Have you ever done anything really dumb?

i was a junior in high school and we lived about 15 miles out of town. I was driving back into town late one night and I was speeding. A Sheriff’s deputy passed me and I saw him turning around to come after me. I decided to run.

I took a right on a road that we called "Fish hatchery Road," running at 105 miles an hour. I had this idea to dip into somebody's driveway and kill the lights and watch the cop just got right past me. It worked on Smoky and the Bandit, so why not for me? There was only one problem, though: I pulled into the driveway of a DPS officer. He radioed the deputy and let him know I was in his front yard with my lights off.

I know you probably thought I ended up in the back of a squad car, but the deputy told me that I had 30 minutes to report to the Sheriff’s office or else see would have a warrant issued for my arrest. It was the 90s, things were done a little differently, but I went to the sheriffs office. Terrified. I remember sitting at his desk with my leg shaking uncontrollably because I thought they were gonna throw the book at me.

My mom and dad were there, and they even called our lawyer just in case. I don't remember the name of the deputy, but I do remember him wanting me to be afraid, wanting to use that as correction to make sure I never did that again, and I remember him looking the square in the eyes and telling me, "I'm gonna let you go with your parents, but don't you ever do this again."

Our family was scheduled to leave the next morning to get on a plane to go to Utah to visit family. We didn't get home till probably 2 o'clock in the morning, and my dad just told me, "Look, we're gonna go to bed, we're gonna wake up, we're gonna get on this plane, we're gonna have a good trip. We will deal with this when we get back home."

I had a decent trip, but as the captain got on the intercom and said, "We are beginning our descent into Houston…" I began to get nervous again. I knew I was about to get it. I think my parents knew that I'd learned my lesson and they showed me mercy. I'm happy to say that here, 34 years later, I've never run from the cops again!

16 and dumb. Can anybody relate?

How about you? Have you ever done anything dumb like that? Have you ever done anything that was worth you getting the book thrown at you? I broke the law. Several of them. I endangered myself and others. I should have been made to stand responsible for my wrongdoing.

In the eyes of the law, I was a sinner and deserved punishment.

You may not have run from the cops in a sports car at 16 years old, but you have broken the law. And everyone of us has broken God's law.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

We have all fallen short, all have sinned against God.

When I was campus pastor at New Covenant in Longview, I actually had a conversation with a man about this. He was in his late 70s and we met at Starbucks one day just to talk. He told me he was struggling with the notion that he was a sinner. He simply didn't believe he was a sinner. He said "good person. I help people. I love people. I do everything. I know how to be a good citizen. I'm not a sinner. I'm a good person. Just as he said that, this woman walked into the store, dressed very scantily. I had my eyes locked on him and I simply said, "Did you see her?" He said, “How could I not?” I said, "Have you ever seen a woman in lusted in your heart after her?” His eyes got real big, his face dropped, he said to me, "Jason, I am a sinner.” I said, “Aren’t we all?”

We've all done something really dumb, but we've also all sinned against God. Wrongdoing always carries with it punishment, justice, so what is the due penalty for sinning against God according to the word? In one word, death. Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death

Now, we could wallow in the misery of our sin and death, Or, we could continue reading Romans 6:23
But the gift of God is eternal life.

This gift of God, Jesus Christ, is who we celebrate this weekend. His life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection.

The Gospel is simple:
- We have all sinned. Romans 3:23
- The just punishment for our sin is death. Romans 6:23
- God loves us so much that even while we were sinners, he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for us. Romans 5:8
- If we will confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, the Bible promises that we are saved. Romand 10:9-10

This isn't just a ticket punched to heaven, but it is sin forgiven, it is us going from death into life, it is an invitation to a relationship with Jesus Christ even now, not just in eternity. So if you don't hear anything else today, hear this: Your sin deserves your death, but Jesus died and rose again to give you life. If you will simply confess him as Lord and believe in your heart, you are forgiven, your debt is paid, and you are welcomed into God's family and into relationship with him.

Sometimes people struggle with this. They struggle with the notion of Jesus being Lord of their lives. Loss of control. This isn't just Jesus coming to live in our hearts so we can do better things, but our total surrender of our entire lives to the person of Jesus Christ so we can be made right with God.

That total surrender forces you to make a decision about who Jesus is. Is he just some man who lived and died 2000 years ago, or is he the King of Kings, our Lord and Savior, worthy of our praise and adoration?

Every single person who's ever lived will have to make this decision. We will all stand before Jesus Christ on the judgment seat to give an account.

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Are you ready? If you died today and stood before him, would Jesus be just a man or would he be king?

John 18:29-38
28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.”

The Bible does not record how Jesus answered Pilate’s question about truth, but something made Pilate say to himself, "There's no guilt in him,”and then go to the religious leaders to tell them Jesus had done nothing wrong.

John 18:39-40
39 “…but you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

John 19:1-3
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.

Now wait a minute…If Pilate saw no guilt in Jesus, why was he flogged and mocked? Consider this:
"Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, ordered Jesus flogged primarily as a political maneuver to appease the Jewish crowd and avoid a potential riot. According to the Gospel accounts, Pilate found no clear evidence of Jesus committing a crime worthy of death under Roman law, despite pressure from Jewish leaders who accused Jesus of blasphemy and sedition (claiming to be "King of the Jews"). Flogging was a brutal but common Roman punishment, often used to weaken prisoners before crucifixion or as a standalone penalty. Pilate likely hoped that flogging Jesus would satisfy the crowd's demand for punishment, allowing him to release Jesus without escalating to execution, which he initially resisted. The crowd's insistence and the threat of unrest, combined with Pilate's desire to maintain order and his own political position, ultimately led to his decision to crucify Jesus after the flogging failed to quell the situation. Roman governors like Pilate had to balance local tensions with imperial expectations, and his actions reflect that precarious dynamic."

For Pilate, this was the barbaric version of settling out of court.

John 19:4-16
4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

Ok why would he be afraid?
"Son of God" was a title used for Roman emperors, like Augustus, implying divine authority. Calling Jesus "Son of God" suggested a rival divine king, challenging the emperor’s supremacy and hinting at sedition. Similarly, "gospel" (euangelion) was a term used for imperial proclamations, like news of the emperor’s victories or decrees. Applying it to Jesus and his teachings implied a competing authority and message, undermining Roman propaganda and control. Both terms, in a volatile Judea, could be seen as threats to Roman order, risking accusations of treason. Pilate was terrified when he heard this because if he didn’t handle this correctly, Jesus wouldn’t be the only one dying. The Emperor would eliminate Pilate for not eliminating sedition.

On top of that, In Matthew 27:19, Pilate’s wife told him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” He knew something was different about this man…

Matthew 19:9-12
9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

And now to the crux of this scene:

Matthew 19:13-14
13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

This is the second time Jesus was presented to the leaders. Remember back in chapter 19 verse 5, Pilate said, "Behold the man.” Now it’s, “Behold your King.” Why the difference? What happened?

Behold the man, behold the King. I'm struck by one phrase in this passage of scripture: "Where are you from?”

At this point Pilate had to know there was something different about Jesus. This wasn't just some man. He knew exactly where Jesus was from. It's in his name! Jesus of Nazareth. But he wasn't asking what town he was from. Remember, Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not from this world.”

Did Pilate ask that question as less of a desire for information and more of a need to understand who Jesus really was, not just the man standing before him, but the King he claimed to be? For him to ask was most likely confusion, curiosity, even frustration about Jesus’ enigmatic answers about his authority and truth. But I’m convinced Pilate saw deeper.

I personally believe Pilate in that moment believed Jesus was telling the truth. He may have not fully understood what Jesus was saying, but he had to know something was not adding up with the accusations of the religious leaders.

I think Pilate believed Jesus was king, but of what Kingdom? That’s what had Pilate confused, but he really seemed to believe Jesus was being truthful, which is why on multiple occasions Pilate tried to free Jesus. That's why we see in Matthew 27 Pilate washes his hands and declares, “This innocent man’s blood is not on my hands.” In verse 25 the people declare, “Let his blood be upon us and our children.” If they only knew precisely what Jesus was trying to do, cover them with his blood!


That Pilate believed is speculation on my part, but what do we know:
Pilate felt pressure from both Rome and the religious leaders. The pressure from Rome was constant yet distant. the pressure from the religious leaders was in his face and if a riot developed, the distant Rome would be there fast to depose Pilate and quash the riot.

We know he was having a hard time deciding. Not only was he impacted by Jesus’ innocence, his wife also warned him.

We can speculate, but one thing we know for sure: Pilate had to decide.

You aren’t much different from Pilate. You’ll have to decide, too. Who is Jesus?

In light of this, I want to share with you three things I do know today:

1. We will all sit on the Judgement Seat.
Earlier I read that famous verse from 2 Corinthians 5 that says we will all stand before the judgment seat and give an account of what we've done.
Honestly, that can seem terrifying! I don't think anybody wants to stand before a holy God and give an account of why you've done everything you've done.

Yet while we will all stand before the judgment seat, we will all also sit upon the judgment seat. Every one of us is going to have to judge, to decide who Jesus is. Just like Pilate.

The people yelled to Pilate, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” The Bible says, “Upon hearing that, Pilate sat on the Judgment Seat.”Why? Pilate had a decision to make. Imagine his thought process.
- Is he just a man causing trouble or truly a king?
- Is he the Son of God as he claims he is, not of this world?
- I know he isn’t a threat because, he’s right, if he were a political king, his people would be fighting us right now.
- If he isn’t a political king, then what kind of king is he?
- Why is my wife so concerned I have nothing to do with him?
Why did she call him righteous?
- He’s been popular for sure.
Last week they through a party when he came into the city.
I know he’s healed people, rumors are he even raised the dead.
- Is he a man or king? A liar or the truth?

What would you have done if you were in Pilate’s position?
There Jesus stands before you, and you know he's done nothing wrong, Yet if you allow a riot, it will cost you everything. Caesar will respond. You are torn between knowing he is innocent and what will happen if you act on what you know. Is he really the Messiah the Jews have been looking for?

Now, you might be thinking, "but we can't really say Pilate believed in Jesus." That's 100% true. We don't know.

We know he believed he was innocent, but not that he believed on Jesus.
The historian Josephus tells us that a few years after this, the Samaritans rose up and because Pilate handle it so poorly, he was recalled to Rome to face Tiberius, who appointed Pilate. But Tiberius died before Pilate made it back, and Caligula took over as Caesar, the deranged psycho who made his horse a Roman senator. No one knows what happened after that. But the early Christian church, all the way through Augustine in the 6th century who wrote:
“when Pilate wrote on the cross ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’, he really meant it: ‘It could not be torn from his heart that Jesus was the King of the Jews.’”

We know that Pilate ruled that Jesus was to be crucified, but it is likely it was done just to keep peace, not because he believed Jesus was guilty.

Truth is, I don’t fully know what Pilate believed, but right now, I am asking you to sit on the judgment seat.

One day you’ll stand before it and what you say on that day will be determined by how you judge today as you sit upon it.

Who is Jesus to you?

All have sinned, and the reason you sit upon that seat today is because what you decide about Jesus will determines how your sin is dealt with on Judgement Day. Jesus stood before the seat with Pilate and will sit upon it on Judgment Day. At that point you’ll have to answer for your sin that demands your death. But if you’ll let him:

2. Jesus is offering to take your place.
Jesus stood there before Pilate innocent. We will stand before the judgment seat guilty. We are guilty of our sin, our rebellion, our iniquity. But while we may be guilty, we don't have to stand there condemned.

Think right now of what you know of Jesus. I'm not sure what you have learned, been taught, or have heard, but the Bible is clear:
Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God who came to earth in the form of a man, lived a perfect and sinless life, offered himself as the sacrifice for our sin by dying on a cross, and after three days he rose again giving us not only salvation, but life through a personal relationship with him.

John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

This is why Jesus came to earth! Back to the trial:
John 18:37
For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.

Pilate responds, “What is truth?” The truth is Jesus died on the cross to fulfill the law, to satisfy the wages of sin, to stand in your place, to receive your penalty so that you can become the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.

John 14:6
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

The only way to righteousness, to being free from sin, to life.

He took your place before the judgment seat, he willingly took your place satisfying the law. But YOU have to let him take your place. YOU have to choose to trust and believe. YOU have to surrender it all to Jesus. YOU have to DECIDE.

3. Who is Jesus to you?
Is he just a man, or is he the King of Kings, your salvation?

I fully realize there are people in this place right now who have never had a personal relationship with Jesus. I am inviting you to abandon everything that you've learned about Jesus up to this moment. I'm inviting you to open your heart right now to the truth. You are a sinner and you need salvation. Jesus gave his life as the punishment for your sin. If you will simply confess him as Lord and believe in your heart God raise him from the dead, you'll be saved. The Bible promises that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

I also realize there are people in this place right now who said yes to Jesus, but you are living your life, according to your own terms. I'm inviting you to actually embrace the Lordship of Jesus. Surrender means giving all to him. Surrender means not holding anything back from him. His terms, not yours. His truth not your own. Surrender is what Jesus was willing to do when he went to the cross. He was all in and did not stop until the work was done. We always talk about how we relate to Peter, but how closely do you relate to Pilate right now? You know who he is, and you know what you need to do, but you're terrified of what life will look like if you truly made him your King. So many people are camped out at that very spot.

I realize that you may have said yes to Jesus and you aren't backsliding per se, but you know you need to stop playing games and get serious about your relationship with Jesus.

Tthere is no room on the judgment seat for indecision. You have to choose:
Behold the man - crazy at the least or a liar at the most.
Or
Behold the King - the Lord of Heaven and Earth, Savior of the World, King of your heart

One day we will stand before the judgment seat. This is true. But every day we sit on the judgment seat and declare who Jesus is with our decisions.
Every decision we make reflects whether or not Jesus is just a man to us,
or the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior of our souls.

The early Christian church believed that Pilate knew who Jesus was. The Ethiopian church canonized him and made him a saint along with his wife Procura. I cannot give you an answer on whether or not Pilate believed Jesus was the Messiah. But I don't have to answer for Pilate. I just have to answer for me. And you have to answer for you.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human, born of the Virgin Mary. He is the promised Messiah sent by God to live a perfect life, teach truth, and ultimately die on the cross to take the punishment for humanity’s sins. His resurrection from the dead three days later which we celebrate today proved His divine nature and victory over sin and death. Through faith in Jesus, we can be forgiven, have a personal relationship with God, and receive eternal life.

I’m offering you salvation through your confession of Jesus as Lord.
I’m offering you life through a relationship with Jesus our savior.

But YOU are on the judgement seat. You have to decide.

Just a man, or the Son of God and King of Kings. WHO IS JESUS?

Let’s pray.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?