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Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
Sermon Notes for Palm Sunday - 9
April 2017, Anno Domini - St
Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church
The Collect
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of
thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ,
to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all
mankind should follow the example of his great humility; Mercifully grant, that
we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of
his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Just as Barabbas
deserved to die for his sins and criminal acts, so do you and I. That is the
purpose in the Sacrifice of our Lord – to die in our stead that we might live.
Is there a Barabbas
here today? Is there anyone like Barabbas here today?
Certainly, there is!
Let’s study the Word together to get an answer to this mystery. The Lesson
today is too long to cover in one service, so I have selected a particular
portion of the text to expound upon:
Consider the
Lectionary Text found in Gospel of St Matthew 27:
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Jesus
stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the
King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 12 And
when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then
said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against
thee? 14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch
that the governor marvelled greatly. 15 Now
at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a
prisoner, whom they would. 16 And they had then a notable
prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 Therefore when they were
gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you?
Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? 18 For he knew
that for envy they had delivered him. 19 When he was set
down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to
do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of him. 20 But the chief priests and elders
persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. 21 The
governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release
unto you? They said, Barabbas. 22 Pilate saith unto them,
What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say
unto him, Let him be crucified. 23 And the governor said,
Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be
crucified. 24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail
nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and
washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the
blood of this just person: see ye to it. 25 Then
answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our
children.
In the preceding
verses of the text, we learn Christ has been betrayed for thirty pieces of
silver by a disciple who pretended to be His friend.. This was prophesied of
Christ some hundreds of years earlier in Zechariah 11:10 And I took my
staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my
covenant which I had made with all the people. 11 And it
was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew
that it was the word of the LORD. 12 And I said
unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear.
So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And
the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was
prised at of them. And I took the thirty piecesof silver, and cast them to
the potter in the house of the LORD.
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hen
the
morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel
against Jesus to put him to death: 2 And when they had
bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the
governor. 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he
saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying,
I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said,
What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And
he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and
hanged himself. 6 And the chief priests took the silver
pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because
it is the price of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and
bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore
that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9 Then
was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they
took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they
of the children of Israel did value; 10 And gave them for
the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.
So, Jesus now is
delivered to the secular power. Even the Roman governor was more just than the
religious leaders of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
Pontius Pilate would
have been considered a good man and just for his time. He would also be well
received in a government office of today. He actually sought justice, and was
politically correct. He sought justice and knew it, but lacked the courage of
his office in dispensing that justice.
11 And Jesus stood
before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of
the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.
Pilate opened the
interview with an honest hope of finding truth.
12 And when he was
accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
This is fulfillment
of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:7-9 He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and
who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the
living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And
he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he
had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
See how Pilate
presses for some word of defense from the Lord:
13 Then said
Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
Pilate must have
begun to suspect that Christ was no common man by his failure to utter a single
word in His defense:
14 And he answered
him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.
Pilate begins to
believe that Christ is innocent, but he fears the Jews. What to do? Pilate
begins to think like a politician. How can I do the right thing by satisfying
everyone including these stubborn Jewish leaders?
15 Now
at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a
prisoner, whom they would. 16 And they had then a notable
prisoner, called Barabbas.
Barabas was a
murderer and a violent sinner. He was the worst of the prisoners of Rome. So, Pilate
would use this card to politically and discreetly ease his predicament. He
would squirm out of his troubled presence without having to make an unpopular
decision.
17 Therefore when
they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release
unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
The choice is always
Barabbas or Christ. Will we save ourselves, or must Christ die for us. The
death of Barabbas would have been justice, but the death of Christ would be an
imputed justice. We deserve, like Barabbas, to die for our sins, but God has
provided Himself a Lamb for the sacrifice. He died a
substitutionary death in our place. Barabbas was spared death by
Christ, so are you and me. (Gen 22:7-8)
18 For he knew
that for envy they had delivered him.
See this last
sentence? Pilate knew that Jesus had been accused by the
Jewish religious leaders out of envy and not out of guilt. He judged correctly.
But the example which
is presented to us in this text is this:
1) Making a correct
judgment between right and wrong is important, but
2) It is far more
important to act upon that knowledge.
19 When he was set
down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to
do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of him.
Even Pilate’s wife
knew Jesus was innocent. Had she personally brought the message, this weak man
may have feared her more than the Jews, but now he had these trouble-making
Jews alone before him who could stir up political unrest unless Pilate granted
their wishes. He feared the present Jews more than the absent wife.
He was a politician. He would trade off his honor for a political advantage.
But Pilate could not
escape the political reality of the moment.
20 But the chief
priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and
destroy Jesus.
See how the religious
leaders of the day deceived and manipulated the people to evil and to sin. The
same happens today.
Pilate presses,
effeminately, for justice:
21 The governor
answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto
you? They said, Barabbas.
v
His political scheme
is not working. Instead of placating the wicked Jews, he should act on justice.
But he is too weak to do that!
22 Pilate saith
unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called
Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
My heart goes out to
this pitifully weak man. He really tries, but he falls short.
He makes one last
ditch attempt. He foolishly believes that these evil leaders might be swayed by
the reminder of justice:
23 And the
governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more,
saying, Let him be crucified.
Pilate now allows
cowardice to overrule his sense of justice.
He now does what
politicians are so adept at doing, he passes the responsibility for the coming
evil to his tormenters.
24 When Pilate saw
that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he
took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am
innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Do you blame Pilate?
Would you have done better?
HAVE you done better?
We are Pilate, the
Jewish leaders, and Barabbas wrapped up into one entity.
Like Judas, we have
sold out our Lord for personal gain, pride, and sin. We claim to be His friend,
yet we denounce Him through our witness among our friends who ridicule Godly
values.
Our sins have made us
like unto the Jewish leaders in that they have led to the necessity of His
dying for us.
We are like Pilate in
that we put up a good illusion of doing justice and righteousness, yet we fail
to live up to the model, and we pass the responsibility for our failures to
others.
We are, especially,
Barabbas because we deserve death for our sins, but Christ has died in our
stead and paid the penalty of death for us.
Romans 3:23 For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
And Romans 6:23 For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Have we accepted Christ as our Redeemer?