Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - With a Politician

Episode Date: December 6, 2023

At the end of Jesus’ life, the religious leaders want him executed. But the Romans have all the political power. So they bring Jesus to the Roman politicians, saying he’s a threat, and the question is put directly to Jesus by Pilate: What are your politics, Jesus?  I always found Jesus’ answer maddeningly ambiguous, but today I can say it is beautifully, profoundly, deliberately ambiguous. Jesus is not just playing hard to get; he is trying to bring us to the truth.  So let’s look at 1) what this tremendously ambiguous answer is, 2) how Jesus is not political, and 3) how Jesus is political. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 23, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 23:1-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Welcome to Gospel in Life. One of the biggest obstacles for people to believe in Christianity is that they think they already know all about it. But when a person looks carefully at how Jesus interacted with people, they find their assumptions challenged. We see Jesus meeting people where they had their deepest needs and most confounding questions and changing their lives forever in the process. Join us today as Tim Keller teaches through a story

from the life of Jesus. After you listen, we'd appreciate it if you would take a few moments to rate and review the podcast. When you do, you'll be encouraging others to listen so they can discover the real Jesus because the gospel changes everything. Now here's today's teaching from Dr. Keller. We're looking at the life of Jesus.

We're building a biography of Jesus. We're looking at incidents in the life of Jesus. And as many of you know, we're in a period of time quickly, it will quickly go by and will suddenly be Easter, only five weeks away. Easter is the time in which we normally look at the death and resurrection of Christ. And so these last few Sundays before that, we're going to be looking at incidents that had to do with the end of Jesus' life. And today we look at one of the most famous, of course.

And this is Jesus' second trial. I'll tell you what, the first one is in a minute. It's the trial before pilot and herod. This is from Luke 23. Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to pilot. And they began to accuse him, saying, we have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar

and claims to be Christ a king. So Pilate asked Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? Yes, it is as you say, Jesus replied. And then Pilate announced the chief priest in the crowd, I find no basis for a charge against this man. But they insisted he stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here. On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.

When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who was also in Jerusalem at the time. Then Herod saw Jesus. He was greatly pleased because for a long time, he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions,

but Jesus gave no answer. He gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him, dressing him in an elegant robe. They sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends before this they had been enemies. Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, and said to them,

you brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Harrod for he sent him back to us. As you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him. With one voice they cried out, away with this man, release Parabas to us. Parabas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and for murder.

Wanting to please, wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, crucify him, crucify him. For the third time he spoke to them, why? What crime is this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him punished and then release him. But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murdered the

one they asked for and surrendered Jesus to their will. Now the Sanhedrin is this group mentioned in verse 1, the whole assembly. The religious leaders had examined Jesus, had tried Jesus, and had found him worthy of death, but they were not political leaders. Because in that Roman world, the Romans had the political power. They had civil power. They could execute. They could enforce. Whereas the Sanhedrin there, and actually you

can see it other places. If you read the New Testament, the Ariopagus, and Athens, the old councils of the natives were given a certain amount of religious and moral and cultural clout, but they didn't have political power. And so if they want to have Jesus executed, they had to bring him to the politicians. And so they did. And when they bring him to the politicians, a big issue was raised. And I really wish it hadn't been raised.

And in a way, when I started to study the passage, I said, oh no, what have I gotten myself into? Because the thing you have to do when you study a passage of scriptures, you have to say, what is it about? I mean, what is the point? And here's what the point is. There were religious leaders, one him dead, but they have to take them to the political leaders.

And so they come and they say, this man is a political leader. He threatens your political power. And so we have a question. The question is put directly to Jesus by pilot, and we have to understand it. That question is this, what are your politics, Jesus? Well, I realized that was the point of the passage.

I said, oh no, why are we doing this? Why couldn't I have gone to some other passage, but here it was. What are your politics, Jesus? Are you a political leader? Is there a political program we are going to have to follow if we follow you? That's the question. And for years, I've always been frustrated with Jesus' answer,

and now I'm not frustrated, but I still see. The, I've always been frustrated with Jesus' answer, and now I'm not frustrated, but I still see the reason I've always been frustrated is his answer to Pilate is a very ambiguous one. And I always found it maddeningly ambiguous. But today, I can come before you and say, it is beautifully ambiguous. It is wisely ambiguous. It is profoundly ambiguous. It is wisely ambiguous. It is profoundly ambiguous. It is carefully ambiguous.

It is deliberately ambiguous. And as a result, we have got some work to do. We've got to do some reflection. When he gets a deliberately wisely ambiguous answer, Jesus would only ever do that because any other answer would be far more confusing, far more pathological, and far more deadly. Jesus is not just playing hard to get, he's trying to bring us to the truth. So let's take a look, first of all, at what this tremendously ambiguous answer is. When Pilate asks Jesus the question, this question that is mentioned here in Luke 23

is the very same question mentioned in every one of the four gospels. You know, the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, their accounts are very different in many, many ways. They do not contradict, at least in my understanding, but they certainly give you different perspectives. They've got different things they're trying to get across. So when you have the very same thing in all four gospels, you know it's very central

and very crucial. What's so interesting is that in every one of the four gospels, Pilate, poses the same question in the same words and Jesus gives the same answer. Now what is the question? The question is, are you the king of the Jews? What did that mean? Let me give you a translation. You better understand the translation.

When you hear the term, right away we start thinking, oh, I guess pilot is saying, are you the Messiah? No, he's not talking about that. Because you see in verse 2, this is what they said. They said in verse 2, here's the charges, Mr. Pilot, and I want you to try him on the basis of this. He is trying to get people to not obey Caesar, but you, but himself. He doesn't want them to obey Caesar and you, but he wants them to obey him.

He is setting himself up as a political leader. He has got a political agenda. And so when Pilot asks this question, he is not saying, are you the Messiah? Are you bringing salvation? Are you from heaven? No, not a bit. He is saying, do you have a political agenda? Are you out to oppose Caesar and me?

Are you a political figure? That's the question. And by the way, it's a big question. You know, in Luke 24, the wonderful story of the road to Emmaus. When there's one of the disciples, after the death of Christ, is expressing his tremendous disappointment. And you know what he says? He says, we thought he would redeem Israel.

Now what is he talking about? He is not talking about, we have attended his spiritualize a lot of this language. When he said, we wanted a redeem Israel and he didn't do it. What they were saying is we were in oppressed people, we're under the yoke of the Romans. We thought he would literally redeem, you know what the word redeem means? It means to release from slavery. That's what it means. And therefore you see, everybody was asking this question, not just the enemies, the friends, Jesus, are you a political leader?

Do you have a political program? And Jesus' answer is now, this is the problem. He answers it the very same in every single one of the gospels. The exact words are brought to us there, preserved for us. Very clear, this was his answer. In the Greek he simply says, you say. That's all he says. And you know the reason it's very, very hard to translate that.

I mean, there are many types of ways of translating that. They can't just put it down there in English. If they literally translate it, you say it doesn't come across. So in here, for example, they have them saying, yes, it is as you say. Well, I want you to know that that is almost too positive a way to translate it. It sounds like Jesus is saying, yes, I am, just like you say.

I know, remember that place in Jesus Christ, Superstar, the rock opera by Android, Webber, and Tim Rice who are still obviously making a lot of money out there. And there's the place where Pilate says, we all know that you are news, but are you King, King of the Jews? And what does Jesus say? He says, that's what you say.

Now you see, that translation is too negative. When someone says, are you this and you say, well, that's what you say, that sounds like a no. Whereas here when he says, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus says, yes, it is as you say, that sounds like a yes. But the actual term that Jesus says, you say, is absolutely in the center. It is beautifully ambiguous. It will not admit to a direct answer It is not a yes and it is not a no Why did he do this to me?

Why did he do this to you? And I think that's the thing we have to ask ourselves why? Clearly all the gospel writers say that this absolutely perfectly ambiguous absolutely balanced statement is very important to understanding what Jesus is all about. Are they wouldn't have preserved it like it and they wouldn't have put it in every one of the gospels. One of the reasons for it is the fact that it's not a fair question.

There are questions like that. If I come up to you and say, by the way, have you stopped cheating on your income tax? Now, if you give me a direct answer, yes, or no, if you've never cheated on your income tax. Now, if you give me a direct answer, yes, or no, if you've never cheated on your income tax and you give me a direct answer, yes or no, you're misleading me. I mean, there are questions that are posed in such a way that a direct answer is more misleading

than an ambiguous one. And that's one of the problems here, because pilot is not saying, he's not saying, are you the Messiah in a general way? He says, are you political? And Jesus refuses to say yes or no why because Jesus has an absolutely unique approach to power. That's what we see here. And that's what Luke more than anything else is trying to get across. Jesus does not say yes because if he said yes, what he would be saying is, yeah, I'm raising an army right now and I'm going to knock you guys off. In fact, in John, John 19 and 18

is a very long account of this passage. We know that according to John, John said to pilot in the questioning, he said, my followers are not here to fight. So you see, if Jesus said, yes, the answer would have been yes, I am only a political figure. I am here to lobby, I'm here to get votes, I'm here to get swords, I'm here to get soldiers, I'm here to do that. But if he'd said no, that would have been utterly misleading, do. Why? Because if he says no, I'm not political. What he's really saying is, well, I'm just a spiritual person. I'm just giving people peace in their private personal world. And I have no claims over every part of life and every dimension of reality. Oh, no. You

see, I'm just here to give you personal peace and happiness in your personal life. Which of course, you see now listen. People want to hear these things. A lot of progressive people want to hear him say yes on political. And a lot of conservative people want to hear him say no, I'm not political. And he won't do it. He won't do it. Why not? What he's saying is, in the narrow sense, I am not political, I have no political program, but in the broadest sense, I am not political, I have no political program, but in the broadest sense, I am very political. Now, what does that mean? That's all we have to ask ourselves. In what sense is he, not at all political, and in what sense is he quite? I mean, he himself said that. This is not me. This is not Tim Keller

trying to be niff, narfee balanced. You know, this is not Tim Keller trying to say, well, I don't want to offend anybody. So how do we come out with this wonderful sort of, you know, balanced approach? This is him. His approach is more balanced than I could possibly ever come up with. In what sense is he political, not political, which is what he's saying.

He says, no, I'm not. On the other hand, it says, yes, I am. All right. First of all, how is he not? Luke's whole point here is to say that the religious leaders were scared of him, and they saw that he had some kind of power, but that the political leaders were absolutely and completely convinced he had none at all. You know, there's some fine books that in general I appreciate, but are wrong about one thing. For example, there's a very influential book by John Howard Joder called The Politics of

Jesus. It came out in 1972 and he says that Jesus was threatening to the political powers because he was putting forth a community of social equality and nonviolence and a community of social equality and nonviolence is very, very threatening to the political powers that be and they had to squelch him. And, you know, the problem with that is, it goes right against everything here in the text. What Luke is trying to show is that Herod and Pilot,

two of the most paranoid people, two people that would cut off your head at the, like that, if they thought that you had one shred of political threat, that you pose one shred of political threat to them, won't do it. Herod, you know, now, the herod, the herod here is the son of Herod the Great. Herod the Great, you know, the guy that slaughtered the innocence and in Bethlehem and so on.

Herod the Great, if he thought one of his sons or daughters or wives was even in the least bit a political threat to him, off with their head. I mean, Caesar Augustus once equipped and says, you know, your life expectancy is better if you're one of Herod's pigs and if you're one of Herod's children. And this Herod, which is Herod's son, Herod Antipas, was no different.

And Pilate was no different. These were not just men. These were not men of integrity. his son, Herod Antipas was no different. And pilot was no different. These were not just men. These were not men of integrity. These were not men who checked Jesus out and said, well, we can't destroy this man because he's innocent. That's not their point. They don't do things like that.

The reason they wouldn't destroy this man is because they had utter contempt for him. You don't see the religious leader mocking him. You don't see the religious leader mocking him. You don't see the religious leaders dressing him up. What are they doing when they mock him? Luke tells us that the soldiers of Herod mocked him. They dressed him up as a king, and they made fun of him. John tells us that, of course, the soldiers there

at Pilate did it, too. They put a crown of thorns on him. They dressed him up in a mock purple robe. They started hitting him and They said if you're a prophet who hit you? And they got that on their knees and they paid homage. They said, hey, all King of the Jews Why don't they do that? The religious leaders didn't do that because the political leaders showed absolute contempt They said this person is an harmless nut.

This person has no power. When they were hitting on, they were saying, if you've got power, if you've got political power, stop us. When he goes before Herod, why is Herod so interested? He's only interested in political power. He wants to see a miracle. He says, strike somebody blind.

You know, rain fire down from heaven. That would be power, and Jesus won't do it. Not a bit. So they mock him. Utter contempt. You know, I think that there's a lot of parts of that Jesus Christ superstar rock opera that's distortion, of course, though almost all of it's so much fun. But that one place where Pilate first meets Jesus.

And he says, who is this broken man cluttering up my hallway? But that one place where Pilate first meets Jesus. And he says, who is this broken man cluttering up my hallway? Oh, so this is Jesus Christ. I am really quite surprised. He looks so small, not a king at all. And that's what you have here. Utter contempt. Why? The reason for the contempt is because Jesus has a definition of power that is at absolute

loggerheads with the human political system. Human politics has a completely different approach to power than Jesus does, and you can see it right in the text, and this is the reason why they cannot get it. First of all, human political power is defined as coercion. Coercion, that means force. I wanna be able to control people, that's power. You know, when Jesus says, when, Pilate says that Jesus in the gospel of John,

he says, are you king? Jesus says, I bear witness to the truth. And what does Pilate say? What is truth? He's laughing. In other what does Pilate say? What is truth? He's laughing. In other words, Pilate says, let's talk about power, persuasion, moral, persuasion, ideas.

Let's talk about power, where your swords, policy. I can make people do things. I can legislate laws. I can punish them if they don't obey them. That's power. Jesus doesn't do that. Hi, I'm Kathy Keller and thank you for listening to the Gospel in Life podcast. My guess is that most people think they know the Christmas story. Every Christmas we see displays on lawns and in front

of churches of the baby Jesus resting in a manger surrounded by Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, and cute farm animals. We hear Christmas carols played everywhere we go, Joseph, the three wise men, and cute farm animals. We hear Christmas carols played everywhere we go, yet despite the abundance of these Christian references throughout our culture, how many people have really examined the hard edges of the biblical story. In Tim's book Hidden Christmas, he provides a moving and intellectually provocative examination of the Nativity story. The book takes you on a journey into the surprising background of the Nativity story. The book takes you on

a journey into the surprising background of the Nativity, where you see the wonderful message of hope and salvation within the Bible's account of Christ's birth. As you read about the actual event, you'll be confronted with a remarkable redeeming power of God's grace. This month, when you give to Gospel in Life, we'll send you a copy of Hidden Christmas as our thanks for your gift. To receive your copy, go to gospelandlife.com slash give. That's gospelandlife.com slash give. And thank you for your generosity. Now, here's the remainder of Tim's sermon. them soon. On the other hand, the second thing that human political systems believe is power.

Real power, real power is the power to coerce, the power to control. And secondly, real power in politics is self-promotion. Self-promotion. You see, bring in yourself up. Reputation, name, taking credit. That's the name. That is the political name. You got to take credit. You got to show people. You got to puff yourself up. Look what I've done. If you ever admit weakness,

you must only admit weakness in such a way that it makes you look stronger somehow. You've got to promote yourself. You've got to survive. You've got to save somehow. You've got to promote yourself, you've got to survive, you've got to save yourself. You've got to promote yourself. Name, image. Jesus is not only the other way, he will not defend himself, he says nothing. The whole idea, of course, of Jesus Christ

is he did not hold on to what he deserved, but he emptied himself, he lowered himself, he took the form of a servant, he gives credit to other people, he makes sacrifices. And so see, the political system says, real power. You can talk about sacrifice and you can talk about sweetness and light and you can talk about morality and persuasion and truth, real power. His coercive power, forcing controlling people, real power is self-promotion, getting a name,

having a good reputation. You see, having everybody, your polls up, that's power. Now, here's what Jesus does. Jesus shows us right here that real power is, first of all, I'm going to put these in the same order I just gave them to you, but they actually go together. First of all, real power is changing people, not controlling them. Real power is changing people, not controlling them, Real power is changing people not controlling them,

changing them from the inside. Real power is the bill. Jesus says when I am lifted up, when I am, he says in John 12, when I am sacrificed, I will draw everyone to myself. Jesus by his work, as I describe him every week. As I describe his sacrifice, if I describe his weaknesses, as I describe what he's doing for us, there's an attraction, you know, your heart goes out, your heart melts, what's that? You're being changed, you're not being controlled.

Jesus says real power is not controlling people, it's changing people, and he says, real power therefore is not self-promotion, itself opening, itself emptying. And let's be practical right away. Let's be practical right away. That's the only way it works. Let's look at your relationships. You want to change somebody.

You want them to take your advice. You want their character to be molded. Do you want to help somebody? You really want to see them change from the inside out. You are going to have to get vulnerable. You're going to have to give up your privacy. You're going to have to let them into your life. You're going to have to let that...

You're going to have to make yourself vulnerable, at least susceptible to criticism. You want to promote yourself. You want to keep safe. You want to only admit weakness when it benefits you. You'll control people and you won't change anybody. Control and self-promotion, go together. Changing and self-opening and self-sacrifice and vulnerability and losing, losing wealth, losing time, losing face,

they go together. Why? Do they mock Jesus Jesus because they say, if you've got power, stop me hitting you. If you've got power, and here's the thing, if you've got real power, you can save yourself. That's what they say at the cross. The same people, the politicos are the ones.

Not the religious people, the religious people know that there's power there. That's why they hate it. They know there's power there. That's why they hate it. They know there's power there, and they're scared of it. The political's market, they laugh at Christianity, they laugh at Christ, and they say, real power is controlling people by saving yourself when they hit, they say, stop me. If you've got power, stop me. Strike me blind. Let fire come down from heaven, you see?

Stop me, do something. And you know what? The ultimate mockery of the political system was when Jesus is actually hanging on the cross, when they finally say, he saved others, he cannot save himself. And at that moment, you can really see the paradox.

Because you see human political power says the way you can save others is by saving yourself. But the minute they were seeing him being beaten, being spit upon, bleeding from the crown of thorns, dying on the cross, what they didn't realize is he can save others because he won't save himself. That's the dynamic. If Jesus Christ had saved himself, he couldn't have saved us. If Jesus Christ saves us, he can't save himself.

And that is power. Because Jesus Christ voluntarily became weak and that's the ultimate power. To voluntarily sacrifice yourself when you don't have to. Volunteerly make yourself weak when you are already strong for us. That's power. Napoleon at the end of his life, I don't know that he became a Christian.

I've just been reading things that he wrote when he was in exile after his life was over. I have no idea if he became a Christian or not. Somebody wants to enlighten me, give me a book, help me. That's fine. But I'll tell you one of the things he wrote were amazing, and one of them was this. He says, I built a kingdom on force, and it has melted away. And Jesus Christ built a kingdom on love, and it stands still, and it will stand.

The reason that Jesus Christ didn't punch back. The reason Jesus Christ did everything in the exact opposite of the human political system was because that's not real power. They think it's power, it's not real power. Power is not coercive power. That melts away. Power to change people never melts away. And the power of self-promotion that leads to coercion will melt away. But the power of self-opening and self-empting that leads to change is real power. The great paradox is, is Pilate stands before, Jesus stands before Pilate, and Pilate has Jesus' life in His hands.

And if Jesus Christ would have just raised the slightest pinky finger of His will toward the people around him. His change would have snapped. Fire would have come down and wiped the smiles off those soldiers' faces, and the governor would light dead on the pavement. All Jesus had to do was... And they'd all be dead. And you know what? It would have accomplished nothing.

We wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be doing this. That's power! Two thousand years later! Look at this! That's power! Don't you see? Political power, narrowly political power.

The power of coercion, the power of public policy, the power of self-promotion through which I get my will done is fine, but it is so limited, it is superficial, it is superficial, and Jesus Christ will have none of it. Now a guy go on to the other point in what way is Jesus political, But you see, what does this mean? Let me just run down this real quickly, first of all, some practical applications. This is the reason why Jesus Christ will not give you an unambiguous statement of exactly what his political policies are.

Some people come to start to seek Christianity, and the first things they get upset about is they say, wait a minute, wait a minute. I am of. Now you've already got your political agenda. I'm a little worried about Christianity. I'm not sure. I'm afraid it might kind of try to move me in this way or move me in that way. I want to know what is Jesus' political agenda before I become a Christian. I want to know if I become a Christian, well I have to believe in this and we'll have to believe in that and I'll be voting for this one. I want to know if I become a Christian, well, I have to believe in this and we'll have to believe in that and we'll I be voting for this one.

I want to know before, in which case, you want control. Do you realize if Jesus Christ had given you a political agenda so you could accept a reject, he's not really the king then, you're the king. How in the world could you possibly know what the world needs before you know him? Jesus Christ doesn't give you that political agenda because he says, I want you to deal with me first.

I don't want you to say, well, if I become a Christian, will I have to become like this or will I have this position, that position? He says, how the heck would you know? For you to even be asking that question shows you're still on the throne of your life. I'm the king. He's ambiguous so that you can really make him boss. So that when you come to him, you see, his whole new approach to power works itself out in your life.

And of course, it's going to change. I've never seen anybody whose politics weren't changed one way or the other by Jesus. No matter who you are. But Christian friends, listen to this, too. Am I saying that you shouldn't be involved in politics? I know somebody's going to ask me that and there's no Q&A today, so I have to work this in quickly.

Absolutely not. But let me just point something out. Why are human politics like that? Is that the only way you can do it? Self promotion? Never let them see your sweat? Never admit you're wrong. Always take credit for everything.

Be coercive, that's real power. Is that the only way to do, of course it's not. But why is that the preeminent way? You know what? Politics is like sex. You always knew that, didn't you? Think about this. Back in Luke chapter 7, do you remember a woman,

the woman who was a prostitute, and she gave Jesus the perfume alabaster flask around her neck? Remember that? Because what she was saying is, I thought that spirituality was really all about sexuality. I thought basically sex is what moved the world, but I realize now actually sexuality is about spirituality. Actually, I realized that through my sex and my sexual activity, I was trying to get something done that only Jesus can give me.

I was trying to get closure. I was trying to get a sense of security and acceptance. In all of my sexuality, I thought that I was really achieving something that only Jesus can achieve for me. And therefore, she later sexuality down before Jesus feet. That didn't mean now that she can't ever have sex, but she's never gonna make it into that idol.

And it's never gonna be the thing that drives her. And it's never gonna be her identity. And she's never going to be actually in a sense of slave to it. Ever again. Now politics is like that in what way? But there's an awful lot of people that ask me questions, they say,

well, come on now, what is your church really about politically? In other words, the idea is that really, here's religion, but underneath everything is politics. No. No. Here's politics. And underneath everything is really religion. In politics, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to try to get things

done in politics that only God can do. You're gonna want to have a sense of impact. You're gonna want to have a sense of significance. You want to have a sense of mission. You want to say, I can change the world. I can really change the world. Politics can only change so much. And if you turn politics into an idol, you'll turn to something. I mean, if you're conservator, you'll make a God out of the market. If you're a liberal, you'll make a God out of the state. And what you'll do is you'll say, that is I mean, if you're conservator, you'll make a God out of the market. If you're a liberal, you'll make a God out of the state. And what you'll do is you'll say, that is the answer to all the problems. And you will, just like in a sense, the woman had used sex to do something that only God

can give her closure. So you can use politics to try to get something that only God can give you, which is mission impact. Change the world. You can only do that through God. Get involved in politics, but first, like the woman laid down her alabaster perfume, pilot should have laid down a scepter.

Thank God Jesus could have given him back. Jesus wouldn't have said, whoa, you're a Christian now, you can't be involved in politics. Oh no, finally, finally, finally, pilot would have finally not been such a screw up that he was in politics, frankly. Now, in what way then, though, is Jesus' political? You see, on the one hand, Jesus didn't say,

yes, I'm political, because he had a show that he's not, and that he doesn't bring you a political program. And to become a Christian, you do not first decide where is the politics going. You must not do that. Otherwise, he's not the king, you see. But on the other hand, on the other hand, the reason he didn't say no, I'm not politically,

he didn't say yes, but he didn't say no. Why? Because in the end, what Jesus Christ does to you, changes every part of your life. Absolutely. You see, if you want to know how that works, in a very sly way, Luke is not only showing us that he's not political because Herod and Pilate say he's not. And that's Luke's way of saying, Jesus is not basically a political person at all. He didn't come like that.

He didn't come to do that. So don't think that basically Christianity is person at all. He didn't come like that. He didn't come to do that. So don't think that basically Christianity's all about politics. But on the other hand, there's a third politician. Did you know there's a third political operative in this story? There's a third one. You say, well, okay, pilot, herod, where's the third political operative? It's Barabbas.

Oh, yeah. There was a real revolutionary and he was in prison and it was the custom at the Passover, you know, to free a prisoner. And so even though Luke doesn't tell us, the other three gospel tells us, tell us that it was pilot's idea, pilot comes and says, you know, I don't really want to have to kill this man, so I'll tell you what, I'll give you a choice. You want me to convict him, but let's free a prisoner. What shall it be? Jesus or Burabis? Burabis was a real revolutionary, and in other words, Burabis was in jail for really doing the things that Jesus was about to be punished for. And of course, Pallet was a little upset and didn't realize it backfired because Pallet

puts in front of them two Jesuses. Did you know that Barabbas' name was Jesus? Do you know the word Barabbas means Son of the Father? And so you have in front of us two sons of the Father. We have in front of us two Jesuses. Pallet says, which one do you want? And of course the world says, give us Barabbas. Why? What Lucas is trying to say is, Jesus in one way is a revolutionary, a very different kind

of revolutionary, a very different kind. You see, on the one hand, the story of Barabbas and Jesus is brought out because Barabbas is you and me. When Jesus Christ is killed for the very sins the Barabbas is guilty of, and Barabbas is freed, what have you got a picture of? Don't you know an insult when you see it? The gospel writer Luke is trying to say,

where are Barabbas? Can you imagine Barabbas is in prison and he's getting ready to be crucified and he's thinking about the suffocation and he's thinking about the nails and the hands. And then he hears a crowd outside calling crucify him, crucify him and he says, oh my gosh, it's going to be any minute. And then he hears the soldiers come in and open the door and he says, oh my gosh, here it's going to be. And the soldiers say, you're free.

And the Barabbas would say, how could I be free? And the soldiers being very gruff and stupid and all the thing, oh, here, come on. And he takes them out and he shows them. What's Brabis gonna say? He's gonna say, wait a minute, that's my cross. He's bearing. Those are my nails he's receiving in his hands. And that is my death he's bearing. Those are my nails he's receiving in his hands.

And that is my death he's dying. He's the only person in history that could actually literally say that. And I am breathing his fresh air. And I am released. Do you see the word there at the very end? He released. Barabbas. That is the gospel.

God made him who knew no sin, to be sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Do you know why Jesus was not saying anything? Do you know why Jesus was letting them beat him? Because Jesus Christ was taking our punishment. He was acting the way a guilty person should act. He says, punish me. He was being true to us. He was being faithful

to us. And if you take that in, if you take that all the way in, if you know that you are now, don't you see what's so interesting? Jesus didn't just die for you, so your sins are forgiven in a general way. What you have is what the theologians here in the picture of Jesus and Brabis call double imputation. Double imputation. It's not just that Jesus died, so your sins go to him, but his freedom comes to you. His righteousness comes to you. You are now treated as if you never did these things. God now accepts you and loves you as you are.

That's revolutionary. Absolutely revolutionary. Why? Because do you know what it means now? It means your identity, your real wealth, your real citizenship, your race, your ethnicity, your culture, your class status. None of those things are as important now as what Jesus is to you. And that means your whole attitude toward your politics, toward your culture, toward your class has all been changed.

And you're free to go wherever you can do the most good. You don't have to fight, you're not bitter all the time. You haven't, because your identity isn't your race, it's not your class, it's Jesus. It's not your wealth, it's not your career, it's Jesus. You suddenly are radically changed, radically freed in every way. You're at a two-tourd everything. He is incredibly political.

And let me close with this. Tom Skinner, African-American pastor who lived in New York and died not too long ago. He preached a sermon at Urbana Missionary Conference in Urbana, Illinois, in 1970. I didn't make it, but I got the tape. And a number of my friends went. I was a brand new Christian, and I couldn't get it. but I got the tape and a number of my friends went. I was a brand new Christian and I couldn't get it.

I could not listen to this sermon enough. You know, we're about to take a mission's offering at the end of this sermon, at the end of the service. Why? Because we believe that the best way to change the world is to fill it with the gospel, the grace of Jesus Christ. And there is nothing more revolutionary and politically revolutionary in the end than that. If I had time I tell you where did anti-slavery come from?

There was nobody, no place, no where, no culture. It ever came up with the idea that it was wrong to enslave somebody else. It came, I think, for what I can tell. People finally thinking about what the gospel means. Historically, that's certainly where it came from. It came from the evangelical awakenings of the late 18th century. And this is the reason why Tom Skinner in this incredible sermon ended a sermon like this.

He said, "'Berabis is the guy who's gonna destroy the system. "'Berabis was gonna burn them out. "'Berabis was gonna kill them. "'Why would they want? "'Berabis.'" Barabis was gonna shoot down the religious leaders because he saw them as part of the establishment. Why would they want Barabbas? Barabbas was going to shoot down the religious leaders because he saw them as part of the establishment. Why would they ask Barabbas out? He's

dangerous. Well, here's why. If you let Barabbas go, he starts another disturbance or riot. You can always call out the National Guard. All you have to do is push a few tanks into his neighborhood. You can squash, you know, whatever he's up to. You can find where he's keeping his guns. You can write his apartment, probably in the east of village. Yeah, you know what he says? You can always stop a rabbi's, but how do you stop Jesus? How do you stop a man who has no guns, no tanks,

no ammunition, and is still shaking up the whole Roman Empire? They thought there was one answer, they said, we've gotta get rid of him here and there. Right now, let's get rid of Barabbas. We can always stop Barabbas. This is our only chance. We don't want him to rule over us. So they killed him and they buried him.

And they said, that's the last we will ever hear of that revolutionary. And then Tom Skinner says, three days later, Jesus Christ pulled off the greatest political coup of all time. Are you King of the Jews? Yes. Let's pray. Our Father, help us understand what real mission is, how to really change the world. It's by looking at what Jesus has done for us,

and then having the emotional and spiritual wealth to be able to do the same thing everywhere in the world. That will have tremendous political ramifications. And we ask that you would help us to have the politics of Jesus. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for joining us today. If you were encouraged by today's teaching, please rate and review it so more people can discover this podcast. This month's sermons were recorded from 1994 to 1997. The sermons and talks you here on the Gospel and Life Podcast were preached from 1989 to 2017, while Dr. Keller was senior

pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.