I believe: Part 4

“…suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried “ 

 "...ポンテオ·ピラトのもとに苦しみを受け、十字架につけられ、死にて、葬られた" 
Philippians 2:1-16

    So far, we have spoken about the Father, the Son, and the Virgin Birth and Mary.

Today, we will be looking at the last week of Jesus’ earthly life.

I find that seeing the name of ‘Pontius Pilate’ in the Creed a little strange.  He was unquestionably not a believer but a deeply self-centered man who was politically motivated.  Just who was this man?

Pontius Pilate ポンテオ·ピラトwas most likely from a Roman family of Pontii and the name Pilate was not a given name but a sort of title.  Meaning “Wearing the cap” which indicated the he was a “freeman” or a descendant of one.

Pilate was the 5^th or 6^th in the order of Roman perfect (meaning ‘made in front’ or ‘put in charge’) of Judea serving under Emperor Tiberius. His main office was at Caesarea but often came up to Jerusalem.  We learn that he was a man of some means and that he really did not like living in this region—in fact, he really hated the Jews.  Along with being a dishonest ruler, insensitive, cruel, a pleasure-seeking and corrupt man, he was sent back to Rome because he harshly suppressed and massacred a group of Samaritans in an uprising in about 37 AD. And the Jews did not like him either.  Because he freely shed their blood, they often accused him of every crime in the book along with cruelty and burglary. No love there.

This Roman leader had four roles that he was in charge of. 

#1, he would levy taxes レビー税and mint coins. #2, he was an accountant会計士-as he inspected the books that went straight to Rome and with this responsibility, he was in charge of large scale building projects.  #3, he was the area’s supreme judge最高裁判所裁判官.  People could appeal to Rome but it was expensive and timely.  He would travel the countryside administering Roman justice. …#4, he was the commander of the army軍の司令官.  But, this leader only had auxiliary troops broken up onto three groups and one cavalry regiment of a total force of about 6X500 (3,000) men force. If things got real bad, he could call on the governor of Syria and have 5,300 heavy infantry come. But the Syrian governor was absent so he was by himself.

He would come to Jerusalem as seldom as possible.  In contrast to his home city of Rome with its theaters, baths, games and a very social group of friends, Jerusalem was filled with religious zealots, dreary weather and repressive heat. And when he did come, he would stay at Herod, the Great’s palace.

Well, to know this about Pontius Pilate is not what the Creed is all about. His name is in the Creed to give it some historical marker.  It was during this man’s rule that all this happened.  That Jesus did indeed suffered under Pontius Pilate.  What was this suffering?

Turn with me to a passage that deals with this suffering under Pontius Pilate. Matt 27:11-26; Mark 15:2-15; Luke 23: 2-25; John 18:28- 19:1-16.

During the ministry of Jesus, He taught His followers to “take up your cross and follow Me.”  He did not say, “Take up His Cross.”  That along was for Him to carry. We are to follow His profound three-part prescription to anyone who wants to come after Jesus and to be part of His Family. 

1. The first is to DENY YOURSELF自らを否定し.

This does not mean self-rejection.  Not wallowing around in self-loathing or turning away from any enjoyment life has. You might know the saying: “If it is fun, it must be bad!” 1 Tim 6:17 counters that with: “Richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”  We are, in fact, of great value to God.  He thought enough of you to die for you. If His loves for us is so deep, why do you hate or reject yourself? 

The DENY that Jesus teaches about is that which is rooted in the old nature. 1 John 2:16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. .

Growth in the Christian life demands this.  To live instead a Jesus—kind of life.

The second call is to 2. TAKE UP your Cross. 自らの十字架を携えMany feel that the cross is suffering. A reflection of what happened on that day on the Cross of Jesus: that was God’s UNIQUE will for His Son.  Not for you.  The Cross was both God’s Will for His Son AND the symbol of His full commitment to do His Father’s Will. 

Your Cross to bear: what could that be?  In a sense, the same as what Jesus needed to do—that being to do whatever God wants you to do…day by day.  Each day, we are to decide to do God’s Will.  In electing to do that, we become His Disciples.

The third is to 3. FOLLOW HIM彼に従ってください.  Keep close to Me is how the Living Bible states it.  I like that picture.  How can this be done—in yourself; it can’t!  That is why we really need Him and His Spirit’s closeness to our spirit.  He does not want us to use a rule book approach to this kind of life—but one that is found in a relationship.  He being our Father, connected to Him because of the Work on the Cross.  Because of His sufferings!  There, we finally got there!

His suffering was during His whole life.  See Hebrews 5:8 Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered . 12:3-4 Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.. ⁴ In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. From Isaiah 53:3 we read with gladness: He was despised and rejected by mankind,a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. .

As the time got closer for His death, He told His Men Matt 26:38 Then He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”. It was there that Jesus experienced four different aspects of pain. “And they crucified Him” Mk 15:24. See the handout for more details on this.

 Quickly, they are: a. Physical Pain and Death.  In the English Bible, just four words are used to say what happened there on the Cross. 

Secondly, b. The Pain of Bearing Sin罪を耐える苦痛. For Jesus, during His eternal life, He always knew God’s Love.  There was no sin in Him.  From before the creation of the world, He only knew God’s pleasure.  On the Cross, all that changed.  When His Father looked on Him at that time, God thought of Man’s sin as belonging to Christ!  Our sins, all of the sins of Mankind, DID in fact belong to Christ.  It does not mean that the Father thought that Jesus Himself actually had a sinful nature, but rather that the guilt for our sins (the liability to punishment) was thought of God as belonging to Christ instead to us. 

Thirdly, c. Abandonment放棄.  Ever felt alone?  Abandoned, deserted?  Him, more so.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, He said: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death…”  Mk 14:34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” He said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”.

In every sense of the word, He was alone.  No one could or would take His place. When He spoke from the Cross “why have You forsaken Me”, He was finally cut off from the eternal sweet closeness to His Father.  As Jesus bore our sins on that Cross, He as abandoned by His Father and faced the heaviness of the guilt of billions of sins alone.

Lastly, d. Bearing The Wrath of God神の怒りを耐える.  Much, much deeper the suffering than the first three is this one.  The Wrath of God on Himself.  His Father poured out on Jesus the ferocity of His wrath: Jesus became the object of the intense hatred of sin and vengeance against sin, which God had patiently stored up since the Garden of Eden.  Romans 3:25 means: “A sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor.”  Propitiation. (Jesus bore the wrath of God against sin on Himself.)  25-26 He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  At the Cross, the fury of all that stored-up wrath or fury against sin was unlashed against God’s only Son. 

Oh, the beatings, the crown of thorns, the metal tipped whip, the spitting, the words of anger all was suffering.  It was this suffering that the Apostles wanted us to know about.  It is part of the Gospel of Redemption.  God’s plan was to buy us back.  We sinned.  We broke the contract – the rebellion affected our standing with God.  Because He is Holy, and we are not, we fell out of fellowship with Him.  His way to bring us back to Himself—to be redeemed—was to send His Son to die in our place on the Cross.  The one Pilate sent Jesus to.

Next week, Sunday happened.  The tables were reset, the debt was been paid, the ransom was given, and Man was set free—if they placed their trust in Him who died for us.

The following is in a handout along with the description of what a Crucifixion is…
Order of the Events of the Crucifixion:

Arrival at Golgotha (Calvary) ゴルゴタへの到着（カルバリー）, Mt 27:33; Mk 15:22; Lk 23:33; Jn 19:17
Offer of a benumbing drink, 痛みを麻痺させる飲み物の提供Mt 27:34
The crucifixion, はりつけ Mt 27:35
Cry, 'Father, forgive...', 泣く、 "父よ、お赦しください..." Lk 23:34
The parting of Christ's garments, キリストの上着を分ける Mt 27:35
Jesus mocked, イエスは嘲笑を受ける Mt 27:39-44; Mk 15:29
The thieves rail on Him, but one believes, 泥棒はののしる、が一人は信ずるMt 27:44
Second cry, "Today you will be with me...', 第二の叫びは、 "あなたは、今日、私とともにいる."Lk 23:43
Third cry, 'Dear woman, here is your son, 第三の叫びは、 "親愛なる女性は、ここにあなたの息子がいる ' Jn 19:26-27
The darkness, 暗闇Mt 27:45; Mk 15:33
The fourth cry, 'My God, my God...', 第四の叫び、 "わが神、わが神..." Mt 27:46-47; Mk 15:34-36
Fifth cry, 'I am thirsty,'第五の叫び、 "私はのどが渇いています 'Jn 19:28
Sixth cry, 'It is finished,'第六の叫び、 "終わった Jn 19:30
Seventh cry, 'Father, into Thy hands...,' セブンス叫び、 "父よ、汝の御手の中に..."Lk 23:46
Jesus dismisses His spirit, イエスは、彼の霊をゆだねたMt 27:50; Mk 15:37

Merrill F. Unger, The New Unger's Bible Handbook, Revised by Gary N. Larson, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984, pp. 397-398.

Brothers and Sisters, what do you believe? 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;

On the third day He rose again;

He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.

我は天地の造り主、全能の父なる神を信ず。我はその独り子、我らの主、イエス・キリストを信ず。主は聖霊によりてやどり、処女マリヤより生まれ、ポンテオ・ピラトのもとに苦しみを受け、十字架につけられ、死にて葬られ、陰府にくだり、三日目に死人のうちよりよみがえり、天にのぼり、全能の父なる神の右に座したまえり、かしこより来りて生ける者と死ねる者とを審きたまわん。我は聖霊を信ず、聖なる公同の教会、聖徒の交わり、罪の赦し、身体のよみがえり、永遠の生命を信ず。アーメン

I still Believe in Jesus but … who is His Mother? 私は、それでもなおイエスを信ずる...そして誰が彼の母親ですか？

   Well, last week, we took some time to explore this Lordship of Jesus Question.  It might not have been a question you had. It might have been a reminder of simple truths you hold on to.  It may not have been helpful at all—for a series of reasons. None-the-less, I HAVE to preach that part of the Message.  As with Paul, as he wrote in Romans 1:16 ローマ1:16 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for Salvation to everyone who believes… For in the Gospel a righteous from God is revealed…”

   As we have stated before, The Gospel Message is FOR the Christian AND the Non-Christian alike.  We who know this Message and follow it need to be reminded “more often than we need to be instructed.” And for those who do not believe the message, they too need to hear it because it is life giving AND because the message is true.

   先週：宿題。 Last week, I had asked you to look up those verses that we printed in the handout.  I asked you to write down some thoughts.  Who would want to be the second one to share what they found?   

1 Cor 10:31; Matt 5:16; Luke 10:38-42; Mark 6:31; Isaiah 55:6-7  1コリント10:31 ; マタイ5：16; ルカ10:38-42 ; マルコ6：31; イザヤ55:6-7

   Isaiah 55:6-7 ⁶ Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

   Before we move from this point, is there anyone here this morning that wants to call on God for your Salvation?  Is there anyone who wants this pardon that is offered by the Saving God? 

   From a commentary I have been reading, the author suggest that this passage from Isaiah uses both repentance FROM sin and COMING TO Christ for pardon.  Last week we spoke of this: “A person moves FROM sin and TURNS to Christ.” 人は罪からイエスへ向きなおす。

call on Him彼を呼び求めなさい  Let the wicked forsake their ways邪悪なものは自らの道を進ませましょう。  the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the Lord. 彼らが向き直すようにしましょう。  To better understand this, turn to Paul’s writing in Acts 20:21: “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”

   Still later, in Hebrews 6:1, ヘブル人への手紙6：1 we find: “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God…”

   The phrases today: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord. who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, 我は天地の造り主、全能の父なる神を信ず。我はその独り子、我らの主、イエス・キリストを信ず。主は聖霊によりてやどり、処女マリヤより生まれ
   If we were to summarize the Biblical teaching about the Person of Christ, it would look like this: Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in one person, and will be for forever. 

   In saying that, Biblical proof is very strong to support this definition.  Let’s get to it:

   As we found last week, Luke as well as Matthew accounts are most important to the foundation of this claim in the Apostle’s Creed.  The birth of Jesus is found there.  The Promise of that Birth, however is found in many Old Testament passages as in Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel.  

    The Virgin Birth: 処女懐胎:  Huge item here!  I am sure there are other so-called- faiths that have something like this but this is very important to hold to as a matter of Faith.  The Scriptures undoubtedly asserts that Jesus was conceived in the womb of His mother Mary by a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit and without a human father. 

   Matt 1:18 マタイ1：18        This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

   Matt 1:20 マタイ1:20  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

   Matt 1:24-25 マタイ1：24-25: ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.

   This is asserted in Luke’s Gospel, as well, where we read of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary with this news.  Luke 1:35.  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”

   This is the birth of Hope. 希望の誕生. In a world that is constantly changing, with wars, sickness, poverty and injustice, there are people who struggle to keep on living, living by habit long after they had lost any sense of purpose or drive, significance, ambition or goal.  And into this world God had made preparations. 

   Things had not gone the way Creator God wished them to go.  In Isa 5:7b イザヤ5：7b that when He looked for justice, He saw bloodshed, looked for righteousness but heard cries of distress instead.  And He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Yes, things with His own Children, the Nation of Israel, they had turned against His laws and commands.  They had killed the Prophets and cheated one another, lied, and used each other for ill.  The more life fell under the control of sin, the emptier life seemed, and the more frustrated His People became (Isa 59) イザヤ59.  But His Plan for them was for good.  Even with the Peace of Rome, there were heavy taxes, armies occupied their cities, Roman culture and values, slavery and misery were every day experiences.  There were still wars and poverty BUT as the people struggled to live their lives, something very unique was about to happen in this out of the way province of Rome.  A Birth of a Baby took place and only shepherds noticed and some wise men from the East.  And this Baby would be able to do something no law could.  One day, THIS Baby would say “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  (John 10:10 、ヨハネ10:10.)

   To a world of people who live from one day to the next with no real hope, without real meaning to life—this Birth—this Baby Jesus, the Christ, would offer a fresh newness to a dull life.  A life worth living.  A life turned around and transformed by the Power of God and the world will never be the same again.

   The Virgin Birth and the doctrinal importance of that birth is seen in at least three areas: 処女懐胎とその出生の教義上の重要性は、少なくとも3つの分野で見られます。

1. This shows that Salvation eventually must come from the Lord, Himself. 救いは神から来る必要があります The Lord promised that the “seed” of the woman (Gen 3:15) 創世記3:15、would in the end bring the end of the serpent, Satan.  God brought this about by His Own Power and not through mere human effort, strength or struggle.

   Our Salvation can never come through Human effort, but MUST be the Work of God Himself.  This proves to be the case as Paul writes in Gal 4:4-5 4:4-5  But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to Son-ship.

2. The Virgin Birth made possible the uniting of FULL Deity and FULL Humanity in one Person. 神と人との統合を可能とする This was the means God used to send His Only Son to earth as a Man.  (John 3:16, Gal 4:4)  If we would try to think up a better way for this to happen, it would come far short of the glory this produces.  I would guess God ‘could have’ made Jesus a human being in Heaven and sent Him down an escalator to the earth but that would not have helped us see Him as fully Man as we are.  That type of creation would not have come down the human line from Adam. 

   On the other hand, if God ‘could have’ made Jesus come from a man and woman union, with His fully divine nature miraculously united to his human nature later in his life, that might be possible.  But that would bring the problem of seeing Him fully God as His origin was like ours in every way.  Could we become divine later on in life as well?  No.  Some teach that but not teachings from the Bible.

   We can see some of why God did this in the way He did.  This way helps us understand how God, in His complete wisdom, ordained or designed a combination of human and Godly effect in the birth of Christ.  We can see that impact would be greater to see that the Virgin Birth—with the influence and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit could work this to become reality with Mary.

•The Virgin Birth and the doctrinal importance of that birth is seen:

3. There is the problem of inherited sin; the Original Sin原罪の問題 of Adam. The Virgin Birth makes possible Christ’s TRUE humanity without inheriting the Sin of Adam.  It would not be connected to Adam race.  All of human kind has indeed inherited legal guilt and a corrupt moral nature from our first father, Adam.  The fact that Jesus did not have a human father means that the direct line of decent from Adam is somewhat interrupted.  Jesus’ ancestral connection to Adam would be different.  This moral and legal issue does not belong to Christ.

   Look at Luke 1:35 ルカ1:35  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”

   Just because the Holy Spirit brought about the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary, this child can be called “holy.”  In this case, the unbroken line of descent from Adam was interrupted and that Jesus was conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit.  Without a direct connect with the line of Adam, that breaks the line, was the method God, the Father, used to bring it about that Jesus was fully human YET did not share the inherited sin that Adam carried.

   Here is where it gets tricky.  Some groups teach that Mary herself was free from sin, but the Scripture nowhere teaches that.  How far back will it need to go so that this guilt and corrupt moral nature would not be there? (On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed, 1854年12月8日に、ピウス9世は宣言した…“The Most Holy Virgin Mary was, in the first moment of her conception … in view of the merits of Jesus Christ … preserved free from ALL stain of original sin.”  (Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, trans. Patrick Lynch (Rockford: Tan, 1960), p 190). They also teach that Mary was free from every personal sin during her whole life”, p. 203).

   To respond to that, we must confirm that this belief is not supported from Scripture.  “All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”  Mary was indeed “Blessed…among women” (Lk 1:42) but nowhere does the Bible specify that Mary was free from inherited sin.  Just not there. そこにだけではない！

   As we look at how the Christian Faith has been attacked over the years, it should not catch us by surprise that those who deny the complete truthfulness of Scripture would also deny the doctrine of the Virgin Birth.  It is not possible, they would say.  If our beliefs were to be directed by the statements of the Scripture, than we would truthfully not deny this teaching.

   To say we believe this because it is in the Apostle’s Creed is not the proof of it correctiveness.  The Scriptures affirms the teaching of the Virgin Birth.  As we learn more about this Creator God, such a miracle is not out of line from what He is capable of doing.  Anyone who affirms that the Virgin Birth is just impossible is, in fact, confessing his or her unbelief in the God of the Bible.  And as we learn more of the doctrines of the Faith, we would be true to His Character to believe and affirm this doctrine as well. この教義を肯定する必要があります。