Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm of praise 45:10, 16
Prayer
Psalm 43:3, 4
Scripture reading: Mark 15
Scripture
text:
Mark 15:12-15; Catechism Lord’s Day 15
“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the
Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!”
they shouted. “Why? What crime has he committed?”
asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify
him!” Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas
to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
(Mark 15:12-15 NIV)
This passage contains the essence of the Scriptures: the worst part of
Christ’s suffering and his crucifixion – for us.
When we read this, we deal with two sets of extreme contradictions that
do not make sense, unless we look at the entire matter from a Christian
point of view.
- Firstly:
- Pilate
very clearly found the Lord Jesus Christ innocent, and he also formally
declared that He was innocent.
- Yet, he
let Him be crucified.
- The second contradiction is this:
- Sinful
people receive salvation,
- because a
Righteous person is made to be a curse – which He
isn’t.
Let us consider the meaning of the judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ
briefly.
- The name of this gentile, Pontius Pilate, does not appear in our
articles of faith by chance.
- Nothing happens by chance.
- It is because God decided that the Lord Jesus Christ had to die in a
specific way.
Just consider the various ways in which Christ could have been killed:
- Herod could have killed Him in Bethlehem when he was a small child.
- Or the people of Nazareth could have pushed Him into the abyss.
But none of these ways would have been valid – and that was
one of God’s requirements!
- In the world of the time the highest executive authority was the
emperor (caesar).
- This was also the case in the Jewish state.
In addition, the emperor was also a procurator of God. Just think of
Proverbs 8:15:
By me kings reign and rulers make laws that are just; (Proverbs 8:15 NIV)
- In Romans 13 God clearly states that, even if it is a gentile emperor,
He still rules and passes judgment through them in order to protect
what is good and to punish evil.
- Pontius Pilate is the representative of this Roman emperor in Jerusalem.
It is clear that Christ had to be sentenced by a court of justice.
- Here Pontius Pilate fits into God’s counsel.
- Had Judas not also said that the Lord was innocent?
- He had,
but it had to be an official sentence by an earthly judge, and Judas
was not a judge.
- Also, behind judge Pontius Pilate’s bench stood the Judge of
heaven and earth – the eternal almighty God.
- It is
actually so ironic that this man didn’t realise that day that
he was in fact passing sentence in the name of God!
This brings us to the reason why Christ was standing there.
- He was there in our place.
- In order to save us for heaven, He had to undergo inexpressible
suffering as punishment to reconcile God with us – sinful
people.
- The worst happened on this day – just think of the anxiety
when you are declared innocent in court but nevertheless have to go to
jail.
- This is
what happened her.
- Then it
is also clear that the Lord Jesus Christ was not punished for his own
sins, because he had no sins – He was righteous.
For whom and for what then did the Lord Jesus Christ die?
- The Jews who were present shouted (actually prophetically) that his
blood be on them and on their children.
- They expressed their anger with those words, but the irony is that
Christ really died for our children and us – for our
salvation.
What was foretold in many places in the Old Testament was then
fulfilled, for example Isaiah 53:3, 5, 10, 11.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar
with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3 NIV)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by
his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5 NIV)
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to
suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will
see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will
prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the
light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant
will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11
NIV)
This is then what happened we can survive God’s judgment
– which no sinner can survive – and that we even
received salvation.
This brings us back to the matter of the crucifixion. In those days
they easily stoned people to death or beheaded them! Why then was Jesus
actually crucified?
- The answer is that we are again faced with a mystery in God’s
counsel.
- God determined that it would be the only punishment to satisfy his
wrath against our sins.
- This is why He cursed this form of punishment many ages ago. In the Old
Testament we read that a person hanging on a piece of wood is cursed.
This kind of death was worse than any other form of death of the time.
- Often people were hanging there for a very long time.
- The sun scorched them.
- They bled.
- They had a fever and suffered from blood poisoning as a result of the
pieces of rusted iron that had been driven through their hands and legs.
- Because of the constant and excruciating pain they were completely
dispirited.
The whole idea behind crucifixion was to horrify the people.
- This was especially in the case of the believers who realised that God
loathed this way in which people were killed.
- This is in fact symbolised by crucifixion itself, because hang between
heaven and earth: neither with the people nor with God!
Let’s also just consider what this crucifixion means for the
faithful.
- The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on earth because the entire
structure of people and the society could not offer a foundation for
God’s kingdom on earth in this life.
- Hence the
Lord Jesus Christ was killed here – but in actual fact so
that He could go and prepare something better – perfect.
- The new
heaven and new earth to come.
- But through his suffering and death on the cross certain people also
change.
- The
entire being of the chosen are changed – from being cursed
and tainted with evil to being holy and purified.
- Through
this ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ we are new people in a new
relationship with God.
Now we should consider how all these facts affect us.
- Our faith must be based on the Lord Jesus Christ’s innocence
and his condemnation.
- But Christ’s suffering in his innocence and his condemnation
should constantly appeal to our conscience so that we would lead a life
reflecting the grace through the cross.
- Through Jesus Christ God enables us to see ourselves –
purified – in the hereafter.
- And if we have this foresight through our faith, it should affect our
lives so that, on the one hand, we shall continue to do good and, on
the other hand, turn away from the sins that are still part of us.
It is true of course that that as time goes by it becomes harder for us
– and for all people – to believe these things.
- Hence the demand on our faith becomes more difficult.
- But this is exactly why we should pay attention to these things. We
must train ourselves in our faith, and we must teach our children about
the ways of the Lord while conditions are still favourable to do so.
The matter is quite clear: If we do not do it straight away, and if we
also do not make use of opportunities to strengthen our faith, the Lord
Jesus Christ’s death on the cross will eventually embarrass
us in the way it embarrassed Pontius Pilate, and then we might also
handle it in a contradictory and incorrect way.
Let’s read together Catechism Lord’s Day 15.
37. Q. What do you confess when you say that He suffered?
A. During all the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end,
Christ bore in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the
whole human race.[1] Thus, by His suffering, as the only atoning
sacrifice,[2] He has redeemed our body and soul from everlasting
damnation,[3] and obtained for us the grace of God, righteousness, and
eternal life.[4]
[1] Is. 53; I Tim. 2:6; I Pet. 2:24; 3:18. [2] Rom. 3:25; I Cor. 5:7;
Eph. 5:2; Heb. 10:14; I John 2:2; 4:10.
[3] Rom. 8:1-4; Gal. 3:13; Col. 1:13; Heb. 9:12; I Pet 1:18, 19. [4]
John 3:16; Rom. 3:24-26; II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:15.
38. Q. Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge?
A. Though innocent, Christ was condemned by an earthly judge,[1] and so
He freed us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us.[2]
[1] Luke 23:13-24; John 19:4, 12-16. [2] Is. 53:4, 5; II Cor. 5:21;
Gal. 3:13.
39. Q. Does it have a special meaning that Christ was crucified and did
not die in a different way?
A. Yes. Thereby I am assured that He took upon Himself the curse which
lay on me, for a crucified one was cursed by God.[1]
[1] Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13.
Amen.
Closing prayer
Closing hymn: Psalm 135:1
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
Date: 23 April 2006
(evening)