The Gospel according to Pontius Pilate - Sermon for Good Friday

Sermon for Good Friday, Year of Our + Lord 2022
Witnesses to Christ - The Gospel According to Pontius Pilate

   The worthiness of a preacher ultimately depends on one thing: the faithfulness of his message.  While a Christian preacher should be a true believer, and a good example to the faithful, and could be eloquent in his speaking, neither the uprightness of his heart, nor the holiness of his life, nor the quality of his rhetoric mean much at all, unless his preaching is faithful to the truth of Christ.  With this strange truth in mind, this evening we will consider the message of Pontius Pilate. 

   Could it be that Pilate was a preacher of the Gospel?  A few ancient churches in North Africa hold the tradition that at some point after the Resurrection, Pontius Pilate, the governor of Jerusalem who sentenced Jesus to the cross, was converted to faith in the Nazarene.  I look forward to learning in heaven whether this tradition is true.  It is certainly possible.  What is also true are many of the words that Pilate spoke on Good Friday.  Pilate asked the right questions, and, regardless of how Pilate understood his own words, he made some very faithful declarations. 

Are you King of the Jews?  Pilate may have only been trying to sort out the specific allegation against Jesus.  Declaring oneself king in first century Israel, when the emperor Caesar demanded absolute loyalty, was a serious offense.  Pilate may have considered Jesus a minor lunatic, and not a real threat, a foolish pretender, even if the accusations of the Jews were true.  But against the broader backdrop of Biblical history, claiming to be the King of the Jews meant a lot.  Everything, really. 

   For King David had been promised a descendent, an anointed son, who would rule over Israel forever.  And this Anointed One, which in Hebrew is Messiah, would not just rule over Israel.  The Lord promised that this anointed Son of David would rule over the reunited tribes of Israel, and, also, over all the nations.  And not just for a good long time, but forever.  Even though Pilate didn’t understand, his preaching starts out with just the right question:  Are you the Messiah, the Savior King of Israel sent from God?  Many good sermons start with just such good questions.       

So, you are a king?  That Jesus is not interested in defending Himself against the accusations of the Jews amazes Pilate.  Their conversation leads Jesus to hint at the greater, cosmic scale of the situation: “My kingdom is not of this world.”  Pilate’s perspective remains very limited, disregarding or not grasping the significance of what Jesus says.  But Pilate does seem to think he is getting somewhere with the accused:  Ah, so you are a king? 

   But Jesus leads the conversation back to cosmic, eternal topics: “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” To cut Pilate a bit of slack, he was probably not expecting that morning to be drawn into a metaphysical and theological debate with this prisoner.  Jesus has all but explicitly declared that He came from Heaven to Earth, in order to preach a message of salvation to all those who have ears to hear.  Pilate responds with his most famous words.

What is truth?  Does this question reveal Pilate to be a hardened cynic, mocking our Lord?  Or is he a proto-postmodern, denying the very existence of truth?  Or is he perhaps starting to contemplate eternal things?  Hard to say.  But there is no avoiding the depth of the governor’s response to Jesus: “What is truth?”

   What is truth?  Jesus is the Truth.  The One who is the Word of God, made flesh, the Truth of God in human form is standing before Pilate, calmly facing the potential of death by crucifixion.  But Pilate doesn’t seem to see it, can’t understand it.  Not yet, anyway. 

   But you should.  Jesus is the Truth.  For us sinners, the Truth that matters comes down to one thing: one Man, who is the eternal Son of God, standing in the place we deserve, facing the condemnation and punishment that our sins have earned.  Hear His voice.  He is speaking truth to you, to save you, and to bless you.       

I find no guilt in Him.  Whether Pilate is a cynic or a seeker, he wants no part in the Jews’ plan to crucify Jesus.  And of course, his proclamation is faithful.  There is no guilt to find in Jesus.  On the one hand, Jesus’ innocence makes the Cross all the more bitter, the Law convicts us all the more, for we are the guilty ones.  We are guilty, and the only truly Innocent Man suffered such rejection by humanity, because of our sin. 

   And yet this tragedy also brings hope.  Jesus does not bear the inherited guilt of Adam, for His Father is God the Father, and His conception in the womb of Mary was an entirely unique miracle of the Holy Spirit.  The only person ever born without a sinful nature, Jesus is also the only Man ever to live his life entirely without sin.  He is innocent, without blemish, which makes Him fit to be a substitute, to be sacrificed for the sins of others.  Jesus could pay the debt for others, because He had no sin of His own to take care of.  And, since He is true God, the redemptive value of His sacrifice has no limit.  The blood of Jesus can cover all sin. 

Behold the Man!  Pilate is still trying to thread the needle between appeasing the Jewish leaders and avoiding the crucifixion of Jesus.  He has Jesus beaten, mocked, dressed in royal garb and a crown of thorns.  Then, hoping this will be enough, he presents Jesus to the mob once again:  Behold the Man!  And Pilate is right.  This is what true, perfect, godly humanity looks like, in the context of our sin shattered world. 

   A true man, along with protecting and caring for others in this life, above all seeks to bring his family and friends into a good relationship with Almighty God.  To be Godly, and lead others to the Source of Godliness, this is the first calling of every man.  And so Jesus, the True Man, the true and faithful Adam, would do whatever it takes to rescue his brothers and sisters from the doom that sin threatens.  Behold the Man!  Repent, and rejoice! 

Behold your King!  Pilate makes one last attempt to spare Jesus.  It may be that he sees the whole idea to be ludicrous, and by presenting the bleeding and shamed Jesus as king, he hopes to break through the envious rage of the mob.  But just like Behold the Man, Pilate again preaches profound truth.  For the true King of Israel has been seeking to save His people since they first turned away.  And now, the King’s mission is about to be finished. 

   We seek kings and presidents and governors who fit our conceptions: impressive, good looking strong men, or women, who promise and deliver a good life, now.  We are of course disappointed by our earthly kings and elected leaders, time and again.  But a true leader, a true King, is willing to sacrifice Himself for the good of His people.  And that true King is Jesus, the Suffering Servant, by whose wounds we are healed.  Behold your King! 

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.  “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.  You’ve seen this inscription, it’s usually included on the top of our crucifixes, that little banner with the initials that to us look like I N R I.   Along with Greek and Aramaic, Pilate wrote in Latin:  Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum.  Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.  Pilate has said it all, whether he believed it or not.  Jesus, the name which means the Lord Saves, is a man from Nazareth, who is also God come down from heaven.  And, although rejected by His own people, He is King of the Jews, indeed, King of the Nations, King of the Universe.  This is He who hung upon the Cross, and who sprang from the grave three days later.  And so we have hope, by the forgiveness of all our sins, and the new life that Jesus died, to win for all. 

   Perhaps the Holy Spirit was working on Pilate.  Certainly the Jewish leaders didn’t like the declaratory nature of what Pilate wrote.  They protested “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”

“What I have written I have written.”  Pilate would have none of it.  Was the Truth that is Jesus beginning to soften his heart?  I hope so.  But regardless, his answer is splendid: “What I have written I have written.”

   Listen to Pilate, to this word at least.  Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, is Your King, Your Savior, Your Truth, Your God, Your Friend, forever and ever, Amen.