************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 38 ************
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on March 26, 2006
Q & A 38
Luke 23:1-25
"He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate"
I Historicity
In the Apostles' Creed the church recites that Christ Jesus was crucified "under Pontius Pilate." We use the name of the Roman governor in the Creed not to blame him for the deed but to date the event. Christianity, you see, is an historical religion. It stands or falls with the truth of certain historical events: namely, that there was a man named Jesus; that He lived in Palestine; and that He was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor of Judea. Today we would date the event by the year. But in earlier times a date was indicated by the rule of a governor. So, for instance, Luke 1:5: "In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah ..."; or Luke 2:2: "This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria." By mentioning Pontius Pilate the Creed shows the historicity of the events surrounding Christ's crucifixion and death.
The cross, Golgotha Hill, the 7 words, the 3 awful hours of darkness – all of them actually happened. The suffering of Jesus was an actual historical event. If CNN was there it would be captured with a news-camera for TV audiences everywhere.
Now don't forget, we are talking about faith, true faith, saving faith, the faith of comforted believers. True faith says, "I believe in Jesus Christ ... who ... suffered under Pontius Pilate." In other words, to be saved, to be forgiven, to have my sins washed away, to be comforted, I have to believe in my heart that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. And, if I don't believe this, then I am not saved.
II Pilate and God
A The Catechism, in Q & A 38, reminds us that Pilate was a "judge." It places great emphasis on the fact that Jesus, though innocent, was condemned by a civil judge. Yet, we also know from Scripture that both Pilate and God had roles in Christ's condemnation. So, I want to spend the next few moments looking at the relation between God's action and Pilate's, between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. In doing this I want to look at some key passages in the book of Acts.
Listen to what Peter says in his Pentecost sermon. He told his audience that Jesus of Nazareth
(Acts 2:23) ... was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
"God's set purpose and foreknowledge" highlights God's sovereignty. "You ... put him to death by nailing him to the cross" highlights human responsibility. In other words, both God's sovereign action and human sinful action were involved.
B Acts 3 makes the exact same point. Peter and John were used by the Lord to heal a lame beggar (Acts 3:1-10). In explaining this miracle as God's act through a human agent Peter boldly added this:
(Acts 3:13-15) The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. (14) You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. (15) You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
Then Peter surprisingly added, "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders" (Acts 3:17). Then he added, "this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer" (Acts 3:18). Again, I want you to notice that God's sovereign action and human sinful action were involved in the crucifixion and death of Christ.
C We hear the same point made again in Acts 4. Peter and John were released from prison and the believers raised their voices together in prayer before God. They prayed to the "Sovereign Lord" (Acts 4:24) and said:
(Acts 4:27-28) Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. (28) They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
Do you again see God's sovereign action and sinful human action?
D This leaves me with a question: what about Caiaphas and the Jewish authorities? Caiaphas is the one who decided it was better "that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish" (Jn 11:50). The Jewish leaders were the ones who decided that Christ had to be killed. They further realized they had to turn Him over to the political authorities for this to be accomplished. Therefore they decided to change the charge from "blasphemy" to "treason" (Mk 14:53-65; 15:1-2). And they were the ones who kept pressing for Christ's crucifixion even after Pilate declared that he wished to release Jesus (Jn 19:12-16). Clearly sinful human responsibility is laid upon the Jewish authorities.
On the other hand, Jesus did say three times that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected and killed (Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:32). Jesus was talking about the divine must, the plan of God.
E Do you see the result? There is an interweaving, intersecting, crisscrossing between God's activity and human activity when it comes to the cross and grave of Christ. We can't make God the author of human sin, of course. So, it seems to me it is appropriate to talk about God's "overruling." God powerfully overrules human sin and unjust rulers to accomplish His purpose – so that Christ be condemned in our place.
III Righteous and Unrighteous
A Pilate, as you know, was a Roman judge. He was an administrator of one of the best and fairest legal systems the world has ever seen.
Every judge is a servant of God, whether they see it that way or not. We can say – and I would like to say – to every judge what Jesus said to Pilate: "You would have no power ... if it were not given to you from above" (Jn 19:11). A judge's power, in other words, comes from God. In fact, the power of all earthly rulers comes from God.
In the final analysis, of course, the power to take away freedom, honor, even life, from God's image-bearers – man – belongs to God alone. But you know what? He has entrusted this power to earthly judges and rulers. These judges and rulers, with their God-like powers, remain responsible to God. They have to answer to Him for defending the unjust and showing partiality to the wicked (Ps 82:2). To them God says,
(Ps 82:3-4) Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. (4) Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
It is their duty to uphold justice and righteousness!
Roman judges came close to God's ideal. And Pontius Pilate was no exception: he saw clearly that Jesus was innocent. "I find no basis for a charge against this man," he reported (Lk 23:4). In fact, Pilate made this declaration at least 3 times and mentioned that King Herod also found Jesus to be innocent (Lk 23:4, 14, 15, 22).
So Pilate, being a fair and just judge, tried to set Jesus free. But the Jews kept arguing (Lk 23:5). And they began to shout, "Crucify him! Crucify him! (Lk 23:21, 23). Then Pilate became afraid and tried to appease the Jews: "I will punish him and then release him," he said (Lk 23:16,22).
Do you see what happened? Pilate destroyed justice by acting out of fear and by seeking the favor of the Jews. Furthermore, by agreeing to punish an innocent man Pilate found it so much easier to take the next step and agree to have an innocent man killed. In other words, a small compromise led to a big compromise. That's the way Satan does his work. He wants us to give in on the little things because then he knows he can more easily get us to give in on the big things too.
"Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified" (Jn 19:16). "He decided to grant their demand" (Lk 23:24). The famous imperial order of peace and justice was betrayed that day by a cowardly judge who sent an innocent man to the cross. It was betrayed by a weak, cowardly, spineless judge of a man.
B The Catechism uses the word "innocent" to describe Christ. He was found to be innocent and declared to be innocent of the crimes the Jewish authorities accused Him of. He was accused of subverting the nation, opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar, and setting Himself up as king in Caesar's place (cf Lk 23:1-2). But Pilate, and Herod, declared Him to be innocent.
One of my favorite TV shows is CSI – which stands for Crime Scene Investigation. Most programs start with the evidence and fingers pointing in a certain direction. But then the DNA evidence proves the first person is innocent and someone else is guilty. Jesus didn't need DNA tests or the arguments of defense lawyers to prove His innocence. His innocence was clear to both Pilate and Herod.
Actually, Christ was more than innocent of the charges laid against Him. He was also sinless and blameless. He led a perfect life. His was a perfect obedience to the law of God. The theological word we use here is "righteous." Christ was righteous. "Righteous" is a legal term, a judicial word. It speaks of a person's standing before God. Jesus stood in a right relationship to and with God because He kept the demands of the law. Because of His righteousness before the judgment seat of Almighty God, Jesus was innocent and was declared to be innocent before the judgment seat of Pilate.
C The Catechism not only talks of Jesus as the Righteous One but it also talks of us as the unrighteous ones. It does this when it mentions that Christ, the Righteous One, freed us "from the severe judgment of God."
What do I mean when I say we are the unrighteous ones? Just as the righteousness of Jesus means His was a right relationship with God, so our unrighteousness means that ours is not a right relationship with God. Whereas Christ the Righteous One stood blameless and guiltless before God, so we the unrighteous ones stand guilty before God. We stand guilty because – unlike Christ – we are not innocent, blameless, and obedient to the law. And, because we are guilty before God, the severe judgment of God must fall upon us.
IV Each Other's Place
A In the Apostles' Creed the church recites that Christ Jesus was crucified "under Pontius Pilate." This is amazing when you consider that Pilate was but a minor bureaucrat of an unimportant province in the Roman Empire. There were many persons who were much more important than he and far closer to the center of power. Some of the early church fathers, for instance, mentioned King Herod and Tiberius Caesar in their "creeds." So why does the church of all ages choose to remember Pontius Pilate?
Why did Jesus suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge? The Catechism's answer:
So that he,
though innocent,
might be condemned by a civil judge,
and so free us from the severe judgment of God
that was to fall on us.
Why did Jesus suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge? Let me reword the Catechism's answer:
Jesus was found to be innocent
yet declared to be guilty
by a civil judge
so that,
when we appear before the heavenly Judge,
we will be declared to be innocent
though we are found to be guilty.
There are two points I want to mention here. The first is that Jesus took our place. He took on our guilt. He suffered the consequences of our sin – punishment and death.
The emphasis of the Catechism is that the Righteous One took the place of the unrighteous ones. It was vitally important, then, that Pilate declare Christ to be righteous, innocent, blameless. It was vitally important because only some one righteous can pay for our sins (cf Q & A 15). If Christ Himself was guilty of sin, He would have to pay for and suffer for His own sins. But because He is the Righteous One, innocent, He is given the pain and anguish of our sin.
When Lincoln's body was brought from Washington to Illinois, it passed through Albany and it was carried through the street. They say a black woman stood upon the curb and lifted her little son as far as she could reach above the heads of the crowd and was heard to say to him, "Take a long look, honey. He died for you".
"He died for you." That's what comforted believers say to one another about Christ.
B Not only did Jesus take our place. But we also take His place. That's the second point I want to make. We take on His innocence. We enjoy the fruits of His righteousness – forgiveness and eternal life. Imagine this! Christ, the Innocent One, was declared to be guilty so that we, the guilty ones, can be declared to be innocent.
Topic: Atonement
Subtopic:
Index:
Date: 2/1994.101
Title: I Have the Peace
I am reminded of the time someone visited an elderly woman crippled by arthritis. When asked, "Do you suffer much?" she responded, "Yes, but there is no nail here." And she pointed to her hand. "He had the nails, I have the peace." Then she pointed to her head. "There are no thorns there. He had the thorns, I have the peace." She touched her side. "There is no spear here. He had the spear, I have the peace."
This is what the suffering of Christ Jesus under Pontius Pilate means for us – He gave of Himself so that we might have the peace.