Midweek Lenten Worship March 26, 2025
“Whom Do We Follow?” John 19:1-16a
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Pilate had determined that Jesus is not guilty, but now he must convince the crowd. His first attempt was to bargain. We heard that in our reading last week. Pilate tried to exchange Barabbas, an insurrectionist and a murderer, for Jesus. It didn’t work. Now he appeals to sympathy. He has Jesus whipped, dressed in mock robes and places a crown of thorns on His head. He is then presented to the crowd, “Look at this man!”
I think Pilate was looking for compassion. He was hoping that the wretched sight of Jesus would stir the crowd for His release. It didn’t work either. Instead, the chant begins and grows ever louder, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
Pilate then tries to hand Jesus off: “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him”. It is at this point that the Jewish officials bring up the claim that Jesus said he was the Son of God. This frightens Pilate even more. He pulls Jesus away from the crowd and takes Him back into his chamber. He questions Jesus but Jesus responds to nothing except questioning Pilate’s boast about his own authority. Pilate really wants to release Jesus. But nothing works. The power of the crowd was overwhelming.
Finally, the crowd has Pilate right where they want him. “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”. And that’s it. Game over. There is nothing Pilate needs more than the support of Caesar. His position, his wealth, his power, all depend on Ceasar. Pilate holds to all his stuff and lets Jesus go the His death.
This is what John, our writer, places side-by-side today – Pilate’s idolatry and the faithfulness of Jesus. Let me preach about that using a type of a parable today. Consider it this way:
Imagine you are a stranger traveling to Jerusalem on that day. You hear the crowds, you wander through the streets into this courtyard. There is a lot of activity. The place is loud. Two men are on the platform in front of the crowd.
One is a strong Roman. He wears fine clothes, and gold rings, and he sits on a throne. He is a friend of Caesar. He has a palace, an army, a beautiful wife, and the crowd is waiting to hear what he’ll say. By every worldly measure he is a success.
In front of him is another man. Jewish. Bleeding, weak, face bruised, barely has enough strength to stand. He is wearing a filthy robe, and a crown of thorns is pressed into his brow. He is clearly hated by the crowd. He has nothing – no home, no money, no position, no power and no friends. By every worldly measure he has failed.
As you compare these two men, someone comes up to you and asks, “Which one would you like to follow?” I know you know the right answer. I’m a Christian pastor, preaching to Christian people, so you know the answer. You’re supposed to follow Jesus. But let’s pretend here. You are a stranger to Jerusalem, and you don’t know who these two men are, and just by outward appearance you need to make a choice.
It looks like Pilate has it all together. Good education. Good job. Good family. And he has more. Wealth, power, political success. If Pilate had written a self-help book, you would read it.
Jesus? Just the opposite. He doesn’t have a dime. He is being condemned as a criminal. He is mocked by the crowd. Weak. Rejected. Shamed. Mocked. It looks like everything has gone wrong in His life. Soon He will be crucified.
If you and I were strangers in Jerusalem that day, I don’t think the decision would be difficult. “Put me on Team Pilate.” “I want to be on his team – not on the team of that man who will be crucified.”
I want you to see that God works in hidden ways. His majesty is hidden in humility. His glory is hidden in blood. His kingdom comes in suffering, and his rule is only under the cross. Jesus is the magnificent King of glory, but that glory cannot be seen with the eyes of man; it can only be known through the word and Spirit through the eyes of faith.
Pilate made himself a friend of Caesar, and he had his reward. Jesus warns us about a life like that: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26) Pilate had everything but Jesus. Pilate’s king was Caesar; his kingdom was of this world; his god was his own success. On the outside he looked like a million bucks; on the inside he was bankrupt.
Now, the point of this little experiment is not to make us despise nice clothes or a good education, or even political positions, but it is for us to see that this gift of salvation is not so obvious. The glory of God does not look like normal glory. Isaiah 53:2 says, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”
We are called to follow a King crowned with thorns and exalted on a cross. We are called into a kingdom that is not of this world. We belong to the Suffering Servant, whose death is our life and whose shed blood is our hope and peace. If we look at Jesus with the eyes of this world, we only see a poor man abandoned and condemned as a criminal, who suffered a wretched death. But the eyes of faith see God in our flesh, bearing our sin, carrying our sorrow, and winning for us an eternal kingdom of joy and peace.
Open your eyes. See the glorious kingdom of full life and complete salvation hidden under the humility of the suffering of Jesus. Amen!!
(This sermon was written by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller, Pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, Texas. The sermon comes from his Lenten Midweek Series, “St. John Passion” from Concordia Pulpit Resources, 2024)
