The Courage to Die to Self
Luke 23:13-25

I. You die to self to bring others justice.

A. One person who did not die to self in Luke 23 was Pontius Pilate. Pilate had been given responsibility by the Roman Empire as its top administrator in Jerusalem. In vs. 14 Pilate says “I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.” Then in vs. 15 Pilate says, “Neither did Herod.” In fact, Pilate said two more times that Jesus was innocent (in vs. 20 and vs. 22). Jesus was not released by Pilate even though Pilate knew he was innocent. Why not? Because of politics. Verse 23 reveals that Pilate gave in to the people.

B. So because of his fear of what the people might do, he did not give the innocent Jesus justice. And in the same way the people did not die to their desire to be approved of by their religious leaders. Just five days earlier these same people had praised Jesus’ name when he rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. But how quickly the religious leaders had been able to turn the people against Jesus. Not one of the people had the courage to stand up and defend Jesus. The people also then denied Jesus justice because they wanted the approval of the leaders.

II. You die to self to bring God’s will.

A. The one person who did die to self in Luke 23 was Jesus. Jesus did not protest the injustice being done to Him. Why not? In Luke 18:31-33 we read what Jesus had said to His disciples: “And taking the twelve, he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.’”

B. It’s hard to die to self. What can give you the courage to die to self? Remembering that God always rewards those who obey Him. God had prophesied that some very painful things would happen to Jesus. But did you notice the last thing that God prophesied for Jesus after Jesus was mocked, flogged, spit upon and killed? He would rise again. He would be resurrected and brought to rule over the whole world as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus received His reward after He died to self. You too will be rewarded.

III. You die to self to bring others life.

A. The release of Barabbas (vs. 18) is a picture of what Jesus has done for each one of us. Jesus died so that we can have life. John the Baptist said about Jesus in John 1:29: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” There is a sense in which Jesus expects each Christian to die to self just like He did even though we don’t die for the sins of others. That is why Jesus said in Luke 9:23: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Application:

Have the courage to die to self when Jesus calls you to such a death.

Sources:

The Gospel of Luke
Commentary on Luke by Darrell Bock
Sermon by R. Kent Hughes