What Shall I Do with Jesus - Mark 15
Septemeber 4, 2011

My parents used to tell me the story of my birth over and over again -- as if I didn't remember the story, the first twenty times they told it to me, they continuously tell me the story. And in all truth, it's quite a miraculous story full of twists and turns as a result of God's sovereign grace; however, simply because I've heard the story so many times, believe it or not, I sometimes forget about it and neglect it all-together.

Have you heard of a story like that? Have you heard a story so many times that you simply forget it, putting it into the furthest recesses of your memory and neglecting it all together? Well, apart from the story of my birth, I know I do -- I often forget and neglect the greatest story of all: the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, when I am really stressed or upset about something, my parents would occasionally repeat the story of my birth and when they do, maybe one out of ten times they share the story, I realize something different about either my parent's love for me or God's love for me and I feel relieved.

In other words, sometimes the reason I get discouraged, the reason I feel hopeless or weak is because I forget the truths of the story that I've heard so many times.

Let me ask you -- how are you today? I mean truly, how are you? I want you to really think about how you are and then once you can get a few words to describe how you are, I want you to ask yourself, do you remember the greatest story of all? Or have you forgotten or perhaps have been neglecting the story of the Gospel?

Well, if so, the goal of today is to remind you once more of the story you've heard over and over again in hopes that you might hear something different, even if the story sounds the same.

So better than giving you someone else's version or interpretation of the story, I want to just give it you -- I don’t want to just read it for you but as we go back and read from verse 12 to 39, I want you to truly receive the Word of God from no one but Himself here today…

The king of kings, Jesus Christ, who crafted you in Himself for Himself, had the flesh torn from his body and had shed his precious blood to save you, using each nail like a stroke of a paint brush, Jesus painted a portrait of his love for you -- penned in something far more permanent than ink or paint or even colors: a portrait penned with the blood of God.

This is the story we've heard many times but for some of us, this is the story we've forgotten and this is the story we've neglected -- we've taken this amazing story, the beautiful Gospel, and we've let it sink into the furthest reaches of our memory and conscious.

But today, this story needs to fully surface -- you need to truly grasp the depths of this story because there is a question posed here in verse 12 that isn't just addressed to an angry mob by a politically stressed governor; rather, it is addressed from God to you.

In verse 12, Pilate asks a very profound questions: "What shall I do then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" In other words: you've just heard the story of Jesus, the son of God, sent to this earth to die for you out of love… so, now, what should you do with Him? What should you do with Jesus Christ?

I remember I once found a $20 bill in my pocket and I remember asking myself what I should do with the money -- I remember asking myself how I should use the $20. In other words, by asking the question "what should I do with Him" it saying that He has allowed himself to be utterly, humbly, and submissively used -- even to the point of crucifixion.

So, what will you do with Jesus? What will you do with the author of the greatest story of all? Well, according to Mark, there are two general things you could do with him.

First, you could follow Pilate:

The first thing Pilate did with Jesus is in verse 15: In other words, the first thing he did was neglect him. Instead of considering what Jesus wants and desires and commands, Pilate neglects him all together and seeks what the demands and desires and commands of the crowd are.

Now a crowd doesn't always have to be this odd world out there -- in the fourth to eighth century, Christian monks would live in small monasteries or sometimes alone in the woods to set apart from the world -- this is not necessarily what a crowd is; it isn't this exterior world shouting all these things to you, although it can be.

In reality, the crowd is much smaller than the world and it is much closer to you -- a crowd can even be a relationship or friendship with one person, even a family member. And following Pilate means investing more into what these few people or this one person wants over what Jesus wants -- it's very subtle and it's honestly very difficult to differentiate the two… but it is necessary to do so as it is in conjunction with the ways of Pilate.

The second thing Pilate does with Jesus, also found in verse 15, is use him: for Pilate, this means using Jesus to satisfy the crowd but for you and I, it may mean using Jesus for something else -- one thing I can't stand are rock-bottom believers: Christians who only seek after the Lord only when they hit rock bottom -- and until they hit absolute bottom, they try to wade in the waters of all these things weighing them down. But the moment everything comes crashing down, they use Jesus to feel better about things and they use Jesus to get back to where they were.

Now this needs some thought but let me ask you -- have you or do you use your relationship with Jesus just to get back to a spiritual bar you've set for yourself? Because we as Christians do this all the time.

The third thing Pilate does with Jesus is wash his hands of him -- some texts say after Jesus was flogged and some say before but in any case, Pilate washes his hands of what other people do to Jesus and how other people use Jesus.

This means that the way other people use Jesus doesn't phase him -- but let me ask you, does it affect and phase you? When you see a Christian struggling, especially within the church, does that not settle well with you or do you not care and wash your hands of how others treat Jesus?

A pillar in the purpose of church is so that this does not happen but in our modern culture, this is all that happens -- if you don’t like someone, you don’t have to associate with them. If you disagree with someone, you can block them in some fashion. It's all about you and how you can wash your hands of everyone -- but that is precisely what Pilate did.

And as a result of what Pilate does, we have the most horrible and horrific day in all of history: the torture and mocking and crucifixion of the Son of God.

But there is another way to respond to the question, "What shall I do with Jesus" -- it's the Simon from Cyrene way.

Simon from Cyrene is accounted in many of the Gospels and in each one, you will only find one thing: that he was forced to carry the cross. The accounts say nothing more and nothing less than that -- and here is why I think this is:

Because that is all you are to do with Jesus -- you are not to be like Pilate and neglect him or use him or wash your hands of how others use him; rather, you are simply to follow him to the death.

The interesting thing about this part in the text is that the word "forced" is only used in one other way in all of the Gospels and it is used by Jesus when he says (Matthew 5)…
41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

Did you think Jesus was referring to someone else? Perhaps -- but it's clear Jesus was primarily referring to himself.

What this means is this: if you are a Christian, you have no option -- it is something you must do. Just like you being born is something that must happen without your control and just like you being saved is something entirely out of your control and something that just must happen, so too, must you follow Jesus and carry your cross -- not merely going with him one mile but all the miles it takes to your death.

Jesus has died for you on the cross -- what shall you do with him? The way of Pilate is to use him in various ways but the way of Simon is to be used by him and like him. So, what shall you do?

This is what Paul did: I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)

How about you? There is a story we've heard many times and it is called the Gospel wherein the son of God let himself be used and abused to the point of suffering and death. What will you do with this story? What shall you do with this Jesus? Follow the ways of Pilate or follow the ways of Simon?