Sermon Tone Analysis

When is the last time, you marveled at the death of Jesus?

You were overwhelmed with His willingness to endure what He did, in order to save you.

The more we grow in grace, the more the scenes we’ve been studying, especially these last few weeks in Mark’s Gospel, should become precious to us.

Throughout this 14th chapter, Jesus’ body has been anointed for His burial, by a woman’s self-sacrificing act of worship.

We have seen the scene of the Passover meal, the Last Supper…as it became the First Lord’s Supper, or Communion.

We looked into the scene in the garden, where Jesus was weighed down under the load He was about to carry....and the disciples who seemed oblivious as to what is on the horizon.

Then last week, we saw Jesus remain faithful to the mission of His Father, while people lined up to falsely accuse Him.

He was found guilty for blasphemy, and sentenced to death.

He was spit upon and hit....yet

He remained true to the mission at hand.

And at the same time this was going on, Peter failed to stand up to the pressure he faced from some servant girls and bystanders.

Peter was crippled by his fear of man, when his circumstances and the people around him became big and important in his estimation.

The glorious Savior was no longer the focal point.

And how often are we guilty of losing sight of the glorious nature of the Savior?

We take our eyes off of Him.

We cease to be amazed by Him.

We are no longer wowed by His death…and all it accomplished.

In the April 2019 edition of Tabletalk magazine, Burk Parsons wrote the following:

“One of my greatest fears for the church today is that we will become bored with the cross of Christ.

I am concerned that any mention of Christ and Him crucified is leading many professing Christians to say to themselves: ‘Yeah, I know all about Jesus dying on the cross for my sins— let’s move on to something else.

Let’s get past the basics, and let’s deal with bigger theological issues.’

I firmly believe that Satan is set on trying to destroy us, but he’ll settle with just getting us to lose our astonishment of Christ and Him crucified.”

With him, I agree wholeheartedly…both that this is a fear, and that this is what Satan would be content with.

And I don’t believe that’s only true within churches that say those things explicitly.

I believe WE feel that inside of us as well.

That impulse to want something more, something fresh, something innovative and awe-producing.

But brothers and sisters, I’m not sure what could be more awe-producing than Jesus the Christ, especially as we consider Him in these scenes before us.

So since our tendency is to lose sight of, and therefore lose the awe of, Who it is we serve, and why it is we serve Him, our Lord has revealed Himself in His Word in passages like the one we have before us to consider this morning.

TURN THERE WITH ME TO .

In this portion of Mark’s gospel, we are reminded of the suffering our Savior endured to purchase our pardon.

We are taught in this passage, that Jesus was obviously innocent, yet, He humbly received hatred from the crowd and the sentence of death from the Romans.

And the manner in which He received this sentence, even caused a Roman Governor to marvel.

In this passage, the obviously innocent Jesus humbly receives hatred from the crowd, and the sentence of death from the Romans.

And He does so in a way that causes a Roman Governor to be amazed.

This injustice, brings about Divine justice

This act of wickedness from humans, brings about righteousness from God

This death of the Savior, brings life to the sinners

How much more should you and I marvel, as we are able, by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, to grasp the theology behind the suffering?

That in this scene, the Innocent One, is declared guilty, by the guilty ones....and this is part of the work that brings salvation to a people that no one can number.

This bad news, is the core content of the good news of God

And if you want a “goal” for the sermon this morning, it is this…to hear God’s Word highlight the work of Jesus in a way that should cause our eyes to be pulled from the glitter and glam of this world around us, and fixated instead upon Jesus.

Or put more concisely…to draw a line from Pilate in John’s gospel, as he pulled Jesus before the crowd after His beating…he said: “Consider the Man.”

That in this scene, this injustice brought Divine justice.

The sermon this morning, I pray, causes us to “Look Upon Jesus.”

This act of wickedness from humans, brought righteousness from God

That the Innocent One, is dying in the place of the guilty ones

That the sentence of death for the Savior, brought the declaration and reality of life to the believer

And the goal of this sermon this morning, is in many ways the goal of the gospels themselves, to cause us to LOOK UPON JESUS…to trust Him…to rest in Him.

Jesus has now been taken before Pilate.

Mark leaves out a portion of what takes place to Him, when He is taken to Herod and returned to Pilate.

But Mark gives us the necessary details.

The Innocent One, is declared guilty, by the guilty ones.

This has been building throughout Mark’s gospel…it has been building throughout this 14th chapter…and it is laid out for us here in this passage.

How much more should you and I marvel, as we are able, by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, to grasp the theology behind the suffering?

That in this scene, we have the Innocent, again being found guilty and sentenced to death.

The Innocent One, is declared guilty, by the guilty ones.

And in the mysterious workings of God’s sovereign design of all human history....

Jesus the Innocent One, is declared guilty by the guilty ones.

The scene in which this takes place is marked by: accusations, manipulation, trepidation, and all falling under divine-determination.

And as we consider this passage, and are called to Look Upon Jesus....those will serve as the 4 points of the sermon this morning: Accusation; Manipulation; Trepidation; and Divine-Determination.

This injustice, brings about Divine justice

Those will serve as the 4 points of the sermon this morning: Accusation; Manipulation; Trepidation; and Divine-Determination.

1. Accusations

This act of wickedness from humans, brings about righteousness from God

By now, Jesus is well acquainted with being falsely accused.

On trial in the Roman court makes things no different.

This death of the Savior, brings life to the sinners

It appears from verse 1, the religious leaders…the Sanhedrin…the governing body over the Jewish people, gather in the early morning after last night’s rush trial of Jesus, to determine how to present charges that will cause the Romans to put Him to death.

This bad news, is the core content of the good news of God

And the one charge that Pilate seems to pay most attention to, is the charge that Jesus declared Himself to be a king.

That charge, Pilate must consider.

And if you want a “goal” for the sermon this morning, it is this…to hear God’s Word highlight the work of Jesus in a way that should cause our eyes to be pulled from the glitter and glam of this world around us, and fixated instead upon Jesus.

Or put more concisely…to draw a line from Pilate in John’s gospel, as he pulled Jesus before the crowd after His beating…he said: “Consider the Man.”

Jesus’ answer is not an answer of ambiguity.

Jesus is affirming the claim.

The sermon this morning, I pray, causes us to “Look Upon Jesus.”

John records the details of this conversation that Mark doesn’t, and we know from that account that Jesus clarifies to Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world.

Jesus’ kingdom is a heavenly kingdom.

But the chief priests keep the accusations and charges coming.

Mark doesn’t give us details as to what they are…he just tells us there are many

Verse 10 tells us that Pilate knew Jesus was innocent.

He knew the only reason the Jews were bringing Him to him, wasn’t because of loyalty to Rome…but out of jealousy and envy.

So he seems to urge Jesus to defend Himself.

But LOOK....upon Jesus.

He no longer…He no more…gave a reply

And Pilate was amazed; astonished; he wondered at this

History teaches us that Pilate was a cruel, ruthless ruler.

He is a Governor in Judea which wasn’t top of the political ladder by any stretch of the imagination.

And the thing that rocks his entire world…the moment that makes him “amazed,” is this innocent Nazarene silently, humbly receiving these accusations from the Jewish religious leaders.

APPLY

What about you and I?

Do we marvel at His silence here?

He never called upon the angels to rescue Him.

He never reveals His power and brings about all of their deaths by one spoken word.

I mean, it’s by God’s own power their life is being sustained, even as they are raging against Him.

Charge after charge; accusation after accusation…yet Jesus sits silently

Oh how we should stand amazed

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene…and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned unclean.

We should marvel at this scene…

And there should also be a stirring of hearts to love Him more…to want to serve Him more…to want to be more like Him