Luke 23, 1, and the whole multitude
of them arose and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse
him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ the
king. And Pilate asked him, saying,
Art thou the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said,
Thou sayest it. And then said Pilate to the chief
priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. And they
were the more fierce saying, he stirreth up the people, teaching
throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. When
Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean.
And as soon as he knew that he belonged under Herod's jurisdiction,
he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that
time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he
was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him of a long
season, because he had heard many things of him, and he hoped
to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with
him in many words, but he answered him, nothing. And the chief priests
and scribes stood and vehemently accused him, and Herod, with
his men of war, set him at naught and mocked him and arrayed him
Gorgeous robe and sent him again to pilot in the same day pilot
inherit were made friends together before before They were at an
enmity between themselves I've entitled this message a look
at the enemy But always understand that these
enemies are only relevant as they relate to Who they are enemies
of? I could really name, and I hope
this is true, we could name every message we preach Christ crucified
and just number them. Christ crucified one, Christ
crucified two, and three and so on. Would that not be the
subject of our text this morning? It's the subject of every text. But in the context of Christ,
we see his enemies here. We speak of heaven and hell and
things like that from the scriptures. Paul said that heaven is to be
with Christ, which is far better. And what is hell? Christ has
the keys of hell and of death. And hell is the place for those
who hate Christ. And that's the single reason
that people will go there. The single reason, because of
him, John 319, you look it up. If you were to talk about me,
write a story of my life, what's important to me, who I am, what
I've done, and so on, you might talk about Deer Park, Texas.
You might talk about Plymouth Dusters. You might talk about
forklifts and cabinets. But it wouldn't be a documentary
on any of those things, a documentary on cars or towns or any industry,
because then it would cease to be about me. The Plymouth Duster
is only irrelevant in the story because it was my first car.
And cabinets, because I built them. Likewise, we may talk about
heaven, but I don't wanna hear a message on heaven and what
it's like, do you? That's not gonna help me, that's
not gonna save me, that's not gonna comfort me, that's not
gonna glorify God. All those things happen when
Christ is preached and only when he is preached and apart from
him, there is no heaven. So let's take a look at the enemy
and who they are, what they are because of him. They do what
they do because of him and they're gonna end up where they're gonna
end up because of him. The whole multitude of them arose
and led him unto Pilate. The whole multitude of them.
There's no shortage of enemies of Christ in the scriptures or
in this world. And they're all kinds. They're
all kinds. Some of them call themselves
Baptists. Some call themselves Catholics. Some call themselves
atheists, but they still hate Christ. How can you hate somebody
that doesn't exist? You're a hypocrite, a liar, and you hate God. So let's put some perspective
on this whole scene by reading a passage of scripture from the
book of Acts. Remember, we saw what a contrast,
while you're turning there, let me say this, we saw what a contrast
that the Lord Jesus had made such a difference between Man
Simon that we saw in chapter 22. We just finished chapter
22 And in chapter 22 we see Simon Weeping his heart out in one
verse he wept bitterly How many times have you wept bitterly
in your life he wept bitterly this strong rough fisherman wept
bitterly over the very thought of being untrue to the Savior.
And in the next verse, we see the men who began to mock and
beat that same person. What a difference. What a difference
in the heart. And likewise, as we speak of
the unity and the near universal hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ,
let's look at scripture that also shows another unity, another
brotherhood. There's always unity of one kind
or another around the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's enemy between
those two camps, those two unified groups. There's enmity between
them, but great unity in both camps. So look with me at Acts
chapter four, verse 18. And they called them and commanded
them, this is the disciples, they called the disciples of
Christ and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in
the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. He said, you make
up your mind about it, we've already made up our mind about
it. For we cannot but speak the things which we've seen and heard.
You can't shut up about him if you know him. Can you? So when they had further threatened
them, verse 21, they let them go, finding nothing how they
might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified
God for that which was done. For the man was above 40 years
old on whom this miracle of healing was showed. And being let go,
they went to their own company and reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God. That sounds kind of obvious,
hardly anybody knows that. Hardly anybody knows that. That's
a good thing to say, you're God. You ever just confess that before
God? You're God and I'm not. Why do I keep acting like I am?
You're God. Which hast made heaven and earth
and the sea and all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant
David hath said, Why did the heathen rage? and the people
imagined vain things. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord." So
you see here, they are lifting up their voices all in one accord,
in great unity. They all of them said, you're
God. And we remember what you said. And we trust you, we believe
you. And what they're talking about
is the unity that was on the other side too. They all together,
Rosa. people that were natural enemies
to one another. Look, for of a truth, verse 27,
against, against, that word was repeated in there, against thy
holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius
Pilate, they were at enmity with one another before, With the
Gentiles and the people of Israel, there's never been greater prejudice
and hatred between two different peoples than there were between
the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews called them Gentile
dogs. And dogs were unclean. For to
do whatsoever, they gathered together. You see that word again,
together, together. for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold
their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all
boldness they may speak thy word. May God give us grace to do exactly
what they told us not to do. By stretching forth thine hand
to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy
holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the
place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And they spake the word
of God with boldness, and the multitude of them that believed
were of one heart and of one soul. Neither said any of them
that out of the things which he possessed was his own, but
they had all things common and with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace
was upon them all. You know, one of the most beautiful
signs that great grace is upon us, as it were of one heart,
one heart, And with boldness, the word is
declared. So the whole multitude of them
arose. In Acts 4 there, it says they
stood up and were gathered together. They stood up against. And you know what? I thought
about this. Why'd they stand up? They stood
up because God said stand up. And if he says sit down, you'll
sit down, and I will too, and they will too, everybody will. People don't want to be puppets,
but you are. I'm just glad I'm his puppet,
aren't you? You don't control anything. Your free will, really? They stood up because the Lord
allowed them to get up off their backsides and stand up in the
garden of Gethsemane So they stood up He let them up And it says they were gathered
together who gathered them They all did exactly what God's
hand and counsel determined before to be done and why What was the
purpose of it all? Christ and Him crucified. He and what He did is the point. He is the remedy to our problem,
sin, which at its root is our hatred of Him. That's what it
is. But never think of the cross as a reaction to man's sin. The cross is not because of sin. Sin is because of the cross. Everything revolves around the
cross God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ This whole world is dead to me because of
the cross and I to them They're unified in their hatred
and murder of me and it's mutual It's mutual Everything is because of the
cross. It's not just God solving a problem
if God willed you reckon he could have prevented the problem Christ is all and in all Colossians
311 of him and through him and to him are all things and Romans
11 36 listen to Revelation 4 11 thou art worthy o Lord to receive
glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things
and For that pleasure they are and were created What we call
good things bad things all of it he created all things Now
this is why they hated him This is exactly why they hated him
and do hate him so much, because he's sovereign. And they're united
in that. They crucified him as king. We
will not have this man to reign over us. And that's why we love him for
the same reason, because he's sovereign. And we're united in and by that
love because of his sovereign love for us. Now they led him unto Pilate,
who is an interesting character in scripture, and we'll see quite
a bit about him again as he relates to the Lord. As we look into
this, but look at verse two with me. And they began to accuse
him, saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a
king. You see why they hated him? And
the word accuse reminds us who's behind all of this. Accused,
who's the accuser? Revelation 12, nine, and the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out
into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And I
heard a loud voice saying, in heaven now has come salvation
and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his
Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down. You say
that passage is about Satan and him being cast down, yeah? But
you know how John describes it here? The power of God's Christ. It's all about him. Which accused
them before our God day and night. The accuser of the brethren.
You see who's behind this? It says Satan entered into Judas
Iscariot, and that's when he went out and betrayed, sold the
Lord for 30 pieces. You see who's, the great accuser,
they accused him. Remember when Satan accused Job? He said, Job only loves you because
you've hedged him about and are blessing him with everything.
Satan said, I'd love you too if you gave me everything. Look
what you've done for Job. And Satan said this to God, if
you afflict him, if you take away what he has, he'll curse
you to your face. Has Satan changed? And do you
imagine, do you imagine that Satan might have something to
accuse you of and me today? You think he could find something
to accuse us of? But here is our answer by God's
grace to Satan's charges and any charge that anyone might
bring against us. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justified me.
How about you? Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died because of who it is that shed his precious
blood for me. You can't accuse me of anything
and neither can Satan or anybody else. Yea, rather that is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us. So Christ is being accused here,
you might say, so that I cannot ever be accused of anything, by anybody, anytime, anywhere. The charges they brought against
our Savior are blatantly false on the face of them. Even Pilate,
Pilate didn't know that much about what was going on. He said,
I see through that. I don't see what you're saying.
You've accused him of some things here. I don't find any fault
in him. It was clearly false. They accused him of perverting
the nation. Who do you think perverted this nation? Was it
God, was it Christ, or us? Who do you think perverted the
nation, the Roman nation or the Jewish nation or any nation?
The problem with nations is they're made up of sinners. That's the
problem with nations. They accused him of perverting
the son of God who never did anything but good. He's perverting the nation, really. It wasn't the Lord that perverted
the nation. It was perverted a long time before he ever came.
What Christ did, though, is show how perverse they were. That's
what he did. They didn't like it, did they?
Listen to what he said, John 15, 22. If I had not come and
spoken unto them, they had not sinned. Boy, they thought pretty good
about themselves until I came and spoke. But now they have
no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me, What's he
talking, what does he mean by sin? He that hateth me, hateth
my father also. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. What
he said and what he did, that's what showed their perverseness.
But now they have both seen and hated both me and my father.
But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled that
is written in their law, they hated me without a cause. The
law that they claim to love condemns them. You see how that sin and hating
Christ are synonymous in that passage of scripture. And the
idea of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, is the opposite of
the truth. He told them to render unto Caesar. They tried to accuse him of that,
didn't they? They said, don't you pay taxes? Are you paying your taxes? And
he said, do you have a coin? Give me that coin. He said, whose
inscription is that? Whose picture is that on there?
They said, well, Caesar. He said, render unto Caesar the
things that are Caesar's and render unto God the things that
are God's. And that shut him up, but also
made him mad because their hatred of him to rise up in them. And
so they accuse him of that now. Listen to Matthew 17, 24. When
they, the Lord and his disciples were come to Capernaum, they
that received tribute money came to Peter. Those that collected
taxes came to Simon and said, doth not your master pay tribute? And he saith, Yes. And when he was come into the
house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of
whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute, of their
own children or of strangers? And Peter saith unto him, Of
strangers. And Jesus saith unto them, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, notwithstanding. God's people don't owe this world
anything, but notwithstanding. Notwithstanding, lest we should
offend them, go thou to the sea and cast an hook, and take up
the fish that first cometh up. I don't think I've ever just
cast a hook in the water and came up with a fish, but Simon
did. And when thou hast opened his
mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, then that take and
given to them for me and thee. The Lord and Simon paid their
taxes that day. Do you think the Lord knew that
he would be wrongly accused of that anyway? Of course he did.
He still paid them. He still paid them. He's gonna
be accused of not doing it anyway and condemned and crucified for
it If you could say it was for that it was just because they
hated him The last part of our verse 2
in our text is part of the accusation Not paying taxes they're using
his faithful and true testimony of who he is to prop up their
false accusation and You see they said, but he says he's a
king. And so he doesn't have to pay taxes. He paid him. And he is the king,
but his kingdom is not of this world. It's not of this world.
Verse three, and Pilate asked him saying, are you the king
of the Jews? And he answered him and said,
thou sayest, thou sayest. Just in the last couple of messages
from this study in Luke, I preached on this subject, are you the
son of God? And this question is not much
different. Are you the king of the Jews? Who are you? Except
that this question emphasizes his sovereignty. Are you the
king? Are you the king? And this is
asked because of that accusation there in verse two. He says he's
some kind of a king, and so he doesn't have to pay taxes. whole
thing was a lie, but he did say he was the king because he was
the king. And ultimately Pilate would command
that it be written over the Lord's head above the cross that our
Lord was crucified on. You remember that? They put a
sign above his head in three languages saying this is Jesus
the king of the Jews. That answered Pilate's question,
didn't it? Are you the king of the Jews? Well, it says there
that he is. And some of these enemies, these
same ones I'm sure here in this text, told Pilate, they said
to him, take that down. Don't put up there that he's
the king of the Jews. Let me read it to you, John 19,
19. And Pilate wrote a title. He wrote a title. And the writing was Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was not to
the city. And it was written in Hebrew
and Greek and Latin. And then said the chief priests
of the Jews to Pilate, write not the King of the Jews, but
that he said, I am the King of the Jews. You remember what Pilate
said to him? What I have written, I have written. Some say Pilate believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ because of this, and because, if you'll
remember, the Lord caused Pilate's wife to have a dream about the
Lord Jesus Christ, and she delivered a message to Pilate because of
that. Listen to Matthew 27, 15. Now at that feast, the governor
was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would,
and they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas, Therefore when
they were gathered together Pilate said unto them whom will I release
unto you whom will ye that I release unto you Barabbas or Jesus which
is called Christ for he knew that for envy they had delivered
him Pilate knew that he hadn't done anything wrong he knew that
because They hated him for who he was
for envy they delivered him And 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. Why would the Lord give
her a dream about the Lord Jesus Christ and cause her to deliver
that message to Pontius Pilate? I don't know. I don't know. I
can't say yes or no. I don't know. But the chief priests
and the elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask
Barabbas and destroy Jesus, destroy him. Pilate knew that the Lord
had done nothing wrong. It says right there, he knew
that. And he would not change the truth
that he had written about it. He said, I wrote he's king of
the Jews and I'm gonna leave it just like that. Why do you
think he did that? And God caused Pilate's wife
to warn him about the Lord. So either this is a horrible
tragedy that Pilate had many warnings, didn't he? He knew
in his head. Agrippa did. Didn't Paul say,
I know you believe what I'm saying to you? Isn't that what Agrippa,
Paul said to Agrippa? I know you believe. So either it's a great tragedy
though he knew in his head who the Lord was. Judas did too. Satan does too. Or maybe the Lord had mercy on
old Pilate. You reckon? I don't know. I know
if he wanted to, he did. I know he didn't try to. He didn't
try to. He either did or he didn't. And he'll either have mercy on
you or he won't. And one of these days we'll find
out, won't we? And Pilate may have been a coward, but he was
honest in this. He could have just as easily
have agreed that sedition had been committed. He could have said, yeah, you
know, he has been stirring up the people. We'll call it sedition. Who would have disputed Pilate?
You think anybody would have disputed him? He could have done
that, but he refused. And he even tried to refuse any
blame for what happened. Listen to Matthew 27, 22. Pilate
said unto them, what shall I do then with Jesus, which is called
Christ? He had already said, who do you
want me to release, this convicted murderer, murdering thief, or
this one called the Christ? And they said, we want the thief.
Release the murderer. And he said, what do you want
me to do with this Jesus then? He kept saying, which is called
Christ. Wonder why Pilate kept saying
that, you reckon? They all saying to him, let him
be crucified. And the governor said, why? What
evil hath he done? He knew it, they knew it, everybody
knew it, that he was the innocent blood. This is the innocent blood,
Judas said. But they cried out to more anyway,
saying, let him be crucified. And when Pilate saw that he could
prevail nothing, but 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. Then answered all
the people and said, his blood be on us and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto
them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be
crucified. Now, Pilate declaring himself
innocent and God holding him to be innocent is two different
things. And what a scene. Can you picture
that Pilate washing his hands before everybody and say, I'm
innocent. I'm innocent. Washing them with water. But
water can't wash sins away. He said, I am innocent of this
blood, of the blood of this just person. But the only thing that
can actually wash sins away is that blood. And leave us innocent in the
sight of God, that precious blood. Verse six, when Pilate heard
of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. And
as soon as he knew that he belonged under Herod's jurisdiction, he
sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that
time. Pilate wanted rid of him, didn't he? Galilee, oh, that's
not my jurisdiction. Let's send him over to Herod,
let him deal with it. He didn't want anything to do
with it. And usually when there are jurisdictional
disputes among The legal organizations of men, it's normally that they're
fighting for jurisdiction. They're offended if anybody impedes
upon their jurisdiction. It was just the opposite with
Pilate. He was anxious to pass the buck.
And look at verse eight. When Herod saw Jesus, he was
exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him of a long season,
because he had heard many things of him, and he hoped to have
seen some miracle done by him. You know, there are many in religion
that fit this description even now. That's their whole interest
in the Lord. They want to see some miracle
done by Him. Of course, one that benefits
them especially. And it doesn't make them true
worshipers of God any more than Herod was. First Corinthians 121, for after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. For the Jews require a sign. And the Greeks seek after wisdom. Herod wanted a sign. Boy, he
wanted to see a magic show, didn't he? But Paul said, we don't give
them either one what they want. We preach Christ. They want a
sign, you're not getting a sign. It's Christ that we preach. You
seek after wisdom, the wisdom of man has nothing to do with
salvation. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews, a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks, foolishness,
but unto them which are called. Remember he said, by the foolishness
of preaching, in the same content, and when that happens, when the
gospel's preached in God, opens an ear, gives a hearing ear,
and speaks to the heart, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. The Greeks seek after wisdom.
Christ is wisdom. The Jews seek after some powerful
miracle. Christ is the power of God unto salvation, not just
a spectacle. Paul said, they don't either
one get what they want in Christ. But what we preach is what they
need. Christ crucified is every sinner's
need and he is our message. And Herod didn't get what he
wanted either. He'd been hoping to see some miracle done by the
Lord and he questioned him with many words, verse nine, but the
Lord answered him, nothing. Oh my. There are those to whom the Lord
Jesus Christ has nothing to say. What a terrible, terrible thing. You know, he says, if you're
thirsty, come and drink. Come take the water of life freely.
if you're thirsty. If you're weary and heavy laden,
come unto me and rest. If you're sick, come to the great
physician. That's our message. But the Lord
said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, the sick, the soul
sick. All the Lord has to do is answer
you nothing, and you're a goner, and you're a forever goner. And
when Herod didn't get what he wanted, look what happened next. Verse 10, and the chief priests
and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. And Herod with his
men of war set him at Nod and mocked him and arrayed him in
a gorgeous robe and sent him again to Pilate. if you're not gonna give us what
we want, if you're not the one we wanted you to be. People love to talk about Jesus
and see him and ask stupid questions. Harry kept asking him all these
questions. But once they find out that he's
not who they wanted him to be, they don't not only have no use
for him, it wasn't just that he didn't have any use, he didn't
just send him back to Pilate. He ridiculed him and mocked him
and abused him and beat him and tortured him and sent him back
to Pilate. Don't miss the word not here.
They set him at not. That just means they made it
real clear that he was absolutely nothing to them. And it's not unrelated to the
word nothing in the previous verse. The Lord answered him,
nothing. It's mutual, isn't it? It's mutual. They made him of
no account. That's what that means. They
made him of no account or despised him utterly. They showed that
he was nothing to them. And it would sound so
religious and Pollyanna for me to say, but the Lord loved them
anyway. But you know, it would be a lie. It would be a lie. I'm not saying dogmatically that
he hated them all either. I don't know. He might've saved
one of them. If he wanted to, he did. But to just say indiscriminately
that he loved them anyway is a lie. This book God has something for
those who trample under their feet the blood of his son, and
it ain't love It ain't love Verse 12 in the same day Pilate and
Herod were made friends together for before they were at enmity
between themselves Even those who have nothing else
in common have this in common they hate God's son That's your
problem, by the way. You can't kind of love him. You either love him or you hate
him. Because you see, everybody hates him. Everybody hates God.
By nature. We're born into this world hating
God. We hate him. The only thing we hate worse
than his law is his grace. We hate everything about him.
Then when he does something about that you don't kind of love him
you love him You love him The only way a sinner will ever
not hate the Lord Jesus Christ is if they love him And if you
love him, it's because he first loved you First John 4 19 We read in Acts
4 a while ago that the Jews and Gentiles both rose up against
Christ. Has there ever been stronger
hatred and prejudice between two peoples? A lot of blood has
been shed just because you're a Jew. That's it. I don't care
anything else about you're a Jew. But they agreed in their hatred
of Christ. Pilate and Herod were political
rivals. We see all the time how deep and passionate political
partisanship can be and division. It's about as bad as it gets,
isn't it? But they were friends in this
one sense. And every one of us in this room
would be friends with them, except for one thing. 1 Corinthians
2.7, we speak the wisdom of God and a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which
none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. They crucified him simply because
they didn't know who he was. Is that what that says? Listen to the rest of it. But
as it is written, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. You know the deep truths
of God because his Holy Spirit revealed Christ to you And they nailed God's Son to
a cross because they didn't see they didn't know they had no
idea By God's grace because he has revealed it to us. We know
the answer to the question The question you remember what the
question is Are you the Son of God? We believe and are sure that
he is that Christ, the son of the living God. And flesh and blood did not reveal
that to us, but the Father which is in heaven. Thank God. If we had been there, what would
you have done? Somebody said one time, if I had been there,
I would have stopped the crucifixion. Nah. It has nothing to do with
them or us. There's no difference. Have we
heard that from God? There is no difference in us
by nature. There's none. We would have done
exactly the same thing. By God's grace, we know who it
is that died, We know why he died. And we know
what he accomplished by his sin atoning death. And we know where he is right
now, don't we? By God's grace. And we say, we say his blood be on us and on our children. We don't say it in the same way
they did, but we say it, don't we? His precious blood, his precious
sin atoning blood be on us. And God may it be on our children. Let's pray.