How Do You Handle Jesus? - Part B

Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition.

We're glad you've joined us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig is all about connecting you to the never-changing truth of God's Word through verse-by-verse teaching. Before we get started, we want to invite you to check out connectwithskip.com to find resources like full message series, sermon outlines, and more. While you're at it, be sure to sign up to receive Skip's weekly devotional emails right in your inbox. When you do, we'll send you Skip's booklet, Hell No, Don't Go. This insightful resource will help you gain a deeper understanding of what awaits believers in heaven and unbelievers in hell. It's an encouragement for those who've said yes to Jesus and a sobering picture for those who have not. Get your copy when you sign up today at connectwithskip.com.

That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. He says, not wanting to make the choice, acting, dealing passively with Jesus, getting the politician to decide, the people to decide, pity to decide, but nobody's decided it. So here's Pilate, he believes in the innocence of Jesus, but he concedes to the abhorrence of the crowd.

Dealing passively. He doesn't really want to kill Jesus, but he didn't want to believe in Him either. He's not going to follow Him. Jesus is a Jesus has talked about truth and another kingdom from heaven and Pilate's not interested in that. There's a lot of people who try to handle Jesus passively like Pontius Pilate. They'll say, well, I'm not like anti-Jesus, I'm not against Jesus, but I'm not like pro-Jesus either. I'm sorry he got beat up and this is a horrible travesty of justice, but at the same time, I really don't want to deal with Jesus. I'm neutral concerning Jesus.

And they try to live their lives sort of, it doesn't really matter, I just don't want to deal with him, I'm neutral, I'm a no vote, I abstain. Now Jesus himself said, you can't do that. He said, you are either for me or you are what? Against me.

Now think about that. You don't have to be opposed to Jesus to be against him. If you're not for me, you're against me.

If you don't help me gather, you actually help me scatter, he said. I know people will say, yeah, but there's always two sides to every issue, always two sides to every question, you're right. But that's like telling a fly, there's always two sides to that fly paper.

You're right, but it makes a big difference which side he decides to land on. Let's look at the next way Pilate handled Jesus. Jesus can be handled fearfully. Look at verse seven. The Jews answered him, we have a law.

And according to our law, he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid. And he went again into the Praetorium and said to Jesus, where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer. And Pilate said to him, are you not speaking to me? Can you hear the pride in that?

Can you hear the pride in that? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? Now in hearing that, Jesus has something to say. And he says it in verse 11, Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. From then on, Pilate sought to release him.

Stop there. Finally, finally, we hear the true motivation in verse seven of the crowd that is bringing Jesus before Pilate. See, up to now, they've sort of couched it. They said, well, this guy's a real bad guy. He's an insurrectionist, he's a tax evader, and he's trying to cause an uprising. But now they finally admit the real charge, the real beef they have against Jesus is he claims to be God. He claims to be deity.

He says he is the son of God. That's the real beef they have. That's the real reason they want this crucifixion. Now when Pilate hears this, he's terrified.

He says he's the more afraid. Why does that frighten Pilate? Well, let me help you understand the worldview of Pontius Pilate, really of all the Romans and Pilate included. The Romans, including Pontius Pilate, they were superstitious people. That is, they believed not only in the world of humanity, but they believed in the realm of the gods. And they believed that from time to time, the gods could empower human beings with supernatural abilities, or in some cases, the gods could leave the realm of the gods and actually come to the earth, like Hercules, the Greek legend that was passed down to the Romans. They believed that that could happen. So he hears that Jesus claims to be the son of God, and Pilate gets terrified.

Why? Because Pilate just had him beat up. And if this guy has supernatural power, or is indeed a son of one of the gods, I'm dead meat.

I'm in trouble. And so he is terrified. Now probably right about now, I'm guessing, that saying of his wife who warned him earlier that day comes to his mind. His wife had told him, now I have nothing to do with this righteous man, Jesus.

I have suffered many things in a dream because of him. And that comes to his mind, and he's going, oh, no. So, he goes to Jesus again, and he asks him this question, where are you from?

Now he's not asking his address. He knows he's a Galilean. He knows he's from Galilee, not from Judea. In saying, where are you from, he's saying, do you come from the realm of the gods?

Because that's what I just heard, that you claim to be the son of God. So the claim of Jesus and the calm of Jesus unnerved him. Jesus says nothing to him, doesn't say anything to him. Pilate asks him a question, Jesus answers it this way. Pilate gets really unnerved. You're not gonna answer me?

Don't you know that I have power over you? Here's a question, why didn't Jesus talk to him? Why didn't he answer him? Why did Jesus remain silent before Pilate?

Let me give you three explanations. Explanation number one to fulfill prophecy. Isaiah chapter 53, anticipating this, said, he was oppressed and he was afflicted. He opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before a cheers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth. Reason number two, and really perhaps the reason, is because Jesus had already spoken to Pilate. Jesus had already told Pontius Pilate, I'm a king, I come from above.

I came from another realm to bear witness of the truth. And Pilate walked out on him saying, what is truth? So Pilate's already heard a testimony by Jesus. Jesus has nothing more to say to him. Jesus knows Pilate isn't interested.

Now there's a truth there. I've discovered that when God reveals something to a person and that person doesn't act on that truth, God has really nothing more to say. It just, all you've proved is you really don't wanna hear from God, what else you got for me?

So he reveals himself incrementally to those who are open by showing their obedience to what he's revealed. Jesus has nothing at all to say to Pilate any longer. So silence.

But perhaps, let me turn the coin, perhaps there's a third reason. Perhaps Jesus is silent just to demonstrate how patient he will be in his being with Pontius Pilate. To just sort of let it sink in.

Where are you from? No answer. As if to say, now Pilate, just in quietude, think about all the events of this day that you have seen and heard, because you have to make a decision. I read a letter, I worked with an organization in India and I read a letter about a group that went to a village in Andhra Pradesh, one of the provinces of India, and showed the Jesus film to 1200 people who showed up to watch this movie. And at the end of it, 36 people came forward to receive Christ.

All of them from non-Christian backgrounds. The next day, one of the film crew guys was taking a morning walk, and he overheard two boys talking in that village. And one boy said to the other boy, we should believe in the Christian God, he's a good God. And the second boy said, why should we believe in the Christian God?

And the first boy said, because our gods are short-tempered, but Jesus is a very patient God, as we saw in the film yesterday. It could be that Jesus is simply lingering to give Pilate the ability, the thinking space, to make the decision. Pilate's afraid.

Pilate has been handling Jesus passively, but now fearfully, he's unnerved. I found a lot of people who deal with Jesus fearfully. They're afraid. They're afraid of the future. And if they're not Christians, if they don't trust in Christ for their salvation, they ought to be morbidly afraid of the future.

But that's where they stop. They're afraid, and so they want to mitigate against the fear, and they think, if I just say that cute little prayer, then I'll, it'll keep me out of hell. They deal in fear, not in faith. They're not dealing faithfully, but fearfully. They don't place their faith in Jesus, they're just afraid of Jesus.

It's fear of repercussion, not faith in Christ's forgiveness. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig, Weekend Edition. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, in his book, Is God Real?, Lee Strobel, author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Case for Christ, provides a rational exploration of the proof of God's existence and the basis of our eternal hope. Writing to skeptics and believers alike, Strobel turns his critical mind and expert interviewing skills to perennial questions like, how do we know which God is real? And if God is real, why does he seem so hidden? Is God Real?, along with two messages preached by Lee Strobel at Calvary Church, are our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer, or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. Let's look at a third way that Pilate handled Jesus.

He can be handled selfishly. Go back to verse 12, we cut off right in the middle of it. From then on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend.

Mark that well, I'll get back to it. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in the place that is called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbata.

Now it was the preparation day of the Passover and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold your king. And they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said, shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar.

Listen to the hypocrisy. They hated Caesar. They wanted nothing to do with Caesar. They chafed under Caesar's rule, but now they sound so patriotic. Man, we're like totally into Caesar, man.

We're stoked on him. Then he delivered him to them to be crucified, so they took Jesus and they led him away. What was the saying that Pilate heard that moved him to get Jesus crucified? It's when they said, you let this guy go, you are not a friend of Caesar.

Here's why. Tiberius Caesar, the head honcho in Rome, at this point in history, was a paranoid recluse living on the island of Capri, very suspicious of everyone. And if he had any hint of unfaithfulness by any of his underlings or incompetence, there would be brutal consequences. Pilate knew that. Pilate had been the governor for five years. But Pontius Pilate had several flaws in his leadership up to this point, and this was the tipping point in what he heard.

Now I gotta explain this to you, it'll make sense. If this were baseball, Pilate already struck out. There were three strikes against him. Strike one is when Pontius Pilate brought banners into Jerusalem with the emblem of Caesar on it. Now if you know anything about Judaism, you know the Jews hate images of any kind, and they protested against Pontius Pilate, saying you remove those incense out of Jerusalem, we don't want images in our town. Pilate said to his soldiers, take out your swords, and threatened them, so he took out their swords to kill them. The Jews laid down on the dirt floor of the amphitheater in Caesarea and bared their necks as if to say, go ahead, kill us, cut our necks, we're not backing down. And this shook Pilate, saying, who am I dealing with? They're ready to die for this, so he backed off, and he removed the incense.

That was one. Number two is a few years later, when Pilate raided the treasury in the temple of Jerusalem, stole the Jews' money to build an aqueduct to Jerusalem to carry water in for himself and the soldiers. Again, the Jewish crowd protested against Pontius Pilate. At that time, Pontius Pilate ordered his soldiers to dress up like civilians, carrying clubs and daggers, and upon his signal, butcher the crowd, which he did. Strike three came a little bit later, when once again, Pontius Pilate ordered shields to be made with the inscription and the face of the side profile of Tiberius Caesar for his soldiers at the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem. The Jews this time appealed directly to Caesar. Caesar himself ordered Pontius Pilate to remove the shields and threatened Pontius Pilate.

He's had three strikes. Pilate is teetering on the edge. So when they say to him, you let this man go and you are not Caesar's friend, that was a threat.

It was an intimidating threat. It's like, we're gonna narc on you to Caesar, and you're out of a job. So, Pilate, being a good politician, somebody said a good politician is somebody who doesn't throw his hat in the ring until he discovers which way the wind is blowing. Pilate feels the wind blowing against him, so he is ready, even though he knows Jesus is innocent, to get him crucified. So he handles Jesus selfishly because he wants to hang on to his job.

He'll have a death grip, I want this position, I want this status, and so he handles Jesus selfishly. Now for just a moment, I want you to think of what it would've been like to be Pontius Pilate growing up. There's little Pontius running around the yard with his friends, and that little Pontius kid, he wants to be something great.

He wants to be successful, he wants to make a difference, be that kind of a person, so he grows up. The problem is, he's not born in Rome, he's born in Seville on the Iberian Peninsula, way out in the boondocks, but he joins the Roman army when he can, becomes a legionnaire, and he gets promoted, but that's not enough for Pontius. He wants more, he wants to be successful, so he moves to Rome.

This is all historical. He moves to Rome, he's excited about Rome, the Forum, the Colosseum, the Roman Arches, the architecture, it wows him, it's amazing, I'm here. But that's not enough for Pontius Pilate. He wants more. And so, he marries into the family of Caesar, marrying the granddaughter of Caesar Augustus, Claudia is her name, that's Pilate's wife, and because of that marriage, the emperor, Caesar, gives him the governorship of Judea.

Now he's arrived, now he is successful, now he has status. And when he hears this, you're not gonna be Caesar's friend, that was a Roman catchword, amicus caesaris. He goes, ooh, I'm gonna lose my status, my position, let's get Jesus killed.

So he handles him selfishly. To Pontius Pilate, being Caesar's friend is more important than doing what is right. Now there's the scripture, I'm gonna quote the first part of it, you're gonna give me the second part of it, because you know it, James chapter four.

James writes, whoever would be a friend of this world will become the enemy of God. That's the choice that Pilate had. Do I wanna go with the crowd? Do I wanna be a friend of Caesar and a friend of the crowd?

Or do I wanna do what's right because I know this man should go free. But he handles Jesus selfishly. One of the most tragic verses of scripture found that happened at this trial is Luke's account of this, Luke 23. It says, and the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.

Now let that just settle in on you a moment. The voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. Pilate was willing to turn off all the other voices. Turn off the voice of Jesus speaking to him about another kingdom. The voice of his wife saying, have nothing to do with this righteous man. Let's turn off that voice. The voice of his own conscience that said this is an innocent man. Let's turn off that voice.

The voices of the people and of the chief priests prevailed. Here's a man who wants to go along with the rest of the crowd to save his own status. Let me just tell you this. In handling Jesus Christ, if you're thinking, well, I want to go the way that everybody else is going in the world. Just ask where that path is going to end up. Where are they going to? Where are they marching toward? You see, that question, what will I do with Jesus who is called the Christ, will define you for eternity. Not just Pilate, where's that crowd going? Jesus said it this way, enter into the narrow gate because wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many enter therein. It could be translated most enter therein. Most people go to destruction.

Very few people make the smart choice that defines them with eternal life. Once upon a time, there was a spider who built a magnificent web in an old castle. Shiny, brilliant, bright, and he always tidied and kept it clean because whenever he got a fly trapped in there, he would clean up quickly and make it look new again so that other flies wouldn't suspect anything.

And he wanted more patrons. One day, a fairly intelligent fly was flying around that spider web and the spider cried out and said, come on in, man, sit a while. And the fairly intelligent fly said, not me, I'm not stupid.

I don't see anybody else in there, I'm not going in alone. And just then the fly noticed on the ground, there were a whole bunch of flies dancing on a piece of brown paper. And he thinks, that's where the crowd is.

And so he goes down to join them. Just before it lands, a bee buzzes by and says, don't land there, stupid, that's fly paper. And the fairly intelligent fly says, oh, don't be silly, they're dancing. There's a big crowd, everybody's doing it. That many flies can't be wrong.

Famous last words, he landed on the fly paper. As you look out at the world and what people have done with Jesus, dealing with him passively or fearfully or selfishly, are you thinking, that many people can't be wrong. Uh-huh, oh yeah, all the time. So let me give you, in closing, a fourth option. Don't deal with them passively, don't deal with them fearfully, don't deal with them selfishly. Handle Jesus humbly.

Sincerely, personally, repentantly, where you handle him by making him the exalted Lord that you worship and the one that you submit to. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been encouraged in your walk with Christ by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you confidently respond to questions and challenges to God's existence.

It's Lee Strobel's book, Is God Real? and two messages he preached on the topic at Calvary Church. Request your resources when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig weekend edition. Make a connection Make a connection at the foot of the crossing Cast your burdens on His word Make a connection Connection Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.