6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews[a] answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic[b] Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.[c] 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 19:6-16)
Introduction
It has been said many times, by many good men, in many different ways, that you will either have Christ or you will have Chaos. At whatever level that Christ is rejected it will inevitably lead to chaos, disorder, enmity, and unrest. The Lord God is a God of order. Rejection of Him will inevitably lead to disorder. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. To reject Him is to embrace enmity and strife. The Lord God is the God of all comfort. To reject Him is to embrace unrest and anxiety that cannot be quenched. In Jesus Christ is found all wisdom and knowledge. To reject Him is to embrace utter foolishness and logical absurdity. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. To reject Him is to fumble around in darkness. In Jesus Christ the dividing wall of hostility is broken down between Jew and Gentile, and all other ethnic or social divisions. To reject Him is to embrace division and sinful prejudice. God is love. To reject Him is to embrace sinful hatred. In Jesus Christ is the forgiveness of sins, which is how men and women are made happy. To reject Him, is to embrace unhappiness that cannot be cured because your sins are not forgiven. Jesus Christ has been resurrected from the dead and is the Lord of Life. To reject Him is to embrace death.
There is no way around it. You will either have Christ or Chaos. You cannot find or have peace, or life, or order, or rest, or any such things outside of Jesus Christ. It is this principle that we see evident as the trial of Jesus continues to unfold before us in John chapter 19. Christ is rejected and there is chaos and disorder everywhere.
Now when we say that it is either Christ or chaos, we are not saying that when men reject Christ, that all of sudden everything begins to spin outside of God’s sovereign plan. We do not mean that the chaotic events of one’s life or inner turmoil are outside of God’s predestinating hand. Nor do we imply any autonomous life outside of Christ. The very breath and life with which one rejects Christ, is sustained by Christ. You need Christ to say that you don’t need Him. So if you reject Christ, it is not chaos you are introducing into God’s eternal decree, for His eternal decree is unchangeable. It is chaos for you, and not God. So to say that it is either Christ or chaos, is simply to say that God made the world a certain way. And that is that Christ would be all in all. It is that all the history of the world is running toward Christ, either in grateful redemption through His blood, or in eternal judgment in rejecting it. Those who seek to live apart from Christ in Christ’s world will reap what they sow and be judged both in this life and in the one to come. It is either Christ or chaos.
The Jews
In the text before us today, the Jewish authorities and those following them have sealed their identity as rebels against Jesus Christ the King, and have rejected Him with the utmost vitriol and foolishness. Multiple times Pilate declares Jesus to be innocent and not worthy of death, and yet, what is the cry of the mob? “Crucify him, crucify him!” The most humiliating and excruciating death is demanded by the Jewish authorities. There is no sense of justice or lawfulness present in such demands, but only hatred and envy. This is chaos. The Jewish authorities and Chief Priests care nothing anymore for law and order, but in their rejection of Jesus Christ have become a lawless and chaotic people.
Seeing that Pilate is not persuaded that Jesus is a threat they bring out their accusation that Jesus has claimed to be the Son of God. Pilate still seeks to release Jesus so the Jews then begin to threaten Pilate by questioning his allegiance to Caesar, which could’ve caused serious problems for Pilate, should the rumor get to Caesar. But it is this final statement when Pilate again asks the Jews if he shall crucify their king, and they say, “we have no king but Caesar.” This is one of those eerie fateful statements that seals the Jews rejection of their Messiah. In their rejection and hatred of Christ they have abandoned and denied their own religion and have sold out to a godless state and are crying out to it to put their prophesied Messiah to death. Their rebellion has taken full bloom but it stems all the way back to when the Israelites clamored to have a king just like all the other nations. God warned them that they would pay for it, but they didn’t care, because they had rejected God as their king in their rebellion. Once again, here they do not want God to be their king, but have declared the world’s king to be theirs.
The Jews rejection of Christ has led to chaos among them. It has led to mob justice, which is injustice. Though the Jews are the ones condemning and pronouncing judgment on Christ, it is actually they who are being judged. Though Christ is the sufferer, He is the one with authority to judge them. There is a trial going on, but there is more than one. It is not just the trial of Christ, it is the Jews also who are on trial. In Matthew’s account, Pilate washes his hands and the Jews cry out, “may his blood be upon us and our children!” Utter foolishness and blindness in their rejection of Christ. If this is what they declare, God will take them at their word and Christ indeed comes to judge them later on, upon that generation, with mass judgment and chaos as Jerusalem is completely and utterly destroyed with the worst judgments the earth has ever seen. We could go into many details about how chaotic and severe that it was. But suffice it to say that it was entirely in connection with their rejection of Christ.
Pilate
Let us not think Pilate innocent in all these proceedings. After all Jesus tells him that the one who delivered him over to him has the greater sin, clearly implying that Pilate indeed has sin in the matter. It is simply that those who had the covenants and promises and prophecies and greater light have the greater sin. They are sinning against more light and knowledge. Pilate nevertheless is not without guilt in the matter and he to acts wickedly and goes down as a villain in the annals of history. He knows Jesus to be without guilt. Yet he goes against knowledge, justice, and conscience and has an innocent man brutally beaten and crucified as if he were the worst of criminals, all out of cowardice, fear, and ultimately a rejection of Jesus Christ. Therefore he too brings upon Rome chaos of all sorts in the coming years. There are wars and rumors of wars and unrest and earthquakes and all sorts of things all over the Roman empire in this early century.
We ought also to consider how in John 19 Pilate serves as a great illustration, example, and warning to us as to what it looks like to give into sin, in a way that many people do. First, Pilate knows the right thing to do in that he knows Jesus is innocent, yet Pilate does not immediately do what he knows is right. This is a great danger. When we know what is right, we ought to immediately do what is right. It is a great danger to drag our feet and procrastinate obeying God. Next, in his hesitancy, Pilate questions the truth. How often do we know the truth, but then we question it, and thus put off obeying it? Next, Pilate does not want to be responsible and deal with the issue at hand, so he delays even more. How often do we not want responsibility and seek anywhere else to put the blame on? Next, Pilate listens to what the crowds of people say and what they are telling him to do. As Christians, we ought not give ear to what the crowds and mobs would have us to do. We are to obey even if we are the only ones doing it, and no matter the danger we may face. Next, Pilate throughout this trial, Pilate thinks too highly of himself, boasting in his own authority. This is a great level of deception we may face in dealing with sin. We do not want to be deceived into thinking too highly of ourselves and thinking that we have our sin under control and we can deal with it in our own way instead of in God’s way, which is quick repenting and obeying. Next, Pilate continually tries to compromise his way out of the situation. But just like the Jews were never satisfied with compromise, so sin is never satisfied. If we give into it, it will always take us further and further than we intended to go in the beginning. Next we see Pilate become afraid. I believe that Pilate is fearful that he may indeed be dealing with the Son of God. We could say that Pilate becomes paranoid. This too is what sin does in our lives. Because we are ridden with a guilty conscience we become fearful of our own shadows and run at the sound of a falling leaf. Next, in his hardness of heart, Pilate tries to joke and make light of the situation. We continually see his sarcasm and mockery. We are to be warned in making light or joking of sin. This usually comes from a hard heart. There could be more said, but finally Pilate is given over to sin and hardness of heart when he delivers Jesus over to be crucified.
We ought to be warned by these patterns, and ask God to examine us for any such patterns presently in our own lives. May we be quick to repentance, quick to obedience, and ever beholding Jesus Christ in faith, refusing to entertain the shouts, fears, and temptations of the world around us.
The principle of Christ or chaos is true on an individual level. In your own life, it will be Christ or chaos. If you do not obey Jesus by loving your wife, leading your home like a man, and disciplining your children, you will have chaos in your marriage, in your home, and with your children. If wives do not obey Jesus by submitting to their husbands, helping them in their mission, and raising their children, they will have chaos on their end in their marriage, home, and with their children. If you do not obey Christ in being faithful and ethical with responsibilities He has given you in your job, business, and other such endeavors, you will have chaos.
So when we look at our society and we see chaos in the schools because education has not been submitted to Christ; and we see chaos in the government because the government has not been submitted to Christ, and so on and so forth, we know it because we live in a society of individuals who have rejected Christ. Our society is in turmoil because our homes and personal lives are, and indeed many of our churches. So when we live in times such as we do today, we first ought to look at ourselves and our own lives and begin there, and look to Christ in faith in those things.
If we simply try to fix external problems, we will fail. If we try to white knuckle it and fix things by our own determination, we will fail. If we try to just do it, we will fail. And that’s how we’ve gotten into this mess. The answer to chaos is not mere outward conformity to law. The answer to chaos is Christ.
The answer is to have our sins forgiven
What we need is to have our sins forgiven. What we need is the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ. What we need is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce fruit in our lives. The reason we live in a chaotic society is because many people in our society do know the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. People whose sins are not forgiven are unhappy and guilt ridden. Unhappy and guilt ridden people generally believe that more sin, more self-indulgence, and more enmity and heaping guilt upon others is what will eventually bring them relief, but it never does. It only makes things worse. The Chief Priests were a very guilty people, and to deal with it, they heaped false guilt and false condemnation on Jesus Christ. This is what Pilate does. This is what our society of guilty people do – they heap false guilt and false condemnation on others. This is what we do in our sin.
But there, where things are the worst, where sin abounds, and where chaos rages, is where Jesus Christ has come. John reiterates and emphasizes that Jesus is without guilt. There is no guilt in Him. This is why Jesus was silent when He was. This is why Jesus does not argue for His release, as He well could have achieved. This is what He came to do. He came to be the guiltless one taken away and crucified for the guilty ones. He came as the one without sin, to be punished for the sins of others. Jesus Christ was not crucified for His own sins, but for the sins of others. “He who knew no sin became sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God.” He was the only one righteous to do it, and praise be to God who was also the only one full of grace enough to do. He has come to us in our sin, in our rebellion, in our chaos, and it is there that He offers Himself out to sinners to receive. Some individuals and societies who reject Christ and refuse to repent are judged and destroyed. Others who reject Christ are brought to the very end of the tether, to see the futility and despair of it all, and it is there that they are met with the bountiful and unimaginable mercy and grace of God in Christ.
Jesus did not come to save people who have it all together. He came to save people whose lives are a mess because of their sin. To others, He’ll make their life a mess to show them His great mercy. And not every mess looks the same. For some, they look like the mess that they are. For others, they cover it up well, but they do not cover it from the eyes of Jesus Christ. Both types have great need, and to both types, Christ has great mercy. Rebel people do not get it together and implement righteous living to become Christians. Rebel people get stopped dead in their tracks by confrontation from Jesus Christ, and He makes them into Christians, who will live unto God with new desires and newfound obedience.
Is your life a mess? Is it chaotic? Have you rebelled? Have you failed? There is forgiveness of sins available to you today in Jesus Christ. There is redemption and restoration in Jesus Christ available to you today. You cannot have it apart from Christ. But if you would have Christ, you will have all things in Him.
A wicked people who will not repent, God often gives over to wicked rulers. If they will not have Christ as King, they will be ruled by tyrants and despots. You cannot have a free society apart from Jesus Christ. If you will not be ruled by Jesus Christ, then you will be ruled by everything else. You will be ruled by passions, lusts, other men, other nations, by this, that, and the other. You cannot have liberty and order outside of Christ. There is no king, president, or ruler that can bring peace, order and liberty, other than Jesus Christ. Why is this? It is because Jesus Christ is the only king who is also our priest. He is the only king who was willing and able to lay down His life to atone for the sins of His people. It is only in the forgiveness of sins that we have peace, order, and liberty. Jesus is the King who truly brings peace, order, and liberty, because He brings the forgiveness of sins. It is because He stood there before the mob and before the Roman soldiers and before Pilate, willingly suffering humiliation, brutality, shame, mocking, scorn, and great physical pain in our place. He was willing to bear the curse of sin upon His brow in wearing the crown of thorns. He was willing to be covered in our sins, to bear them in His body on the cross. This He did for rebels. For insurrectionists against His rule. For the ungodly. Jesus is the King who brings order, where there was great disorder and chaos from sin. He brings obedience where there is disobedience. He is the Prince of Peace that brings peace where there is anything but peace.
What kind of King lays down His life for a people in rebellion to him, let alone for his own people? In our day and age it is unthinkable that a president or government official would suit up for war and lead his men into battle. That would never happen. It’s the opposite, all the lower people will do everything they can to protect and give their lives for the president. But not Christ. There was no one to take His place. No one to die for Him. Rather, He died for His own. He died in the place of others. He is the King who went into battle, not even with an army behind Him, but entirely on His own, He defeated the enemy, shed His blood for the atonement of our sin, and won the victory – by His own hand.
Calvin says, “…[Jesus] did not stand before Pilate to plead his own cause, – as is customary with persons accused who are desirous to be acquitted, – but rather to suffer condemnation.”
“Away with Him! Crucify Him!” They shouted. These very words themselves are like what we might hear from all the hosts of heaven, were we to stand before the judgment seat of God on our own merit. “Away with Him!” That is what will be said of us if we enter into eternity apart from Jesus Christ. “Depart from me.” Is what will be told of us, if we are outside of Jesus Christ. Such words as these, is what our Lord Himself heard and was told with such vitriol. These words too, He endured for us, in our place. “Away with Him!” Jesus was told, so that in Him, we would not hear those words one day. Jesus took that accusation and declaration for us, so that in Him, when we stand before God, we won’t hear what we deserve, “away with him.” We will hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
What about in your life? When you are confronted with Christ, to embrace Him or your sin, do you say, “away with Him, away with Him”? Oh friends, let us not do away with Christ in our lives as the crowds and op for our own way of life and our own rule which is chaos. Let us behold our King.
For when Christ comes to us as a loving Savior, to redeem us and give us mercy, He does not say, “away with Him.” Rather He says, “away with his sin,” “away with her sin.” “I have forgiven it. I have paid for it. I have shed my own blood to atone for it. I bore it on my body on the cross. It was draped across my shoulders. It pierced into my brow. It is buried somewhere way far deep beneath the bottom of the ocean never to rise in accusation again.” Oh that you would believe that today, and behold Christ in faith today.
Sin is lawlessness. Lawlessness is chaos. Christ has dealt with sin. He is doing away with it. He brings order and peace and life. What will it be? Christ or chaos?
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