|
|
|
This Sunday one of the members of the congregation sang. He sang "It Is Well With my Soul". He was not a great vocalist, not as bad as me, but not great. That said, I found it moving. He really put his heart into it. I wanted to compliment him after the service, but he disappeared before I had a chance to talk to him.
The scripture for the Pastor’s sermon was Mathew 27:11-26.
Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor.
Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Pilot’s wife warns him to stay away from Jesus. The pastor asked why Mathew put this into his narrative. He is the only one of the gospel writers to mention Pilot’s wife. Since all scripture is for reproof and learning, why did Mathew include it?
The pastor said he could find very little on the importance of this passage. He ventured several possible theories as to why Mathew included this.
1) Men should listen to their wives. The pastor said that in the New Testament it seems that women are the ones that listen to God and obey his commands. When Jesus is crucified, the disciples scatter, but the women hang tough. Pilot says that he washes his hands of Jesus, but he still signs his death warrant.
2) Perhaps Mathew meant we should pay attention to our dreams. In many passages, people are warned or spoken to in their dreams. There are modern anecdotal incidents of people getting messages in their dreams.
3) Perhaps Mathew was demonstrating that not all Romans were clueless. Church theology says that this incident so affected Pilot's wife that she later became a devout Christian. Pilot many years later committed suicide. The Roman soldier at the cross said, "This truly was the son of God." The pastor asked, if we were there, would we have said, "This truly was the son of God?"
4) Pilot’s wife says, "Leave that innocent man alone." How many people are in jail because of faulty evidence? Perhaps Mathew wants us to see the sense of injustice so we can get an idea of the magnitude of the sacrifice. Christ died, but he died for sinners.
What would have happened if Pilot had actually listened to his wife? Because he didn't, Jesus' sacrifice took away the sins of the world. Because of his innocence, we become innocent. We are guilty, but because of him, we become innocent.
Posted by Ted at March 21, 2004 9:55 PM