Introduction: The recent Oscar for Best Picture being awarded to the movie "Shakespeare in Love" is once again a reminder of the enduring fascination with the life and work of William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote 36 plays, 154 sonnets and two narrative poems yet his work is the most widely admired and influential body of literature by any individual in the history of Western civilization. There are an unbelievable number of words and phrases that we use daily whose source is found in Shakespeare’s writings. Hollywood has produced over 300 different movies from the works of Shakespeare. Truly, the impact of one man has shaped and formed much of the thought and language of our modern culture.

Our culture, however, is reminded in these days of a far more powerful figure of influence upon our world than the English poet from Stratford upon Avon and that is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Kenneth Woodward wrote this week in Newsweek: "Historians did not record his birth. Nor, for 30 years, did anyone pay him much heed. A Jew from the Galilean hill country with a reputation for teaching and healing, he showed up at the age of 33 in Jerusalem during Passover. In three days, he was arrested, tried and convicted of treason, then executed like the commonest of criminals. His followers said that God raised him from the dead. Except among those who believed in him, the event passed without notice.

"Two thousand years later, the centuries themselves are measured from the birth of Jesus Nazareth. At the end of this year, calendars in India and China, like those in Europe, America and the Middle East, will register the dawn of the third millennium. It is a convention, of course: a fiction and function of Western cultural hegemony that allows the birth of Jesus to number the days for Christians and non-Christians alike. For Christians, Jesus is the hinge on which the door of history swings, the point at which eternity intersects with time, the Savior who redeems time by drawing all things to himself. As the second millennium draws to a close, nearly a third of the world’s population claims to be his followers.

But by secular standard, Jesus is also the dominant figure of Western culture. Like the millennium itself, much of what we now think of as Western ideas, inventions and values finds its source or inspiration in the religion that worships God in his name. Art and science, the self and society, politics and economics, marriage and the family, right and wrong, body and soul—all have been touched and often radically transformed by Christian influence…Like a supernova, the initial impact of Christianity on the ancient Greco-Roman world produced shock waves that continued to register long after the Roman Empire disappeared."

We would imagine that someone for whom people today proclaim as the dominant figure of history would have been easily recognized by all. How could anyone fail to observe the uniqueness and wonder of Jesus Christ? Yet they did, tragically. Today we visit one who it appeared was judging and evaluating Jesus properly but he was a judge who misjudged. The judge who misjudged was none other than Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea for approximately 10 years. He was the supreme ruler of that area and his word was law. His word was enforced by a contingent of 3500 soldiers that were stationed throughout his jurisdiction. To be assigned the governorship of Judea would be the equivalent of being invited to be ambassador of Yugoslavia. It was the least desirable assignment in the empire. It was made so because of the continual agitation between the Roman occupation and the Jews who were the occupied.

The tension was something that Pilate relished rather than try to calm. One Jewish historian, Philo, records how that Pilate made gold shields and imprinted the name of a donor on them. He then hung the shields in Herod’s palace in Jerusalem. This infuriated the Jews who then complained to the emperor, who ordered him to take them down. It was a concession to the Jews that the Roman soldiers not carry a banner with the emperor’s portrait on it. Pilate ordered them to put the image on the banner and then march by night into Jerusalem. The Jews protested for five days but when threatened to cease their protest or face death, they chose death. Pilate, not wanting a massacre, backed off. On another occasion Pilate went into the Temple and took the Temple treasury to fund a building project. Again the Jews protested violently. This time Pilate sent soldiers into the crowd

disguised as peasants who on cue began to club and beat the protestors into submission. Even Jesus mentions an occasion of Pilate’s brutality toward the Galileans: "whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifice" (Luke 13:1). Pilate was removed from office three years after the death of Jesus for similar offenses to the Jews.

Pilate is described by Philo as a man known to be "inflexible, merciless, and obstinate" and remembered for "his corruptions, his acts of insolence, his rapine, and his habit of insulting people, his cruelty, and his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned, and his never-ending, gratuitous, and most grievous inhumanity."

So it is before this man that the Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth is brought to be judged. Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor of Judea, misjudged him.

How could Pilate have misjudged so poorly? I want to suggest three areas in which Pilate could find as the source of his miscalculation of Jesus. Pilate may have misjudged Jesus because of a cynical heart, a desire to shift his blame or responsibility to someone else but ultimately he misjudged in spite of Jesus himself.

1. I would suggest to you that Pilate misjudged Jesus because he had become controlled by cynicism. (John 18:33, 38, 19:15)

A cynic is someone who has come to believe that all human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest. They are very likely people who once looked at people and believed that there is good, honesty and value. Now through experience they have become dull because of the contradictions, hypocrisies, lies and distortions that they have seen in life. There is no doubt that Pilate knew as one person said, "the inside of the underside" of politics and when Jesus is brought before him as one who is represented to be motivated only by good and God, Pilate responds with cynical questions, scorning the very person of Jesus.

There are three places where this cynical scorn is more pronounced. The first is in John 18:33 when Pilate asks Jesus "You are the King of the Jews?". In the original language "you" is the emphatic word in the sentence. He is saying "YOU are the King of the Jews?". Pilate had seen it all and this miserable looking little man is brought before him as someone who is a threat to the stability of the nation. The only thing he can do is respond with mockery and cynicism "You are the King of the Jews?".

Another place where Pilate’s cynical spirit shows itself. in another question to Jesus, "What is truth?" (John 18:38) He doesn’t say this out of a search for meaning but more out of a spirit of disgust "What is truth?". Pilate knew all the explanations for philosophy and religion that any leader would need to know. When presented with the issue in Jesus Christ all he can ask is, "What is truth?".

There is one more place of cynicism that is evident in Pilate’s questions. This time it is not to Jesus but to the Jews. Pilate attempts to release Jesus but the Jews would have none of it. So he relents to the mob and presents Jesus to them. John records in John 19:14-15: "Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold, your King!’ They therefore cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’" His question, "Shall I crucify your king?" is again filled with such resentment. "This is your king! Do you want him dead?" John records almost solemnly, "And so he then delivered him up to them to be crucified" (John 19:16).

Seeing the "inside of the underside" of politics and religion can make you cynical. , Former Aid to President Clinton, George Stephanopoulos, writes of his seeing the inside of the underside of politics in his book whose title alone bears disillusionment All To Human: A Political Education. He quotes Theodore White who wrote "closeness to power heightens the dignity of all men." He said, "I now know that’s not always true." He said that if he had known at the beginning what he knows now he would never have worked for the President. He says he felt that he had been duped wondering whether "helping him get elected was the best thing I ever did--or the worst." (Newsweek, March 15, 1999 p.33, 42, 43)

There are some of you here who have become cynical not about politics but about Christians. Ted Danson plays a crotchety doctor on a new sit-com. On a recent episode two people knocked on his door asking if he had thought much about the afterlife. His response was, "Not if you’re there!" and slammed the door. That’s how you feel. Christians have let you down, distorted what you believe it means to be Christian then when you encounter Jesus you can’t help but be filled with cynicism. "Are you the one who can save my soul? Do you really know what truth is? Are you the one the world needs?" Let me say to you that you can’t let the failures of others be the reason you refuse to follow Jesus Christ. All of us are "all too human" but you must ultimately answer the question of your own personal relationship with Jesus. Do not misjudge him because of the sinful actions and failures of others. Cynicism will not be a reason for failing to follow Jesus.

2. Pilate, the cynic, also tried to avoid the responsibility of Jesus by shifting his responsibility to someone else. In doing so we find another source of his misjudging Jesus.

Pilate tried to shift his responsibility to those who hated Jesus. John writes, "They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium in order that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Pilate therefore went out to them, and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this Man?’ They answered and said to him, ‘If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.’ Pilate therefore said to them, ‘Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.’ The Jews said to him, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death’" (John 18:28-31).

That scene is filled with sickening compromise. They were willing to manipulate Pilate to use the state for a religious murder but they wouldn’t dare break their tradition of ceremonial purity. It makes no difference that they were plotting a murder just don’t get defiled by a Gentile. It is clear that more than anything else Jesus was crucified due to a group of people who believed the end justified any means. They whispered lies and half-truths to Pilate about Jesus. Pilate let their lies shadow his judgment of Jesus. We cannot let those who distort the truth of Jesus be our excuse for not trusting Jesus. Do not misjudge because others despise him.

Pilate also tried to shift the responsibility to those who were curious about Jesus. Luke records Pilate’s attempt to be rid of Jesus by sending him to Herod’s court. (Luke 23:8-12). Herod thought that Jesus would perform some miracle for him, yet after questioning him, Jesus did not say a word. There are those who would see Jesus as nothing more than a curiosity, a source of speculation and entertainment. Before those who see him in this way he will say nothing! Don’t think that we can avoid our own decision about Jesus because others continually use Jesus as only a source of humor and doubt.

There’s one more way that Pilate tried to avoid responsibility for Jesus and that was his appeal to the mob. His appeal was to release Jesus and crucify Barabbas, instead the crowd wanted Barabbas the Robber. (John 18:39-40) He tried to evoke their sympathy for Jesus, after he was beaten, by presenting him before the people crowned with thorns and wearing a purple robe. Yet they cry out for his death (John 19:5-6). He tried to appeal to their national pride by referring to him as their own. They deny him and claim only Caesar as their master. (John 19:12) Over and over Pilate tried to avoid the question of Jesus by shifting the responsibility. We can’t avoid the question of Jesus. Try as we may we must answer for ourselves, "Who is Jesus to you?" Do not misjudge because you shift the responsibility to someone else.

3. Finally, Pilate misjudged Jesus in a way that was the most glaring of all. He misjudged Jesus in spite of the words of Jesus himself. What Pilate would not see was that Jesus was the one who was the judge.

It is obvious that Jesus tried to help Pilate see Him for who He was. Jesus asks him about the source of his information in John 18:34: "Jesus answered, ‘Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?’" You can hear his compassion toward Pilate when he tells him in John 18:36-37: "Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.’ Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ "

He pleads with him to look to Him for truth. Then in John 19:10-11 Pilate boasts of his authority but Jesus tells him he really has no authority but from God. In spite of Jesus invitations, pleading and opportunities for commitment, Pilate missed it. He misjudged Jesus in spite of Jesus himself.

Here is what I fear for some and that is that you will miss Jesus in spite of Jesus himself. You see it is possible to hear all of the claims of Christ and the appeals of Christ and yet miss trusting Jesus. That is perhaps the most horrible of miscalculations. The evidence for the reality and truth of Jesus stands before you today. Do not misjudge when He stands so compassionately before you.

Conclusion:

Anne Lamott’s story of her moving from cynicism to faith is recorded in her book Traveling Mercies. Her story has intrigued me because it is a journey of such blatant unbelief to such real absolute belief. She writes of her conversion in 1984 after battling with drugs, alcohol and recovery from an abortion. She had been going to church but mocked the words, music and ministers. While recovering from her abortion, she tells of waking one night to another presence in her room, "After a while, as I lay there, I became aware of someone with me, hunkered down in the corner, and I just assumed it was my father, whose presence I had felt over the years when I was frightened and alone. The feeling was so strong that I actually turned on the light for a moment to make sure no one was there—of course, there wasn’t. But after a while, in the dark again, I knew beyond any doubt that it was Jesus. I felt him as surely as I feel my dog lying nearby as I write this.

"And I was appalled. I thought about my life and my brilliant hilarious progressive friends, I thought about what everyone would think of me if I became a Christian, and it seemed an utterly impossible thing that simply could not be allowed to happen. I turned to the wall and said out loud, ‘I would rather die.’

"I felt him just sitting there on his haunches in the corner of my sleeping loft, watching me with patience and love, and I squinched my eyes shut, but that didn’t help because that’s not what I was seeing him with. Finally I fell asleep, and in the morning, he was gone.

"This experience spooked me badly, but I thought it was just an apparition, born of fear and self-loathing and booze and loss of blood. But then everywhere I went, I had the felling that a little cat was following me, wanting me to reach down and pick it up, wanting me to open the door and let it in. But I knew what would happen: you let a cat in one time, give it a little milk, and then it stays forever. So I tried to keep one step ahead of it, slamming my houseboat door when I entered or left.

"And one week later, when I went back to church, I was so hungover that I couldn’t stand up for the songs, and this time I stayed for the sermon, which I just thought was so ridiculous, like someone trying to convince me of the existence of extraterrestrials, but the last song was so deep and raw and pure that I could not escape. It was as if the people were singing in between the notes, weeping and joyful at the same time, and I felt like their voices or something was rocking me in its bosom, holding me like a scared kid, and I opened up to that feeling—and it washed over me.

"I began to cry and left before the benediction, and I raced home and felt the little cat running along at my heels, and I walked down the dock past dozens of potted flowers, under a sky as blue as one of God’s own dreams, and I opened the door to my houseboat, and I stood there a minute, and then I hung my head and said, ‘I quit.’ I took a long deep breath and said out loud, ‘All right. You can come in.’"

"So this was my beautiful moment of conversion."

Anne Lamott did not fail to judge Jesus for who He is. The cynicism and doubt were no excuses when it was her personal decision about Jesus Christ that mattered.

There is a well-known short story by Anatole France where Pontius Pilate is represented in retirement near the end of his life talking over old times with a pleasure-loving friend who had known him in Judaea. During supper the talk falls upon the qualities of the Jewish women, and the friend speaks of Mary of Magdala whom he had known during her unrepentant days in Jerusalem. He recounts the manner of his parting from Mary, who left him to join the band of a young miracle-worker from Galilee. "His name was Jesus; He came from Nazareth, and was crucified at last for some crime or other. Pontius, do you remember the man?" The old procurator frowned and raised a hand to his forehead as one who searches through his memory. Then, after some moments of silence, "Jesus," he muttered, "Jesus of Nazareth? No, I don’t remember Him." (H. Sturt, The Idea of a Free Church, 224.)

Do not be as Pilate and be the judge who misjudged.

Sunday, March 28, 1999

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org