Beloved, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God does remain forever. Let's give our attention to the reading of God's holy word in Mark 15, starting in verse 1. And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation 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 again asked him, 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 for 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 priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd and 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, 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 up to be crucified. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Beloved congregation and the Lord Jesus Christ, we're in that section of Mark's gospel, as we've noticed in the prior weeks, where we passage over passage, we are plunged further and deeper into the darkness and the humiliation that our Lord Jesus faced on our behalf. We can say here in these chapters, we see a heightened reality of the estate of his humiliation. And in this state, you are, I'm sure, or in this state of humiliation as Mark lays it open for us, these are familiar passages to you. You're aware of Jesus's trial and the conviction that he endures. You are aware that he is going to the cross. You know these passages, maybe you know them well. And so I want to encourage you this morning to stop, to open your heart and your mind and to reflect all the more deeper on what it is that the Lord accomplishes in His sin-atoning death. Here in this passage, in these first 15 verses, we have the rich understanding of substitutionary atonement, penal substitutionary atonement. That is, an innocent one, declared innocent by the civil magistrate, declared innocent by the God and Father of all, identifies himself with the guilty. He speaks not a word and he identifies with the guilty and he goes unto his death and he is slayed though he deserved it not. What I want you to see and to be pressed by this morning in the first 15 verses of Mark 15, it's a straightforward passage, but I want you to be pressed by the very fact that he did this for you. that this is vicarious. He is standing in your place and he takes the wrath of God upon himself. And he deals with that wrath by going all the way to his death. And he does it willingly. He does it obediently. He does not move from right or left, but he stays resolute to the task that was given him. You remember all the way up to Jerusalem. He is saying, I am going for this particular task. I have come to bring teaching with authority, to bring signs and wonders, but all of that was to authenticate that he is the perfect son of God, come to save his people. You remember what Matthew says, they will call his name Jesus, for he'll save his people from their sins. How could it be that one who is innocent, declared to be so, would die for the guilty? There's only one explanation. God is dealing with the sins of his people. Jesus reminds his disciples along the way that no one takes his life from him, but he willingly lays it down. And what does he, who does he lay it down for? His friends. He is the good shepherd. So as we see this rich doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement, that just means that Jesus takes the penalty as our substitute. As we see this rich doctrine, don't miss the love of God for you. For this is love, not that we loved him, but that he first loved us and he gave his very own son for us to be the propitiation. That means he is the wrath turner. He turns God's wrath away that God would shine upon us in grace and peace. And so when you hear the Lord lift up his face upon you, You hear that because Jesus, it was the wrath that was lifted upon him and he conquers that. That's what we're seeing in Mark 15. So you know the passage well, but be reminded that it's the love of God for you that would motivate Jesus Christ taking upon himself what we deserved. In our passage, then we see that he's the only innocent one yet willing to be exchanged for the guilty. There is a great exchange in our passage that we want to highlight. And that exchange is the innocent for the guilty. And in that exchange, we see the love and the grace of God secured for all those who look to Him in faith. And so then, we are reminded that it is by His wounds that we are healed. It is through His sin-atoning work that we have reconciliation, a ministry of reconciliation with the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're rejecting that this morning, open your heart in faith and receive Jesus Christ. If you're wavering in that this morning, be reminded that Jesus has accomplished all that you need for salvation, life and in death and giving you this promise. And may we recognize then by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, what God has truly accomplished for us, why Jesus would have to come and suffer and suffer under Pontius Pilate, And may we come to treasure then and to delight all the more and find steadfast hope in our Savior's determination. And remember, he is determined to do what God had given him to do and to fulfill the law's demands. In Mark 15 verses 1 through 15, we see that the innocent one stands trial and he is headed to make the exchange for the guilty. And because he was bound and handed over on our behalf, we are now given over to live and to find life and life abundance. That's the theme of the passage as we work through it. We'll do that by seeing first him being delivered over to Pilate. We want to consider what happens in this delivering up. We want to see him condemned by the crowd. They cry out, crucify him. And then we'll see that he was bound on our behalf. So three points delivered to Pilate, condemned by the crowd and bound on our behalf. First, as we look now to verse one of chapter 15, it was in the darkness of night that you remember that the foolish leaders, the religious leaders carried out this trial, this false trial where they placed Jesus up on the stand and they brought witness after witness who could not corroborate any testimony, right? There was some oddities about this trial that we saw in chapter 14. It was done in the darkness of night. It was done by propping up witnesses that could not get their story straight. In other words, in this trial, Jesus himself is demonstrated to be the innocent one. But you remember the important point there that we made, it was that the verdict was already determined before the trial had begun. The religious leaders were dead set on taking him to his death. Yet we understand from Acts chapter 2 and Peter's sermon, it was according to the definite plan of God that Jesus would be delivered up and given over for our sins. The religious leaders are determined and the defendant meanwhile sits silently. He doesn't answer the fools according to their folly. They give false testimony. He does not respond to this false testimony, but now he is bound and he's delivered up to pilot as we come to our passage this morning. He is determined to be put to death as they are determined to execute. Yet they couldn't follow through with the plan. They needed the sword of the Romans in order to follow through with their plan to put Jesus to death. The Romans who were occupying Judea at the time, they were wielding the sword. And so the religious leaders needed to deliver him up to the Roman authority and share with Pilate what it is that he has done that he would be then put to his death. And so that's what happens. Now it's interesting. that Pilate is in the city. So Pilate, his quarters were normally on the sea, Caesarea Maritima, but he's in the city gates. Why is he there? Well, for Passover. So along the way, we've made this massive point that God is sovereignly orchestrating all of these things. And he's brought all of the pilgrims into the city that Jesus would be publicly crucified and on display for all to see. And now we see another point highlighting God's sovereignty in this situation that he's in control. That is that Pilate is in the city because it's Passover. He's housed in the palace of Herod and he's there to prevent uprising because you remember all of the people had come up to the city. So he's presenting up or preventing uprising. And now he is there in order to execute the sword upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the religious leaders bring him up. Don't miss that point. That all is in order. All the pieces are in their rightful place. The elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, they're moving as one, the text says. They come together in the wee hours of the morning, and they're determined. We have to deliver him up, even though there was no reason. They were fearful. They were envious. He was teaching with authority. He was gathering the crowds. They did not like that. He was condemning them and their temple. So they deliver him up. But they themselves, John tells us, they themselves wouldn't even enter Pilate's quarters. So it's interesting if you read John's account, they take him up, they bind him and they deliver him to Pilate, but Pilate comes out and he takes Jesus in. They wouldn't enter, why wouldn't they enter? They wanted to keep their hands clean so they could partake of the feast of the Passover, the irony. They want to remain clean for the feast John tells us and little did they know they have bound the unblemished lamb of God who is the fulfillment of that Passover feast and he's going to his death to secure a new Passover. It's just like Mark 7 when Jesus brings the prophet Isaiah and his words and he says, these people they worship me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. That's what's happening in this scene. Not willing to get themselves dirty so they don't even go in, but Jesus Christ will take the filth of our sin upon his back and deliver us as God's Passover lamb. As Pilate receives him, Pilate in Mark 15, he conducts his own trial. Right, in order to put this man to death, he needs to see what's going on. Why is it that he is delivered up? And we should recognize in this moment then, the slippery compromise of the religious leaders who will do and say whatever they can in order to get Pilate on their side. Their story changes a bit here. You remember it was on the charge of blasphemy that they said he deserved death. They ask him, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed? And upon his affirmation of that statement, the high priest tears his clothes. It's blasphemous what he has just said. What does the Roman governor care about blasphemy? You see, if they go up to the Roman governor and they say, this man is blaspheming the God of Israel, Pilate would shoo them away. He's not concerned about blasphemy of the God of Israel. And so they come with a loaded script. They come now and they say, this Jesus claims to be a king. Now we understand that the Christ, the Messiah is king, but this is what they front. He claims to be a king. In other words, this king has come to overthrow your reign, Pilate. You better do something about this. You better be concerned that he is going to overthrow your reign. In fact, Luke tells us as much. In Luke's account, this is what the scribes and the elders and the high priest says to Pilate. We found this man misleading our nation. This man's misleading our nation and forbidding us, listen, to give tribute to Caesar. and saying that he himself is Christ, a king. Jesus, in fact, doesn't do that. He says, render to Caesar what's Caesar's. Now they're saying that he's forbidding us to give worship to Caesar who claims divinity to himself. And because we can't worship Caesar, aren't you going to deal with this Jesus? Again, the irony, the religious leaders who are to give Soul worship to God alone, as the God of heaven and earth are telling Pilate, Pilate should put him to death because they're not letting us worship Caesar. Render to Caesar what is Caesar's. He's not allowing us to do as much. And so Pilate asks him, is this true? Are you the king that they say you are? Are you really come to overthrow the kingdoms of this world? Tell me, Jesus, is that what you're here to do? And Jesus, in perfect wisdom, he answers with truth. What does he say? My kingdom, yes, I'm a king, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would be fighting. If my kingdom was of this world, I would not be standing before you, dear Pilate. Because I could call down from heaven a legion of angels, and they would secure the victory for me. Yet my kingdom is not of this world, for this is why I was born, and this is why I have come, to bear witness to the truth, Jesus says to Pilate. And Pilate says, what is truth? Jesus says, all those who are of the truth, they hear my voice. My kingdom is not of this world. I'm not here for your kingdom, O Pilate. I'm here to deal with the kingdom of darkness and death and to overcome by my very own crucifixion. In other words, I have come to go to that throne of the cross that you're leading me to. And that throne of the cross is going to give way to the exalted glory. of the heavenly kingdom, the heavenly throne that is broken into this present reality. That's what he's saying to Pilate. So he affirms that he's a king, but is denying the very fact that he's come to overthrow the Romans as the people had wanted him to. Yet they didn't like that Messiah. They would rather him be crucified. than go to the cross for the sake of conquering sin, death, and hell, but that is for what he had come. It's after this that Pilate declares the innocence of Jesus. As he's on trial with Pilate, what Pilate comes to his conclusion is that this man has done no evil. Luke tells us, Pilate declares, I find no guilt in this man. There's no guilt. He has done nothing wrong. What evil has he done? He's amazed that Jesus wouldn't answer. And look at what he perceives in verse 10. In verse 10, Pilate perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had deliver him up. Yet Pilate's a diplomat. Pilate has to ensure that his name be preserved. Pilate has to ensure that there's no insurrection. And this is where we see, we've seen the slippery compromise of the religious leaders. And now we begin to see the slippery compromise of Pilate and what he does next. He's ultimately not concerned for the truth to prevail. As a magistrate of God, he's not concerned that justice be done. He's concerned for his own well-being and his own namesake. He doesn't want to be removed from his post. You see, Pilate had witnessed just a few days ago Jesus walk into Jerusalem and he sees the crowds crying out, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be the one who comes in the name of our Father David. He saw the crowd. And so he thinks of this pretty well thought out plan. He has a plan to get himself off the hook. He has a plan that he would not be removed. He would not be removed from his post if he can get the people to agree that Jesus should be let go. With that in mind, Pilot goes to the crowd in their choice. And that's our second point then, condemned by the crowd. What do you think, he asks the crowd. The crowd is accustomed to this. process whereby the governor is going to release a prisoner at the time of Passover. And so they requested of Pilate, as they're coming together, they request, will you do what you've said or what you've done in previous years? Will you release it for us a prisoner who is within your courts? And among those prisoners is one in verse seven. If you look at verse seven, Among the rebels in prison who had committed murder and the insurrection, there was a man called Brabus. See, this man is clearly guilty. Interesting that Mark demonstrates for us that Pilate speaks of Jesus's innocence. And now Mark is showing us that this man Barabbas is rightly condemned as a murderer. And so Pilate has it all worked out. This man who is rightly condemned, there's no way they're gonna choose him over Jesus. So now I can just present this case and all will work out for me and my kingdom. That's not what happens, though. In fact, the crowd is worked up by the religious leaders. They want Barabbas to be released. They want Jesus to be crucified. And here is where we see the great exchange. In early manuscripts of Matthew's gospel, especially, Barabbas, as we see noted here, is called Jesus Barabbas. Now, Jesus is a very common name. Some say maybe, I mean, if you were in schools, you would probably know someone, know a friend named Jesus. Maybe the fourth most common name in Judea. But this Barabbas is called Jesus. And now we see just in their very names, if not that, his name Barabbas means son of the father who is Jesus, but the son of the most high God. It's not in their very own names. They are set up against one another. There's this exchange that is about to happen. Jesus means Yahweh says Barabbas means son of the father. The question is, which son is the crowd going to choose? the son of the God of truth or the son or the son of the father of lies. That's what's set before them. It was determined by the will of God that the son of God would go to his death. And so they go on the offensive, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders do. And they go around the crowds and they work the people up in such a way that the crowd begins to shout to Pilate, crucify the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you want me to do with the son of God, Pilate asks. Or the king of the Jews rather. What do you want me to do with the king of the Jews? He's done nothing wrong. And they cry out, crucify him, crucify him. Now it's interesting that the crowd is crying out because just a few days ago, there was a crowd crying out when he rode into Jerusalem. We don't quite know the makeup of this crowd. Were there the same people there on the crowd as they saw him ride in that are now here crying out for them to be crucified? The point is they've been swayed by the sinful deception of the religious leaders who have led them down this path to cry out from their lips to see Jesus Christ put to death. They're not steadfast. They're not unwavering. They're movable. So they're convinced of this wicked, divisive plan. And now with the crowd's condemnation, we see Pilate's motivation towards self-preservation. He knows the truth of Jesus's innocence, but he's driven by fear of the crowd. Do you notice that Mark tells us this? He's fearful of the crowd, yet he knows the truth of his innocence. And the crowd is getting out of hand, and to prevent the uprising, which he'll do anything to do, he turns to the crowd, he's the governor, he's in charge, and he says, what would you like? You tell me how to render justice here. No, no, that's not what he's asking. You tell me how to keep my position here. What will I do that will please you? What will make you happy in this scenario? There's only one thing, and it's the Christ to his death. Barabbas, the criminal, released. And so, for fear of the crowds, the criminal goes free. What happens to Jesus? He's bound, and he's scourged, and he's delivered over to be crucified, is what the text tells us. We shouldn't run past this. Being scourged in this scenario was a horrific form of punishment. It was reserved for the worst type of criminal. It was so severe that some didn't actually survive it. It was for the purpose of reducing the amount of time that the criminal would have to hang on the cross. You could weaken them by whipping them with these leather straps that are engraved with pieces of metal or sharp bone, and you can rip their flesh open. That way, as they hang on the cross, the timing would be reduced. Some couldn't even endure that. And those who could endure it, they were led to the cross. This is the scenario that Pilate hands over the innocent one to. He's bound up and he's placed upon a pole and there are two men with these whips who would rip his flesh open prior to going to the cross. We need to understand the physical suffering that our savior endured. And why did he endure it? Because he was identified as a criminal who deserved it. But his physical suffering isn't all. He suffers in body and in soul. We need to keep in mind that from chapter 14, verse 43, we begin to see the darkness of his suffering in body and in soul. Think about the perfect, innocent, sinless son of God standing on trial with sinful men giving false testimony and him saying not a word. Testimony after testimony after testimony, though reviled, he does not revile in return, though threatened, does not threaten in return. So he faces this physical punishment, but what's more, he faces the anguish of his soul and the rejection of these sinful men, though he is innocent. That's the pain and the agony that the Lord Jesus goes through as we see it from 14 to 15 here now in front of us. And Peter, he witnesses this firsthand. And he writes to a persecuted church who's enduring for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to what he says as he witnesses firsthand this false trial. We don't know if he's there for the scourging, But this is what he writes in 1 Peter to encourage a church that is now suffering at the hands of Christ's enemies. For what credit is it when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and you suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. He is the innocent one suffering and enduring. He committed no sin, Peter says, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He's not entrusting himself to the hands of Pilate. He's entrusting himself to the God and father almighty who has delivered him up for the sins of his people. We stop here and just consider our third point, which is bound on our behalf. Why is he doing this? Why is he silent? To fulfill the scriptures like a lamb, he is led to the slaughter and he does it for you and for me. We thought about the rich theology of penal substitutionary atonement. We thought about the pain and the anguish that he goes through as the guilty condemns the innocent and he makes this exchange. But don't miss the love of God for you in Christ that he surely would. lay his life down for his people. He is here suffering body and soul and he's suffering vicariously as our substitute that we would not suffer the severe judgment of God against our sins. You see, this is a picture of the wrath of God, the torments of hell laid upon him that you and I Along with the crowds and along with Barabbas and along with Pilate, we deserve because of our sin and our rebellion and our rejection of God. This is the Lord Jesus who was Isaiah 53 pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. Do you hear the peace that's brought in the chastisement that he is enduring in Mark 15? By his wounds. we are healed. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. Isaiah 53 continues. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? This is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and gave us his very own son to be the propitiation for our sins. Please hear that. Look at the exchange that's taking place. Where are you and the text? identified with the Savior who suffers, deserving what Pilate and the rest will get in the wrath of God due to their sin. But we find ourselves united to the crucified, the risen, and the ascended Savior, Jesus Christ, as we consider a little bit more the bound on our behalf. The Heidelberg Catechism works through the Apostles' Creed, and each week we say, I believe in God, the Father Almighty. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. And then what do we say? Suffered under Pontius Pilate. What do we mean by the word suffered? The Heidelberg Catechism helps us that during his whole life, but especially at the end, That's where we are in the text, especially at the end. Christ sustained in body and in soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the entire human race. It goes further though, as the catechism helps us, points to our hearts and asks, what of it? Why does he do it? He does it in order, the catechism goes on, in order that by his suffering, which he's doing now, by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice, he might deliver us body and soul from eternal condemnation and gain for us, listen to what he gains by taking the scourging and going all the way to the cross, God's grace, his righteousness, and eternal life. We hear it in Peter's words. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we would die to sin and live to righteousness. We, like sheep, were going astray. The good shepherd secures his people. And so we confess also, not only that he suffered, but he suffered under Pontius Pilate. And then we're asked by the catechism Why? Why did he suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge? Listen to what we confess. So that, though innocent, he would be condemned by an earthly judge, and so free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall upon us. So you see that his declaration of innocence by Pilate and him still yet being delivered over. We find that we are those who have been released from that severe judgment by grace through faith. So let's apply the text if we haven't already. What we need to see here in Mark 15 is the fickleness, the instability, and the heinousness of the sinful heart. It's sin that causes the crowd to cry out, crucify him. Their rejection of the son of God. It's sin that causes Pilate to preserve his very own life and to deliver up for them a criminal. It's sin that causes the religious leaders to honor God with their lips, but be far from him from their hearts. And it's the sin of our own hearts that causes us to walk in rejection of the son who gave his very own life for us. It's sin that causes us to turn and to forget what it is that Christ has done for us and accomplished for our very own salvation. It's the grace of God alone, however. So we recognize the fickleness and the instability of the human heart, yet in Christ who takes upon himself a true body and a true soul. He is the one who is stable. He is the one who is faithful. He is the one who is resolute. He is the one who is without sin. And by God's grace, through faith, we're now united to him. The crowd is pressured from the chief priests. Christ is no longer meeting the marks of the Messiah that they expected, so they cry out, crucify. And the question is, what type of Messiah are you looking for? What happens when you're pressured by the world and the flesh and the devil? Is this truly the Messiah that can deliver you from your problems and give you sure stability and security in all of your life? What say you, beloved? You have a crucified Messiah. You have a risen Messiah, crucifixion, resurrection that the world sees as foolishness, and you'll be pressed as much. You'll be pressed to find allegiance with Christ when the world thinks it's stupid. And that's what happens with the crowd and the religious leaders before us. We must know then our tendency to be swayed and to be carried away by the shiny things, the promises, the false hope and the prosperity and the security that the world might have to offer and guard against such temptation and see Christ placarded for us who endured the wrath of God and who also keeps us. given to us His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ who testifies to us that we belong and who also strengthens us to open our mouths and to confess His holy name. So we know the miserable state into which sin has plunged us because we see the wrath that he takes upon himself. And it's the word of God that declares to us that this true Messiah brings peace and he brings pardon and he brings healing and righteousness and spiritual cleansing. And so how do we guard against that tendency to sway? Hold fast to the blessed scriptures that declare to us, this is who God is. This is who you are in him. And this is who Christ is, who has been given for you and for me. And to never stop seeking the grace of God in Christ by the power of the spirit. to walk in his ways and to walk in his will. That's how we guard against it by grace through faith. This ministry of reconciliation has been given to you and to me because of what's true of Mark 15, one through 15. And he is now renewing us. And from a renewed heart, we can see and we can hear the truth declared to us. And so walk according to his ways. Listen to how Peter proclaims Christ. And we'll close with this. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you. Notice he's referring back to this passage, the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone and there is salvation and no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. What's the point? Cling to the innocent one who was delivered up for the guilty. You and I found ourselves as the guilty and he secures grace and peace that God might make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.