26th May 2011

John 19:1-16 – Jesus sentenced to be crucified

• “Jesus’ secret to Peace”
• In today’s scripture a panicky Pilate meets a peaceful Jesus. It’s hard to tell which was on trial.
• Pilate had to prove himself. Jesus didn’t. Pilate often tried to win brownie points with the Romans. He did it by sucking up to the Emperor. Pontius Pilate is the only know Roman official in history to build a temple to a living emperor. Pilate was double-minded and people knew it. Jesus was not double minded! Imagine knowing what to do because you know who you are.
• Pilate pulled others down. Jesus pulled others up. Pilate raised himself up by destroying & humiliating others. Jesus was never threatened by anyone else. Not worried I they were better looking, funnier, more talented, happier, faster, stronger etc. Imagine if you found gifted people an inspiration not a threat. Jesus said “You shall do even greater things than me”
• Pilate feared decisions. Jesus pursued them. Pilate tried to palm Jesus off onto Herod Antipas but the problem came back to him - there was no running away. He tended to stay away from Jerusalem, he was accustomed to the pleasures of Rome and Jerusalem was a place of conflict. For him Jerusalem must have symbolized stress. He was in Jerusalem at this time because he had to be. It was Passover and he needed to be there to oversee that the people were kept in order Pilate was a personality put together by the opinions of others. Jesus forced Pilate into making a decision. Godliness means not being afraid to make tough decisions!
• Where did Jesus get His confidence in who He was
• Identity, like a triangle, has three corners.
• John 13:3 - “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God”
• The Father - Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. Pilate’s power, in his mind, came from His position, the people & Emperor
• The Former - and that he had come from God. Pilate’s name  “Pilate” from the Latin pileatus, i.e., “wearing the pileatus”, which was the “cap or badge of a manumitted [freed] slave,” as indicating that he was a “freedman,” or the descendant of one - Did he feel he had something to prove? Jesus had a working class background, a father who died early and was from Nazareth. Even his death was that of a criminal. Status determined banished to an island, thrown to wild animals or crucified for the lowest We all have two histories! Which history reacts?
• The Future - and was returning to God
• Pilate Panicked but Jesus had peace.
• What is the secret to peace?
• Jesus knew who He was from, where he was from and where He was going.
• It’s not what you know, it’s that you know your identity.