Places of the Passion – Pilate’s Court

Places of the Passion – Pilate’s Court brings us into the halls of Roman justice.  In Pilate’s Court we see Jesus handed over to be crucified while Barabbas was set free. Lent reminds us that our sin stands among the voices of the crowd.

A Better View

Lent is an opportunity for you to step back and get a 25,000ft view and ask, who’s responsible for all of this patch of history is a highlight. If you’re going to move pilot’s name this morning, then you better whisper yours in the same breath. And the question this morning isn’t could you betray Jesus like Judas? Would you run away from him like his disciples? Could you yell with the mob? Crucify him. Could you cave in like Pilate? You already know the answer to that. Because you have the same human flesh as all of them. Yeah, so you know the answer. And then that means you also know Jesus warning that accompanies that. If you disown me, I will disown you before my father in heaven.

A Different Question

That’s not the question. The question this morning is, how do we keep from being on the wrong side of history? How do we prevent from being on the wrong side of heaven? That’s the question. A fascinating one. And I find it fascinating that in the Lenten history, you repeatedly hear of Jesus being handed over. We’re told that Judas went to the chief priests and he said to them, what are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?  To hand over means to betray. It happens over and over during the Passion history, Judas hands him over to the Jewish chief priest. They hand Jesus over Pilate hands Jesus over to be crucified. Here’s this morning’s little gospel twist. For Jesus, the one who was handed over is described in Romans chapter four as the one handed over for our trespasses.

So on a human level, it is Pilate who handed Jesus over. But on a divine level it’s God who ultimately hands Jesus over to be betrayed. God hands him over so that the greatest handing over the betrayal, this miscarriage of justice that we hear in Mark chapter 15, God was able to turn into the very means of becoming the greatest rescue.

Want to hear more?  Watch this week’s message taken from Mark 15, Places of the Passion – Pilate’s Court.