In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

We have been pondering our Savior's passion all through Lent, singing, "Jesus I will ponder now." On Sunday we saw that Jesus was and is the Son of God. As our Savior moves closer and closer to the cross, we see a characteristic trait in him. We see...

(Mark 15:1) Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. This is where we paused in the Passion on Sunday. The Sanhedrin, that Jewish ruling council of 71 men, waited until the first glimpse of dawn and then sentenced Jesus to death for claiming to be the Son of God. It was "very early in the morning" when "They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate." Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor at the time. Picture the scene as the Jewish leaders paraded Jesus over to the place where the Roman governor was staying. They did not have the right to put Jesus to death, so they had to humble themselves to ask Pilate to do it. But first, they would have to make their case. We read on...

(Luke 23:2) And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king." The Sanhedrin had just concluded that Jesus was worthy of death because he claimed to be the Son of God. But they did not start with that here. No, this was the Roman governor. So they altered their accusations. They chose accusations that they thought would alarm the Roman governor. They talked about him being a rebel who subverts the nation. Certainly Pontius Pilate was interested in keeping order! Of course, this was a lie. Then, they charged that Jesus was opposed to paying taxes. This was absolutely not true at all, and they knew it. It was Tuesday of this very week when they tried to trap Jesus on that point. They knew his answer very well. Jesus had said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" (Mt 22:21). That is hardly opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar! But, the truth made no difference to them. They just wanted to kill Jesus. They added that he "claims to be Christ, a king." This charge had some truth to it. Jesus did claim to be the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. He was the long-promised Savior, the fulfillment of promise. He was a king, but not an earthly, political ruler. His kingdom was not of this world.

(Mat 27:11) Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. Jesus did not deny this charge, but admitted it freely. He was the true king of the Jews. Lord willing, we'll hear more about this on Sunday. But let us now focus our attention on the barrage of accusations and Jesus' reaction to them.

{12} When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. There is a big difference in a court of law between evidence and mere accusation. The Jewish leaders were accusing Jesus of many things, but Jesus did not try to answer the multitude of lies coming from the Jewish leaders. Jesus remained silent. This was not the usual response. The Roman governor noticed.

{13} Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" {14} But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge - to the great amazement of the governor. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, took careful note that Jesus did not fight to obtain his own freedom. He did not reply to the lies and false accusations. All the false charges, all the lies, were not worthy of his response. Jesus did not answer. He did not speak. He remained silent, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah. Through Isaiah, God had foretold that our Savior would be silent as a Lamb. That Bible verse is printed on the sermon note sheet... (Isaiah 53:7) He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Jesus was "JESUS - SILENT LIKE A LAMB." Ponder this...

Jesus did not seek his own freedom. He could have answered every charge. Jesus would be the best attorney in the world, and Jesus never sinned. But, that was not why he came. Jesus did not enter our world to seek his own freedom...

Jesus sought our freedom. He had come on a mission of love to save us. Jesus came to set us free from sin, death, and the power of the devil. As he moves closer and closer to the cross, we will see this in brilliant display. Jesus was there to set us eternally free from sin and condemnation.

Jesus did not seek to save himself. He certainly could have saved himself! He could have done it at any point along the way to the cross. He could have escaped in the Garden of Gethsemane by making the soldiers fall down and stay down. He could have thwarted the plans of his wicked betrayer, for he knew what Judas was doing. He could have walked away from the Jewish leaders, just as he had walked through the crowd in Nazareth that wanted to throw him off a cliff (Lk4:30). He could have destroyed the palace and left the Roman guards dazed and amazed. He could have come down from the cross, when he was being taunted, but he wouldn't and he didn't, because Jesus did not seek to save himself.

Jesus came to save us. Ponder that fact. We say it so easily that it slips from our minds without being pondered, without being comprehended, without being appreciated sufficiently. Jesus came to save us! Why? He didn't have to. Why? We don't deserve it. Why? Because we needed it, and he loved us. So, Jesus did not answer these lies and false charges from his enemies because he was going to the cross for you and me and all sinners! He came to save us from sin and eternal punishment.

The charges were not worthy of an answer. These charges were false. These men were just lying. Jesus could have proved it. The charges did not deserve a reply. The charges were so false, so bad, that Jesus chose to not dignify them with a response. Pilate noticed this silent dignity in him. Jesus was serene and calm. The Jewish leaders were frantic, and should have been ashamed, but they had no shame. Yet, the point of these Lenten services, and the point of reviewing the Passion History, is not to look down our noses at all the lousy sinners we see... even thought they were lousy sinners... No, let us see our own sins!

We are not worthy of this Savior. We do not deserve to have him save us. Do not for a moment think that you deserve this Savior! You don't. I don't. Sinners don't deserve Jesus. We are not worthy of him. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves, of what we've said, and of what we've done. We have sinned in so many ways. We have no excuse. We have no answer. We have no way to heaven, so...

He was willing to suffer in our place. Jesus was willing to save us as our Substitute. He lived a perfect life, because we didn't. He suffered these false charges because the charges against us were true! He went to the cross to pay the price we deserved to pay, but could never pay. He died there in your place, and mine, and was there the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world! He would rise from death winning the victory we could never win, and the forgiveness we could never earn. Jesus now moves to the cross silently, to be beat up and put to death for you, to save you from sin.

Come, let us worship him! Don't sit there unaffected! Worship him! Don't act like he means nothing to you! Praise him! Because he was silent as a Lamb and saved us from sin, let us be loud with our praises and voice our thanksgiving, and tell everyone what he has done. Jesus was silent as a Lamb, because he was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Believe in him. Ponder what he is doing. He saved us. Amen.