(Text and Audio)
Title: The Final Verdict (Part Two)
Today’s sermon is somewhat unique and cool today because Acts chapter 4 plays a really big role. How so? Well, the true understanding of these events wasn’t quite yet fully grasped by the people, even the apostles whom Jesus loved, taught, and invested in.
But when we flash forward to Acts 4 we see clear evidence that the apostles fully understood and were teaching the significance of these events to their children.
(Read/Pray)
“Washed his hands before the multitude”
A few things to keep in mind here:
- Pilate was sure to do this publicly. He wanted to do everything in his power to demonstrate that the decision he was making to send Jesus to his death, he was doing NOT because he thought Jesus was guilty, but because it was the will of the people. (I wonder if this is similar to how a judge feels when he is surprised by, and disagrees with, the decision a jury reaches at the conclusion of a trial.)
- He literally washes his hands. He wasn’t just proclaiming, but publicly demonstrating, that he felt this was the people’s decision, not his. He wanted them to take full responsibility for this action, so that he would be absolved of it. We will see in a moment, the crowd is more than eager to take responsibility for the death of Jesus.
“This just person”
Interestingly, Pilate uses the exact same terminology that his wife used in verse 19 when she warn Pilate of the troubling dreams she’s had.
I believe that the message Pilate’s wife send to him was not a new revelation, but rather a confirmation of what he already strongly believed.
“His blood be on us and on our children.”
What did they THINK they were proclaiming
Vs. What they were ACTUALLY proclaiming
What did they THINK they were proclaiming?
- They were letting Pilate “off the hook” for this decision. They were willing to take the responsibility (and any consequences) for this decision.
- Their children would also inherit the responsibility for this decision. They believed in this conviction so strongly that they were willing to either bless or curse their children with the results.
- There was just one flaw in their thinking…it was not scriptural. Consider:
Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
What Were they ACTUALLY Proclaiming?
This question is best answer by “flashing forward” to Acts 4 and seeing how the early church understood this proclamation.
Acts 4:38-39
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The (Very Important) Underlying Truth
I don’t know how many of you caught it, but last week during out Q&A, Vanessa reminded us all of a very important fact: All of this was happening because the hand of a sovereign God was orchestrating it to one specific end: His son MUST die for the people, or their would be no hope for salvation. And as the early church grew, the apostles and church leaders knew this and taught this very fact to the people. Consider the prayer of the early church in Acts 4:27-28
“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.”
Also, consider the words of Peter earlier in Acts 2:23
Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death.
Closing Pastoral Note:
We talk a lot about “what we are leaving our children” in our country today, especially when it comes to two key areas: The environment, and the mores we are passing down to our children.
We hear advocates often ask the question, what kind of world do we want to leave our children? A world of pollution, forced climate change, bigotry, racism, and hatred…or something better.
Since becoming a parent 11 years ago, I have thought a lot about this question, as I’m sure all of us who are parents have as well. Here is my conclusion, and my prayer is that you are here today because you feel the same way:
The greatest thing we can leave our children, our grandchildren, our nieces, our nephews, our neighbors, our coworkers, and our planet is not a reduction of pollution, or a reduction of corruption, or even better education, or less hatred.
All of these things are truly important, but their is only one means by which any of them may be realized. And that is if this generation blesses the next generation with the greatest gift of love and compassion any one human being can bestow upon another. Tell them the truth. Tell them what scripture says. Tell them that Jesus was real. He was human, he was divine, he died for them, that they may have life. Truly, let his blood be on us, and on our children.