When Enemies Preach the Gospel, Part 3

We now come to the next enemy of our Lord Jesus Christ who unwittingly preached the gospel. He was Pontius Pilate, who issued the decree to have our Lord crucified.

Before we get to his words that express the gospel, let’s establish that Pilate was indeed an enemy of Christ. During the trial of our Lord, Pilate sought to release Jesus as the following verses prove.

John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

Pilate could find no fault in Jesus. Hence, he tried to persuade the people to release Him. But the pressure of the crowd to eliminate Jesus was so great that Pilate capitulated and gave the decree to have our Lord crucified. Pilate’s cowardice in the face of public pressure placed him in the list of the enemies of Christ as the following passage makes clear.

Acts 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together….

And you will be in that list as well, if you allow the fear of man to move you to act contrary to the truth of Christ. This calls to mind these words of Christ:

Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me….

It was during the trial that Pilate uttered the following words that express the gospel of Christ:

John 19:6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.

Notice Pilate’s reason for delivering Christ up to be crucified: “For I find no fault in him.” According to Pilate’s decree, Christ was condemned to die a criminal’s death because he had committed no crime. This is the very heart of the gospel.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The reason Christ could bear our sins and suffer the condemnation they deserve was because He had no sin of His own. Had He had any faults, He would have had to die for His own sin and, therefore, could not have died for ours. Hence, it was precisely because there was no fault in Him, that He was delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God to be crucified, to be nailed to a tree to be made a curse for us.

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree….

This agreed with the Law of Moses that required the sacrifice of innocent beasts in the place of guilty sinners to make atonement. This was also according to that vivid prophecy of the sufferings and death of Christ given in Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Our Lord died, and that violently, “because he had done no violence.” “Take ye him and crucify him.” But why? “Because he has done no violence.” Or, to put it in Pilate’s words, “For I find no fault in him.”

Don’t you see the gospel in Pilate’s decree? Christ was crucified in the place of sinners because He Himself had no sin. What a sermon Pilate preached that day! As a gospel preacher Pilate did a good job. But given what a compromiser he was, I would also not recommend him for your pastor.