Matthew 27
New King James Version
Jesus Handed Over to Pontius Pilate
1 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.
2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Judas Hangs Himself
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”
5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself.
6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.”
7 And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
Pontius Pilate
History says that Pilate was the fifth governor of Judea. Most governors served two to four years, but Pilate served as governor of Judea for about eleven years. (A.D. 26-36)
We have no information about Pilate before he arrived in Judea as governor.
If it were not for a few hours with Jesus on one fateful morning, Pilate would have disappeared long ago into the silent hallway of history.
Josephus indicates that Pilate’s career in Judea ended abruptly when he agitated his subjects one time too much.
(Antiquities 18:85-89) after Jesus’s the death burial and resurrection and ascension back to heaven.
As the story goes, an unnamed messianic figure rose in Samaria and formed a group of enthusiastic followers.
Problems became serious when they armed themselves in an attempt to deliver their people from the hands of the Romans and establish God’s kingdom.
To prove his assumed identity as the Messiah, the messianic figure invited his followers to follow him to the summit of Mt. Gerizim, a mountain the Samaritans considered a holy site.
He claimed that Moses had buried sacred vessels on top of the mountain, and he knew where they were.
(Evidently, he believed if the sacred vessels were revealed, it would legitimize his messianic claims.)
Pilate learned of this development and sent a platoon of Roman soldiers to block their ascent up the mountain. This led to a bloody confrontation and the Romans killed several Samaritans in the melee that followed.
The Samaritan Council formally complained to Caesar about Pilate’s abusive use of power and Tiberius summoned Pilate to Rome.
Pilate left for Rome but reached the city after Tiberius had died. The new emperor, Gaius, did not send Pilate back to Judea and Pilate suddenly disappeared from the radar screen of history.
Eusebius, a spiritual counselor to Emperor Constantine in the fourth century A.D., supports a legend that Pilate committed suicide during the reign of Gaius.
The legend maintains that Pilate committed suicide due to his remorse for what he did to Jesus.
Christian churches in northern Africa years later declared Pilate a saint. Tertullian (a roman official) claims that Pilate was a Christian at heart in a letter he wrote to Tiberius Caesar . This is from the writings of plato
I believe that Pilate had a complete change of heart after meeting Jesus, and his actions you are about to hear are quite revealing when put in context.
Even though we do not know what happened to Pilate in the end, we do know what happened on Friday morning, April 7, A.D. 30, when a long sequence of events brought an unsuspecting Pilate face to face with God.
All four gospels record descriptions of this unrehearsed confrontation in all four gospels.
Pilate awoke on that Friday morning only to discover it was his day of judgment. Yes, Pilate sat in the judgment seat, but Pilate was on trial.
Pilate declared Jesus was innocent three times. Still, Pilate had Jesus flogged and crucified rather than take any ridicule from the Jews and a possible reprimand from Caesar.
When that day ended, I am sure that Pilate was not the same. You cannot violate your innermost sense of fairness and justice and still have respect for yourself.
Pilate violated his conscience to keep his job. Peter violated “his loyalty” to keep his dignity. Both men lost the very thing they sought to protect.
Today you sit in that seat and I’m curious about what will you do with this man called Jesus Christ.
Will you receive him as your savior or will you violate your own conscious?
2 Timothy 2 New King James Version
11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
People who suffered for Jesus Christ
The women species of humanity have suffered unreal atrocities because of your species alone, Jesus came through a woman.
When Mary died her soul went to be with her son.
David said 2 Samuel 12:22-23 The Message (MSG) “While the child was alive,” he said, “I fasted and wept, thinking GOD might have mercy on me and the child would live. But now that he’s dead, why fast? Can I bring him back now? I can go to him, but he can’t come to me.”
Mary went to see her son.
Simon
2 Samuel 12:22-23 22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’
23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
A black jew carried the cross of Jesus It is worth noting that Simon was from Cyrene, a city in Northern Africa, hell has never forgotten who carried the cross of Jesus.
Babies have suffered for Jesus. Jesus didn’t ride in on a colt as king of this world, he was carried in the belly of his mother hidden by God right under the nose of the devil. Many babies have died for the cause of Christ.
Peter, his disciple, denied the Lord three times. remember what Jesus said to Peter follow me.
Peter followed the Lord. Whether in life or in death the one constant that Jesus asked of Peter, as well as all of us. will you follow Jesus?
Peter was scourged brutally and then led to a cross where he hung upside down till he was dead. Saying I’m not worthy to be crucified as he was.
That fateful Friday
Pilate condemned himself with his own words when he told Jesus that he had the power to set Him free. Jesus, knowing that He had come into the world to set us “free,” did not address Pilate’s cowardice.
Instead, Jesus condemned Lucifer, who truly was responsible and guilty for handing Jesus over to be killed.
When the demons heard these words, I believe they shuddered. The mouth of God declared that He would annihilate Lucifer.
Meanwhile, Pilate’s consternation was on a different plane. For the first time, Pilate recognized a fatal flaw in his character.
He could not bring himself to do the right thing. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and believed Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah.
He also knew that Jesus was hated for no other reason than declaring who He was. Jesus was the King of kings!
When Pilate sent his soldiers to intercept the “messianic figure” from Samaria six years later, he gave orders to destroy the movement because it was an insult to Jesus, who according to reliable sources, had ascended into Heaven.
The “uncalled for brutality” of Pilates soldiers aroused the Samaritan Council, who appealed to Tiberius Caesar. He summoned Pilate to Rome for a reprimand.
Tiberius died before Pilate arrived in Rome and his successor, Gaius, relieved Pilate of his career. Pilate eventually settled in northern Africa where he confessed to being a believer in Christ.
He found refuge in Alexandria among the Christians who had also found refuge from Rome’s hatred there. (This may explain why the Coptic and Ethiopian churches later made him a saint.)
In time, Pilate became ill and impoverished. I am sure he often relived that infamous day and probably never forgave himself for having Jesus flogged and crucified.
In a depressed and lonely state of mind, he may have ended his life. Ironically, legend says that when Peter eventually faced his own death on a cross, he asked to be crucified upside down, since he was not worthy to die as Christ had died.
Both men died without being able to forgive themselves for their cowardice. However, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus forgave them both.