pilate

 

The scene of Jesus standing before Pilate is a stark contrast between worldly power and divine humility. Pilate, representing the authority of the Roman Empire, interrogates Jesus, who embodies the ultimate authority as the Son of God.

 

The chief priests led Jesus to the praetorium to appear before Pilate. They refused to go inside to avoid defilement and thereby become unable to participate in the other festive meals during the week. Pilate emerges and ask what charges are being brought against Jesus. Three charges were presented: (1) inciting the nation; (2) forbidding the payment of taxes to Caesar; and (3) making himself out to be the Messiah (Lk. 23:2).  They wanted nothing short of an execution.

 

Despite the false accusations brought against him, Jesus chooses silence, echoing the prophecy in Isaiah 53:7, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth."

 

Pilate took Jesus aside for a private conversation/interrogation (vv.33-37). Pilate wanted to know about the third accusation: “Are you King of the Jews?” After further, discussion he tells the crowds, ‘he finds no fault.’ However, the people responded harshly. Jesus silence stunned Pilate. Upon hearing Jesus was from Galilee, he saw a way to avoid having to render a verdict against Jesus. He could send him to Herod Antipas.

 

PHASE TWO: Jesus before Herod Antipas

 

When Jesus appeared before Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, the encounter. Is described in Luke 23:6-12. Antipas was in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus’ trial, and when he heard that Jesus was from Galilee, he was intrigued and wanted to see him perform miracles.

 

The narrative reveals that Herod Antipas questioned Jesus at length, hoping to witness a miraculous sign or hear profound teachings. However, Jesus remained silent in the presence of Herod, refusing to entertain him with signs or explanations.

 

 

Additionally, Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus and treated him with contempt, dressing him in a luxurious robe to humiliate him as a false king. Despite the mockery and abuse, Jesus stood firm in his identity as the true King of Kings, maintaining his silence and dignity throughout the encounter.

 

PHASE THREE: Jesus before Pilate again

 

After Jesus was sent back to Pontius Pilate from Herod Antipas, Pilate took Jesus back inside the Praetorium and called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people. Pilate then declared to them that he found no guilt in Jesus, emphasizing that neither Herod not himself found Jesus’ guilt of the charges brought against him.

 

Pilate proposed to release Jesus as a customary gesture during the Passover feast, offering the crowd the choice between Jesus and Barabbas, a notorious prisoner. However, the chief priests and the crowd incited by them shouted for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be crucified.

 

Pilate tried to reason with the crowd, but they persisted in demanding Jesus’ crucifixion. Eventually, Pilate gave in to their demands, washing his hands to symbolize his own innocence and declaring that he was not responsible for Jesus’ death. Jesus was then handed over to be crucified, fulfilling the prophecy and providing the ultimate sacrifice for humanity’s salvation.

 

II.The Scourging and Crucifixion of Christ

 

Scourging

 

The scourging was a brutal form of punishment in which a victim was whipped repeatedly with a multi-tailed whip, often with sharp metal or bone fragments attached to the ends of the lashes.

 

In the case of Jesus, after he was condemned by Pontius Pilate to be crucified, he was handed over to the Roman soldiers to be scourged. They stripped him, place a crown of thorns on his head, and mocked him as the “King of the Jews.” Then, they mercilessly whipped him, inflicting severe wounds/lacerations on his back and body.

 

The scourging of Jesus was not only a physically agonizing experience but also a deeply symbolic one. It represented the suffering and sacrifice that Jesus endured for the sake of humanity’s redemption. The brutality of the scourging underscores the extent of Jesus’ willingness to beat the punishment for human sin and to offer himself as a sacrificial atonement for all.

 

Mockery

 

After Jesus was scourged, he was subjected to further mockery and humiliation by the Roman soldiers. They placed a crown of thorns on his head and a scarlet robe on him, as a way of sarcastically portraying him as a king. They also knelt before him in mock reverence, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

 

The soldiers continued to verbally abuse Jesus, striking him and spitting on him. They taunted him, challenging him to prove his claim of kingship by saving himself if he truly was the Son of God. This mocking and mistreatment further added to Jesus’ physical and emotional suffering before his crucifixion.

 

The mockery of Jesus served to degrade and belittle him in the eyes of those present, attempting to dimmish his claim to divine authority and undermine his message of love and salvation.

 

Crucifixion

 

Jesus is made to carry His cross to Golgotha, the place of the skull, where he is to be crucified along with two criminals. At Golgotha, soldiers offer Jesus wine mixed with gall to drink, but he refuses it.

 

The soldiers then nail Jesus to the cross, crucifying him between the two criminals. As Jesus hangs on the cross, he endures hours of physical suffering, as well as verbal taunt from those passing by. Despite his agony, Jesus demonstrates forgiveness and compassion by praying for his executioners, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

During the crucifixion, darkness covers the land, and Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He also speaks to one of the criminals crucified with him, promising him salvation: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

 

As Jesus nears death, he utters his final words, “Father, into you hands I commit my spirit,” and then breathes his last. The earth shakes, the curtain in the temple is torn in two, and many who witness these events are filled with fear and acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. After his death, Jesus’ body us taken down from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and placed in a tomb, where he is buried.

 

TAKE-AWAY: In response, we are called to carry our own cross. What does this even mean?

 

1.        Committing completely to Christ.

2.        Crucify carnal carvings.

3.        Conform to Christ commission.

 

TIE-UP: Does your cross have stains?