King Jesus
Please note the video and audio contain the entire service and not just the sermon.
Introduction
Last week we took a look at Jesus’ religious trial. There we saw that during his interrogation, it was revealed that Jesus was in fact the Messiah and the Son of God. This was important for the religious authorities to condemn Jesus. Now we are going to switch to Jesus’ criminal trial. This will include an interrogation by Pontius Pilate and Herod. In many ways this will be a different kind of trial. But in another way, it is similar. At this trial, we will see another dimension to Jesus’ identity: that he is king. That is not to say that either Pilate or Herod will believe that, but even in their disbelief, the truth is revealed. So let us continue the story of Jesus on trial.
The King on Trial
We have already seen Jesus’ religious trial by the Sanhedrin. He was found guilty of blasphemy based on his claims to be the Messiah and even worse, the Son of God. Shouldn’t that be enough? The problem is that the Jews were under Roman occupation and one of the things that the Romans did was to revoke their right to impose capital punishment. Did they still sometimes execute people outside of Roman law? Yes, but this was during the Passover with Jerusalem full of pilgrims. They were not prepared to take the chance.
What they needed to do was to hand Jesus to the Romans and let them execute Jesus. The problem was that the Romans didn’t care about Jewish theological disputes. They were used to Pharisees and Sadducees bickering with each other, who cares if there was another group entering the debate?
The religious leaders knew this and that is why they worded their accusation in a specific way. Jesus was not just a religious messiah, he was a self-proclaimed king. Now there were kings of certain peoples within the Roman Empire. But each of those kings received their title and authority from Caesar. Anyone who tried to be a king outside of imperial permission was a rebel and a traitor.
During this trial, Jesus acknowledges that he is the king of the Jews. Even so, Pilate was not ready to act on this. We see here not compassion but weakness of Pilate’s character. He was afraid of a Jewish revolt and he would rather just release Jesus. Then Pilate discovers that Jesus is from Galilee and not Judea. Pilate ruled Judea but Herod had jurisdiction over Galilee and Herod happened to be in town. This was Pilate’s chance to pass on responsibility.
Remember that the accusation is that Jesus king of the Jews. This Herod is the son of Herod Great, the one who had tried to kill Jesus as a baby. Herod the Great was given the title king of the Jews by Caesar. This Herod, while having political power over Galilee, was not given the title king by Caesar. We find that Jesus gives vague responses to the Sanhedrin and Pilate but he says nothing to Herod. Herod has Jesus dressed up as a king, mocked and beaten. Then Jesus is sent back to Pilate.
Pilate is still not interested in executing Jesus. He does have a man named Barabbas, who is guilty of insurrection and deserves death. Ironically, Barabbas is Aramaic for son of the father. Yet the crowd demands that Jesus be crucified. We are meant to see here not that the whole city was against Jesus but that the religious leaders were inciting them. Pilate didn’t fear the Sanhedrin but he did fear a popular riot. That’s the kind of thing that would get Pilate fired. So Pilate released Barabbas and handed over the true Son of the Father to be executed. Jesus is found guilty as the king of the Jews and that is the sign that would be put above his cross.
The King of Our Life
What does this mean for us, other than out of curiosity of the details of Jesus’ trial? This is actually very important, specifically Jesus’ role as king. Before the church had the Nicene Creed or even the Apostles Creed, it had a very simple creed: Jesus is Lord. That may seem rather simple and yet that creed is what got a lot of Christians into trouble. In general, the Romans didn’t care about the religious beliefs of the people in the Empire. You could believe pretty much whatever you wanted. But along with everything else, you had to at least confess Caesar as Lord. The problem with Christians saying that Jesus was Lord is that they were saying at the same time that Caesar was not Lord. That was the ultimate act of disloyalty and it is what led to persecution. The Romans and the Christians agreed that only one could sit on the throne. They just disagreed on who was sitting on that throne.
This is very relevant for us. As Canadians, we have a Queen but her role is much different than that of Caesar. We may respect her but we do not live our lives in obedience to her. But that is not to say that there is not a game of thrones. There is one throne in our life and there are competing claimants. There is money, relationships, influence, power, pleasure and many more. They are always fighting to sit on that throne. But we have the same creed as those early Christians. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. Jesus is not interested in sharing the throne. He is either on it or off it. Which is it?
This is not a popular message. We value our freedom and autonomy. We don’t want to submit to anyone. And yet this is exactly what is demanded of us as followers of Jesus. Jesus is not just Saviour, he is Lord and Saviour.
What if we realize that we are struggling with letting Jesus have the throne? Realizing it is the first step. Look at the twelve apostles and you will see that they struggled as well. This is not the time for condemnation, it is the time for surrender.
Once we do this, we realize that Jesus is not a brutal dictator but is a benevolent monarch. His lordship leads us to peace and joy. The things that Jesus wants for us are only for our own benefit.
Conclusion
At his trial, Jesus was revealed as King, as well as Messiah and Son of God. Jesus is the King of the Jews. He is also King of the Christians. Jesus is King whether we acknowledge it or not. But it goes so much better for us when we submit to his lordship. What a friend we have in Jesus and that Jesus is King. We can be friends with the King. Why wouldn’t we want that? Pilate and Herod did not respond in faith to Jesus as King. How do we respond?
