Doing the Right Thing 3-17-24
Overview
Doing the Right Thing
Everyday life confronts us with quiet forks in the road. Will you fudge the numbers on your taxes? Will you yield that last item on the shelf to the neighbor reaching beside you? Will the person you are in private match the person you present in public? Scripture sets up the same kind of signpost moment in Luke 23:13–25, where Pilate stands at a crossroads and chooses the wrong way.
Pilate was no naïve bureaucrat. After ten years as governor of Judea, his record of provocations—displaying Caesar's emblems in Jerusalem, raiding the temple treasury for an aqueduct, slaughtering Galileans—had worn Rome's patience thin. When Jesus is dragged before him, Pilate sees through the religious leaders' political pretext. Three times he declares Jesus innocent: "I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges" (v. 14); "Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again" (v. 20); "What evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death" (v. 22). He even appeals to a Passover custom, hoping the crowd will choose Jesus over Barabbas, an insurrectionist and murderer. But pressed by the crowd and haunted by his own past, Pilate hands Jesus over. Matthew tells us he washed his hands before the people Matthew 27:24, borrowing the Old Testament gesture of innocence from Deuteronomy 21:6–7—but no amount of washing can make the wrong thing right.
We bear an uncomfortable resemblance to Pilate. Outside pressures, past failures, and present fears can paralyze us into doing what we know is wrong. Paul names the struggle plainly: "When I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand… Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Romans 7:21–24. When we fail to do the right thing, it exposes the deeper truth we confess each Sunday—we are not right.
Yet the most stunning turn in this account is what God does with the crowd's terrible cry, "His blood be on us and on our children!" Matthew 27:25. What was meant as a self-pronounced curse becomes, in the gospel, an unintended blessing. "You were ransomed… with the precious blood of Christ" 1 Peter 1:18–19, and "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" 1 John 1:7. His blood is on us, indeed—and thanks be to God for it. So we pray with Paul that our love would "overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight, to help us to determine what is best" Philippians 1:9–11, trusting that "it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" Philippians 2:13. And when we fall short, we are met not with condemnation but with the perfect righteousness of Christ credited to us—made right by the very blood we once feared to bear.
Transcript
Would you open your Bible's please with me to the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Luke 3s
for our study today? 9s
If you're using a Pue edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 76 11s
in the New Testament. 15s
Luke, the 23rd chapter. 17s
So you're doing your taxes and you think to yourself, if I just change just a few of these 23s
numbers, it would turn out better for me. 36s
Will you do the right thing? 47s
Will you do the right thing? 52s
You go to the store because there's only one item, one item that's left of what you want. 57s
And you arrive at the store and you don't notice that at the same time someone else is 65s
arriving and both of you reach for that item at the same time. 70s
Will you serve your neighbor? 80s
Will you do the right thing? 84s
You're presenting yourself publicly one way. 92s
But in private. 97s
Will you do the right thing? 101s
On the front cover of the bulletin is a picture. 108s
You'll see the sign postings, one way points to the right thing and the other points 111s
to the wrong thing. 116s
And as we study in our text for today, we see those sign posts so very clear and so 119s
what was exemplified in our text for today. 125s
We continue on in the story. 134s
You recall last week that Jesus was brought to pilot. 137s
Pilot discovers that Jesus is actually under herage to restriction so he sends Jesus 141s
to hered. 148s
Here it was pleased to see Jesus because his expectation was that Jesus would do something 149s
fancy, some type of sign right in front of his eyes. 155s
But hered is disappointed when Jesus doesn't meet his expectations. 160s
He finds that Jesus has done nothing wrong and so he sends hered, or sends Jesus back 167s
to pilot. 175s
So there is Jesus once again in front of pilot. 177s
Pilot's an incredibly intriguing figure, incredibly intriguing. 186s
He was the governor of Judea for 10 years. 190s
But he did some things. 193s
Some things that didn't sit well with the people. 195s
For example, governor after governor after governor. 200s
They would not have emblems bearing Caesar's likeness because they knew that that would 205s
anger the Jews. 213s
Why ask for a needless fight? 216s
And so they just never had those emblems that would have Caesar's image on them. 219s
Because the Jews would look at that and they'd say, that sign, Dollar Tree, they would 226s
become Irate, not so with pilot. 229s
Pilot has the emblems there, bearing Caesar's image and the Jews get angry. 235s
And the Jews protest and the military then is called and the military surrounds the Jews 241s
and they threaten to execute, to Jews, but the Jews won't back down and pilot then backs 247s
down. 254s
The pilot's actions, they didn't sit well, didn't sit well. 255s
Pilot took some of the money out of the temple treasury to build an aqueduct. 266s
That didn't sit well. 277s
Pilot had Galileans slaughtered. 281s
That really didn't sit. 288s
And Rome was watching all of this. 294s
Rome was starting to lose their patience here with his hot-headed pilot and his bad decisions. 299s
His decisions that were leading to just unnecessary social unrest. 305s
And Rome was getting a little fed up with pilot. 311s
Pilot knew that if he made another mistake, he might just lose his job. 315s
Enter Jesus. 331s
Look with the police, ever 13 of our text. 335s
Pilot then called together the chief priest, the leaders and the people and said to them, 340s
you brought me this man as one who was perverting the people. 346s
And here I've examined him and your presence and have not found this man guilty of any 351s
of your charges against him neither his harid, for he sent him back to us. 355s
Indeed, he's done nothing to deserve death. 361s
He said, that's why Jesus was in front of Pilot. 367s
The Jews wanted Jesus killed. 370s
But they had no ability to exercise capital punishment that belonged to the Romans. 373s
So if the Jews would have gone to pilot and said Jesus is blaspheming, 381s
pilots for swans would be who cares. 385s
Yes, that's your own religious problems, who cares. 388s
But when they go to pilot and they say that he is plotting this rebellion against the government, 392s
that catches the attention of the Roman government. 402s
But the Roman governor sees right through this. 410s
She's right true. 414s
What they're doing? 415s
And look at verse 16, his response to them was, I will therefore have him flogged and 417s
release him. 424s
In other words, he's going to inflict pain on Jesus and the flogging of Jesus then in 426s
the other words. 435s
And then he says, let's go to the next verse. 440s
Then they all, notice the descriptor, they all shouted out together. 445s
Oh, way with this fellow, release Barabas for us. 453s
Once a year pilot would release one of the prisoners. 459s
It was a good faith gesture with regard to the Jews. 463s
And they want Barabas released. 468s
The parallel account of this tells us in Matthew chapter 27 that at that time they had 471s
a notorious prisoner called Barabas. 478s
And then the Luke account, it gives us a further description of him. 483s
Verse 19, this was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place 489s
in the city and for murder. 497s
So he's in prison because of an insurrection and a murder. 501s
Matthew 27 tells us that pilot says to the people, whom do you want me to release for you? 507s
Barabas? 516s
Or Jesus, who's called the Messiah, for he realized it was out of jealousy that they had 518s
handed him over. 525s
Pilot is banking on the fact that they're going to do the right thing. 528s
They don't. 556s
They don't. 559s
Pilot wanting to release Jesus, address them again, but they kept shouting, crucify, crucify him. 565s
A third time he said to them, why? 576s
What evil has he done? 580s
I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death. 582s
I will therefore have him flogged and then release him. 587s
See, pilot's back to the original plan here, right? 592s
He knows full well. 595s
Jesus has done nothing wrong. 596s
He knows full well that Jesus is innocent. 597s
So he goes back to the original plan here. 600s
I'll flog him. 603s
I'll inflict pain. 604s
And then that is that. 607s
Come on, part. 616s
Come on. 618s
Do the right thing. 622s
Do the right thing. 626s
You know what's right? 630s
You know full well, what's right? 632s
Why is even to clear it? 636s
Verse 14, I've examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 638s
20, pilot wanting to release Jesus. 645s
22, why? 649s
What evil has he done? 652s
I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death. 654s
pilot do the right thing. 658s
Don't worry about losing your job. 664s
Do your job. 667s
And do the right. 669s
Say. 674s
Verse 24, 680s
So pilot gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. 684s
He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder. 691s
And he handed Jesus over as they were. 699s
In this series on resemblance, we've seen resemblance from those in the biblical count in ourselves, haven't we? 710s
We've seen the resemblance with regard to Mary and Martha when they were just, 721s
disappointed with the Lord and we thought about times in our own life, 727s
where perhaps we've been disappointed with God's timing or his will. 731s
We've seen the resemblance with the disciples in the garden where Jesus told them to prayer, pray, 741s
and yet they exemplify this absolute lack of prayer. 748s
They couldn't keep their eyes open. 753s
We saw the resemblance with regard to Peter and sometimes our timidity also. 757s
We saw the resemblance last week with Herod when Herod's expectations weren't fulfilled. 768s
And Herod just quickly dismissed Jesus. 777s
And do we see the resemblance here with pilot? 785s
It's what's the resemblance? 791s
It's sometimes we just don't do the right thing. 796s
Sometimes we just don't do the right thing. 809s
Not to make an excuse for it, but we're in good company. 816s
The apostle Paul writes in Romans, 823s
He says, so I find it to be a law that when I want to do what's good, evil lies close at hand. 826s
For I delight in the law of God and my inmost self, 834s
but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, 838s
making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 844s
I'm a wretched man that I am who will rescue me from this body of death. 848s
Like pilot, we can feel outside pressures coming against us. 859s
Like pilot, there can be past problems that impinge on a decision. 867s
Like pilot, we can be so caught up in the present moment that we're paralyzed with fear. 874s
And there are times when we just don't do the right thing, do we? 884s
And when we don't do the right thing, that's a reflection of the center that we are. 892s
It's a reflection of our sinful nature. 898s
You see those times when we don't do the right things, 904s
it's because we're not right. 909s
We're not right. 913s
We confess it every single Sunday morning that we're in a right. 918s
What then? 937s
Scripture tells us in the 21st chapter of Deuteronomy, 940s
and the Jews had a practice. 945s
When they wanted to distance themselves from something, they would wash their hands. 948s
Literally, they'd wash their hands when they wanted to communicate that they didn't have any blame for something. 955s
So in Deuteronomy 21st chapter, the Jews are washing their hands, 963s
and they say, our hands did not shed this blood, nor were we witnessed to it, 969s
and they they wash their hands. 975s
No blame here. 978s
In the parallel, in Matthew 27, it says, 982s
So when Pilots saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, 985s
he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, 993s
I'm innocent of this man, of this man's blood, see to it yourselves. 1001s
He uses a Jewish practice in front of them to distance himself from the decision 1009s
and pronounce absolute upon himself. 1023s
He could wash his hands until they were raw, 1033s
and it wouldn't make the wrong thing right. 1043s
He got washed until they were raw. 1055s
It wouldn't make the wrong thing the right. 1057s
The people's response. 1071s
Matthew 27 tells us that the people's response as Pilots is washing his hands, 1075s
distancing himself, declaring there's no blame here, the people's response is, 1081s
his blood beyond us and our children. 1089s
Pilots distancing himself, and the people are calling a curse upon themselves saying, 1097s
Don't matter, but matter any kind of consequences of this action, his blood beyond us, 1104s
and then they say, and his blood beyond our children. 1112s
They're going to pass the curse on then to their own children. 1118s
It is a stunning cry. 1127s
It is stunning. 1132s
What they say. 1138s
But God takes that stunning cry and he transforms it. 1144s
Peter writes in 1 Peter 1, 1154s
You were ransomed with the precious blood of Christ. 1159s
John writes in 1 John 1, 1165s
and the blood of Jesus, his son cleanses us from all sin. 1168s
His blood beyond us enthide, 1178s
because his blood deals with the consequences of our sin. 1184s
His blood beyond us indeed, because his blood cleanses us of sin. 1193s
His blood shed on the cross, 1205s
be on our children, indeed, 1209s
because the grace of God seen as he bears the sin of the world on the cross, 1214s
And the cry is transformed into a statement. 1229s
Of adoration and thanksgiving, 1238s
prayer, praise, 1247s
for we who are not right have been made right through the cross. 1256s
Of Christ. 1268s
His blood beyond us and our children, 1271s
indeed, and thanks be to God, 1279s
that his blood is on us and our children. 1286s
The prayer then comes to our lips. 1299s
It's the prayer that Paul writes in Philippians 1, 1304s
this is my prayer that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight. 1307s
To help you to determine what is best, 1319s
so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 1323s
having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. 1328s
Paul writes in Philippians 2, 1338s
it is God who is at work in you enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 1341s
And when we fall short, when we fall short, 1357s
we are met with the stunning grace of God. 1364s
For his perfect life is credited to us and we are made right. 1374s
Thank you. 1408s