Eid Mubarak!
Last week people around the Middle East remember the story of Abraham asked
by God to sacrifice his beloved son. Abraham had faith in God’s faithfulness
and promises. He said “God Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.”
(Genesis 22). He was right. God indeed provided a ram to die on his son’s
behalf on the mountain of Moriah. Of course, this one ram can’t solve our
problem of sin.
Today, we remember another ‘Eid’ - God provided the perfect Lamb of God to die on our behalf at the mountain of Moriah, as He had promised.
We have been looking at the Gospel of John. Jesus has made
many claims that he is the only way to God our Father in Heaven. He claimed he
is the resurrection and he promised eternal life to anyone who believes in him.
He is the saviour promised by God from long ago.
After Abraham, God sent Moses to lead his people out of
slavery. On the last day, God told Moses to tell people to kill a lamb and put
the blood of the lamb on the door in order to save the people from death and God’s
judgement. This was the Passover.
Later in the Bible, we also learned God promised to King David
that a much more powerful king, an everlasting king, will come and rule God’s
kingdom.
Today we’re looking at the story of Jesus’ trial for claiming
to be the king of the Jews. This story happened at Passover.
During the time of the Roman Empire, the emperor Caesar
ruled many provinces. The Province of Judea was ruled by Pilate. In Judea,
there were many Jews who hated the Roman rule. But the Jewish religious leaders
hated Jesus even more because he threatened their power.
---------------------------------
John 19: 4-16
Again Pilate came out and said to the Jewish leaders, “Look! I am bringing Jesus out to
you. I cannot find he has done anything wrong.” 5 Then Jesus came out
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is the man!” 6 The
Jewish priests and leaders shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” But Pilate said, “You crucify him. I find no guilt in
him.”
7 The Jewish leaders said, “Under our law, he must die, because he said he is the Son of God.” 8
Pilate heard this and was afraid. 9 So he went inside and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But
Jesus did not answer him. 10 Pilate said, “You don’t want to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the
power to free you or crucify you?” 11 Jesus said, “The only power you have over me
is the power given to you by God. So the one who handed me over to you is
guilty of a greater sin.”
12 Pilate wanted to free Jesus. But the Jewish leaders shouted, “Anyone who makes himself a king is
against Caesar. So if you free this man, you are not Caesar’s friend.” 13
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus to a place called “Stone Pavement”.
Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat there. 14 It was almost noon just before
Passover. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15 They shouted, “Take
him away! Kill him on a cross!” Pilate asked, “Do you want me to crucify your king on a cross?” The
leading priests said, “We have
no king but Caesar!” 16 So Pilate gave Jesus to them to be killed on a
cross.
_________________________
Can you see the difference between the Jewish leaders and
Pilate? In this story, the Jewish leaders were determined to kill Jesus: “Under
our law. He must die, because he said he is the Son of God.” (verse 7). They
repeated demanded Pilate to crucify Jesus.
Pilate, on the other hand, was in a dilemma. He repeatedly
said he could not find any guilt in Jesus. He declared Jesus was innocent. The
Bible states 6 times Pilate declared Jesus had done nothing wrong.
But the people would not give up. They kept shouting ‘crucify
him!’ They have made up their mind.
What made them so determined to kill Jesus?
2. He was also a threat to the Jewish leaders’ religious authority. Jesus criticized their hypocrisy and threatened their control over religious practices and the temple.
3. They were also jealous of his popularity and influence because many people believed he’s the Messiah promised by God.
4. Jesus didn’t fit their expectations of the Messiah.
What about Pilate?
The judge was now becoming more afraid (v.8) than Jesus when
he heard that Jesus had claimed to be the Son of God. He tried to appear authoritative
in front of Jesus: “Don’t you know I have the power to free you or crucify
you?”
But Jesus replied, “The only power you have over me is the
power given to you by God.” (verse 11)
Jesus knew his identity, his purpose and his reason for
going through all this suffering. He understood everything was under God’s
power and control. It was God’s will that he would die for the sins of the
world as the lamb of God. Only his blood is perfect enough to cover our sins.
Is he YOUR king?
Now, every one has to make a decision about Jesus. Is Jesus
the king? Is he YOUR king?
The people in the story were very determined Jesus was not
their king. They would rather have Caesar (their hated enemy) to be their king.
“We have no king but Caesar!”
Caesar was their worst enemy! Caesar had no interest in their well-being, let alone their eternal life.
“We have no king but _______” We all have to fill in the
blanks in this statement if we don’t want Jesus to be our king. In Hong Kong,
we have no king but money.
If we say Jesus is our king, is really he 100% king? Or just
74% or 86% or 95%? Have we reserved some parts in our lives for ourselves?
The title ‘king’ means he has all the power and control in
your life. He is not just an extra helper or an
extra life insurance policy.
It means you give your whole life and everything in it to
him and place them under his control. He is not just another backseat passenger
in your car. He takes over your steering wheel and you only sit at the
passenger seat. Your whole life belongs to him.
The cost of following Jesus is high. But the cost of NOT following Jesus is even higher. You will be slave of something that will destroy you.
What is your decision about Jesus?
Remember, before any one of us has made up our mind to follow Jesus, God has already made up his mind to bring us to him. He’s the one who has given 100% for our eternal salvation.
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1)
God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Everything we see happening at the cross at Jesus’ death is a fulfilment of prophecies from long ago, all pointing to us this historical event is the one God has planned for our salvation.
Reflection:
What is God saying to you today through this story? How do
you respond? Is there anything in your life that needs to change?
