Manna

Hi members and friends of St. John's! 

At the start of Lent we provided you with a devotional booklet in which I mentioned our Wednesday series and sermons would be based off of the sermons on the Passion by one of the greatest American Lutheran Bible scholars and preachers ever- Rev. Dr. George Stoekhardt (1842-1913).  Since I prepared this long before COVID-19 and won't be preaching it tonight, I thought I would share it here.  

Read John 19:16-22 for the text of the sermon. 

“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”

adapted from a sermon by Rev. Dr. George Stoeckhardt (1842-1913) in The Glory of Golgotha

            The death of Christ was murder hidden behind the forms of “legal procedure.”  Jesus was formally heard and condemned by both the Jewish and the Roman authorities; and later, during the execution of the sentence pronounced upon Him, the proper formalities were not overlooked.  Pilate had a “title”, that is, a superscription, prepared and affixed to the top of the Cross. It was the custom among the Romans to do this. In such a title the charge against a condemned person was published.

           The title devised by Pilate was calculated to heighten the humiliation of the crucifixion.  For this title did not set forth- in an objective manner- the charge lodged against Jesus; it gave expression to the governor’s scorn. Pilate’s hatred for the Jews was poured out on this one representative: Jesus.

            But just as Christ had been delivered up according to the counsel and foreknowledge of God, so we discern the guiding hand of the Lord in the matter of the superscription.  God directed the thoughts and the hand of Pilate.  Already on Golgotha God began to transform the humiliation and shame of the Crucified into honor and glory.  Just as Caiaphas, without knowing it, had expressed a prophetic truth in saying, “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish (John 11:50),” so the title on the Cross held a deeper meaning than Pilate suspected.  The accounts of the Evangelists, all of whom record this incident in detail, make it clear that the title sheds light on the meaning of the sufferings and death of the Crucified.

            May the Lord enlighten and bless us as we consider: The Title of the Cross: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.  Let us see that this title, although designed to be a disgrace, has, by divine direction, become a title of honor which believers will cherish and praise in all eternity.

            “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” These words record the Crime committed now deserving the Death sentence.  His own Jewish brothers accused him of sedition and rebellion: “Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar (John 19:12).”  And yet this accusation is slander and not the whole truth.  Pilate knows that. He has heard Jesus say that His kingdom, “is not of this world” and that He has no earthly army to fight for Him.

            So Pilate’s choice of words for the Superscription is loaded with animosity for the Jews. And they pick up on it. The chief priests were perfectly right to question Pilate…if Jesus was a rebel and seditious, the crime should be claiming he was a king. Pilate should have stated that Jesus “had said that He was the King of the Jews.” 

Pilate’s bold statement betrays a special purpose on his part. He had heard of the hope of Israel and knew that the Jews expected a Messiah, a King.  Furthermore, in his dealing with them he had learned that many of the inhabitants of Galilee and Judea had come to regard and honor this Jesus of Nazareth as their promised Messiah.  Pilate desired to ridicule this belief in the Messiah, so he placed it in the very words of the Public Notice on the cross. 

It was as if he said to the Jews: “Behold, this IS your Messiah. You have delivered your long-awaited Hope right into my hands.  This is what you think of Him. You’ve asked a foreign judge to crucify your king. What fools! You mock your own hope, your own religion. So I mock it too. This cross is what I would do to your David, your Solomon, and any ‘King’ you put forward from their lineage. Hail Caesar!”

Of course, since Jesus was in truth the Messiah, Pilate’s mockery backfired. But, for the moment, the Son of the Most High, who had come to earth to redeem and bless mankind and who even now was laying down His life for them, He was the patient and uncomplaining object of unrestrained ridicule and reproach. What a return for His great love!

            When we first consider the superscription carefully, we find that it points to our own shame.  The shame and mockery He bears is what our sins deserve. We have sinned.  We have lost our honor in the sight of God and men.  What miserable creatures we are! Yet we show no humility. Instead we covet empty fame as if we earned it.  We strive for high-sounding titles.  We are irritated and offended if our neighbor injures our good name and reputation ever so slightly. 

But then we take our stand beneath the cross and see how empty and vain are all our thoughts!  There on the Cross our true title may be read – poor, worthless, and vile sinners! Pour contempt on all my Pride - It is our reproach and shame which is there resting upon Christ.  It is only because He bears this for us that we can rise to honor and be saved. More than that, we are made Royalty alongside this King of the Jews. As Peter writes, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).”

            While the title “King of the Jews” leads us Christians to shame and repentance, that same title reveals the World’s madness as they behold the Christ.  In that printed title, Pilate revealed not merely his own mind, but the attitude of the unbelieving world.  The world has always ridiculed and despised the religion of Christ, the Crucified.  “A King, a God on a cross!” The blind world regards this as a delusion.  “How can you Christians look at such shame and call it glory, such defeat and call it victory, such death and call it life?” And yet we know the truth.  With His cross and shame our Lord and King reveals the vanity of the world’s might, honor, and glory.  The world refuses to acknowledge that all its power and glory is mere vanity, so they ridicule the Christ and hate His religion of the Cross for making such a confession.

            All who bear the name of Christ must share His reproach. He who really confesses the name of Christ more highly than all the treasures of sinful pleasures of the earth; who prefers dwelling beneath the Cross to living in peace with the world; in short, he who sincerely acknowledges allegiance to Christ the Crucified will be despised, ridiculed, yes, hated, and persecuted for His name’s sake.  The world will condone every form of wickedness if only you deny Christ and remain silent about the Crucified One. Blessed are all who are reviled for Jesus’ sake and who willingly bear the reproach of His name!

            The scorn and ridicule of the world must ever serve to confirm the honor of Christ and the integrity and truth of the Christian religion. God takes evil and enmity to Christ and makes it serve His purposes.  When the world ridicules the “foolish” faith and hope of the Christians, it merely betrays its inability to find any real complaint against Christianity. “I find no fault in Him,” said Pilate. 

The World is forced to acknowledge that the Bible teaches nothing that is evil; so they must call “evil” good and that which is good they label “evil.” The World’s one and only complaint is that the faith of the Christians is insufferably foolish.  They cannot bear to see Christians cling to Christ and adopt His way of looking at the World- where forgiveness is greater than revenge, and self-denial is more precious than self-indulgence, where a King is crucified in shame and yet is called Glorious.

The Cross of Jesus is the Coat-of-Arms, the Flag taken into battle, under which His subjects march to the great scorn of His enemies. Through His cross and His holy, precious blood He purchased and won us, making us His own.  Through the preaching of His cross the true Israel, the Church of God, is gathered together.  And the world grows enraged.

Truly, truly, by being crucified this King did not lose His kingdom, but won it and firmly established it over all the earth and for all eternity. For this reason, although it was unknown to Pilate, the charge against Jesus was written in three languages: Aramaic, Greek, and Latin- the latter two being the languages of practically the whole world at the time.  And even now the Gospel of Christ the crucified has been proclaimed in all languages, fulfilling Scripture which foretold the King of the Jews reigning over the Gentile World.

Finally, consider Pilate’s stubborn refusal to alter the charges against Christ. “What I have written I have written.”  It is true that such earthly authorities cannot alter their own edicts on a whim…in this way, although he did not know it, Pilate exercises his authority in a manner that testifies to God, the Source of All earthly authority.  What God has written, He has written. And it does not change. 

The kingship of Christ the crucified is eternal and unchangeable. He rules over His enemies- so it is written, so let it be done.  All the malice and fury of the ungodly cannot overturn His throne.  The World cannot rob Him of His rightful title and honor; nor can they destroy His kingdom, or Church.  Those who are Christ’s own through faith in His redeeming love will remain His forever.  No power of earth nor hell can tear YOU out of His hands. Your names, inscribed in the Book of Life with His blood, will remain forever.  Neither men nor the powers of hell can erase them.  What God has written He has written. Amen!