Well, we are going to jump back into God's word. Open with me to the gospel of Mark as we near the end. Mark chapter 15. What a delight it is to get into the word of God. It's more necessary than our food. Mark chapter 15. And so we return to this fast-paced gospel by Mark, the glorious news, he even started in chapter one, verse one, the good news of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and he's been tracing this whole narrative for us very quickly, and he's taken us on quite a ride. I know, again, we've been over Mark for a year and a half or so, but the actual gospel is a very fast gospel. And he began with Isaiah's prophecy. He connects to the Old Testament in chapter one. I'm refreshing your memory here, it's been a while. And he begins with the ministry of John the Baptist there, who is making way for the arrival of the king of the Jews, of Jesus. We have in chapter one his baptism, you have the approval from heaven. The father approves of his son there, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus, and he begins what we've been looking at, his three-year ministry. Jesus gathers then his disciples very quickly. And he starts to perform miracles, he casts out demons, he starts healing people, lepers, the paralytic there in chapter two, and on it goes. I mean, it literally eradicating all of the sicknesses of the book of Leviticus, it seems, in the gospel of Mark. Everything he touches is made well. And he preaches, he preaches like one with authority. He doesn't point to Rabbi so-and-so, he talks about what the word says and he just speaks because he is the word of God. And for those first eight chapters, it's all focused on the public miraculous ministry of Jesus. And then by the time you get to chapter eight, Jesus begins to withdraw with his disciples. and to a private ministry from chapters eight, nine, and 10, where he focuses on the 12, teaching them and preparing them for his death. And then he arrives in Jerusalem in chapter 11, and that's where we are. He now ministers in Jerusalem, he has been We looked at chapter 14 recently. He then is taken prisoner by the temple guards by the betrayal of Judas, and that brings us to chapter 15, where he is delivered to Pilate. So the end is near here, and this is what Mark has been wanting to get you to, is to focus on what's called the passion, the suffering of Jesus, that last week. And chapter 14 was dark. Chapter 15 is even darker. In chapter 14, Judas begins with his betrayal, and one by one, the disciples fall apart. They can't even stay awake in the garden. By the end of chapter 14, Peter, the rock, the leader, has denied his Lord three times, and Jesus is taken as a criminal, though he is innocent. So you have from faithful vows of the disciples to falling asleep to disciples to the forsaking disciples, and Jesus is left alone. And he's left alone here in chapter 15 in what I've just titled Delivered Over, because the emphasis here is that the king of the Jews is delivered over by the Jews to the Romans to be executed. I know we're familiar with the story, we know where this goes. We also know the ending, which really helps. It's not the first time, probably, maybe it is, but for most of us, you're familiar with what happens, that Jesus rises again. But for the first time reader, to think that this man who performed miracles and calmed the storm and shown the glory, his own glory is forsaken by his disciples and now he'll be handed over to Rome, this is not where you think the story would go. But it is where the story goes, because it's part of God's plan. The temple guards had come, if you remember, with Judas. Judas gave him a kiss, notifying the guards of which one was Jesus. They take him, the disciples scatter, and he's left standing without a friend. This is a lonely time. The most lonely man in history is Jesus here as he goes to the cross, and he is delivered over. He is delivered over by men, but my point this morning is to go bigger than that, that he is delivered over by God. So before we enter the details, turn with me though to Acts chapter two. So you could keep your finger there or keep a bookmark and then turn with me to Acts chapter two, verse 22. So this is the apostle Peter, the one whom early church believes was behind the gospel of Mark was Peter. And Peter is preaching post-resurrection. This is after Christ has risen from the dead. He now goes to the Jews who crucified him. He's preaching now for them to repent and to believe in Christ. Verse 22, Peter says, men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know. So Peter is saying here, he's giving kind of a summary of all of Jesus's ministry. That a man attested to you, he speaks to the Jews, by God with mighty works and wonders. God gave you proof, he says, of whom he was by the miraculous. God worked through him in your midst as, he says emphatically, you yourselves know. This Jesus Delivered up according to the definite plan and knowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men This is definitely one way for the preacher to create enemies As he accuses them you're the Jews you're the ones who crucified him he says And that's why later he calls them to repent. When they ask, what shall we do? Verse 37, Peter says, repent. He calls them then to turn to Christ. But he says, you yourselves know this Jesus, he says, delivered up, but notice who delivered up Jesus. Even though Peter says you crucified him, he says he was delivered up according to the foreknowledge, the plan, the decision of God himself. That's an amazing thought, isn't it? It doesn't negate their responsibility, Peter's not saying, because Jesus's death is part of the plan of God, you are no longer held responsible. He still holds them responsible for crucifying their Messiah. But in a sense, he kind of pulls the curtain back and shows them that even though they did deliver him up, this is all part of God's original plan. That's good to know, isn't it? The sovereignty of God, even in the worst of situations, we're reminded as believers, God is behind everything. Everything is going according to his plan. Peter says something marvelous. It's probably shocking, maybe to some of us, that yes, Jesus was delivered over by Judas, by the temple guards, by the Jews, as we're gonna see, by the chief priest. and yet he was ultimately delivered over by God. Now, it may not seem this way as we turn back to Mark 15, but I want you to keep this in mind as the narrative continues, because it seems that man is in control. It kind of seems like that today in this world, doesn't it? Man has all the ultimate control, but man is never ultimately in control, thankfully. All that transpires now in chapter 15 is according to God's plan. So let's read the account, and we're just gonna look at verses one through 20 this morning. And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consolation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, you have said so. And the chief priests accused him of many things, and Pilate asked him again, have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you? But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner from whom they asked, And among the rebels in prison who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them saying, do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priest had delivered him up. But the chief priest stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, then what shall I do with the man you call the king of the Jews? And they cried out again, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, why, what evil has he done? But they shouted all the more, crucify him. So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. and the soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is the governor's headquarters, and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, hail, king of the Jews. And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out to crucify him. So we notice there, verse one, the chief priest began their plan to remove Jesus from Palestine. Notice, as soon as it was morning. This shows the determination of the chief priest, someone who is ready in early morning to get something done. That means it matters to them. This meeting of the religious leaders is to make a decision. What do we do with this man Jesus. He is a popular man. He is the most popular man of Israel. All the crowds are going to him. He has healed many. Some think he might have healed almost all sickness in Palestine after three years. What do we do with him? They despise him. They hate him. They have plotted earlier since chapter three to kill him. And they're accusing him earlier in chapter 14 of all kinds of things, so many things they don't even agree with each other. They just don't like him, they don't want him. One of the accusations is that he has said that he will destroy the temple himself and raise it up, which is not true. But they seek to remove Jesus and they determine earlier in chapter 14 that he has blasphemed that he's made himself out to be God, so they will deliver him over. And it's a lonely account as Jesus stands by himself. Even Peter has forsaken him. I want us to see that not men merely are handing him over, but God hands over his son. And I want us to see Jesus' silence. and that he surrenders himself entirely to the Father's will. And I think chapter 15 just glows with this, that Jesus is surrendered to the Father. This is why he came, chapter one, verse one. This is the good news itself. He has come, he has taken on flesh in order to die, in order to give his own life on our behalf. He has come as the suffering servant in his first coming to pay the ransom for sinners, to be despised and rejected by men, to be not esteemed, to bear our griefs and our sorrows, to be afflicted, to be wounded for our transgressions, to be oppressed like a lamb, Isaiah 53 7, a lamb that's led to the slaughter And that's visually what we see in Mark 15. We see Isaiah 53 take place, that as a lamb, he is led to the slaughter before the Romans. But he has come to serve, not to be served. Mark 10, 45. By the grace of God, he came, though he was, he is the king of the Jews, he did not come to have every knee bow, but rather to serve us. And so we see the Lamb of God here coming willingly and silently. As he does, I want us to see God use four people or four groups to bring about his good, sovereign plan to redeem sinners. So I want to tell you that God is in control in chapter 15, and he's using four different people or groups of people to carry out his will. And the first is this, God uses the envy of man to carry out his good, sovereign plan to redeem sinners. God uses the envy of man, the sinful motivations of the heart, to actually carry out his plan. This gives us a lofty view of God. This shows us even more the extent of his power And so the perfect we have here, the perfect innocent son of God, Jesus himself, has enemies. Really going back to chapter two, chapter three, when they began to plot how to kill Jesus. It's an amazing thing that you have the only perfect innocent man in history appear in Israel, and yet he immediately has people who want to remove him. And of all people, it's not the pagans. It's not the immoral of society. It's the religious. It's the religious leaders that want to remove him. And so, as we've seen in Mark, the crowds have flocked to Jesus. Even other gospel writers say John the Baptist's disciples left John the Baptist to go to Jesus. He speaks with authority. He wins his arguments and debates with the greatest of the lawyers. He wins the affection of the people. He heals the multitudes. He can even feed the masses. all to the disappointment of the religious leaders all to the disapproval the dismay the frustration of the religious leaders and all to their envy verse one now being jealous of his popularity, they must decide what to do, and they decide he must be executed. The problem here, though, is what? The Jews themselves cannot execute. They don't have the authority to do that. And so Rome has the authority to execute. And so they must devise a plan by which, although they try Jesus themselves, they must find a way by which Rome can execute Jesus on their behalf. Meaning, they have to figure out a way Jesus is in opposition to Rome. and they have to convince Rome that he's a problem and that he must be removed. They must convince Rome that he deserves death. But all of this, friends, is out of the envy of their hearts. Isn't it amazing how envy or any sin can blind us to the truth? You have here the gracious, forgiving Son of God, the man who forgave the paralytic of his sins, and yet you have the religious leaders out of envy or blind to who he is. It says here, and they bound Jesus, verse one, and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And we have Pilate come on the scene. So the chief priests have already falsely accused Jesus. But in that, Jesus chose to not defend himself. Jesus must die. Jesus does not seek to defend himself, which he would have the right to do, because Jesus has come to die on behalf of sinners. He's come to carry out the plan of God that he took on flesh to do this, to give his life. And Jesus does not defend himself at all. We might have that opportunity. We would be right to defend ourselves, anyone. Even the Apostle Paul defends himself in the book of 2 Corinthians. But Jesus chooses not to do so. And he's taken willingly and he silently surrenders. to these men. And so pilot comes on the scene. Pilot is the one who has this authority. He represents Rome. He is the Roman governor station there. Pilate then cross-examines Jesus, and we'll go through this in return and look at more details in a minute, and he fires a series of questions, we'll see both with Jesus, but also with the crowd, as Pilate tries to determine what is taking place. But Jesus remains silent the whole time. I mean, if you even look at it, I don't know if you have the Red Letter edition, that's not like the more inspired version, But if you do, it kind of helps because you can look at chapter 15 and there's barely anything that Jesus says. Jesus is silent. And so Pilate now will receive this man, Jesus of Nazareth, and try to determine how to judge the situation with him and the Jews. But look with me at verse 10, and I jump ahead a little bit. As Pilate is examining him, It says this about Pilate, for he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priest had delivered him up. I mean, what a fascinating verse. You have here an unbeliever, a Roman governor, who is newly introduced to this whole saga, and he immediately perceives the chief priest are envious of Jesus. They don't like him at all. They've stolen the spotlight. He now is the one who preaches with authority. They no longer have that influence. And someone like Pilate discerns that. But it's out of envy they deliver him. This phrase delivered up or delivered over occurs three times, verse one. Verse 10 and verse 15, at the beginning, the middle, and the end of this section here of the narrative is an emphasis on Jesus being delivered over. And he is delivered over by the chief priests because of their envy. Oh, envy is that ancient sinful desire, that sinful kind of jealousy. Doesn't like when someone else does well. The competitive spirit in the man, in the heart of a man. Proverbs 14 verse 30 tells us what envy does to us. It says, a tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. to have a sinful kind of jealousy and envy that someone else, the Lord is blessed, but he's not blessing me in the same way. That, Solomon says, makes the bones rot. It destroys the person who has envy. One of Job's friends said in Job 5 verse 2 that envy slays the simple. It's a weapon that actually ends up harming yourself. Or like Cain, remember Cain, early in Genesis chapter three was envious of his brother's approval by God. God approved Abel. And Cain didn't like that. God did not approve Cain's offering. And so what did envy lead Cain to do? To slay his brother. It led King Saul to envy David's prosperity. They would sing that Saul had killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands. And this got to the heart of Saul, and Saul sought to kill David. Joseph's brothers envied him. Genesis chapter 37 and verse 11. So much so, after plotting to kill him, thanks to one brother who tried to steer them away from killing, they ended up selling their own brother. This is the kind of drama we see, the envy that the chief priest, not only are envious of a teacher, but of the Messiah himself. Someone greater than David, someone greater than Joseph is here. someone greater than able. And yet, in envy, they want to cast him away and to take his life. Envy is one of Galatians 5's works of the flesh. It's one in which we as Christians are to put off. We are to put on thankfulness and contentment. We are, as Paul says in Romans chapter 12, to rejoice with those who rejoice. We are not to be envious if our brother or sister is blessed by the Lord. Rather, we are to be thankful that God has been gracious to someone else. But this was not the case this day concerning, quote, this Jesus that was delivered up. Pilate discerns what is taking place in their heart. Now he cross-examines Jesus. He tries an innocent man. who is gonna be delivered over by envious men, but friends ultimately delivered over by God. God is using the evil of men, the actual sinful, envious motivations of the heart to carry out his plan. That's how powerful God is. and he will carry out the greatest good the world will ever see. Here's a second person or group God is using. Maybe idea rather than person, but second, God uses the injustice of man to carry out his good sovereign plan to redeem sinners. God uses the injustice. Yes, that's a big word today, isn't it? Our world's caught up in what is just and unjust, although the world has that entirely confused. But here, God uses the actual injustice of men to do exactly what he wants to be accomplished. Let's look at it more carefully. Verse one, he's delivered over to Pilate. Pilate is the current governor of Judea. He is the fifth Roman governor of Palestine. There were 14 governors there before 70 A.D. He likely lodged there at Herod's Palace on the western side of the city of Jerusalem. He governed from A.D. 26 to A.D. 37. And Pilate did not like the Jews. And the Jews did not like Pilate. There were many problems between this governor and the Jews. Eventually, it would remove Pilate from the scene. But he had no problems offending the Jews. In fact, Pilate liked to offend the Jewish people. One example is that Pilate hung images of the emperor throughout the city of Jerusalem because he knew Jews did not like, did not want to have images. And so he did that. Images of the emperor, the emperor who claimed to be whom? God himself. And so he liked to offend them. Later in his career, Pilate would attack the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim, which is kind of the center city of Samaria there, and eventually would be sent to Rome because of his cruelty and oppression towards the Jewish people. In the end, it will not work for Pilate to be in Jerusalem. There is always tension between him and the Jews. So all this to say, even by now, there's still tension between them. And Pilate has to be careful because there has already been riots that have broken out in history. There will be more riots and revolts there from the Jews. And so he is on delicate ground. and now he's really thrown a curve ball. He has an innocent man brought to him who they hate, who they want executed, who he quickly figures out is innocent. Verse two, are you the king of the Jews? That's the claim that these Jews are making here. He claims to be the king of the Jews. What crime is there in that? So he asked Jesus straight on, are you the king of the Jews? This is the question. This title, the king of the Jews, will be repeated five more times in this narrative here. The emphasis being, the irony being, he is, right? You know this reader. You know who he is. He is the king of the Jews. You also know, according to verse one of chapter one, he's the son of God. He's God himself. So Pilate asks here, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus responds, you have said so. Now, this is not a direct yes by Jesus, by the way. To say directly yes could be seen as a threat to Pilate, a threat to Rome. For Jesus to say that he is the king can be seen to be in opposition to the Roman authority and could certainly get him execution. But Jesus does not want to communicate to Pilate and Rome that he's here to fight them. His kingdom, he says elsewhere, is not of this world. Jesus is not there to defeat Rome and to oppose Rome in any way. In fact, the Jews had tricked him earlier about paying taxes. What do we do, Jesus? Right? They wanted to trap him so that he would be seen to oppose Rome. and Jesus will not fall into that trap, but he doesn't say no at the same time. Literally, he says, you say so, or if to say, is that what you're saying, Pilate? It could be what Jesus is saying here is, Pilate, is that something you would like to know personally? And he's kind of throwing it back on Pilate, asking Pilate. You need to consider this pilot as well. Is this true? Am I the king of the Jews? And after this, Jesus says, nothing else. Mark adds, the chief priest had accused Jesus of many things. So many things. He would destroy the temple. He claimed to be God. Remember in chapter two, he heals the paralytic, but he also forgives him of his sins. And they say, who can forgive but God alone? Who do you claim to be if you can forgive sins? Only God can do that. But they also charged him that he challenged Rome, and that's what they were falsely accusing him of, because that's the only way to get Rome upset with Jesus, is Jesus actually opposes you, Rome. He claims to be the king. You need to remove him. And Jesus then, after this, says absolutely nothing. Really until the cross, verse 34, he's completely silent. Now, I have to say that would take a lot of strength and resolve to not say anything. When you are completely innocent of the charges and people are falsely accusing you and you face imminent death and execution, There's a great temptation there. And Jesus is not only fully God, he's fully man. There certainly would have been temptation to defend himself, but Jesus doesn't give into that at all. In response, Pilate, verse four, is what? He's amazed. Now, I think implied in this verse is some history with Pilate. If you are a governor, you're a judge, and you see people come through all the time, And man, there are some who are guilty. They're grinning through their teeth. You know they're guilty, and they're pleading, they're innocent completely of the charges. And then maybe there are some who are innocent, but they're defending themselves, and they're nervous about it. But you have a man now who is innocent of the charges, but he's silent. He's taking it all. He's not defending himself. And it amazes Pilate Mark notes, verse six, that at Passover, there was a tradition, an act of mercy, in a sense, by Rome to release a prisoner back to the people. There's not a lot of details found in historical records about this, but it seems maybe at least for a few years, there had become a tradition by which the governor, their pilot, would release somebody. during Passover, probably a way to kind of win the people over a little bit, maybe to pacify the people when you keep upsetting them. Really, you're just trying to keep your job if you're Pilate. And one prisoner, Mark notes, was Barabbas. And the people cried for a prisoner to be released, and Pilate's assuming maybe Jesus is the one to release here. Do you want me to release for you, he asks, the king of the Jews? I mean, wouldn't that be right? He's innocent. He's your king. But here, and this is a small crowd, so we have to understand, this is not the masses. that follow Jesus. This is a small crowd that the chief priests are stirring up with deceit, that we must execute this man, that he's not the Messiah, and they're stirring them up, and so they reject Jesus's release, and instead, who do they vote for? A murderer, Barabbas, release him. No doubt Pilate, by verse 12, is becoming troubled, for he asked another question, and what shall I do with the man you call the king of the Jews? I mean, Jesus, I mean, Pilate's just a puppet, isn't he? He's still trying to figure out what's going on here. What do you not like about this man? What do you want me to do with him then? And they respond, verse 14, they all, they shouted all the more. The crowd grew even more intense, and they said, crucify him. execute him so pilot ask another question why what evil has he done i think this man pilot is troubled he's troubled with he's between a rock and a hard place isn't he the crowds want him dead interesting pilot asks five questions in Mark 15. That's all he does is ask questions. Certainly that's the job of the judge, try to discern what's going on, but he's just trying to figure out not only is he, why do they want him dead, but what is he gonna do with him? He knows where this is going. The pilot is dumbfounded. So he grants the pardon of a criminal to the people hoping to win their favor, at least keep the peace. Because again, what does he have in front of him? A growingly restless crowd. That's not good for Pilate. He can't afford that again. But it's clear the man Jesus is innocent of anything worthy of death. On top of that, Pilate is amazed at how Jesus is handling himself. Another gospel says that Pilate's wife comes to Pilate and says, have nothing to do with this man. I had a dream about him. Leave him alone. This is no ordinary man, but whoever he is, one thing is clear, he's not guilty. But verse 15 tells us that Pilate gives in, wishing to satisfy whom? the crowd is that justice That's not a just governor or a just judge. He wishes to satisfy the crowd. He releases for them Barabbas, and having scurred Jesus, he delivers him to be crucified. What actually took place then, as other gospel writers fill in some details, is he has Jesus beaten, and then he puts Jesus before them, hoping that by that point, seeing Jesus bloody, they might give in, and they're pacified. That's enough. You don't need to go further with Jesus. but they are not satisfied. He must be crucified. So Pilate releases Barabbas and injustice is done. Yeah, I think Pilate has sympathy for Jesus. Yeah, I think Pilate is troubled in his heart by it, but he gives in to the pressure of men and he hands them over to be crucified. An unjust judge hands over the perfectly innocent king of the Jews. Not only do we see hearts full of envy that lead the king to trial, but now the verdict of injustice. Proverbs 17 verse 15 says, he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. The judges of Israel were to be just. They weren't to take a bribe. They weren't to condemn the righteous. They were to exercise fair judgment. In fact, Deuteronomy 27, 19 is a warning in the law there. It communicated a curse for those who practice injustice. It says, cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. There's a curse for those who take advantage of the helpless. That's the kind of justice in Israel. Matthew says in Matthew 27 that Pilate took a basin of water and he washed his hands in front of the people in order to communicate that he is free of the guilt of Jesus's blood. This is on the Jews because they're the ones that want him executed. But again, Pilate would still be guilty. because he hands him over to the crucifixion. But I think we have a powerful testimony of Pilate, do we not? Of Jesus' innocence. A man troubled who releases the murderer for the innocent. How hard it is when you are unjustly accused. Maybe that's happened in your life. But then to be handed over to death I think we have here a great example of how to handle that. It doesn't mean there's not a place to defend yourself. I don't think Mark's communicating that here. But if you're in the first century and you are the Christians in Rome who are receiving the gospel of Mark, and you're being persecuted for your faith and probably falsely charged with things, and you're reading the account of your Lord and Savior who went before you to the cross silently, humbly surrendering himself, that's encouragement to continue on. That's great encouragement. God uses it for good. God not only uses the envy of the religious leaders but also the horrible injustice of a governor to bring Jesus closer to Calvary. Pilate is essentially carrying out the will of God. That's great. It's good news. Even those that are high in positions, even governmental leaders of today who are right now filling our media, are still under the sovereign plan of God. God is still in control. Each person or group seeks to carry out their will, but in the end they only carry out the divine plan of God. God works even with evil intentions and actions for good. Thomas Watson, the Puritan, said this. See here the wisdom of God, who can make the worst things imaginable turn to the good of the saints. He can, by divine chemistry, extract gold out of dross. The Lord made Joseph's prison a step to preferment. There was no way for Jonah to be saved but by being swallowed up. God suffered the Egyptians to hate Israel, and this was the means of their deliverance. The apostle Paul was bound with a chain, and that chain which did bind him was the means of enlarging the gospel. God uses anything and everything to accomplish his will. He can place the apostle Paul in prison, and now the Roman soldiers are hearing the gospel. Now he can say at the end of the book of Philippians, Caesar's household greets you. Things are happening. and the sovereign plan of God, yes, even with injustice. And here's a marvelous thing. Barabbas is released and Jesus is delivered over. What do we find here? Don't we find the gospel here? Don't we find the gospel before the cross? We find a sinful criminal exchanged for a righteous man. We find the righteous exchanged for the sinner, the just for the unjust. Jesus here, as Barabbas is the murderer who's released, serves as the substitute. I believe here we have a picture of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus. The perfect innocent lamb of God led to the slaughter is the substitute for the unrighteous. Paul tells us in Romans chapter five verse eight that God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. We are really no different than Barabbas, are we? Before we knew Christ, the unrighteous is whom Christ died for. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5.21, for our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin. So that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Theologians like to call this the great exchange. The sinner for the perfect lamb of God. And we see that here. Barabbas is so easily released in exchange for the king of the Jews. And so we should be reminded that Jesus is the substitute for sinners. We find the gospel before we get to the gospel. We find the gospel before the cross. And this is really a picture of what he is soon to do on the cross when he pays for our sins. So God is using evil motives. He's using unjust rulers. Thirdly, God uses the cruelty of man to carry out his good, sovereign plan to redeem sinners. Yes, he even uses the cruelty of man, verse 16. The soldiers led him away inside the palace here. And this gives us a short and horrible picture of what they now do to the king of the Jews. The soldiers that lead Jesus, they lead him to the governor's headquarters. There, there was a Roman battalion station, a Roman battalion with 600 Roman soldiers, and they begin to beat him and whip him, and they begin to mock him. And we can go through the details. Verse 17, they clothe him with a purple cloak. Purple was the color of the king. And so they're mocking this idea of king of the Jews. form a crown of thorns, they twist together and they place it upon his head. And it gets very ugly here. And they mock him, hailing him as the king of the Jews. Mark provides more irony to the story, you see. This title, the king of the Jews, continues to come up because he is actually the king of the Jews. That's what Mark is telling the reader. He is the king. Even the chief priest. in a sense claim it in order to get him to Rome. He claims to be the king. Pilate asks, are you the king of the Jews? Now the soldiers mock him as the king of the Jews. And we know he is the king of the Jews. And they place a crown of thorns upon his head. This would have cut into his head. The head bleeds easily. By then he would already have been bloody in his face. The soldiers are mocking Him. They strike His head, it says, with a blow. And actually, the phrase is to continually strike. Again and again, they beat Him. They do whatever they want to Him. They spit on Him. They mock Him by kneeling before Him like you would a king. And they strip Him in humiliation. Maybe the worst of all of this is the whip by which they would whip him. And the whip that they would use would have a ball at the end that would have a mixture of bone and metal. And so as the whip would strike the person's back, it would take the skin off of the body. And they would continue to do this. even possibly injuring vital organs. This is all before the crucifixion, before the cross. This was a process of torturing the criminal before he gets to the cross. And the cross itself was a slow form of execution. It was created in a way that would torture the criminal. It would prolong that time period before the criminal dies so that he was tortured. And it was to communicate to others, don't mess with Rome. But as was custom, the criminal was beaten and whipped in this way before getting to the cross. Likely, Jesus is unrecognizable after the soldiers torture him. This is the worst of cruelty. this is the king of the jews is humiliated many criminals never even made it past this point many would even die in this process before getting to the crucifixion and yet friends it's true isn't it that god still uses the cruelty of men this doesn't mean god approves of the cruelty of men every one In this world who practices injustice will have to give an account to the resurrected Lord one day. But here God uses the cruelty of the soldiers. Each evil step. by both the Jews and the Romans, carry out God's plan. They move Jesus closer to the cross to be our substitute for our evil, you see. It's not just their evil, though. This should be a mirror to remind ourselves of our own cruelty, our own injustice, our own envious hearts, our own sin. That's why Jesus goes to the cross, to pay for our evil motives, to pay for our unrighteousness. While they meant evil, to use the words of Joseph, God meant it for good. Which leads me to my fourth and final point. God uses the envy of men, the injustice of men, the cruelty of men, but God not only uses evil to work good, he uses good to work good. Number four, God uses the silent surrender of one man to carry out his good, sovereign plan to redeem sinners. God uses this silent surrender of one man, who's really the hero of the story, isn't he? To carry out God's plan. It might be obvious that God uses good to accomplish good, but it's worth stating, isn't it? Jesus is innocent and faithful. He provides no self-defense, no rebuttal, no retaliation. He doesn't even open his mouth. He doesn't fight back. He doesn't call on a legion of angels, oh, who would take those 600 Roman soldiers in a heartbeat. One angel took 135,000 Assyrian soldiers. I think I got that number right. Correct me if I'm wrong. That's a lot of soldiers. Jesus doesn't call on angels. He goes as a lamb to the slaughter. So in the midst of envy, injustice, cruelty, a dark chapter, you have silence. You have a man who surrendered to the Father's will, who continues to go forward with whatever is ahead of him. In the midst of evil men stands only one good man, one innocent man, the man Christ Jesus. What evil has he done, Pilate asked. The answer is none. Not even in the midst of the soldiers does Jesus commit any evil. Unlike the chief priest, unlike the governor, unlike the soldiers, unlike the rest of us, Jesus is pure and perfect. What a beautiful example. What a beautiful lamb. He was delivered over and he went willingly and silently on our behalf. I think the victory for Jesus was the garden when he prayed. God gave him the strength, and we see the fruit of his prayer, that he goes forward, surrendering to the Father's will. He's trusting the Father, and God uses the faithful. Remember, Jesus prayed, not my will be done, but your will, Father, be done. And here is the example, the actual illustration of not my will being done, but God's will being done because Jesus is faithful to carry on with God's will and God's plan. Isaiah 53 7 says he opened not his mouth. And that's what we see. Maybe more amazing to us than the healing of a leper or the calming of a storm. is that Jesus is quiet this entire time. More amazing than healing a paralytic is the fact that he quietly goes forward doing the Father's will. though all have forsaken Him, though He's beaten and stripped, He surrenders to the Father's good plan. You see the Son of Man trusting the sovereign plan of His Father, and that's what we need to do. Jesus was delivered over by man, but ultimately, Jesus was delivered over by God. This Jesus, Peter said, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we find it hard to relate being in an unjust trial, surrounded by those who hate you, those who falsely accused you, Lord, then beaten, whipped and stripped and mocked. Lord, you're the one, the only one who has ever been perfect and innocent. You are the king of the Jews. You are the Lord of heaven and earth, the creator of all things. And yet, Lord, you willingly. Went to the cross on our behalf. You came as the perfect substitute, the righteous for the unrighteous. Lord, we thank you. Thank you for your faithfulness to the Father. In the midst of evil, we thank you for your love for us that you would go willingly to the cross to pay for our sins. Lord, we love you and we pray all of this in your name. Amen.