FBCWest 684 | Satisfying the Crowd
Recorded On: 11/02/2025
Bulletin
Hymn # 487 “Since Jesus Came into My Life”
SCRIPTURE READING – Colossians 3:1 - 4
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“Praise You Anywhere”
“Echo Holy”
“Great I Am”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“Satisfying the Crowd”
PRAYER TIME / Time of Reflection
“God so Loved”
Sermon Notes
Mark 15:1 Religious leaders bind Jesus and deliver Him to Pilate (The Roman Governor)
Mark 15:2 – 5 Pilate questions Jesus
Mark 15:6 – 11 Pilate tries to release Jesus. The crowd instead wants a murder released. (the son of the father rather than (The Son of God the Father)
Mark 15:12 – 14 The crowd influenced by the Chief Priests, want Jesus crucified
Mark 15:15 To satisfy the crowd Pilate has Jesus scrouged and authorized His crucifixion
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
You've probably heard it said, character is revealed when you do something in secret. But character is also revealed in the opposite. What you do when everybody knows, but everybody wants you to do something you know is wrong.
We're going to take a look at someone who finds himself in that very same predicament. The crowd wants him to do something that he knows is wrong. And it is a lesson that we should learn for our own lives. So if you have your Bibles, and you should, turn to the Gospel of Mark. We're going to start with chapter 15, verse 1. And it says this, early in the morning, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes and the whole council immediately held a consultation and binding Jesus, they led him away and delivered him to Pilate. So they had already determined through this council, through the Sanhedrin, that Jesus is guilty of blasphemy and that he should be killed. But they didn't have the power to do that because Rome was occupying Israel. So they had to have Rome's permission. So they bound Jesus as a common criminal and sent him before Pilate so that he might exercise that authority to get rid of Jesus. And Pilate questioned him, being Jesus, Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, It is as you say. Jesus continues in this, and if you've noticed, when the Sanhedrin and the chief priests asked him questions, when they spoke the truth, when they asked a truthful question, he would answer. When they made accusations against him, he would remain silent.
And he's going to continue this. So when Pilate says, Are you the king of the Jews? Yes, he is. But the truth is, he's more than that. He's not only the King of the Jews, he's the King of kings and Lord of lords. But Pilate was very specific in his question. And so Jesus says, you're right. It is as you say. And the chief priests began to accuse him harshly. So they want to make sure that their agenda is followed, that Pilate will ordered the execution through crucifixion of Jesus. And so they go, well, wait a minute, this is kind of getting off on the wrong foot. And so the chief priests and those start accusing him and not only doing it, the accusation, but they're doing it with great malice, harshly. And then Pilate questioned him again, saying, do you not answer? See how many charges they bring against you. And again, Jesus remains quiet because he refuses to respond to the accusations. Because the accusations aren't true. They're accusations.
But this is in confirmation. Jesus doesn't remain silent because the scriptures say he remains silent. The scriptures say he remains silent because he in fact remains silent. And so he stays silent before his accusers as the Old Testament prophesied, saying, when you see this, you'll know it's the Messiah. And so again, Jesus isn't ticking off boxes. See, the scriptures are saying, we are true because what we proclaimed, you're now seen. So he remains silent as a sheep before its shearers. But Jesus made no further answer. So Pilate was amazed because usually, let's face it, when you're accused of something, you usually want to respond. We husbands know that particularly. When we get accused of something that's accurate, we try to make all kinds of other excuses or to blame somebody else or to do whatever. But Jesus lets the accusations continue because they don't affect him. And Pilate goes, this isn't a normal human response. He's amazed at what Jesus is doing. He's not responding to the accusations, which means that if Pilate gives the word, he will suffer crucifixion.
Now at the feast, He used to, being Pilate, he used to release for them anyone present or whom they requested. So we can see Pilate knows that Jesus is an innocent man and we're going to see that he's going to confirm that. And so he's trying to figure, how is it that I can get out of this situation? The chief priest and the religious authority want me to order his execution. So I know I'd have a habit of before the Passover of releasing somebody. So this is good. They'll obviously, because Jesus has had a ministry, he's been healing the sick. He's been providing food for the poor. He's been doing all these miracles. He's been showing love and forgiveness. So certainly the crowds would want me to release him. So they go, who is the worst person I can think of to compare Jesus with? So they're obviously going to release him. So the man named Barabbas, had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
So he's going, I know, obviously the crowd will want me to release Jesus, the man of God, the man of peace, the man who loves, the man who forgives, the man who performs miracles. Obviously they wouldn't want the man who has committed murder. Now I want to stop, there is a very irony in this verse. The man Barabbas. Now I want to take you back a few chapters when there was a man named Bartimaeus. People sometimes put it together and say, his name is Bartimaeus. No, bar means son, Timaeus was, he's the son of Timaeus. Now, if his name was actually Timaeus, then it would have been Timaeus Bartimaeus. But his name wasn't purely Bartimaeus. He was the son of Timaeus. And even though Bartimaeus was born blind, he could see that Jesus was the son of David. Now, this Bar Abbas is the son of the father. His name is Son of the Father. Hilate is saying, do you want me to release the Son of the Father or the Son of God? The Son of the Father or the Son of God? The Son of the Father or the Son of little F, Father.
And he's going, this guy's committed murder. Obviously, the crowd will want Jesus. The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. So Pilate answered them saying, do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? Obviously, you're going to want him because this guy was an insurrectionist. I'm giving you your king. The guy who said he wanted something, he wanted to be the king. I want to give you the king. You don't need an insurrection. You don't need a murderer. I'll give you and I'll release to you the King of the Jews. For he was aware that the chief priest had handed him over because of envy. He knew the accusations against Jesus were false. And he knew the reason why they had brought these accusations, because they were envious of who Jesus was and what Jesus's authority was. They had a dead religion. Jesus offered a new life. And they were envious of that potential power. And so they didn't want that. But Pilate saw through their agenda. But the chief priest stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas, the son of the father instead of the son of God. for them instead.
So they riled up the crowd to get accomplished what they wanted accomplished. And the crowd whom Jesus had ministered to and taught to, from Galilee to even to the Decapolis and other Gentile areas throughout Judea, And in Jerusalem, they had observed who Jesus was and is. But they wanted, and then they're Russianists instead. And answered again, Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with him, whom you call King of the Jews? So he says, okay, If you don't want me to release him, then what do I do to him? And I'm sure what Pilate's thinking to him, they'll say, well, you know, give him a life sentence or do this or do that. He's trying to figure some way to get out of this situation. He couldn't get the crowd out of the situation. So they sort of, well, what do I do? So you would think a compassionate people wouldn't want a compassionate answer. Not so. They shouted back, crucify him. Now we have been going through Jesus's life and ministry through the Gospel of Mark.
Has he done anything to anyone, even the chief priests and the scribes, even in his rebuke of them, that justified the crowd to shout his crucifixion? His painful and shameful death on a cross which the Jews understood to be a curse to hang on a tree. But the crowd wanted his blood. But Pilate said to them, Why, what evil has he done? Even Pilate knows. All the reports All the testimony, everything that has been accused of Jesus and his actions and whatever, he understands that Jesus has done none of these things. He is an innocent man. So he's asking him, what has he done? Their answer is not what he did. But they shouted all the more, crucify him. No reason for it, just his death. This painful and shameful death is what they wanted, even though Pilate knew he didn't deserve it. And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. You see, his character was revealed. Pilate who was a governor, Pilate who was a political leader, Pilate who governed Judea, was so weak, he did that which was evil. He condemned an innocent man, knowing he was innocent, to satisfy the crowd. Now, before We throw stones at Pilate.
Haven't we kind of done the same thing? People will scoff and say about Christians and how unintelligent we are and how we, if we need to lean on those things, then okay, you know, then if you're that weak and whatever, and then we kind of hide our Christianity. As opposed to like Paul, I am not ashamed of the gospel. You may have a different opinion of me. It may risk my title as a authoritative leader. It may risk my reputation that you think I'm not who you think I ought to be. But to stand firm and say, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He saw what I needed most, salvation from my sin.
And He delivered that for me. And whether you ridicule me or even persecute me, I will stand firm in my conviction and I will believe in Him in secret, and I will believe in Him in public, and I will believe in Him when the whole crowd says, Crucify us. Jesus told us, The slave is not above his master. If this is the way they treated Jesus, who loved perfectly, who forgave.
Perfectly.
And Lord knows I try to love, but I love not so perfectly. And I try to forgive and I forget, not so perfectly. And this is how they treated my master, where they find no fault in him. And while you can find plenty of faults in me, they probably will still cry, crucify him. And I be willing to have my belief in secret and in public and in opposition. So wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. And after having Jesus scourged, I want to stop there. We just passed by that. Having Jesus scourged, In some of the other gospels, we kind of get the implication that maybe the reason Pilate had Jesus scourged was they're trying to do him a mercy. To say, maybe if we scourge him, they won't demand his crucifixion. But Mark just says, having have him scourged, If you've had the opportunity to watch, you'll know what I'm talking about.
And if you haven't, I encourage you to see the movie called The Passion of the Christ. It's a movie and it tries to represent what happened. And like a lot of historical fiction based on facts, we add stuff. There was a scene It probably impacted me more than the actual crucifixion. Now, whether it actually happened or not, I don't know, but it feels true because of what Jesus did. And in that scene, they scourge Jesus. And what they do is they tie him to a post and they scourge him, which means they take this cat o' nine tails and rip his flesh from his body. And in that scene, one of the blows causes him to fall off the post closer to the ground, and then he stands back up and places his hands back on the post for additional beating. See, that's what Jesus' love was.
He continued to be beaten so that he understood by his stripes we are healed. And he loved us so much that when he prayed the Father to let this cup pass from me, he said, nevertheless, not my will, but your will. And during the trials by the Sanhedrin, he could have called the angels. And during the trials of Pilate, he could have called the angels. And during the scourging, he could have called the angels.
But he loved us. And he was obedient to the Father to the point that in these couple of words, having been scourged, if that's all he did, it was more than I deserve. I am not worthy, and you are not worthy of what he suffered. But He loved us, and He loved the Father and obeyed the Father to the point that He tolerated and adured this. While we in our antiseptic reading, having been scourged, He being Pilate handed Him over to be crucified. You see, Jesus's day is not over yet. He has gone through ridiculous trials, illegally handled at night, and then accused in the morning, and being scourged, then being led away to crucifixion. But he hasn't finished his suffering yet.
And next week we will take a look at what a lot of times we just pass by. But I want us to so indelibly understand what he did for us that I can't take a little ridicule for his name's sake. God so loved. God so loved. loved. That not only was he tried, and not only was he condemned as an innocent man, and not only was he scourged, but we will see that he has continued to be mocked and crucified and buried. What kind of God do we worship? A God beyond all human understanding. And thank God he is. Because if he isn't who God is, we will be lost in our sins. But because he is who he is and he did what he did, we have hope. We have comfort. We have forgiveness and we have redemption. We have salvation. We have sanctification. And as we read earlier, we'll even have glorification.
God so loved.
God so loved.
And all God's people said,
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