The Lord’s Message:  Journey to the Cross:  What Shall I do, then, with Jesus?

The Lord’s Message:  Journey to the Cross:  What Shall I do, then, with Jesus?
Date:  March 15, 2026
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  Matthew 27:11-26

            Since we started on our Lenten Journey to the Cross, we have been observing how the Jewish Ruling Council viewed Jesus.  This morning, we are going to see how the Roman Authority viewed Jesus. 

            Let us pray.

            Let us quickly review what we have been learning about the illegal conduct of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Ruling Council.  First off, they arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the charge of….. what?  There was no charge.  Second, Jesus is brought into Annas, the father-in law of the high priest Caiaphas, who was the former high priest.  He cannot find anything to charge Jesus with.  Third, Jesus is brought to a quickly convened sham of a trial of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Ruling Council and is convicted of the charge of blasphemy for telling the truth and saying that He is the Son of God.  Jesus is being truthful.  He is the Son of God.  He is not allowed to give a defense for Himself.  Even if He did the only people that could help in His defense would be His disciples, who are either hiding in a safe place, or remained silent at His trial, or denied knowing Him three times.  Not very good witnesses for the defense.  At the bequest of the Caiaphas the high priest, the Sanhedrin court quickly hands down a verdict of death for Jesus.  The problem they need the Romans to kill Jesus. 

Why, you may ask, does the Sanhedrin need the Romans to kill Jesus, could they not have done it themselves?  The answer is “Yes!”  They stoned Stephen to death in Acts 7:54-60.  They tried to assassinate Paul in Acts 21:17 to Acts 28.  If it was not for a Roman commander stepping in to protect him, Paul would have been killed.  The Roman commander had Paul, with an armed guard, escorted out of Jerusalem at night to Caesarea Philippi. Then after two years of being there, a Roman governor had Paul sent on to Rome for Paul to appeal to Caesar, because Paul was a Roman citizen.  So, yes, the Sanhedrin could have killed Jesus themselves, except for two factors. 

First, the human factor.  The high priest and the Sanhedrin were afraid of the Jewish people. This is confirmed in Matthew 26:3-5.  Judas Iscariot had provided them a way of arresting Jesus, but they were still concerned that the crowds could turn on them, because of Jesus’ popularity.  Remember all of Jesus’ miracles which are written, which He did.  There were probably many more that were not recorded.  His own disciple, John, says that in John 21:24-25.  Certainly, raising Lazarus from the dead had to top all of these miracles.  A man in the grave for four days being brought back to life.  The display that the people put on which we referred to as Palm Sunday showed how popular Jesus was.  Imagine here comes a Jewish man riding on a colt of a donkey and people are taking off their coats and cutting palm branches to make a royal roadway for Him. They are shouting, “Hosanna!  Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”  They are ready to crown him, King!  The Sanhedrin needed the Romans to kill Jesus for them.  The arrest, conviction, and sentence of death for Jesus had to be legal in the eyes of the crowd.  The Romans had to put Jesus to death, not the Sanhedrin. This is the human factor.

Let us look at the prophetic factor.  Long ago, David wrote this in Psalm 22:16-17.  The name “dogs” was often a derogatory name for Gentiles.  In Psalm 2:1-2, the nations (Gentiles) conspire against the Lord and His Anointed One. In Isaiah 53:7-8, the lamb (Jesus) is led to the slaughter.  This fulfills what Jesus had told His disciples in Matthew 20:18-19.  The prophetic factor, or God working outside of our time, to bring about His plan of salvation for all is at work here.   Because of these two factors the Romans had to crucify Jesus for the Sanhedrin, it had to look legal. 

If you turn in your Bibles to Matthew 27:11a, this is where we pick up Jesus’ journey to the Cross.  After the trial by the Sanhedrin, Jesus is brought to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea. He had become governor in 26 AD and would continue until 36 AD.  There is not a whole lot known about him, except for the trial and sentencing of Jesus to be crucified.  Some historians have painted a picture of him as a ruthless and cruel governor, but throughout the trial of Jesus, Pilate tries every way he can think of to free Jesus.  Pilate becomes Jesus’ defense attorney. 

At the very beginning, Pilate can see through the web of deceit by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.  This is confirmed in Matthew 27:18. The Romans would not have crucified Jesus on the evidence of blasphemy.  They could care less about Jesus saying He is the Son of God.  But bring forth evidence of insurrection to the Roman Governor, that is going to carry the penalty of death.  Look here at Luke 23:2, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin are throwing everything at Jesus to see if anything will cling to Him.  “Man subverting our nation.” “Opposes payment of taxes.”  “Claims to be Christ, a king.”  So, the first question that Pilate asks Jesus is “Are you the king of the Jews?”  Jesus replies in Matthew 27:11b, “Yes, it is as you say.” 

At this point in verse 12, Caiaphas, the high priest, and the elders start accusing Jesus, but Jesus gives no rebuttal.  This is astounding to Pontius Pilate. Most people would be making a rebuttal or begging for mercy.  In verse 13, Pilate asks Jesus, don’t you hear what they are saying about You?  Jesus remains silent, in verse 14.  Pilate is trying to get Jesus off the hook. Luke 23:4, Luke records Pilate as saying, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” 

At this point, Pilate finds out the Jesus is from Galilee, so Pilate sends Jesus to King Herod.  King Herod is over the jurisdiction of Galilee.  King Herod questions Jesus, but Jesus remains silent.  Then the chief priest and the elders hurled false accusations at Jesus.  Jesus remains silent.  Upon finding no evidence to charge Jesus of a crime, King Herod and his soldiers mock Jesus and King Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate. Once again Pilate has tried to have the charges against Jesus dropped. 

            This hot potato has landed back into Pilate’s lap. Pilate gets confirmation from his wife of Jesus’ innocence in verse 19.  In verses 15-18, Pilate’s next move is to have a choice between innocent Jesus and notorious Barabbas.  In verse 20, the crowd is persuaded by the chief priests and the elders to choose Barabbas to be released.  The crowd responds in verse 21b with Barabbas.  Pilate asks the question in verse 21a, “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Christ?”  They answered, “Crucify Him!”  Once more, Pilate tries to set Jesus free.  He asked the crowd, “What crime has he committed?”  Jesus has been interrogated by Annas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, King Herod, and Pilate.  The result is there is still no crime that Jesus has committed.  Even the crowd can not come up with a crime that Jesus has committed.  They simply shout louder, “Crucify Him!”

            In John 19:1-5, Pilate tried again to save Jesus by having Jesus flogged thinking that this might bring out sympathy from the crowd.  The crowd responds in John 19:6 with “Crucify! Crucify!”

            Here, a Gentile leader is trying to save Jesus from the Jewish leaders that want Him done away with.  The Gentile leader is willing to give Jesus a fair trial whereas the Jewish leaders want a sham trial.   What an irony of a situation!  Again, this is all part of God’s plan of salvation.  In the end, Jesus is crucified.  God loves us so much that He was willing to die to save us. 

            Gentiles would join with Jews to put their lives on the line to spread the Gospel message.  The first Jewish martyr was Stephen.  All the disciples, except for John, will be martyred for the faith.  Some notable Gentiles that were martyred for the Gospel are Graham Staines, an Australian missionary burned to death in 1999 in India by a mob along with his two sons while they were working with leprosy patients, John Allen Chau, an American evangelical missionary, is killed by the Sentinelese tribe on the Andaman Islands in 2018 while trying to convert them to Christianity, and who can forget in 2015 the 21 Coptic Christian men working in Libya that were captured by Isis and beheaded for not converting to Islam.  Both Jews and Gentiles have put their lives on the line to spread the Gospel message and it continues today. 

            The question that I leave with you today is “Who is Jesus to you?  Is He your Lord and Savior or just another Jewish man?   Will you worship and follow Him or live as if Jesus is not part of your life?

            Let us continue to listen to God and do what He says.  Amen.