1) Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who presided over Jesus' trial, was desperate to avoid another political failure and placate the Jewish leaders who challenged his authority. During Jesus' trial, Pilate tried multiple times to avoid responsibility for Jesus' execution but ultimately succumbed to external political pressures over his conscience. 2) Simon of Cyrene, a man from Libya, was forced to carry Jesus' cross to Golgotha. Simon likely became a believer in Jesus as his sons were known members of the church in Rome. 3) The Roman centurion in charge of Jesus' crucifixion declared "truly this was the Son of God" after witnessing the earthquake and

1. Witnesses of
Christ’s Passion
Bible Conference Jakarta 2015

2. Pontius Pilate
Witnesses of Christ’s Passion

3. I. The Truth About Pilate
The gospels tell us how Jesus had arrived in the court of
Judea’s leading Roman official.
But, how did Pilate get there? Who was he?

4. Pilate is a man desperate to prove his strength as a leader,
and desperate to avoid another high-profile failure.
Pilate, who has been challenged by the Jewish people and
Jewish leadership, will now find himself cornered by the same
adversaries.

5. II. Truth And Politics
In the opening act of Jesus’ trial, Pilate seeks to negotiate a
result in the trial of Jesus that will prevent another riot, or, at
least, absolve himself of any guilt in it.

6. • First encountering the religious leaders, Pilate attempts to
shed responsibility for the impending execution of Jesus by
deferring to them (John 18:28-31).
• Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, ruler of Galilee (Jesus’ home),
so he can deal with (and Pilate can escape) the problem.
Herod also refuses to deal, sending Jesus back to Pilate.

7. • Pilate cites local rules regarding the Passover which allowed
for the release of a prisoner (Matthew 27:15-21).
He offered to release Jesus—but the crowd instead demands
Barabbas.
• Pilate reaffirms Jesus’ innocence, but, sought to placate the
crowd by having Jesus savagely beaten (Luke 23:16).
• Ever the pragmatist, Pilate chooses to execute the Innocent
in order to preserve the peace for a moment. (Matthew 27:24)

8. Pilate confronts Christ with the question of the ages (John
18:37-38).
Jesus affirmed his kingdom had a different origin and a
different character from any Pilate knew.
He declared that his purpose was to give testimony to truth,
and intimated that anyone who was devoted to truth would
listen to Him.

9. III. Truth And Pressure
Pressure From Unknown Forces.
There were pressures at work that Pilate could have never
expected. The events around him spiraled out of control as a
message from his wife arrives in the court (Matthew 27:19).

10. Pressure From Conscience.
Pilate’s words, “I find no guilt in Him” are followed by pleading
with the crowd that Jesus should be released (Matthew
27:26).
When his efforts were again fruitless, he responded by having
Jesus scourged.

11. Pressure From Fear.
The fear for Pilate came when the religious leaders admitted
to the actual reason for their demands for crucifixion—Jesus
claimed to be the Son of God (John 18:7).
First his wife’s dream, then the innocence of the Condemned,
then the thought that Jesus might be the Son of God!

12. The result of all of this pressure?
• Pilate allowed the execution of a Man he had himself
declared to be innocent.
• Pilate succumbed to the external pressure to do wrong,
instead of internal pressure to do right.
• Pilate tried to wash his hands of guilt, but has had have
blood on his hands for two millennia.

13. IV. Truth And The Truth
As Pilate muddled over the question of what truth is, Truth
was standing before Him—being judged largely on the basis
of lies.
John’s gospel doesn’t see truth conceptually, but
personalizes truth in Jesus Christ. John’s gospel uses the
word truth more than any other book of the Bible—and it
almost exclusively refers to Christ Himself.

14. Truth is not defined or determined by the mood of the mob or
by the person with the most degrees or the most influence.
Truth is Christ.
Pilate faced the Truth—and turned away. In the truest, most
eternal sense, Pilate could not handle the Truth.

15. Conclusion
Before embracing the cross that would rescue human beings
from the necessary consequences of their sin, Jesus said:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)
“What is truth?” is, in a sense, the wrong question.
The better question is, “Who is truth?”
And the eternal Answer is Jesus Christ.

16. Simon of Cyrene
Witnesses of Christ’s Passion

17. I. The Christ
As Jesus walks that road, we must see and hear what that
crowd saw and heard. Throughout this death march, several
things will demand our attention.
“So [Pilate] then handed Him over to them to be crucified.
They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His
own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is
called in Hebrew, Golgotha” (John 19:16-17).

18. It has been about two-and-a-half hours since Jesus was
brought before Pilate, and about fourteen-and-a-half hours
since the Last Supper began in the upper room.
Jesus has endured five illegal trials and at least four
merciless beatings.

19. Jesus has suffered betrayal by one disciple, denial by
another, and abandonement by all.
The agony of the Gethsemane experience has increased His
sufferings exponentially.
The Son of God is in the midst of bearing our griefs and
carrying our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4).

20. His suffering is made all the more amazing by the truth that
this is voluntary.
He said: “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay
down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it
away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John
10:17-18).

21. It is a bleeding portrait of the strength of deity, the power of
divine love, and the majesty of grace.
It is the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world.

22. II. A Man
“When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of
Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the
cross to carry behind Jesus” (Luke 23:26).

23. Weakened by all this, Christ stumbles (perhaps several
times) under the burden of the cross. As a result, the soldiers
draft someone to carry the cross for Him.
Now, out of the crowds in this little passageway, one person
is going to be selected, as one of the soldiers conscripts one
man with a tap of the spear: Simon of Cyrene.

24. A. His Name
It appears that Simon was a Jew from Cyrene, a town in
Libya near the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Tripoli.
Simon had apparently come to Jerusalem as a pilgrim to
celebrate the feast of Passover.

25. B. His Situation
Simon was forced against His will to carry the cross.
Simon is commandeered to go to Calvary—and witnesses
what happens to Jesus.
Imagine the confusion—even anger—he must have felt, but
this hour of bitterness would soon turn into a blessing.

26. Apparently, Simon the Cyrene gave his heart to the Savior
whose cross he carried.
Mark, whose gospel was directed to the church at Rome and
the believers there, wrote that Simon’s sons were named
Rufus and Alexander, implying that they were familiar to the
church there (Mark 15:21).

27. This idea gains even more support in Romans 16:13 when
Paul greets a man named Rufus as part of that very same
Roman assembly.
Paul’s greeting is warm as he writes, “Greet Rufus, a choice
man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.”

28. Imagine, shame turned to salvation as Christ—Simon’s
Savior—died on the cross that he carried.
Simon is one man, but he represents a world of for whom
Christ took the cross—its shame, its penalty, its death.

29. Conclusion
Simon of Cyrene: His view was one of transformation, as he
seems to have moved from shame and embarrassment to
faith in the Christ and forgiveness by His grace.

30. The Centurion
Witnesses of Christ’s Passion

31. Soldiers suffer the hardships of training and are often
subjected, in combat, to a lifestyle of deprivation. The
soldier’s life is also an existence filled with fear and danger.
There is the constant reality of being faced with death.

32. The life of a soldier is not an easy life. Yet, the harshness of a
life and a heart forged in the heat of battles and struggles of
military service is not unreachable.
We see a person of significance who rightly declared the
significance of the Christ. It is the centurion in charge of the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

33. A Centurion’s Life
Soldiers are committed to putting the mission before comfort,
their comrades before self, and obedience to duty above their
personal opinions of the orders they are given. It is a lifestyle
rooted in discipline, authority structures, and teamwork.

34. The Position of a Centurion
The word centurion comes from the Latin term centum,
meaning 100. He was a Roman officer in command of a
hundred men.
Tyndale Bible Dictionary says that, “The office of centurion
was normally the highest one within reach of the ordinary
soldier. Centurions often rose from the ranks because of their
experience and knowledge.”

35. The Life of a Warrior
The tasks involved being a centurion would fall into two basic
areas:
• In Combat.
The centurion was responsible for implementing military
strategy. He would almost always be on point, leading the
charge into battle.

36. The Life of a Warrior
• Out of Combat.
Away from the battlefield, the centurion administered
discipline in the ranks, mediated interpersonal conflicts
among his men, provided security and protection when called
upon, supervised police actions in occupied areas, and, most
notably for our purposes, would oversee executions.

37. Centurions mentioned in the New
TestamentThere are six centurions mentioned, of whom, several had
significant roles. Several of the more prominent centurions in
the New Testament:
• The Centurion of Capernaum (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)
• The Centurion of Caesarea (Acts 10:1,22)
• The Centurion of the Shipwreck (Acts 27-28)

38. Centurions mentioned in the New
TestamentOne writer declared, “The centurions mentioned in the New
Testament are uniformly spoken of in terms of praise,
whether in the Gospels or in the Acts.”

39. A Centurion’s Faith
Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping
guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the
things that were happening, became very frightened and said,
“Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)
In order to fully and carefully consider the magnitude of the
words spoken by this centurion, we need to consider two
things.

40. The Evidence In Opposition to the Declaration.
Christ had claimed to be the Son of God. As a result, they
had condemned Jesus for making that claim, and this
Centurion’s commander-in-chief, Pontius Pilate, had upheld
the conviction.
Now the centurion rejects the condemnation and affirms
Jesus’ claim, because the evidence in favor of Christ’s claim
was overwhelming.

41. The Evidence In Support of the Declaration.
There was something extraordinary, something remarkable
about this particular crucifixion that impacts the centurion.
• The response of Jesus to the trials and injustice that He had
been forced to endure at the hands of His own countrymen
through arrest and trials
• The response of Jesus to the torture that the Centurion and
his men had inflicted upon Him (Matthew 27:27-31)

42. • The dignity with which Jesus responded to the lynch mob
that demanded His blood—as a sheep, silent before the
slaughter
• The response of Jesus to the people who rejected Him, and
the soldiers that crucified Him—including this centurion
• The response of creation to the sin-bearing act of the
Creator (Matt.27:54).

43. As a professional soldier who had no doubt supervised many
executions and witnessed untold numbers of men dying, this
centurion was understandably impacted by the significant
events that accompanied the death of the Christ.

44. The soliders had reason to be fearful, because there was
absolutely nothing ordinary about significant events they were
experiencing. It was:
• No Ordinary Execution. The darkness, the earthquake,
and the cry of dereliction from Christ convinced the soldiers
that this was no ordinary execution.

45. • No Ordinary Power. They came to this conclusion solely
from the effects of the power of God on display at Calvary
that dark day.
• No Ordinary Confession. This confession tells us
something eternally important: Jesus as the promised
Messiah and unique Son of God is seen most clearly in his
passion and death.

46. Conclusion
If the centurion was won to faith in Christ, he came as a
pagan and was saved as Jesus hung upon the Cross.
How simple and basic is that? All who are ever saved in truth
are saved because of the death of Jesus on the Cross.

47. Conclusion
It was that powerful cross, and the significance of the love
displayed there that can change hearts—even the hardened,
battle-weary heart of a career soldier—from death to life.

48. Witnesses of
Christ’s Passion
Bible Conference Jakarta 2015