“I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified.”
Last week we looked at the phrase of the creed in which we confess Jesus supernatural conception and birth.
And up until that point in the Creed, all seems well. We are perhaps left with the sound of children singing silent night softly in our ears while we envision a peaceful night scene in a manger; but here, we see that not all is well.
In fact, something has gone terribly wrong; something has gone terribly wrong because something is terribly wrong.
This Jesus who entered into our world, was met with a less-than-welcoming reception. He was met with rejection and He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate; & Was Crucified.
- he suffered; 2) under Pontius Pilate; 3) was Crucified.
1) Jesus Suffered.
The suffering of Jesus did not begin at the end of his life. The suffering of Jesus came to a climax at the end of his life, but his suffering began at the first moment he stepped foot into this world – because this world is a world of suffering.
And for Jesus to have an existence that wasn’t characterized by suffering would meant that he had an existence that wasn’t human or this worldly at all because we live in a world of suffering.
The theological term for it is his humiliation – that though he was eternal God; who existed for all eternity outside of an existence characterized by sin and suffering;
He condescended. He lowered himself. He humbled himself. And in doing so he experienced and made himself vulnerable to all the miseries and sufferings of this life.
He experienced hunger; thirst; tiredness; he had siblings; he experienced human limitations of time and space; he felt physical & emotional pain; he witnessed the suffering of others and while being sinless he wasn’t withheld or exempted from experiencing the sin of others: he was let down; he was abandoned; he was betrayed. He wept bitter tears and cried in agony.
And all that suffering was all the more because of his divinity: he left the highest of heavens – an eternity of a world of only joy and love and peace and fellowship with his Father.
And all that suffering was all the more because of his innocence – it’s bad enough to experience suffering when you deserve it; it’s all the worse to experience innocent suffering; but even in human examples of innocent suffering – when humans suffer unjustly – even if our sin didn’t warrant the suffering we experience in a particular circumstance – we all ultimately deserve suffering in this life because all suffering ultimately comes from sin and we are all sinners.
but not him. He was the only person ever to walk this earth who really deserved no suffering; who was truly perfectly innocent before God and deserving only of God’s infinite blessing and reward – he suffered.
It’s very important to remember that Jesus’ life here on earth was not a life of glory; not even a life of ease; but a life of suffering.
I said before that the theological term was Jesus’ humiliation – everything in between and including his birth and death – all the suffering of those things and the life filled with suffering in between those things; but that’s only part of the story; the other theological term is Jesus’ exaltation: his being vindicated, his being raised and lifted up; his being glorified: his resurrection from the dead; his ascending up into heaven; his being seated at the right hand of the father and his future coming again to judge the world on the last day.
And the Transfiguration of Jesus was a brief glimpse of him in his glory – but that was a blip on the screen of what was the norm for his life – the norm wasn’t glory; the norm was suffering; and it wasn’t until after his suffering was complete that he entered into glory;
Jesus’ own words affirmed that he had to suffer these things, and then enter his glory.
Jesus’ knew that suffering came first, then glory.
and the bible promises the same trajectory for us. Suffering; then glory. Suffering in this life; glory in the next.
Don’t believe that being a Christian means that this life is glory. Don’t believe that following Jesus means that everything goes well and smoothly in this life; Don’t believe that this life – even in it’s best moments – is the best it gets; and don’t become disillusioned – to the point of losing your hope; or discouraged, to the point of giving up; or surprised such that you get knocked off balance and don’t know how to interpret the suffering when it comes –
suffering will come: don’t lose heart; don’t give up; and always view it by faith through the lens of the gospel promises that God has not forsaken you; God still loves you; God is working all things for the good of those who love him;
And don’t forget that glory comes after the suffering; and that the eternal glory that awaits us so far outweighs our present sufferings that we can call them light and momentary in comparison.
The suffering of Jesus began at the moment when he stepped into this world; but it comes to a climax at the end of his life – in his crucifixion and the events leading up to it.
Not just that he experienced the general sufferings of living in a fallen world; but that he experienced the particular sufferings of the sin-bearing substitute on the cross – the wrath of God for the sins of the world.
And it’s when we look at the climactic suffering at the end of his life that we see especially clearly that his suffering wasn’t just the inevitable result of being in this fallen world of suffering; but that his climactic suffering was a result of his rejection by sinful humanity.
At Christmas time, we reflect upon the wonderful truth that God entered in to our existence – God with Us; at Easter we remember the sobering truth that when he did so, the sinful humanity that he came to rescue, rejected him.
Of course, we see that it is in his rejection by humanity that God in his wisdom accomplished his plan of salvation – but hold off on that glorious truth to remember that sobering reality: that, as the apostle John put it in his gospel prologue: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
He lived a life of rejection; and his human rejection is what led to his climactic suffering in his crucifixion.
“When God comes into the world in the person of Jesus, God is met with violent resistance. The creatures have turned against their Creator. The loving Savior was cast out. The judge of the earth has come among us, and we have judged him. There is room in our world, it seems, for everything – except God.”
That is the most terrible and tragic of ironies – that in our sinful human nature we have room for everything – except the one in the universe that really matters. We have room for everything – except the one who can bring satisfaction and fulfillment and meaning. We have room for everything – except the one that is of ultimate and eternal glory worth and significance.
What about your life? Look at your life. What do you make room for? Have you rejected the one that should
- He suffered; 2) Under Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate is remembered in Scripture and in the Apostles’ Creed. Why did those early Christians memorialize Pilate in the Creed?
Lots of Reasons:
First: to remind us of the real historical nature of the events of Jesus’ life and death. Mary is mentioned earlier, but Mary was not a famous person who was preserved in extra biblical history – Pilate was. He was the Roman Governor of Judea from AD 26 – 36. No one denies that he was a real person and so Jesus’ life and death is rooted not “once upon a time” but in real history.
Second: To remind us of the public nature of Jesus’ death. Pilate here represents the world’s witnessing of these things – and the impossibility of denying that those things happened, and the ability for people to then make a personal response to the testimony of the church about what these things mean.
But most of all: Pilate’s sentencing of Jesus represents the rejection of Jesus by the world.
The Roman Government signified by Pontius Pilate was the worldly authority by which Jesus was crucified –
Real people were involved in his death – and Pontius Pilate was one of those real people who was responsible – and culpable – for Jesus’ death.
But as important as it is to remember that Jesus was put to death by people in general and Pilate in particular – it’s just as important to remember that no one person and no one people-group is solely responsible for Jesus’ death.
Who was responsible for Jesus death? Pilate – who was more concerned for his own neck than for doing justice and protecting a clearly innocent man who had done nothing deserving of death – who was more concerned with pleasing the crowd and keeping the peace than doing what he knew was right.
Pilate was responsible;
But, not just Pilate – because though he wrongly gave in to their bloodthirsty demands, it was the crowds that demanded his crucifixion; even refusing to see his release and instead opting for a guilty man to go free – ironically and tragically foreshadowing the very purpose of Jesus’ death – the innocent dying so that the guilty could go free.
The crowds were responsible; but not just the crowds. Because if not for the religious leaders – and it’s specifically stated that they were motivated by their envy of Jesus – who bribed Judas; who came up with the plan to arrest him; who gave him a mockery of a trial with trumped-up charges and false witnesses; and handed him over to the Romans.
The Jewish religious leaders were responsible; but not just the Jewish Religious leaders; but Judas, who betrayed Jesus into their hands for 30 pieces of silver; who because of his greed or unmet expectations & disillusionment or both – betrayed Jesus.
Judas was responsible; but not just Judas; Pilate; the Roman soldiers; the crowds; the Jewish Religious leaders;
It’s important to realize that all of these were responsible – it’s wrong to isolate any one of these groups and put particular blame on them – That’s wrong: and that’s important to say unequivocally.
That has been done – wrongly – in the history of the church; that still happens in modern times.
Just recently there was a shooting in a synagogue, carried out by a member of a reformed presbyterian church – not our denomination but one very like ours – and of course this isn’t at all what the denomination stands for, but what apparently motivated this person was anti-semitism – racism against Jewish people.
And – any view that looks down on one race of people as having inferior dignity or worth or value; or elevates another race as having superior dignity or worth or value; Isn’t Christian; Is sinful.
It’s wrong to isolate any one of those groups and put particular blame on them – and it’s important to realize that they were all responsible; because we were all responsible.
The mention of Pilate reminds us that the whole sinful world was responsible for the death of Jesus – because it was human sinful nature which rejected him to the cross, and it was human sins for which he went to the cross to forgive.
Jesus in one sense was killed – wrongly, unjustly, because of sinful humanity’s rejection of God; but in another sense he wasn’t killed at all, he died; he gave his life – for the forgiveness of sins.
Acts 2:23 affirms that he was killed by wicked men; but that at the same time he died by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge.
It wasn’t some accidental tragedy in which one particular people group got in the way of God’s plan;
Because his life wasn’t taken from him, but he laid it down, willingly;
He gave his life for our sins – Stott: “his love took him there; our sins sent him there”
“we can’t share in the grace of the cross until we share in the guilt of the cross.”
We need to see our share in the guilt of the cross – that our sinful nature did reject God – that our sins sent him there; we need to see our share in the guilt of the cross, if we’re to find a share in the grace of the cross – that Jesus died for me – and for the sinful things I had done.
1) Jesus Suffered; 2) Under Pontius Pilate;
3) Was Crucified
Cicero described crucifixion as “a most cruel and disgusting punishment.” It was often done as a public spectacle in order to work as a deterrent against crime; it was a torture device, devised to delay death and so inflict the maximum suffering possible.
Death didn’t usually come quickly with crucifixion – depending on how severe the flogging beforehand, someone could survive on the cross for days – usually dying from suffocation resulting from the exhaustion of struggling to breath.
It was usually reserved for the lowest classes of people in society and the worst of criminals.
In fact, it was considered so terrible and shameful that – except in the most extreme cases of treason, Roman Citizens were exempt.
Cicero went on to write: “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to kill him is almost an act of murder: to crucify him is – what? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed.”
In fact, people in good society didn’t even talk about crucifixion – mere mention of it wasn’t something that respectable people ought to be expected to endure.
It was extraordinarily painful; it was unspeakably shameful.
But christians weren’t embarrassed of the cross. They embraced it. They gloried in the cross of Jesus because they looked beneath the surface of the cross; they looked past the mere fact of the cross to see it’s meaning.
When we look at the cross just on the surface, it is ugly; it is brutal; it is shameful; it is defeat and hopelessness; and it is foolish to boast or glory in it – that the cross would be the symbol of Christian faith hope and victory is utter foolishness – unless there’s more to the cross.
Jesus death was like every other death in that he died; but Jesus death was unlike any other death by virtue of what his death accomplished.
To see the beauty of the cross, we need to look below the surface of the cross. The fact of it is essential; but the meaning of that fact is what we need to grasp by faith.
He died for us;
He died for our sins;
He died to bring us to God.
He died for us: he wasn’t just tragically killed – his life was a voluntary sacrifice – a loving sacrifice – in which our good shepherd laid down his life for our sheep.
“This is my body, given for you.”
His death wasn’t because of his own sins or his own deservedness: but it was because of ours. His sacrifice wasn’t for his own sake, it was for our sake: he died for us.
He died for our forgiveness:
We’ll talk much more about forgiveness when we get to the part in the creed where we confess our belief in the forgiveness of sins; but for now what we need to see is that Jesus death was not just an inspiring example of sacrifice that shows us what it means to sacrifice; but that it had a purpose – it’s purpose was the forgiveness of sins. This is the inseparable connection that the NT makes, and the unavoidable conclusion that we find from the Apostles’ teaching about the meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion.
You really can’t read the NT without concluding that the forgiveness of sins is central to the Christian Faith – and that the work of Jesus on the cross is what effects that forgiveness.
1 Corinthians 15:3: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…”
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”
Isaiah 53 – he was pierced for our transgressions; it is by his wounds that we are healed.
He suffered the wrath of God for sins. Forgiveness is a costly thing, which demanded the suffering of the Son of God.
He suffered all that we deserve for our sins – the curse of God; forsakenness by God –
The physical suffering of the cross, severe as it was, was nothing compared to the spiritual suffering of the cross – that was suffering that unparalleled to anything else – when the one who always only knew & deserved God’s favor and blessing, now experienced the fullness of his eternal wrath and curse against all the sin of all God’s people – which needed to be paid if a holy God could be reconciled to sinners; but could only be paid not by us but by a perfect sacrifice – the sinless Son of God & savior of sinners.
Matthew 27:46 – Just before his death, Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” And when we hear that cry, we know that it was a real cry – a real cry resulting from truly being forsaken by God; and the answer is all assurance to us that he who only deserved acceptance was forsaken, so that we who only deserved forsakenness, could be forgiven & accepted.
He died for our forgiveness; he died to bring us to God.
Matthew 27:51 – at the very moment of Jesus’ death, the temple curtain was torn in 2 from top to bottom. The temple curtain was that which separated a Holy God from sinful people – and which served as a reminder of our separation from God – and even with the provisions of the old covenant – our limited, provisional, access to him.
Sin separates us from a holy God. The temple curtain was a continual reminder of that separation.
it blocked off the most holy place, which could be entered Only by certain people, only at certain times, only with certain rites of purification for the cleansing of those who entered;
But now, that curtain was torn – to show that the way of access to God had been opened; because a true and definitive cleansing had taken place – so that by faith, through the cleansing of Jesus’ blood shed for us, we can enter – we can be reconciled to God; we can be in his presence and we can have access to him, through faith in Jesus.
Look at the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus: and see the depth and horror of sin – which required such a terrible cost; and see the love of Jesus which gladly embraced that cost for you and for me; and see the grace of the gospel, in which that cost is fully paid forever, so that we can be the children of God.
John 1:11 “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
John 1:12 “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”