Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
Courts may pass sentence, but justice is not always done. For Jesus, show trials were held to give legitimacy to killing an innocent man. He knew there was a higher court where true justice would prevail, and we need not seek vengeance on earth.
From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, take us into Luke chapter 23 and tell us where we are so far in reliving the mock trials Jesus was forced to endure. Well, you know, Luke chapter 23, of course, Dave, continues the story of how Jesus Christ eventually ended up being crucified. But coming to my mind, one of the most incredible statements that Jesus ever made was when he was standing before Pilate. Pilate says, Don't you know that I have power to release you or power to crucify you? And Jesus said these words, You would have no power at all against me if it were not given to you from above.
My dear friend, whatever is happening to you right now, whatever attacks come against you, remember this, they could not happen unless God gave permission for them to happen. I pray that all of us will respond like Jesus Christ did, even in the midst of injustice. This is the last week we're making a devotional available for you. It's actually a 30-day devotional entitled For Us. I wrote this devotional because I want us to contemplate the cross of Jesus Christ, the events surrounding it, the trials, Judas, Gethsemane. Each day, I want you to be able to leave with some thought or some blessing in your mind or some insight that will carry you throughout the entire day. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. Here's what you do.
Go to RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. I'll be giving you that contact info again at the end of this message. But let us remember there is no power except that God allows it. So he's brought back to Pilate, and this actually is the third phase of the Roman trial. It begins with Pilate. Pilate sends him to Herod. Herod sends him back to Pilate.
Well, you know this story well, but I want to read it again. Verse 13, then Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers of the people and said to them, you brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any charges against him.
Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving of death has been done by him. I will therefore punish him and release him.
I'll give you something. I'll have him whipped and beaten, and then surely that will satisfy you. This is the second time Pilate is saying that Jesus Christ is not guilty. And then it says, verse 18, but they cried out together, away with this man and released to us Barabbas. There was a custom among the Jews that on the Passover time, some prisoner could be released. And Pilate was saying in effect, well, you want Jesus to be a prisoner, let me release Jesus to you.
But the crowds kept saying Barabbas. It was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection and started in the city and also for murder. Third time, Pilate says to them, he is not guilty. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, crucify him, crucify him. A third time he said to them, why, what evil has he done?
I have found no guilt deserving of death. I will therefore punish him and release him onto you. They were urgent, demanding with a loud cry that he should be crucified and their voices prevailed. I have that underlined in my Bible, their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered over Jesus to their will. And the Jews anxiously said, his blood be upon us and upon our children. What was motivating the trials of Jesus? Pilate really understood human nature very well because elsewhere in another account, Pilate said this, he knew that it was for envy that they had delivered him. In other words, it was because Jesus made these teachers look bad. He's the one who got all of the crowds.
He's the one who is able to do the miracles. He was able to teach with authority and they weren't able to do that. And here was Jesus who was getting all of the tension and it galled the religious leaders of the day and made them angry. And then he was claiming to be God and he was proving it and it became too much for them. And they wanted him out of the way no matter how unjust their trials were. What I'd like to do is to draw some lessons for us and let us remember that Jesus endured this for us, but also let us ask the question, how did Jesus react to all of this and how should we react to injustice?
Let me give you these lessons. First of all, it's very obvious. If Jesus didn't get justice, why should we think that we are entitled to it? If Jesus didn't get justice, why should we think that we are entitled to justice? I read yesterday that someone said, if you think that the court system is going to be fair to you just because you happen to be a nice person, that's like believing that a raging bull will not come after you because you're a vegetarian. The fact is the world is fallen, my friend. And I thank God for the laws of the United States. I thank God for the courts of the United States because oftentimes they do exactly what is right and human beings are frail and sometimes they make wrong decisions, but they make those wrong decisions without knowing that it's a wrong decision and we should be grateful. But oftentimes what you find governing decisions is greed and hatred and revenge and rage and bribes.
You see, that's why, and you know this story, it's happened a hundred times. That's why a man in the middle of a divorce, he may not like his children or really take care of them well, but he will insist on having those children. He will insist on custody so that he can really sock it to his ex-wife whom he hates. All of that becomes a part of the judicial process. And in this fallen world, what we find today is that oftentimes it is these things that govern the courts.
Now, I don't mean to be pessimistic. We should do all that we can to use the court systems to help people to intercede for them to become advocates for them. In the Holocaust Museum in Washington, I understand it says these words, thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator.
And above all, thou shalt not be a bystander. We should be willing to indeed become involved in the lives of others and do whatever we possibly can to help them. But at the same time, we recognize that in our fallen world is sometimes perfect justice is impossible. And the only point that I'm trying to stress here is that Jesus himself did not receive justice. Therefore, we should not think that we are entitled to it. We do the best we can. But at the same time, we know that oftentimes it is other forces that are at work.
And by the way, we should be grateful for this great country of the United States of America, because in other countries, if you've ever been there, you know that there is even much less justice than we often receive through our laws and our courts. There's a second lesson, and that is injustice on earth is recorded in heaven. Injustice on earth is recorded in heaven. It never escapes God's attention.
Never. How did Jesus react to his injustice? There's a verse that I've often shared with you because it'll help many of you who are bitter, bitter at God, bitter at the injustices that you've endured.
And you have vengeance in your heart and you want to get even. Here's a lesson from the life of Jesus. First Peter Chapter two, verse twenty three. Now, just notice carefully, as I quoted, who when he was reviled, reviled, not in return. When he was whipped and beaten, he uttered no threats, but he kept entrusting himself to God, who judges righteously.
You know what Jesus was saying during this period of time? Jesus was in effect saying, I don't need a fair trial on earth because all of these things are going to be opened up again in heaven. And I can allow my heavenly father, my faith in my heavenly father is so great that I don't need to see justice. I am willing to entrust my case to the highest court. And I know he will do just by me in his good time.
Let me ask you a question. Have those who gave Jesus Christ this unfair trial, have they ever been brought to justice? Not yet fully, not yet fully because you see it is only in the day of resurrection when these court cases are going to be reopened and God is going to even the score. God is going to bring justice to the situation and Jesus is saying, I can wait until then.
My dear friend, would you today lay down all vengeance? You remember when Joseph was there in the land after his brothers had cruelly treated him and you know the whole story of how they sold him. And then later on they came back into the land of Egypt and they came with Joseph and Jacob came back and he died. After he died, the brothers came to Joseph and they said, Joseph, your father said before he died that you weren't supposed to even the score. You weren't supposed to reap vengeance on us because the brothers were terrified. And the Bible says that Joseph wept at their words. What he said in effect was, are you telling me that after all these years you still do not understand that I would never possibly retaliate?
I would never seek vengeance. And then Joseph makes one of the most profound statements that could be used to deliver many of you who are filled with bitterness. When he said these words, he said, am I in the place of God to keep vengeance upon you? You know what Joseph was saying? If I believed in vengeance, if I wanted to carry out vengeance, I would be saying, God, you just move over because I don't need you.
I'm going to do your work and I'm going to do it my way and I'm going to get even the way in which I think I should get even. Joseph said, I will not stay in the place of God in my heart. No vengeance. Jesus here is being mistreated and what he's saying is no vengeance. My father will take care of it.
You willing to say today, I know that my father will take care of it. I don't need to see God's judgment is based upon reality. It's based upon reality.
I love this. Just imagine in God's court, somebody saying, well, you know, I need an attorney here to put a better spin on this or I will tell you part of the truth or I'll take a statement that was made and I'll, I'll just give it a bit of a twist to give it a different meaning. Can you even imagine that happening? No, with God, it'll be just reality. Your mouth will be closed.
My mouth will be closed and God will be the judge. So it is based on reality. It is based not on the present, but the future. You know, there's an interesting verse in Ecclesiastes. It says, because the sentence against evil is not carried out swiftly, people think it is okay to do wrong. It's kind of a paraphrase, but there it is in Ecclesiastes.
Isn't that true? Because you see, we look at people today and they're getting by with everything and God isn't doing a thing. So we think, and because the sentence is not carried out swiftly, we think to ourselves that God is overlooking it.
No, no, no, no. A day is coming when every wrong in the universe will be made right. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray was speaking to a man whom he knew was guilty but had escaped because of a technicality in the law. The justice said, I know you are guilty and you know it. Remember that one day you will stand before a better and wiser judge and you will be dealt with according to justice and not according to the law. By the way, later on, this burglar entered a house in Antwerp, Belgium, and he was unexpectedly interrupted in what he was doing.
He ran out the back door, scaled a nine foot wall, and fell into a prison compound. God has his ways, both on earth and in heaven. So remember that injustice on earth is recorded in heaven. Third, remember that today's injustice, today's injustice is tomorrow's victory.
Today's injustice is tomorrow's victory. You see, God, who is so great in his providential government of the world, God used injustice to get Jesus crucified. And that's why the Bible makes that interesting statement in the book of Acts that it was wicked hands that crucified Jesus.
It was wicked hands that tried him. But in the end, it was the providence of God because God wanted Jesus to die on the Passover. And when the Passover lambs were being slain at that very moment, Jesus is dying. So God is using injustice for his own purposes. I need to speak to you candidly today and to say that injustice does not impede the purposes of God. The God whom we serve is so great, so wonderful, so dependable that you can know that no matter what injustice there is, it will be answered and it will be answered justly.
Now, here's the good news. Even though we deserve justice and justice means that you and I would be lost forever, God did something wonderful. God used the injustice of the courts of his day to get Jesus Christ crucified. And then God did something that was just. And that is he took and put upon Jesus the sins of all who would believe on him. And Jesus became legally guilty, legally guilty of your sin and mine.
You say, well, that is unjust. In fact, there are those who would say that God did something very unjust to lay on an innocent man sins and crimes that he didn't commit would be unjust. And that is true, except for this fact that Jesus received this voluntarily.
And because he received it voluntarily, you and I can escape the just penalty of the law because he bore it all because of his grace and his mercy. The Bible teaches that there are two categories of people. There are those who will entirely accept and endure the just payment for their sins, and they will bear that payment forever and ever, which is just, by the way, for reasons I will not go into today, which is just. Those are the people who will not see the mercy of God.
But there's another category of people. And that is those who trust Jesus Christ as savior, who bore their guilt and who bore their punishment. And when we trust Christ like that, we are exempt from eternal judgment. Even though there may be consequences to what we've done here on earth, we are exempt from eternal judgment.
Why? Because the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Jesus died the just, the Bible says, for the unjust to bring us to God. The end of the day, we are so glad that we have a savior that we sang about today.
Hallelujah. What a savior to save us from the wrath to come. Now, at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, that's where God is going to adjudicate issues that belong just to Christians. They are headed for heaven, but before they enter heaven, God needs to make sure that justice has been appropriately adjudicated and that will happen at that judgment seat. You know, you have a Christian man who runs off and marry somebody else, doesn't make marriage payments, child support.
It's all upon the life of and the goodwill and the involvement of the mother. And he's a Christian and she's a Christian. Do you think that all of them are going to get to heaven? They're all going to be there and God will say, well, you know, let bygones be bygones. You're both Christians. Both of you can enter into the pearly gates.
And by the way, as you enter, please hold hands. It's not going to be that way. It's why the Bible says, judge everything before the time because the Lord will come and he's speaking to Christians who will set right the injustices even among Christians. There will be an adjudication and after that adjudication and all charges and counter charges are fully answered. Then you have the opportunity of entering into heaven and then indeed they'll want to hold hands because justice will be done from my heart to yours today. Throughout all of eternity, it says in the book of Revelation, we shall sing just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. God is just.
Justice shall eventually rule and we can serve God today with joy. You know, that old story that's been told many, many times fits so well here. I'm going to tell it again. There are different versions of it, but my version says that a man was speeding and not able to pay his speeding ticket. So he comes before the judge and the judge says, let's suppose the judge said you have to pay $100, but the man didn't have $100. So the story is that the judge left the bench, took off his robe, went and stood there with a defendant and took out $100 from his own pocket and laid it on the table.
Then the judge went back, put on his robe and took the $100 and said, thank you very much. Your debt has been paid. That's the gospel. God demands because we are sinners. God supplies what he demands. Justice is fully served. Jesus absorbed what belongs to us and we walk free.
It's not only just, but it's dripping with undeserved mercy. Today, my friend in Jesus, you can find that forgiveness, that cleansing, that acceptance, because he justly paid our penalty. Father, we thank you today for your grace and I want to thank you for your providence. I want to thank you, Lord, that you can even make the wrath of man please you. I thank you that in grace, Lord Jesus, you are able to, to give us the ability to be able to trust you no matter what. For those who have never believed in Jesus, we ask that today they shall turn their hearts towards the savior who paid a penalty that sinners might believe. And Lord, we thank you that all things are from your hand and we give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, my friend, I have to ask you this. Have you savingly believed on Jesus? Have you trusted him as your savior, turning from your sin to him to the only one who can cleanse you so that you can stand before the father and be acquitted? I love the gospel. I hope that you do, too. This is the last week that we're making a special offer available for you, a resource that we think will be a blessing. I've written a 30-day devotional entitled For Us. As the title implies, it has to do with what Jesus Christ did for us so it surrounds the events of the cross. For a gift of any amount, we're making this devotional available for you. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy and I need to emphasize that it has a scripture reading. It also has a devotional. It ends with a prayer that you can pray.
I want you to be fitted for the rest of the day. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9000. May I thank you in advance for helping us, for praying with us and for us. We appreciate it because together we're making a difference.
Right now, go to rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Erwin Lutzer wrapping up Jesus on trial for us. Next time, don't miss Jesus crucified for us. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
