No Basis for Death
Rev. Richard A. Bolland

Luke 23:4,14b-15,20-25
(April 4, 2004   Sermon Transcript)

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        Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

        From the gospel lesson, Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."....I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death....Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

        The people had been enslaved for 400 years. And it was their greatest need, indeed their fondest hope, to be set free from the bondage they had endured in Egypt. God sent a deliver named Moses to accomplish that freedom, but things weren’t going so well, or at least, so it seemed. It was an angry, shouting and vicious mob that confronted Moses that day. And the reason for their anger was the unreasonable demand of Pharaoh that they be held to the same quota of making bricks that they had always been held to, but this time it was required of them to make the bricks without straw. As a result, despite all of their work, the Israelite foremen were beaten by their Egyptian slavedrivers, and they insisted that is wasn’t their fault. It was this man Moses who had brought on all the trouble by demanding that Pharaoh let the Israelites out of their bondage.

        But Moses hadn’t been acting on his own. God had told him these words, in Exodus chapter 6, "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"

        Well, when Moses reported these words to the people of Israel he had come to deliver, by God’s power, they refused to listen to him. They refused, then, also, whether they realized it or not, to listen to the Lord who had spoken those words. It was in fact, true, that some of those he had come to deliver wanted Moses, their deliverer dead. The very people he had come to save.

        Many people do not trust, nor believe, the word of God. The Israelites certainly disbelieved it. Moses was a prophet called by God to deliver the people from slavery, and indeed, the prophets words that he spoke were not his own.

        St. Paul makes it clear in II Peter where we read, And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

        It is always God who is the one speaking through His prophets and His apostles. What they have to say, then, is never the mere thoughts of men. Nor is it in any way reflective of their conjectures. St Paul said, indeed, later on, that there is a specific source, and it is that which we explained to the children a moment ago. From II Timothy, St. Paul writes, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

        All scripture is "God-breathed"! It comes from Him, and He is the source. Therefore, when Moses spoke, those who heard him were hearing God. It seems that most did not care to listen to God. Indeed, they blamed the very one who was sent to deliver them. And again and again, in their 40-year journey wandering in the wilderness, they grumbled and complained about the very blessings that were given them, even though God had truly and clearly promised that He would deliver them, and take care of them.

        When manna was provided, it filled their stomachs, it satisfied their hunger, it nourished and strengthened the people. And when water was needed, and demanded, then a rock was struck with the staff of Moses, and water for all, including all the children and livestock, was available, in plenty.

        But it wasn’t enough. And so they grumbled and they complained. And their human reason kicked in, and they said, "You know, we are just sick and tired of this manna." And God, instead of doing what He might have done by saying, "Then eat nothing!", granted them quail every day. Despite the promises of God to provide for them and to deliver them to the promised land, they continually disbelieved both His word and the promises.

        Frankly, I must tell you that for many people things haven’t changed that much today. It seems that we just can’t believe the good news that God has given us, and instead we believe what we wish to believe. Indeed, God has given us, and promised us, the greatest of blessings, far beyond anything the people of Israel every experienced, for we have been delivered from the bondage of our sins, and the slavery that we had to the devil, the world, our own flesh, and to the grave. That makes the deliver of Israel look pale by comparison.

        But our human reason, and our sinful disposition, wants us to disbelieve God. Wants us to question His word, wants us to go through, as Thomas Jefferson once did, and clip out whatever he didn’t like and paste together his own.

        How easily we are tempted to supplant and substitute thoughts of men for the thoughts of God. It is necessary for us to know that we are simply more impressed with our own ideas about what is true, so therefore, we refuse to listen to God, and invent our own versions of the truth.

        Instead of believing that God sent His son, and to give us His own perfect righteousness, we disbelieve it! And by, instead, seeking after our own flawed righteousness of good works, we betray the blessing that was given.

        Instead of believing that Jesus Christ has made complete and full payment for our sins on the skull of the cross, we believe that instead, by attempting to earn God’s favor by our own doing of good things will put us in good stead with God. Even though, we have been told by God, that such thinking is damnable.

        Instead of believing that Christ has gained full victory over death and the grave, we reject His resurrection, because it’s, well, too good to be true.

        The very same foolish disbelief is in our gospel lesson today, the portion that I read to you. The crime of which Jesus stands accused is that He claims to be the Messiah, the very Christ of God. Now, either this is the best news the world has ever heard, or is it rank, terrible, blasphemy. It can’t be anything in between.

        Now, what would substantiate the claim now? How would God go about demonstrating that such a claim might be true. Well, He did, and He did it this way. He gave testimony to the truth of the claim by the miracles done that could not be done apart from the power of God. He would substantiate it by issuing great truths of God, spoken by God Himself in human flesh, to the people. And so it was! He was substantiated by having every detail, every minute little detail, of Messianic prophecy be fulfilled, and it was, to the nth degree.

        And then, of course, there was the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, whose job it was to administer Roman justice, and to do it rightly, as judges are charged to do. He attempts to help the people understand. And though he is not a particularly religious man, God is speaking through his office, for government offices are also appointed by God. And whether or not he intended to speak this way, the man speaks the truth.

        For starters, he is considering totally different charges than those for which the Jews want Him killed. For Rome does not enter in to discussions about Jewish theology. And so they bring false charges. And accuse Him of political sedition. Accuse Him of wanting to usurp Roman authority, for He claims to be the king of the Jews. Falsely accuse Him of encouraging the people to refuse to pay their taxes to Rome, even though He never did.

        Five times, count them in the text if you wish, five times in the text at least, he flatly denies that any charge exists that would serve as a reason to execute this man. Again and again he entreats the people to tell him why it should be that this man should be executed, for there is no violation of law. Five times he is telling them the truth, that the political charges and indirectly the false charges of blasphemy, claiming to be Christ, do not merit death.

        Pilate says, again, and again, and again, and again, and yes, again, "There is no basis for the charges against Him!" The reason that there is no basis for the charges against Him is that He is not guilty of political sedition. Pilate asked Him, "Are you a king?" and He said, "Yes I am. For this reason I was born. But my kingdom is not of this world." Well, Pilate wasn’t stupid. He understood that if a kingdom is not of this world, then it is no threat to Rome! But the kingdom of Rome is of this world, and nobody’s challenging it. There was no basis against Jesus because He never urged people not to pay their taxes. Instead, He plainly said, in front of witnesses, Render unto God the things that are God’s, and unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Oh, and by the way, He was holding a coin with Rome’s emperor on it. And the question had been asked of Him, is it right to pay taxes to Rome? And that was His answer.

        There was no basis of a charge against Him, because the charges were knowingly trumped up by jealous religious leaders who wanted this trouble-maker out of the way, and Pilate well knew it. He understood they were jealous.

        But here’s the part that is important. There is one charge against Jesus that is absolutely true. And the charge is this. He claimed to be the Messiah, the son of the living God. But even here there is no basis for the charge against Him because what He says is absolutely true. Of all people in Israel, the religious leaders, the members of the council of the great Sanhedrin, should have rejoiced at hearing this news. The prophecies had been given hundreds and hundreds of times, in many many ways, throughout the scriptures. It was toward the birth of the Messiah that all of Judaism leaned and yearned. And then He came. The very people who should have judged Him innocent, judged Him guilty and would not believe Him. Acting in their unbelief, they were unable to believe.

        Strange, however, how God uses the evil intent. For they unwittingly accomplished the will of the Father in wrongly sentencing Him to death. Acting in their unbelief, they enabled the self-sacrifice of Christ, who dies an offering for the sins of all men. For you. And for me.

        He uses their evil intent to bring about unspeakable blessing. And what’s more, He does so also for those who condemn Him. Also for those who nail Him to the cross. Also for those who pierce Him with a spear. For no one is excluded from the grace of God who will trust in what He has done, by God’s grace and power.

        With every nail driven into our Lord, the prophecies of old are fulfilled. Isaiah wrote, But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

        Unknowingly, the taunts, the mockery, the scorn, heaped upon the Lord, are measures of His great love, His willingness to endure for our sakes, that we might not be lost.

        Today, dear friends, in your hearing, God is speaking to you through His word, as He does every Sunday. And what’s more, when He speaks today, it is every bit as valid as the word spoken by our Lord during His earthly sojourn. Today, when you come forward to the altar of Holy Communion, you will receive in your hand, and place in your mouth, the very word of God made flesh, who dwells among us, and in us. And you will receive on your lips, the very word, the blood of Christ, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. This very day, today, Christ is telling you the truth about Himself, and what it means to have life in Him, now and forever.

        Will we hear? Will we acknowledge the truth? Will we permit the truth to transform our lives, that our lives, empowered and enabled by Him to be of service to Him, to bring Him glory with everything we think, and say, and do, regardless of the station to which God has called us in this life?

        Would you pray with me?

        Oh Lord, open our ears to hear. Our eyes to see. And our hearts to believe each and every word You speak to us. By their power, change us, transform us, move us to lives of servanthood in Your name. For we are forgiven all of our sins through Your Son. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.