Sermon for March 11

The reading: John 18:28-40

28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" 30 They answered, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." 31 Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law." The Jews replied, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death." 32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) 33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" 35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." 37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." 38 Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him. 39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 40 They shouted in reply, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a bandit.

The message

Today, we hear the first part of Jesus trial before Pilate, a Roman Governor. His territory included Jerusalem and the regions where Jesus was born, lived, taught, performed those 7 signs of power and constantly faced off with the religious authorities.  He was the only person who had the authority to put Jesus to death. (Rome allowed non-Roman governments to make local and small decisions but restricted major things like capital punishment to their leaders). Pilate was an outsider to the Jews, a gentile, a leader appointed by Rome and charged with looking after Roman interests (which were often different from the interests of the Jewish people).  They are so separated that the religious authorities who bring Jesus before Pilate and the crowds that follow them cannot even enter Pilate’s headquarters without violating the Jewish law and being ritually unclean.  They must talk to Pilate outside, meaning Pilate has to enter and leave what is basically his office to listen and speak to Jesus’ accusers (Rome did respect local customs and traditions to some extent).  For us, it is a reminder of what is said and done in the light and in the darkness. It is a court case that centers on power and knowledge.  

After all, the Gospel of John is very concerned with inside and outside, with those in the light and those in the darkness, those who understand and those who do not see what God is doing in the world.  This week and next week, we will see the trial of Jesus before Pilate physically go inside and outside 7 times: The trial starts in John 18:28-32 as the religious authorities stand outside Pilate’s office and demand death of Jesus for his crimes against the Jewish law (which Pilate barely cares about) and then the Roman law (which gets his attention).  Then in John 18:33-38a the trial moves inside, where Pilate and Jesus debate with one another on kingship. This is a conversation where they are obviously talking about two different things, Jesus is focused on God’s transcendent power over all, which Jesus knows is breaking into the world through him. Here, truth is unchanging. Pilate is focused on worldly power, on being a ruler like so many others, with authority granted temporarily by people and maintained by violence and force. It is a position where truth can often be manipulated or just ignored for survival. Now in verses 18:38b-40, they move back outside,  Pilate goes before the crowd  to announce that he does not find Jesus guilty of any crime punishable by death.  Pilate once again tries to make the Jewish authorities handle their own problems and offers them a choice of saving Jesus or Barrabbas, a thief and all around bad guy. After some persuasion by the religious authorities that Jesus is more of a threat to everyone, the crowds demand Barrabbas.

That’s where this week ends, next week we see the trial go back inside, in verses 19:1-3, the  soldiers abuse Jesus, beating him and putting a crown of thorns on him. After this the trial moves back outside.  In verses 19:4-8, Pilate once again declares that he does not find Jesus guilty of any crime, He shows a humiliated and abused Jesus to the crowd, hoping they will be satisfied, it is not death but at least Pilate did something nasty. The trial goes back inside and in verse 19:9-11,  Pilate and Jesus have another debate on power. Like the last one about kindgoms, they are once again talking about completely different things.  Finally, the trial moves outside again and in verses19:12-16a, a frustrated and uncertain Pilate reluctantly gives in and sentences Jesus to death.  Pilate, with all his authority, does not have the power to anger and disregard the crowd without facing difficult consequences, without going before a higher official in the Roman Empire and explaining himself.   Jesus speaks the truth, regardless of consequences.   

At each movement, each transition inside or outside, public or private, we are reminded that each participant has a different issue, a different cause and a different type of power.  The religious authorities want to get rid of Jesus, seeing him as a political threat to a delicate peace and a religious threat to their own comfort and authority.  They try to kill Jesus several times by exploiting fear and inciting the crowds to turn on him but each attempt fails. . While they have some power over the people, its insufficient to get rid of Jesus.  While they rule over some things, capital punishment is not one of them. Pilate seems to view the whole thing as wrong and annoying but even he needs to keep the crowds satisfied. His power was temporary, others gave it to him and could be taken away.  Reports to Rome that he was allowing unrest, failing to handle disputes in a place they barely knew existed or allowing Roman law to be broken, could easily mean his replacement. Jesus’ power is different. He goes through this trial, like the rest of his ministry, well aware that his kingdom is not of this world and whatever happens, God will be victorious.  This is what even his closest disciples never quite understand until after Easter, even death cannot stop God’s will from being done.   The crowds, at least the ones who show up, seem anxious, they trust their leaders and worry about Jesus disrupting the way things are, while things were not great, they could be much worse. 

Perhaps even today, this has not changed too much, justice, courts, law enforcement, the work of figuring out what is right and fair still has insiders and outsiders, factors beyond truth that influence decisions.  I have been to trials a few times as a witness and once as a defendant (that’s next week’s story).  In all of the cases, I always felt like I was on the outside, like I barely knew what was going on. There were lots of things going on that I didn’t understand, that were not what I expected.  Once, I was a witness for a housing dispute, I received a supenona with a lot of frightening legal words on it, threats that failing to respond could land me in jail or liable for a judgment. I showed up with the paper and went to the clerk to sign in, explaining I’m here, I’m here, don’t throw me in jail, or fine me or whatever this document threatens to do.  The clerk doesn’t even look at the paper and says “you can go sit.  I ask “don’t you want to mark me down as present, don’t I have to sign in, don’t you want to see this”. He quickly dismisses me, saying we only care if you get called and aren’t there, most everything gets settled before the actual hearing anyway. To me this was a big deal, to the clerk, just another guy who didn’t get it.  I sat around for about 2 hours, reading, writing and watching 3 or 4 clerks run around, watching teams of lawyers and clients make deals, go from room to room and get things stamped. I had no idea how anyone could possibly keep track of what was going on.  After a while, I went back to the clerk who I annoyed earlier with my desire to sign in and asked “when is this coming up”, to which I was told “oh your still here, that’s  been settled and points to a pile of folders.  I ask, “Can I leave “and he says “if you want”, I avoided my sarcastic urge to say “no im waiting for my free lunch or I want to sit here and do nothing for another hour and then go”.   

Someplace in this process there was power, real problems were being resolved, significant sums of money were changing hands and life changes where happening. It was working. To the initiated, it all made sense, it’s all in a day’s work.  They were the ones who controlled the flow of information, whose full understanding of the system gave them power. To an outsider like me, it was just confusion (and aggravation).  I had some power here, the lawyers could point to a mystery witness, a neighbor who might say x or y, a ploy to force a settelement and keep people honest 

At the point of Jesus trial, no one really gets it. A few people like Mary are close to getting it, but right here in Pilates office, no one understands what is going on.  Only Jesus knows the full system, It will take Jesus death and resurrection for people to get it, it will take the Holy Spirit descending on the church for people to get it. As much as it is the place where people come inside, Church can often be a place where people are outside, people who understand the service and people who don’t.  There are people who know their scripture and people who know the bible was written by Jesus a long time ago, unwelcome for sin or sexuality or age.  I think of bringing the preschool kids up here, showing the church to friends who did not grow up in church or even welcoming people who worship in other traditions. They all ask  “What do you do in here”. There are lots of answers, we leave our sorrows, raise up our prayers, hear God’s word, sing God’s praise, be strengthened and inspired to serve, to teach . in short we experience the other worldly power of God.  You do all that here, the answer is come and see.  

Next week, we hear the second part of Jesus trial before Pilate and ill talk about my own day in court.  This week the focus is on power,  next week, Grace.