Is THIS Your Decisive Moment?
The King – Part 6
(John 19:14-16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, July 18, 2010)
19:14 … He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
(John 19:14-16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, July 18, 2010)
19:14 … He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
Introduction – Christian preaching should always be a “Behold your King!” moment.
He said to the Jews... (14)
Tradition tells us that King David was the author of the 23rd Psalm. Scripture records for us in 2 Samuel 5 that the Lord had spoken these words to King David before he was actually king over Israel: “You shall be shepherd of my people Israel.” Other passages make it clear that in the mind of God there is this connection between being a king and being a shepherd. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. He is also the true King of Israel. The idea of the dying Shepherd who saves us and leads us to heaven to be with Him is really the same as the dying King who saves us and leads us. The Shepherd is the King; the King is the Shepherd.
David was the premier royal placeholder for the coming Shepherd of Israel. As the Man who was a living icon of the coming divine King, this David, this psalm-writer, this great poet of God wrote words so moving that people still use them at many Christian and Jewish funerals even to this day. This man David who was anointed by God's prophet as king wrote this concerning the One he understood to be his king: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Somehow that helps people when they say it. It helps to know that through life's lowest moments, God is leading you “in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.” It makes a difference if you believe in your day of suffering that “surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,” and that when my body is too tired to keep on going, it makes a difference if I believe that the Lord has actually prepared a place for me in heaven, and that “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
I wonder what Jesus thought about these words when Pilate, who had by now decided to give in to the crowd, said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” Yes, here is the true Shepherd of Israel. And yes, He will lay down His life for the sheep. Take a look at your King, and see the fullness of love in His willingness to die the death you deserved. Behold, your King!
They cried out... (15)
The Jews did not want to own Jesus as their king, especially at this moment. People want a king to fight their battles and to lead with strength, provided that the direction he goes in meets with their approval. Jesus has led in the direction of obedience to the Law of God. More pointedly Jesus has led in the direction of the love of the cross, the most costly display of love ever known. There have been other deaths that involved more obvious torture. What made this one so bad is the disparity between the perfect righteousness of the victim and the spiritual and physical penalty He endured as the target of the justice of God for us, yes, for the sins of all who would believe out of the entire world, past, present, and future. That disparity of the suffering of hell for the one who deserves the highest heaven is what makes this willing death the greatest display of God's love. By that cross those who were rightly condemned to the Lord's torment have been granted instead every heavenly blessing in Christ.
Well, the people in Jerusalem that day wanted nothing of this “Behold your King” declaration. They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” This undoubtedly seems shocking to us, no matter how many times we hear it, but then John has been preparing us for this wrenching situation of a sad rejection of the Messiah since the opening chapter of his gospel. Remember what John wrote? “He came to His own, and his own people did not receive Him.”
When this final moment of Pilate's verdict and of Jewish rejection of the Christ came, how far were they all from receiving Jesus as their King? It seems that they were as far as they could possibly be. Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
This was a sweeping rejection of Jesus. The Jews are owning Tiberius Caesar as king rather than Jesus. Why? Because the mention of Caesar had earlier moved Pilate to go along with them. They profess their approval for Tiberius as their chosen king in order to further solidify the governor's determination to allow them to have their way with Jesus. They are willing to profess their subjection to Tiberius in order to express their extreme insubordination toward the true Messiah. Tiberius may not be great, but better to pretend to bow to Him if it means that you thereby receive permission to crucify the Shepherd of Israel.
So he delivered Him... (16)
They got what they wanted. Some would change their minds in just fifty days when Peter preached at Pentecost. Then they would be cut to the heart by Peter's preaching, and they would say to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter would tell them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
That's what would happen in about fifty days. But not today. Today they would get their way in their desire to stand against Jesus, and to reject Him as King. Today Pilate would deliver Jesus over to them to be crucified. This is a decisive moment. The decision is made and confirmed. Jesus is delivered over to the hatred of His own people. They can do with Him what they like.
Application: Is there a turning point for you here in your acceptance of the Shepherd of Israel. What do you want people to understand about your faith when you die? They may very well recite the 23rd Psalm. Do you want them to understand something about your faith in those words? What do you think of Jesus? When He came to His own, His own people did not receive Him, but to all who did receive Him, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.
It is of such importance to you, and to all who love you, that you not be turned away from Jesus Christ by something less than Him. Keep the main issue of Christ in your mind right now. It is not first what you think of the Bible, what you think of the church, what you think about your family or people of faith who may have annoyed you. It is not first what you think about Israel, America, politics, tradition, culture, or even any moral issue. The main issue is the one that Jesus of Nazareth brought before His friend Peter at any earlier point in another gospel: “Who do you say that I am.” Do not shout out, “Crucify Him!” See Hebrews 6:6. Receive Him.
The King is presented before you today at a decisive moment of judgment. Pilate has spoken. The Jews have said what they had to say. But what do you say? This was a turning point, and everyone there went the wrong way that day but Jesus. He moved toward the fullest love as your Shepherd. I want to own Him until the day I die and beyond. “The Lord is my shepherd.” Who is your shepherd? Who will you own as King? Jesus is presented before you. Behold your King!
1. How is it that Pilate is presenting Jesus to the Jews as their king?
2. How does the reaction of the Jews to Jesus match John's prologue (1:11)?
3. How could it be that the Jews would own Caesar as their king?
4. How do these verses function as a decisive turning point in our movement toward the cross?
Tradition tells us that King David was the author of the 23rd Psalm. Scripture records for us in 2 Samuel 5 that the Lord had spoken these words to King David before he was actually king over Israel: “You shall be shepherd of my people Israel.” Other passages make it clear that in the mind of God there is this connection between being a king and being a shepherd. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. He is also the true King of Israel. The idea of the dying Shepherd who saves us and leads us to heaven to be with Him is really the same as the dying King who saves us and leads us. The Shepherd is the King; the King is the Shepherd.
David was the premier royal placeholder for the coming Shepherd of Israel. As the Man who was a living icon of the coming divine King, this David, this psalm-writer, this great poet of God wrote words so moving that people still use them at many Christian and Jewish funerals even to this day. This man David who was anointed by God's prophet as king wrote this concerning the One he understood to be his king: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Somehow that helps people when they say it. It helps to know that through life's lowest moments, God is leading you “in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.” It makes a difference if you believe in your day of suffering that “surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,” and that when my body is too tired to keep on going, it makes a difference if I believe that the Lord has actually prepared a place for me in heaven, and that “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
I wonder what Jesus thought about these words when Pilate, who had by now decided to give in to the crowd, said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” Yes, here is the true Shepherd of Israel. And yes, He will lay down His life for the sheep. Take a look at your King, and see the fullness of love in His willingness to die the death you deserved. Behold, your King!
They cried out... (15)
The Jews did not want to own Jesus as their king, especially at this moment. People want a king to fight their battles and to lead with strength, provided that the direction he goes in meets with their approval. Jesus has led in the direction of obedience to the Law of God. More pointedly Jesus has led in the direction of the love of the cross, the most costly display of love ever known. There have been other deaths that involved more obvious torture. What made this one so bad is the disparity between the perfect righteousness of the victim and the spiritual and physical penalty He endured as the target of the justice of God for us, yes, for the sins of all who would believe out of the entire world, past, present, and future. That disparity of the suffering of hell for the one who deserves the highest heaven is what makes this willing death the greatest display of God's love. By that cross those who were rightly condemned to the Lord's torment have been granted instead every heavenly blessing in Christ.
Well, the people in Jerusalem that day wanted nothing of this “Behold your King” declaration. They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” This undoubtedly seems shocking to us, no matter how many times we hear it, but then John has been preparing us for this wrenching situation of a sad rejection of the Messiah since the opening chapter of his gospel. Remember what John wrote? “He came to His own, and his own people did not receive Him.”
When this final moment of Pilate's verdict and of Jewish rejection of the Christ came, how far were they all from receiving Jesus as their King? It seems that they were as far as they could possibly be. Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
This was a sweeping rejection of Jesus. The Jews are owning Tiberius Caesar as king rather than Jesus. Why? Because the mention of Caesar had earlier moved Pilate to go along with them. They profess their approval for Tiberius as their chosen king in order to further solidify the governor's determination to allow them to have their way with Jesus. They are willing to profess their subjection to Tiberius in order to express their extreme insubordination toward the true Messiah. Tiberius may not be great, but better to pretend to bow to Him if it means that you thereby receive permission to crucify the Shepherd of Israel.
So he delivered Him... (16)
They got what they wanted. Some would change their minds in just fifty days when Peter preached at Pentecost. Then they would be cut to the heart by Peter's preaching, and they would say to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter would tell them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
That's what would happen in about fifty days. But not today. Today they would get their way in their desire to stand against Jesus, and to reject Him as King. Today Pilate would deliver Jesus over to them to be crucified. This is a decisive moment. The decision is made and confirmed. Jesus is delivered over to the hatred of His own people. They can do with Him what they like.
Application: Is there a turning point for you here in your acceptance of the Shepherd of Israel. What do you want people to understand about your faith when you die? They may very well recite the 23rd Psalm. Do you want them to understand something about your faith in those words? What do you think of Jesus? When He came to His own, His own people did not receive Him, but to all who did receive Him, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.
It is of such importance to you, and to all who love you, that you not be turned away from Jesus Christ by something less than Him. Keep the main issue of Christ in your mind right now. It is not first what you think of the Bible, what you think of the church, what you think about your family or people of faith who may have annoyed you. It is not first what you think about Israel, America, politics, tradition, culture, or even any moral issue. The main issue is the one that Jesus of Nazareth brought before His friend Peter at any earlier point in another gospel: “Who do you say that I am.” Do not shout out, “Crucify Him!” See Hebrews 6:6. Receive Him.
The King is presented before you today at a decisive moment of judgment. Pilate has spoken. The Jews have said what they had to say. But what do you say? This was a turning point, and everyone there went the wrong way that day but Jesus. He moved toward the fullest love as your Shepherd. I want to own Him until the day I die and beyond. “The Lord is my shepherd.” Who is your shepherd? Who will you own as King? Jesus is presented before you. Behold your King!
1. How is it that Pilate is presenting Jesus to the Jews as their king?
2. How does the reaction of the Jews to Jesus match John's prologue (1:11)?
3. How could it be that the Jews would own Caesar as their king?
4. How do these verses function as a decisive turning point in our movement toward the cross?
posted by Pastor Magee at 3:49 PM
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