Adrian Rogers - Who Crucified Jesus?
Take God's Word and find Isaiah chapter 53. We're in a series of Bible studies entitled, "His Passion; Our Purpose". We've been thinking about the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the film by Mel Gibson that has caused really a fire storm. There's been much discussion. There has been animosity, finger pointing, accusations about the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Personally, I believe the film has done so much good to move the church from cultural Christianity with its cult of conformity and comfort back to the vital aspects of the cross and what the cross means and the preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness, but unto those of us who are saved it is the power of God.
I'm grateful that we are re-discovering Calvary. The cross is something more than a beautiful ornament to wear around your neck. The cross is something more than an insignia upon a church steeple. The cross is the turning point of all history. The cross is God's testimony to the sinfulness of human nature. The cross is the mightiest demonstration of the unfathomable love of God. And the cross is the only hope for a dying and rotting society. And so, we're going to think about the cross today.
I read one review of the film, and someone said, "It is but pornographic violence," and they said it is so brutal that it ought not to be shown. I want to remind you that crucifixion is not nice, not meant to be nice. It is meant to be devastatingly awful. Someone says, "But it goes on and on and on". Friend, the suffering of Christ in the film was about 80 minutes. Jesus hung on the cross for six hours, for six hours. If anything, the entire matter is understated. The question is being asked, and the title of my message this morning is this: Who crucified Jesus?
Find Isaiah chapter 53 and look with me in verses 5 and 6, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He," Jesus, "was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all". Now the question has been discussed over and over again, who crucified Jesus? Well, let's ask and answer that question if we can.
First of all, did the Jews crucify Jesus? Before you say that the Jews crucified Jesus, I want to remind you that His early disciples were Jews. The apostles were Jews. Peter, James, and John were Jews. A Jew preached that great sermon on Pentecost. A Jew, the apostle Paul, was the mightiest missionary that ever lived. The forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew. The early church was made up of Jews. There was not a Gentile in the bunch. Now, indeed, some Jews participated in the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but, friend, only ignorance would blame the Jews as the singular people who are responsible for the crucifixion. Now one segment of the Jewish community at that time clamored for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look up here and I want to tell you something. I would hate for Christianity to be judged by one segment of Christianity. I indeed would. We have more than our share of moral scandals in the church. And little would it behoove us to be pointing fingers at anyone else. And I want to say this also to any Jewish friends, that are listening. Any anti-Semitism in the world does not originate from the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, but from the wicked hearts of sinful men. Anti-Semitism, like all racism, is a distortion of the truth and it needs to be condemned in all of its forms. For the past 2,000 years, Jews have suffered unmentionable persecution. It is a crime, and it seems to be a cancer that never seems to heal.
The cross does not teach anti-Semitism. The cross teaches love. The cross teaches reconciliation. The cross teaches mercy. No Christian can ever hate anyone for whom Jesus died. Congregation, that's a good place for an Amen. All right. And I'll tell you something else. Speaking of good places, this is a good place and this is a good time to bless God's chosen people. For God said to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, concerning the Jews, "I will bless those that bless you, and I will curse those that curse you".
Did the Jews crucify Jesus? One segment of the Jewish community was there at the cross. Did the Romans crucify Jesus? Well, the Romans were the actual executioners. The soldiers, as you saw in the film, were brutal, but in a sense, they were only pawns. They were obeying orders, orders that came from higher up. Jesus was crucified with Roman authority, but can we blame the Romans altogether? Can we blame Pilate, that compromising politician? Can we blame Pilate who tried to wash his lily-white hands and protest his innocence? Was Pilate alone guilty of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? No you already know the answer. Not the Jews alone. Not the Romans alone. Not the soldiers alone. Not Pilate alone.
The answer is who crucified Jesus? He died for the sins of all mankind. I read to you the Scripture, again, Isaiah 53 verse 5, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities". Our sins were the nails that held Him to the cross, and our hard hearts the hammers that drove those nails; yours and mine. He died for our sins. Mel Gibson, who is, I'm told, a great actor. I don't watch those films. I don't know. But Mel Gibson put himself into the crucifixion scene. He's there. You'll never see his face. All you will see is his hand holding the hammer driving the spikes.
What was Mel Gibson saying when he put his own hand there? He's saying, "My sins nailed Jesus Christ to the cross". "I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood, He fixed his languid eyes on me as near the cross I stood; surely never till my latest breath can I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with His death, though not a word He spoke. My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me into despair. I saw my sins His blood had spilled and helped to nail him there". But now, wait a moment. Let's see if we can get more specific. Let's talk not about who crucified Christ as much as what crucified Christ? What hellish inclinations are in human nature, in toto, that caused Jesus to be crucified?
I want you to leave Isaiah chapter 53 and I want you to turn to the Book of Matthew, and let's go to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 27. Take your Bibles and turn to it, because you're going to find out that in Matthew chapter 27, God has arranged it that a cross section of humanity is there. We're going to see attitudes that crucified Him. We're going to see, literally, not who crucified Jesus, but what crucified Jesus. We're going to find the sin that lurks in your heart and my heart that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as we look at this 27th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew and see the crowd at the cross, we're going to call the roll. And at this roll call at the cross, if you're listening, you'll hear your name. I want to mention seven things that crucified Jesus. I want you to write them down. First of all, selfrighteous religion crucified Jesus. Matthew 27:1 and 2, "When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death," now these were the religious leaders, "And when they had bound Him, they led Him away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate, the governor".
These were religious leaders. Many of them were what we would call Pharisees. Do you know who the Pharisees were? They were the most religious of the religious. They kept the Sabbath with such punctility and care that they would not even eat an egg that had been laid on Saturday. If they had a flea, they would not kill that flea on Saturday lest they be accused of hunting on the Sabbath. I'm not making this up. If they got a tack in the sole of their shoe, they could not take it out on the Sabbath lest they be accused of working on the Sabbath. This was a religious crowd, but they still nailed Jesus up on the cross.
Do you know there're many people who are trudging to churches today in America religious but lost, going through ritual and form and baptism and songs and gifts and offerings? Some people are going to go to Hell with a chest full of Sunday school attendance pins who have never received the Lord Jesus Christ. They have religion, but they don't have righteousness. They have culture, but they don't have Christ. Have you ever gone to an old-fashioned saw mill; watch a saw square up a log? That log is put on the cradle and that is run through the mill. And that saw goes "zzzzzzzzz," cuts off one side. And then they turn it and it runs through again and cuts off the other side.
And then, again and again. And then that log that had been sort of a crooked tree trunk now is perfectly square, perfectly straight. But if you'll go down to the end and look at the end of that log, the heart is still crooked. That's a Pharisee. Lops this off. Lops that off. Lops this off. Lops that off. "Look how straight, how good I am"! Friend, God looks at the heart; God looks at the heart. Religion has never saved anybody. Most of the people in America need to turn from religion to Jesus Christ. Self-righteous religion crucified Jesus. If religion could have saved, Jesus never would have died. What else crucified Jesus? Hard-hearted hypocrisy crucified Jesus.
Look now in Matthew 27 verses 3 through 5, "Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, 'I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.' And they said, 'What is that to us? See thou to that.' And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went away and hanged himself". Now if you know anything about the Bible, you know that Judas was one of the twelve disciples, who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ unto death, and he did it for thirty pieces of silver. Why did he do it? No ifs, ands, and buts about it, he was a first-class hypocrite. Judas never lost his salvation; he never had it. The Bible says Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not. Judas was a hypocrite.
Now I want to say to you, listen to me, there are some of you who are going to miss Heaven because of a hypocrite. You're going to see some hypocrite and you're going to characterize Christianity by some hypocrite. Friend, don't you understand that there always have been hypocrites. There always will be hypocrites in every area of life. Some lawyers are shysters, some doctors are quacks, some money is counterfeit. By the way, why do people counterfeit money? Because it proves the validity and the worthwhile of the real. Men don't counterfeit gum wrappers. Every counterfeit Christian is but a testimony to the worth and the validity of the real.
Don't you let some hypocrite like Judas keep you out of Heaven. You may have stayed up late one night and watched the film called, "Elmer Gantry," and tried to say, "Well, that's what all preachers are like. That's what all Christians are like". That's a lie out of Hell. There are hypocrites. There always have been. There always will be. Every now and then somebody will come to me and say, "Pastor, did you know there are hypocrites in the church"? Ohhhhhh! Hey, I wasn't born yesterday. I want to tell you something. There were eleven other disciples who did not stop serving Jesus because of Judas.
You say, "Well, I don't want to be in the church with the hypocrites". Well, friend, if you refuse Jesus, you'll be in Hell forever with every one of them. Don't you let some hypocrite keep you from Jesus Christ. Hypocrisy crucified the Lord Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver. Judas betrayed Jesus. Now he's eaten up with guilt and remorse. No genuine repentance, just remorse and guilt. He flings down the thirty pieces of silver. He's haunted, tormented by his conscience, by remorse. He goes out somewhere. He finds a limb out over some precipice.
With trembling fingers he forms a hangman's noose, puts it around his neck, and steps out over that precipice trying to escape the Hell within him; he steps into the Hell before him and he dies. And that body hangs there until it begins to swell and putrefy and flies cover his tongue and the birds come and pick out his eyes, perhaps; and it hangs there like an overripe melon. And somebody comes along, the stench is unbearable, with a sword and cuts it down. And in Acts 1:18, the Bible says he falls to the rocks and his bowels gush out.
You say, "Pastor, that's not pretty". I didn't mean it to be pretty. Sin is not pretty. Hypocrisy is awful, terrible. "Judas, where are your friends now? Judas, where is your silver now"? Hypocrisy crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. Self-righteous religion did it. Hypocrisy, hard-hearted hypocrisy crucified the Lord Jesus.
Thirdly, I want to tell you what else crucified Jesus: cowardly compromise. Look now in Matthew 27 verse 11 through 13, "And Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked Him," the governor now is Pilate, "and the governor asked Him, saying, 'Art Thou the King of the Jews?' And Jesus said unto him, 'Thou sayest.' And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto Him, 'Hearest Thou not how many things they witness against Thee"?
Now look, if you will, skip down to verse 24 through 26, "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but rather that a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying," listen to this now, "'I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it.' Then answered all the people, and said, 'His blood be on us, and on our children.' Then released he Barabbas unto them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified".
I said a while ago that Pilate was a fence-straddling politician. Jesus, to Pilate, was an uncomfortable fact. He had Jesus on his hands, the inevitable, unavoidable Jesus was on his hands. He had to do something with Jesus. Now don't make Pilate some sort of a hero. Pilate sinned because he was a coward. God had spoken to him. Pilate was a wise man in the flesh. He knew human nature. Look, if you will, in Matthew 27 verse 18. The Bible says that Pilate, "Knew that for envy they had delivered Jesus. He knew that for envy they had delivered Him".
You see, the voice of reason had spoken to Pilate. But not only did the voice of reason speak to Pilate; the voice of revelation spoke to Pilate. Pilate's own wife had warned him, because God had sent her a dream. Look in Matthew 27 verse 19, "And when he was set at the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, 'Have thou nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of Him.'" Now, yet Pilate, who has the voice of reason. And then he also had the voice of conscience.
Look, if you will, in verses 22 and 23, "Pilate saith unto them, 'What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?' They all say unto him, 'Let Him be crucified.' And the governor said, 'Why, what evil hath He done?'" Pilate, in his conscience, knew that Jesus was innocent. Reason, revelation, conscience had all spoken to Pilate. And yet, when you got to the bottom line, there were those who said to Pilate, "Now, Pilate, if you don't play ball with us, if you don't adjudicate Jesus worthy of death, then you're going to be held guilty of sedition against Caesar, because this man says he's a king. And whoever says he's a king is the enemy of Caesar. And, Pilate, we'll be sure that the news gets to Rome that you lined up with somebody who was claiming to be an alternative king to Caesar".
And Pilate has to make up his mind. Pilate knows what he is doing is wrong, but he is a coward. He has a soft job. And what butters his bread determines his conduct. And he's like so many people today who are compromising and they say, "Well, a man's got to live". No, he doesn't. He has to die and he has to face God. Pilate tried to make no decision at all, but history shows that indecision is the worse decision. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, "He that is not with Me is against Me".
And you, my friend, cannot sit in this auditorium, or listen through television, or any other way and refuse to make a decision because of what it might cost you without peril to your soul. The things that Pilate sought, he lost. The robe that adorned his back soon adorned somebody else's back. The gavel that he held in his politician's hands was soon held by another hand. The position that he coveted, he lost. History tells us he died of suicide because he was a coward. He would not take a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to give an invitation to some of you today to come and give your heart to Jesus, but the devil will intimidate you with fear.
Revelation 21:8 speaks of those who are going to die and go to Hell, and number one on the list is the fearful, the fearful. "The fear of man bringeth a snare". Find that in Proverbs 29:25. Coward! Pilate was a coward. What crucified Jesus? Well, self-righteous religion crucified Jesus. What crucified Jesus? Hardhearted hypocrisy crucified Jesus. What crucified Jesus? Cowardly compromise crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be a coward.
Number four: thoughtless conformity crucified Jesus. Look, if you will, now in Matthew 27 verse 20, "But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus". On that day, Pilate, trying to escape, gave the people a choice. He said, "Look, here's Barabbas, a notorious criminal, a murderer, a seditionist. Over here is Jesus Christ. And I'm going to release one of them. Which one do you want me to release"? And the Bible says that the people chose Barabbas, and said crucify Jesus.
Had you been there that day and asked these people, "Why did you do that? Why did you choose Barabbas over the Lord Jesus Christ? Why are you doing this"? They would have said, "Well, our leaders say that's what we ought to do. Our leaders are persuading us that He ought to be crucified. And, after all, it's always good to go along with the crowd". Well, friend, I want to tell you the crowd is most always wrong. These people were just conformed to the crowd.
Now you can say, "Well, they didn't know better". Well, friend, ignorance is not innocence. They could have known better. They should have known better. Others knew bigger, better. The biggest cult in America is the cult of conformity. Jesus will reveal Himself to you. I don't care what anyone else says. You can read all of the newspapers. You can listen to all the liberals. You can listen to all of the naysayers. You can let other people persuade you. Or you can say, "O God, show me about Jesus Christ". Friend, careless conformity crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. The, the crowd mostly is going to Hell. Broad is the way that leads to destruction.
Number five. I'll tell you what else crucified the Lord Jesus: hard-hearted cruelty crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice, if you will, in Matthew 27 verse 27 through 31, "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And they spit upon Him, and took the reed," and, by the way, when the Bible says reed, don't get the idea that this is just a stalk from a tree. It means a bamboo club.
"And smote Him on the head. And after that they mocked Him and took the robe off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him". You cannot believe the cruelty unless you read it in the Scriptures. Some can understand a little more when they see the film of "The Passion of our Christ". These men who brutalized Jesus, who mocked Him, who beat Him, who whipped Him, who scourged Him, who finally nailed Him to the cross were hard-hearted. The milk of human kindness had curdled in these people. They were brutal.
As I've said before, probably psychopathic, who took pleasure in giving pain. Hard-hearted. And we live in a world like that today. I'm amazed at those who literally hate the Lord Jesus Christ and who rejoice in the crucifixion. A man who's known for his commentary and reflection on society was reported to have said, Andy Rooney, many of you may have watched him on television. When asked is he going to see the film, he said, "I wouldn't waste $9.00 for a few laughs". A few laughs. Seeing Jesus die in agony and blood. May God have mercy upon a heart that is so hard that it is not moved by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I want to ask you a question today. Are you a soldier at the cross or a soldier of the cross? You're one or the other. Hard-hearted cruelty crucified Jesus. What else crucified Jesus?
Number six: casual indifference crucified Jesus. You may have been making a little list and saying, "I'm not that one. I'm not that one. I'm not that one". Well, now here's another group. Look, if you will, in Matthew 27 verse 36, "And sitting down they watched Him there". Now who is that? These are the people who will go see the film and eat popcorn and get up and say, "Well, I thought it was a pretty good film". "Sitting down they watched him there". This speaks of the general crowd. They're not outwardly fighting Jesus. They're onlookers. They're looking at Jesus, not looking unto Jesus. Oh, they may have had some sentimental thought.
In the other Gospel, Luke says they smote their chest. "Look at that". But they never lined up with Jesus. You see, it takes more than a sentimental gesture to save a soul. It takes more than a crocodile tear at His suffering to save a soul. Here are these people who are simply observing. You know what happens on Sunday morning? People will come to church, listen to a preacher preach, try to understand it, maybe make a few notes, but it never changes their life. They have no more inclination to obey than they would to be changed by something they saw last night on television. "Sitting down they watched him there".
Church attendance, a Sunday morning form of culture and entertainment. Complacency crucified Jesus. How sad it would be, how sad it would be for you to come this morning, hear this music on the cross, to hear the Word of God from this blessed book, and just simply say, "Oh, yes, that is sad indeed". Let me tell you, seventhly, what crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. We're talking about who crucified Jesus, and we're talking about what was in the who that caused it. Cynical skepticism crucified the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now notice in Matthew 27 verses 39 and following through verse 44, "And they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads, and saying, 'Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.' Likewise also the chief priests, mocking Him, with the scribes and the elders, said, 'He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God'.' The thieves also, who were crucified with Him, cast the same into His teeth".
Now what you have here is skepticism, and our world is full of skepticism. First of all, they misquoted His words, saying, "Destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up". He was speaking of the temple of His body. Number two: they mocked His deity, "If you are the Son of God". Number three: they minimized His death. "Come down from the cross and save Thyself". They were cynics. A cynic is somebody who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Cynicism is perhaps the worst of all of these things that I've mentioned. They're skeptics, cynical skepticism.
Listen, friend, a man is not a sinner because he's a skeptic, now listen carefully; he is a skeptic because he's a sinner. Cynicism, skepticism comes out of the heart. You say, "Well, I have intellectual problems". No, you don't. You have dirty, rotten sin. Hebrews 3:12 says, "Beware, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief". You say, "Well, I can't believe". No, no, no. You will not believe. You say, "Well, I know an intellectual who doesn't believe the Bible". I know some intellectuals who do.
You say, "Well, I know some foolish people who believe the Bible". I know some foolish people who don't. It has nothing to do with it. Friend, what we believe is not contrary to reason; it is beyond reason. Why is it that someone like the mighty apostle Paul would believe in Jesus Christ? Because He's real. Friend, don't you let your skepticism take you to Hell. These are attitudes that crucify. This is what nailed Jesus to the cross. It's right there in the 27th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew.
Now let me just wrap it up. In spite of all of this, in spite of all these attitudes, God allowed His darling Son to die in agony and blood, and the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 and verse 32 that, "God spared not His own Son". Friend, what was this? This is judgment at its surest. Now put on, as my teacher used to say, your thinking cap. "God spared not His own Son". Now when the sin of the world was upon the Lord Jesus Christ, God did not spare Jesus. Are you listening? If, when Jesus Christ was bearing my sin, God did not spare Him, what makes you think that God will spare you if you reject Jesus? This is justice at its surest.
Number two: this is love at its greatest. If there were ever a promise that God would have reneged on, if there were ever a promise that God would say, "I've changed My mind," it would be this one, to let Jesus die. And if God kept that promise, friend, you can bank on it, He'll keep every other promise. God spared not His own Son. And this is grace at its fullest. Romans 8:32, "God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up freely for us all. How shall He not also with Him, also freely give us all things"?
Friend, if God would give Jesus, there is nothing else He would withhold, would you agree to that? Nothing else He would withhold. If somehow you were to talk me into delivering my son up to you to be crucified, then you would say, "Can I have his football and his bicycle," I'd say, "Of course, of course". If I were to give you Steve, you can have the rest. Friend, with Jesus you get it all. Who crucified Jesus? We did. What crucified Jesus? Self-righteous religion. Hard-hearted hypocrisy. All of these other things.
But, friend, the Bible teaches in Isaiah 53 verse 5, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed". Aren't you glad for the cross? Aren't you glad for Jesus? Aren't you glad that salvation is a gift? None deserve it. None can earn it. Any can receive it. And Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest".
Bow your heads in prayer. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. Do you know Jesus? I'm not asking do you know about Him. I'm not even asking does the crucifixion move you emotionally. I'm not asking for a sentimental tear. I'm asking you to do the only reasonable thing that you can possibly do, and that is to turn from your own selfish lifestyle and enthrone the Lord Jesus, who loves you enough to die for you. Would you like to be saved? Would you? Then let's get it settled this morning. I'm going to lead you in a prayer, and I want you to pray and ask Christ into your heart. Are you ready to pray? Pray this way:
Dear God, I know that You love me. I know that You want to save me. Jesus, thank You for dying for me. Thank You that You paid my sin debt with Your blood on the cross. Thank You, Jesus. And now, Lord Jesus, You offered to save me and promised to save me if I would trust You; I do trust You. I believe You're the Son of God. And now by faith I receive You into my life as my Lord and Savior. Save me, Lord Jesus.
Pray that prayer, "Save me, Lord Jesus. Save me". Pray it. "Save me, Jesus"! Did you ask Him? Now don't wait for a feeling. Don't look for a sign. Did you ask Him? If you did, pray this way:
Thank You for doing it. Thank You for doing it. I receive it by faith and that settles it. You cannot lie. You're now my Lord, my Savior, my God, and my Friend forever. Now, Lord Jesus, I'm weak; You're strong. Begin now to make me the person You want me to be, and help me never to be ashamed of You. Give me the strength to make it public. In Your name I pray. Amen.