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Part 8 of 16
Week 9 of CROSS TO COMMISSION
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We are approaching the most sensational trial of all human history—a trial marked by severe charges, injustice, and profound spiritual significance. At the center of this trial stands the most famous and significant person in all of human history: Jesus Christ. This trial will impact not only the first century but the eternal destiny of every person who has ever lived.
Matthew, an eyewitness to the life of Christ, records this pivotal moment. The narrative begins in Matthew 27:1-2: "When morning came, all of the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death and they bound him. And they led him away and delivered him over to a man named Pilate, the governor."
Before Jesus ever stood before Pilate, He endured six illegal trials conducted by the religious leaders of Israel—all happening in a single night between Thursday and Friday morning. These trials were held at night because the Jewish leaders were cowards, breaking their own laws and lacking sufficient evidence to try Jesus publicly.
By morning, these leaders had reached one decision: Jesus must die. They saw how He was bringing revival to the nation. "If we don't stop him, everybody's going to believe what he's saying." Their motivation was not justice but jealousy and envy. The Scripture reminds us: if Satan can find an envious heart, he can find a slanderous mouth.
These religious leaders were full of the devil and spent their time trying to put someone else down in an attempt to prop themselves up. Instead of getting their own hearts right with God, they made their decision: Christ must die.
The Jewish leaders could not execute capital punishment under their own law—only Rome had that authority. So they brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who reigned from AD 26 to 36.
Pilate was a coward and a phony politician who did whatever was expedient for his own political gain. He was a man full of compromise, yet he is remembered throughout history as the man who ordered the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is even inscribed in the Christian creeds we recite: "suffered under Pontius Pilate."
Archaeological evidence confirms Pilate's historical reality. A stone bearing his name was discovered in Palestine, confirming that the details we read in Scripture are not fairy tales but historical facts. Everything recorded in God's Word has proven accurate. We can stand on the authority of Scripture with confidence.
From John's account of the trial, we see the details that Matthew omits. The chief priests and elders brought Jesus to Pilate's headquarters early in the morning. They refused to enter Pilate's house themselves because, according to their laws, going into a Gentile's home would defile them.
How revealing this is: they were so concerned about external ritual purity that they wouldn't enter a non-Jew's house, yet their hearts were defiled with murder and persecution of the Son of Glory. This is the danger of hyper-religiosity without love, piety without discernment. You can have all the outward trappings of holiness while being full of the devil inside.
When Pilate asked what accusations they brought against Jesus, they lied: "If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him to you." The trial was marked by lies from the beginning.
They accused Jesus of three things:
All of these were lies. Jesus never told people not to pay taxes. He told Peter, "Go fishing, get that coin, pay your tax, and pay mine." This was not justice; this was injustice in a courtroom.
Pilate's question is the most important question in the trial: "Are you the king of the Jews?"
The Jewish leaders had to find a charge that would rise to the level of treason against Rome. In their six trials, they found Jesus guilty only of blasphemy—claiming to be the Son of God. But that was not enough for Roman execution. They needed something that posed a threat to Caesar.
So they accused Jesus of claiming to be the King of the Jews, which would be considered treason. But Jesus clarifies: "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom was of this world, my servants would have been fighting for me. But my kingdom is not from this world."
Jesus explains that He is no political or military threat to Rome. His kingdom is not territorial; it is spiritual. His kingdom exists in the hearts of men and women who believe in Him.
When Pilate pressed further, Jesus answered: "You say that I'm a king. For this purpose was I born, and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice."
Notice the definitive article: the truth. Not "a truth" or "your truth." Jesus came to testify to the truth. This is crucial for our generation. There is only one truth that exists, and it comes from Christ. If something has not come from His doctrine, then it is not true. This condemns all false religions, all false prophets, all beliefs outside of Christianity. If it has not come from Christ, it is a lie manufactured by the devil, masked in religion and used to lead people away from God.
Everything outside of Christ is false because He said, with the definitive article, the truth. No college campus, no false religion, no atheist or agnostic can bring a charge against Christ because no evil was found in Him. No fault was found in Him. Christ is the perfect, faultless, blameless, spotless Lamb of the Living God.
After examining Jesus before both himself and Herod, Pilate declared: "I find no guilt in him." Herod, the tetrarch, also found no fault in him. Both rulers—unbelievers—acknowledged Christ's innocence.
Pilate said, "Nothing deserving of death has been done by him." An unbeliever announced that an innocent man was about to be executed. This is the profound truth of the Gospel: an innocent Savior stood condemned so that guilty people could be redeemed.
When the chief priests and elders began accusing Jesus, the Scripture records something extraordinary: "He gave no answer." Jesus remained silent.
When Pilate asked, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?" Jesus still said nothing. Pilate was utterly confused. He had seen many guilty people stand before him, and they always defended themselves desperately. But this man facing capital punishment was not defending Himself.
What Pilate did not understand was that for Jesus to defend Himself would have been to go against the perfect will of God the Father. Jesus already had a plan—not an earthly defense, but an eternal redemption.
Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote: "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth."
Jesus knew the Scripture. He knew what Isaiah had prophesied about Him. And so He chose silence—not out of weakness, but out of obedience to God's Word. If He had spoken in that moment, He would have broken Scripture.
This teaches us a profound lesson: at some point in our Christian walk, we must allow Scripture to govern the way we talk and the way we move. We cannot keep living guided by misguided emotions and misguided opinions. When we find ourselves in a jam, we cannot just go off in a rage or act in a way that gets us in trouble.
We must be so full of God's Word that when we find ourselves in difficult moments, the Word comes back to us and guides us. This is not just good advice—it is the best advice you will ever hear.
Think about the practical wisdom here: a husband and wife in conflict, but remembering the Scripture that says don't let the sun go down on your wrath. So they make an effort to reconcile before night falls. A person about to make a serious mistake, but suddenly God's Word comes to their heart in that moment, and they know what to do.
Jesus demonstrates for us something vital: you must have enough wisdom and poise to know when to talk and when to keep quiet. Some of us would escape things that brought pain to our lives if we would simply keep our mouths shut.
Many of us have ruined relationships because we could not keep our mouths shut. We gossip, we slander, we speak deceitfully in darkness. We have caused damage to others because we did not learn to be silent. We have gotten ourselves in trouble by trying to defend ourselves with people who are not worthy of our words.
Pilate himself was so overwhelmed by the presence of Christ that he actually began fighting for Jesus! He said to the accusers, "Why aren't you defending yourself? Don't you hear what they're saying?" The governor was confused by Jesus's silence and power. He became so moved by Christ's presence that he actually stood up for Him.
And the Scripture records that Pilate "was greatly amazed at Jesus."
In His silence, Jesus demonstrates for us what godly submission looks like. Hours earlier in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had prayed with such agony that His capillaries burst—blood mingled with sweat falling from His brow. He prayed, "Lord, if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me."
But now, standing before Pilate with the possibility of defending Himself, Jesus chose to submit His will to the Father's will, even though it would cost Him everything.
This is the message Jesus lived and died to teach us: Submit your will to the Father's will, even if it costs you something.
You have an enemy who is constantly accusing you. Sometimes you feel it in your soul—a voice that tells you that you are unworthy of God's love, unworthy to be heard. The enemy constantly reminds you of your past, your mistakes, your failures, your pain.
Maybe you aborted a child. Maybe you blew up a marriage. Maybe you failed in a significant way. And that accusing voice keeps coming back: "You did this. You failed. You're not good enough."
But the Scripture says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If there is no condemnation from God, then the condemnation you hear is not from the Holy Spirit. It is from the devil. The enemy constantly accuses, but God does not.
You must have the courage to stand up against those lies. You must understand in your heart that Christ has paid the price for you. The Father is not condemning you. You are not forsaken or forgotten. God loves you, and you must come against the lies of the accuser.
But there is another set of lies you must resist: the lies of exaltation. You are not that awesome. You are not that nice. You are not a bag of chips. You are a wretched sinner saved by the blood of Christ—no more, no less.
You have nothing apart from Jesus. You can make no boast in your talents, your anointings, or your giftings. Stop boasting in your title. Don't boast that you are an apostle, a prophet, a pastor, an evangelist. Nobody cares. Stop boasting in your gifts, your acumen, your money, or anything you have.
Paul said, "I boast all the more in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may be displayed in me." You are the donkey that Jesus rides on. You eat the fruit and stay away from the glory. The palm branches are for the One working through you, not for you.
Instead of boasting in anything you have or anything you are, boast in your weaknesses so that the power of Christ can be displayed in you.
Final and most important: you must learn to subject your will to the will of God.
Everyone under the sound of my voice has a will. Your will has been infected by sin. Because your will has been affected by sin, you have thoughts, desires, ambitions, plans, goals, and visions. Some of them are outside the will of God.
If you are going to grow in faith and maturity, you must learn to subject your will to the will of God.
You might say: "This is what I want, but this is what You're saying. This is what I put on my vision board, but this is what You're saying. This is what I desire, but this is what You're saying. I don't want to forgive them, but You told me to forgive."
This is you bringing every thought, every desire, and every plan under the subjection of God's will. You cannot keep calling yourself a Christian while talking how you want, living how you want, and doing how you want.
You cannot say, "I don't know God's will." You have over a thousand pages of His will right there in the Scripture. The problem is that every time you bump into something that contradicts what you want to do, you flip the page because it is not expedient for you.
But if you are going to see the best of what God has for you, you have to learn to subject your will to His will. You have to say: "I don't want to do this, but because You said it, I will. I have to forgive this person. I have to love this person. I have to stop gossiping. I have to stop causing division. I have to stop being rebellious. I don't care about my feelings right now—my feelings have to come under subjection to God's will."
And what you experience on the other side of that submission is the absolute best life that Christ has for you. Because He is the Author and the Finisher of your faith. He knows what is best for you far more than you know what is best for yourself.
This is the power of Christ's silence—not a passive acceptance, but an active submission to the Father's will. And this is what Jesus calls us to do as well.
