He suffered under Pontius Pilate.
A call to worship.
Themes
Apostles' Creed • History • Guilt • Judgment • New life • The eternal Son • Suffered • Wept • Died • Systems • Law • Politics • Religion • Condemnation • Pontius Pilate • Grace • The obedient Son • Sin • Freedom • Justification • Salvation
Suffering under Pilate was essential to God’s mission. It revealed that His Son identified Himself with us, even unto judgment.
Scripture reading
John 1:14 Luke 23:23–26 Isaiah 53:4–5 Romans 8:3 2 Corinthians 5:21 Colossians 1:19–20
This call to worship1 is about the living God who, in Jesus Christ, entered our real, sinful history, bore our judgment publicly, historically, willingly, vicariously, and victorously on the Cross, and now calls us to share in His resurrected life.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. With loud shouts, the crowd insistently demanded that He be crucified… So Pilate granted their demand… and surrendered Jesus to their will. And the soldiers led Him away. Surely He has borne our griefs and He has carried our sorrows... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed. God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, God condemned sin in the flesh — in the flesh of Jesus. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. For in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things.
Prayer
God of eternity, and our Creator, we confess that You have entered into our history, You have shouldered our guilt, You have borne our judgment, and You have opened the way to new life. In Christ, You have really entered into our existence. You have not entered simply as a messenger. You were not here merely as an extraordinary human being. You came as the eternal Son — the One who is of one being with the Father, truly God — truly You. You did not send someone else. You, God, have come. You were as real as real could be inside Your created, yet horrifically fallen, world. Jesus Christ was not a floating spirit masquerading as a human. He didn’t just seem human. His humanity wasn’t a mask. He wasn’t playing human. He wasn’t pretending to suffer, to thirst, to be tempted, to bleed. He has bones and blood and body and breath. He actually suffered. He actually wept. He actually died. And in Him, You entered this fallen world, the world of injustice and betrayal and violence, the world of human systems — systems of law and politics and religion — all corrupted by our sin. You penetrated into the real conditions of our estrangement from You. Only by actually entering into our reality could You actually redeem it. So, Jesus is not a myth, or a symbol, or a timeless principle, or a philosophical idea. In Jesus Christ, You came at a specific time, in a specific place — under the rule of a real Roman governor. And so our salvation is not a timeless idea; it is a once-for-all event inside the history of this world. His life, His death, His resurrection— all tangible events. They could be touched. They could be seen. They could be smelled. They could be heard. It was not hidden. He was condemned by official, visible structures: Roman government, Jewish religious leaders, crowds. His condemnation, His Cross, are public events; no one can say: "We did not know." It was not done in a corner. It was exposed before the eyes of the world. And Pilate was not an unfortunate, circumstantial character. Suffering under Pilate was essential to Your mission. It revealed that Your Son identified Himself with us, even unto judgment. Christ stands in our place as the guilty One, though He Himself is guiltless. He bears the sentence that should have been ours. So we confess our utter guilt and Your overwhelming grace, because He does not stand there despite being Your Son — He suffers because He is the obedient Son. Jesus penetrates into the full depth of human lostness. He bore the personal consequences of our sin. And being judged by Pilate, He takes up not just our personal guilt but also the corrupted structures of a broken world. For He redeems not only isolated individuals but the whole of human existence, all of history included, past and present and future, all things. And it is all born in love. He bears our judgment so that we can be set free. He is judged so that we can be justified. Judgment is not the final word! Reconciliation is. We are reconciled with you, God. In the name of Jesus, whose suffering is our judgment, whose suffering is also our salvation, whose suffering under Pilate is not tragedy, is not merely an ending, but is the hidden beginning of our life with You. Amen.
1
This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians who gathered at Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, April 27, 2025.
Great explanation wedding Biblical theology and historical facts!