Judge, Jury, Lawyer, or Witness?
A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
March 25, 2018
at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Zuni, Virginia
Matthew 26: 57-68
Matthew 27: 11-14
Let us pray,
Help us to see despite our eyes
Help us to think outside of our minds
Help us to be more than our lives
For your eyes show the way
Your mind knows the truth
Your being is the life.
Amen.
What a long strange journey we’ve had, from the entry of Jesus
all the way to today when we consider Jesus on Trial. Today is a special day in
the church, and it actually is a double duty day because today has two names,
for it is Palm Sunday, but it is also Passion Sunday. And today we are paying
our respects to both. It is as if we get the entire story of our Lenten Journey
today, and then this week, we go even more in depth, with our Maundy Thursday
and Good Friday services, Today we began the service dedicated to remembering
Palm Sunday, Singing All Glory Laud and Honor again, then the choir’s anthem of
Hosanna with the kids, parading and waving palms, and now we shift to the
trial.. . the shouts of hosanna turning into the mob’s shouts choosing with
resounding voices, Crucify him! Save Barabbas!
Let’s look at this trial. . . and I want to
look at three different parts of it, for it has many different facets, as no
one really wants to make the call on Jesus. The first two come from the gospel
of Matthew, and then I also want to look at part of the account from Luke:
Here from Matthew 26: 57-68
57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the
high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter
followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He
entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.
59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking
for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they
did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
Finally two came forward 61 and
declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and
rebuild it in three days.’”
62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you
not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against
you?” 63 But
Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, “I charge you
under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the
Messiah, the Son of God.”
64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son
of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the
clouds of heaven.”[a]
65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He
has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have
heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they
answered.
67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their
fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who
hit you?”
Now
it picks back up in the next chapter, now from the Sanhedrin to Pilate, the
Roman governor of the province of Judea, Here is Matthew 27: 11-14
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and
the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said
so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the
elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked
him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But
Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of
the governor.
Now
look at the same scene from Luke, I include it because Luke includes the
charges Jesus is facing.
Luke 23: 1-5
Then the assembly rose as a body and brought
Jesus before
Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this
man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and
saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” 3 Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the
king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” 4 Then
Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an
accusation against this man.” 5 But they were insistent
and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from
Galilee where he began even to this place.”
The one thing I want us to think about this
morning is the fact that this trial of Jesus is not just a historical event.
Jesus is still on
trial,
today, just like he was in this passage.
If we are honest, we all play a role in this
trial as well.
Because we are still trying to determine what
to do with Jesus,
and by we I mean the world in general, all of
us collectively and each of us individually.
IF we look at this
account of the trial from Luke we see the charges made against Jesus
and
what Jesus' accusers say about him.
·
"perverting the nation,"
·
forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor,
·
and him saying that he himself is the Messiah the King.
I can't help but see the parallels of then and now.
Perverting the nation:
Look at these quotes from the secular world of today, perhaps
the man who is the chief prosecuting attorney, against Christianity, Comedian
Bill Maher, these come from his mockumentary Religulous
We
are a nation that is unenlightened because, of religion. I do believe that. I
think religion stops people from thinking. I think it is justifies
crazies .
When
we talk about values, I think of rationality in solving problems. That’s
something I value. Fairness, kindness, generosity, tolerance. When they talk
about values, they’re talking about things like going to church, voting for
Bush, being loyal to Jesus, praying. These are not values.
I
think religion is a neurological disorder
Faith
means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And
those who preach faith, and enable and elevate it are intellectual
slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has
spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction.[2]
If you could summarize and mold together these four quotes,
wouldn't they be saying that the idea of Christ is perverting the nation? And
therefore should be dealt with accordingly.
Okay, now so, refusing to pay taxes to the emperor.
Obviously that is inciting people to be against the government.
Christianity stands in the way of the government's enlightened
rule of the people.
They cling to their guns and religion,
rather than relenting to the benevolent arm of the government. .
.
maybe not taxes, though we don’t really like paying them, but
instead just blind allegiance. . . Christians are accused of this. . . and
therefore Jesus is accused of inciting it.
Still. . .
And finally
Claiming to be
King/Messiah/God:
How many times do you hear? Yes I believe Jesus was a very good
man,
and a great teacher of morality, but Son of God. No way. . .
Prove it. So Pilate asks him, flat out, so is this true? Tell
me. Jesus says, "So you say," or what do you think, what do you
believe, Pilate?
So if Jesus is still on
trial today, what is our role in the trial of Jesus?
Who are we supposed to
relate to in the story of the trial?
You
may think that this is an easy question, but is it really
Remember Jesus says,
Father forgive them they know not what they do/
Are
we the judge? Relate to the judge
Are
we the jury? Do we relate to the jury
Are
we the trial lawyer? Do we relate to the lawyer
Are
we the witness? Do we relate here?
What
do you think?
Maybe the judge?
Here
Jesus has three judges
The
Sanhedron which has already come to a decision and are merely looking for
evidence
Pilate,
who just wants the most politically expedient end to this situation
And
Herod, also political, looking for a way to get in good with the Romans who
have kept him in at least Puppet power
Look
it says they have become friends. . . .
One
thing in Common – Power
We
live in a times where for the last 1500 years the tables have turned and
Christians have held all the power. . . at least nominal power
There
is an old Proverb that says, be careful who you choose as enemies because you
will become just like them
Article about Facebook
and the Devil
Why
do we make the things we don’t agree with “of the Devil”?
Isn’t
that what the Sanhedron was doing with Jesus?
Satan and the Fence
Christians
don’t have the best record when it comes to wielding power
And
we deal with the consequences every day. . .
and
part of it leads to the idea that Jesus always loses the trial
Father
forgive them they know not what they do. . .
Jury. . we talked before
as we begun Lent, looking at how Hosanna turns to crucify
Do
we like to stay in control of Jesus?
Do
we shape him to fit our desires and wants?
Do
we cut off his edges to make him palatable?
But
then when he that narrow version of Jesus falls short in our eyes,
do
we choose Barabbas instead
Sometimes
we don’t even realize it. . .
Article about Facebook
and the Devil. . .
“WE
should want eternal life for our children. . . “
“I
don’t want to give my child the world if it costs them their soul”
Jesus
loses every time.
The
world crucifies Jesus every time. . .
Father
forgive them they know not what they do
But
maybe you are on the right side of it all, you’ve got Jesus in your heart, and
you want to save him
Lawyer – Defense Attorney
Do
we argue with the world
Do
we make good arguments
Do
we warn and try to make people change their minds?
The
case for Christ, the Reason for God, God is not dead
When
we hear Bill Maher, or anyone else we want to argue
When
we see someone post the wrong thing about Jesus we want to correct them. . .
Winning
Pride
Red Cross Knight
When
we see Jesus not answering his accusers questions we want to speak for him,
stop them, show them
Can I get a witness
Peter
and Denial
What
it gets you to witness
The
difference between witness and Lawyer
Revelation
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