The First Roman Trial - Jesus Before Pilate part 2

again, Keith, I appreciate that worship. I like that last song, "That Should Be Our Heart." Not just when we face death, but it should be our heart all the days of our life. We don't hunger and thirst for Jesus in our lives. We will not hunger and thirst for Jesus in death. Also, a little disclaimer, you'll notice that Brother Keith's saying "Man of Sorrows," our friend Jared's saying "Man of Sorrows" last week, that was my request. I felt like that really fit where we are in our verses this morning. I always appreciate worship and how it leads us to the Word. I'll take your Bible this morning, turn back with me to John chapter 18.

I know that you're probably still in those verses for our scripture reading. John chapter 18. Like I said, this is a part two. We'll be covering verses 33 through 40. Now, if you've been keeping up faithfully with our study through John 18, you know we are walking right through these many trials that Jesus had to endure. He had three Jewish trials, three civil or Roman trials. We saw Jesus appear before the Jewish authorities right away after his arrest starting in verse 12. In our verses this morning, we are halfway through the first of the Roman trials. Jesus went before Pilate first in those Roman trials.

Now, in our Wednesday night Bible study, I stated that we have three interwoven storylines here in all of these verses. Three interwoven storylines. First, we have the storyline of Jesus. This is God's son. He's come to suffer and bleed and die on the cross for sin. And we know that this is part of God's predetermined eternal plan. I mentioned Jesus first because he is at center stage here. He is at center stage here. And then next, we have the storyline of these hypocritical Jewish leaders. I've spent quite some time examining their actions and I've made quite a bit of application out of their actions.

Now, I have spent all of this time on purpose. I think this has been very timely for some of you. I've enjoyed hearing some of the comments from some of you. I was meeting with one of the men that had been coming to our church this past week. He was sharing with me how this has really spoken to some of his previous experiences in the life of the church. So, I think these examinations of the Jewish leadership have been very timely. And then the third storyline is the storyline of the Roman authorities in this great story, this story of Jesus and going to the cross. Now, this morning we're going to see a shift in this unfolding drama.

All along we have seen the Jewish leadership really at the heart of these events. Men like Annas and Caiaphas. It could be confusing because Annas was the Jewish Hopriest, but yet the Romans removed him from that office and put Caiaphas in that position. Then there are these other unnamed Jewish leaders. The Sanhedrin was a part of this trial. They were a part of Jesus' arrest from the beginning. They took him to trial first. They presented him to pilot the Roman governor. We saw that last week. But now we will see the religious leaders fade into the background here.

And now we will see the arrogant Romans take center stage in dealing with Jesus. Here we see the proud Romans in contrast with the humble Jesus. One of the resources I study kind of put the contrast like this. It's stuck in my mind. I think maybe it might speak to you. Leon Morris says that John, the Apostle John, he pictures for us the lowly majesty of Jesus confronting the proud majesty of Rome's representative. And I think that's what we'll see this morning. Jesus in his lowly majesty will confront Pilate in his proud majesty. Now last week we started this first Roman trial again with Pilate, Pontius Pilate. This trial starts in verse 28.

And again it continues to verse 40. Now we looked at two major truths in our outline. The hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders. Remember we saw that the Jewish leaders tried to shove this conviction through. Very early in the day they met with Pilate and they wanted to get this thing over with. They wanted Pilate to execute Jesus before the crowds could get involved. And they were very careful not to defile themselves. They did not want to come into the residence of Pilate because they would have been ceremonially unclean. But they were hypocritical because they didn't mind condemning an innocent man.

But then we saw that Jesus is accused by Pilate in verses 29 to 32. Pilate he sought to accommodate the Jews. He went out from the Praetorium to meet with him and he put the situation back on the Jews. Remember there was no Roman Roman law broken here. And of course the Jews the Jews were wanting Pilate to do their dirty work. They wanted Jesus executed. Now this morning we're picking up right where we left off. We're right in the middle of this trial starting in verse 33. Let's go back to our verses. Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium.

He came out from the Jews going back into his palace and he summoned Jesus and he said to him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Are you asking or saying this on your own initiative or did others tell you about me?" He's speaking of the Jewish authorities. Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priest delivered you up to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world then my servants would be fighting or fighting for me.

That I might not be delivered up to the Jews but as it is my kingdom is not of this realm or some translations say not of this world." Pilate therefore said to him, "So you are a king." Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to truth or the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" Now there's a transition here.

Still this is part of the trial and when he had said this he went out again to the Jews and he said to them, "I find no guilt in this man but you have a custom that I should release someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish then that I should release for you the king of the Jews?" This is Jesus obviously. "Therefore they cried out again saying, 'Not this man, not Jesus but Barabbas.' Now Barabbas was a robber." Now I will show you how we will divide these verses. Very simple two major truths that are outlined. Jesus is questioned by Pilate.

The major portion of these verses, verses 33 to 38 or the beginning of verse 38 and then Jesus is adjudicated by Pilate. I know I say this repeatedly but we need to be faithful to take notes when we come and sit under God's Word so that we could be good students of God's Word so that we can absorb and learn all that the Lord wants to give us and so that God's Word can form us into the people that God wants us to be. So let's step right off into our message. Let's notice our first major truth here. Jesus is questioned by Pilate. We see this starting in verse 33.

He entered, he left the Jews, he goes back into the governor's hall and he summoned Jesus to him and he says, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Now this questioning goes all the way down to the beginning of verse 38. Now even though earlier he had put this situation back on the Jews as governor, Pilate still felt the need to question Jesus himself. The Jews had tried to portray Jesus as a threat to Rome, as an insurrectionist.

They tried to portray Jesus as a threat to Roman power and because Pilate could not afford any threat to Roman rule, he goes back into the governor's headquarters to question Jesus and here we see at the beginning of verse 33 that Pilate calls or he summons Jesus to himself and he begins this process of questioning Jesus. Now within these verses, within this questioning, we really have this running dialogue. It goes back and forth, back and forth. It's rather lengthy. Now we're going to divide this at length. I think we need to because there are some truths here we really need to see and I want you to follow along with me.

There's a purpose in all of this dividing these verses. So the first observation I want to make here is Pilate's skeptical question. We have Pilate in his skeptical question. Go back to verse 33. What does he say? "Are you the king of the Jews?" Here we see Pilate ask Jesus straight up, right out of his mouth, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Now the tone of this question is interesting. This word "you" that most of you have in your translation, it is in the emphatic. That means that it is very strong. There's a very strong emphasis here. The King James translates this word as "thou." Pilate's question could be accurately translated as this.

"Are you really the king of the Jews?" Or it could be said like this, "You, are you really the king of the Jews?" We see this in all four of the gospel accounts, this question. And we see this emphatic "you" in all four of the gospel records. Here we see that Pilate was skeptical, but he was more than skeptical. He was disbelieving that this man could be a king. Now you've got to remember how a Roman would think. To a Roman like Pilate, a king had to have a government, a king had to have an army, and a king had to have power at his disposal. To Pilate, Jesus had none of the above, so he was not much of a threat to Rome or his personal power.

So there's this skeptical question. Now the second observation is Jesus' revealing question. We have a revealing question by Jesus in verse 44. Again, this is going back and forth. Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?" Here Jesus wants to know if this is Pilate's question or if this is a question given to Pilate by the Jews. It was important for Jesus to know where this question came from so as to answer the question accurately. Now we need to see this.

If this question from Pilate was from Pilate, then Pilate was asking Jesus, "Are you an earthly king?" or "Are you an earthly king?" they could conspire against Rome. But if this question that Pilate asked was from Iannus or Caiaphas through Pilate, then Pilate was asking if Jesus were a Messiah or the promised king of Israel. See, at this point Jesus could not answer the question simply yes or no. He had to know the origin of the question or the nature of the question. So as we continue we will see that this response reveals what is in Pilate's heart. Third observation, going back to Pilate, we see Pilate's scornful questions.

Pilate's scornful questions. Look back with me at verse 35. Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew am I? Your own nation and the chief priest delivered you up to me." And here's the next question, "What have you done?" Here we see Pilate's heart reveal through two questions. The first question reveals his dislike for the Jewish people. Go back. What does he say? Am I not a Jew? Am I? The construction of this question is in a strong negative. In other words, he has some disdain in this question. Now the second question reveals his growing frustration with all of this going on here. This continual problem, this escalating situation.

Pilate knew the Jewish leaders hated Jesus. He just did not understand why they were so committed to bring this situation to this place. So these are scornful questions in verse 35. Now our fourth observation, going back to Jesus. Jesus in his revealing statement. Jesus and his revealing statement in verse 36. Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world then my servants would be fighting or fighting for me.

Then I might not be delivered up to the Jews but as it is my kingdom is not of this world or not of this realm." Here Jesus does admit that he has a kingdom but he emphasizes that his kingdom is not as a man would understand a kingdom, especially a man like Pilate. He emphasizes this point by stressing the absence of any military activity from his followers. No defense from his followers. Here Jesus is revealing to Pilate that his kingdom is not a kingdom that he would understand at all. Then back to Pilate, this fifth observation. Pilate's straightforward question. Pilate's straightforward question.

Pilate therefore said to him, "So you are a king." All of this finally led to Pilate and this simple question. See starting from verse 33 all the way to verse 37 it leads up to this simple but yet important question. He says, "So you are a king." All of this back and forth had a place. He was asking if he was a king. And now sixth Jesus' straightforward statement. Back at verse 37, Pilate therefore said to him, "So you are a king." Jesus said, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of this truth hears my voice.

Whereas before Jesus he seemed to be vague. Even uncooperative. Here Jesus is very clear and he is very bold in this statement. He admits clearly that he is a king and his kingship was the reason that he came to this earth. Now it is interesting the amount of information that Jesus communicates right here in this short phrase. There are three powerful pieces of information that Jesus gives us right here in this little portion of verse 37. Let me go back and I will show you this information. Jesus answered and he said, "For you say correctly that I am a king.

For this reason I've been born, for this reason I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of this truth hears my voice." First Jesus speaks of his birth. Isn't that what he says? "For this reason I have been born." He speaks of the reality of his birth. We know that he was born of a woman but yet conceived of the Holy Spirit. His father was God the father but yet his mother was Mary and he was born through the Virgin Mary as a man, the incarnation. So he speaks of his birth and then second Jesus alludes to his pre-existence. Go back to the verse.

"For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world." This would be strange to Pilate. No doubt he might not have ever understood what this meant but he is alluding to his pre-existence. We learned this back in the very beginning in our study of John. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." This speaks of the eternality of Christ and then third he speaks of his purpose.

"For this reason I've come into the world to bear witness to the truth." His purpose was to bear witness to the truth which was the truth of God's kingdom through his Son and this was a spiritual and not a physical or political kingdom. Now let's continue our seventh observation. Still with Jesus we have Jesus in a straightforward call. Jesus in a straightforward call. Back in verse 37 what does he say? "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Now this statement might not seem much like a call but within the original construction of the language there is the concept of obedience. I like how John MacArthur explains this and I'm quoting.

He says Jesus' words were an implied invitation to Pilate to hear and to obey the truth about him. Jesus is giving him, that is Pilate, an opportunity to hear truth. Truth about him, truth about the Messiah, truth about God's kingdom. So whether we see it or not this is a straightforward call. But then eighth our last observation back with Pilate. Pilate's straightforward rejection. Look at verse 38. Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" Here we see Pilate's scornful heart is revealed. He does not ask this question so asked to receive an answer. He is dismissing the subject.

It's as if he is speaking with his hands and saying, "What is truth?" He is dismissing Jesus. He is dismissing this subject. He is rejecting Jesus and all that Jesus could say to him about truth and his kingdom and why he was there. So in summary what have we seen here? I know this is a very long dialogue. It's a lot of going back and forth but within this dialogue we see a two-fold work. Pilate is seeking to know who this Jesus is. Not for personal spiritual health, not for any spiritual reason. He wants to ascertain if he is a physical threat to Rome. Then we see Jesus revealing who Pilate truly is. His true heart, his true nature.

Simply Pilate is questioning to find out who Jesus is. Jesus is questioning to reveal who Pilate is. Now application here we see a very important truth. We see a very important spiritual reality and we need to see that Jesus is always revealing who people truly are. I want to repeat that because some of you need to get it. Jesus is always revealing who people are. That's what he was doing here with Pilate. And this goes on today. Let me illustrate. Let me explain. People come into the church. Now when I say church I mean the true church.

There are a lot of churches out there just because they have a steeple in red brick doesn't mean it's a true church. People come into the life of a true church. They get under the preaching of the true Word of God, not an adulterated, watered-down Word. Then they are under the work of the Word in their lives. They're around God's people, not hypocrites, not fakes. And they are exposed to the true work and the workings out of the church. And look what happens is, is in that environment they are revealed for who they are. This goes on for the lost and it goes on even for the same.

I have known Christians truly born-again people and they get into an environment in a true church under the taught Word of God and the work of God in other people's lives and around real Christians and they get around the true work of the church and it will reveal them for immature Christians. Jesus is always revealing. But I've also seen people, lost people, and it's sad. Many times these people are religious. I've seen people come into the life of the church and they're coming into a true church. They're under the taught Word of God.

The Word is taught in their life and they're around God's people, true Christians, and they're around the work of the church and all that God is doing in the work of the Holy Spirit and all those lost people get revealed for who they are and all they don't like it. They either come to the place where they'll accept who they are and come to faith in Christ and come to faith in Christ or they'll reject Jesus and usually they leave. You see what I'm showing you? This went on with Pilate and this goes on today and we need to see this. Jesus is about revealing people for who they are.

Now I want to be quick here but I have some additional information that'll help us here. I have what I call six key ingredients to reveal people for who they are. Six key ingredients. First, true Bible preaching. Oh it's sad to say there are a lot of preachers who do not preach the Word of God accurately, biblically. They do not preach the Word of God the way it should be but the Word of God will reveal people for who they are word by word, line by line. Sometimes it's quick, sometimes it's instantaneous, and sometimes it's just gradual. The second of these key ingredients to reveal people for who they are is God's people.

Now I'm not talking about hypocrites. Oh when you bring somebody around God's people it will begin to expose people for who they are. It doesn't matter if it's at work or at the deer camp or the fish camp. It doesn't matter where you are. And the third of these key ingredients is the work of the Spirit. So we have this experiential, this mystical work of the Spirit of God where the Spirit of God begins to work in an individual and open their eyes for who they really are. And then the fourth is the workings of the true church.

When people get involved in the church, a true church where God's working in the church, it will expose them for who they are. And then the last two might be interesting for some of you. Fifth is time. Sometimes it just takes time. Sometimes people come into the life of the church and these things go on and it's just a gradual work, a gradual work of revealing to them who they are. And the sixth is circumstances. God uses circumstances to test people. God knows what people are going to do but they don't know what they're going to do. Pilate didn't know how he was going to react. No, what do we see?

God through many means reveals to people who they are. Now back to this unfolding lengthy dialogue. We're going to move on to our second major truth. Jesus is adjudicated by Pilate. That simply means he is stated as innocent. Let's go back. The second part of verse 38, when he had said this, he went out to the Jews. In other words, he left Jesus and he said to them, "I find no guilt in this man." In other words, he pronounces him as innocent. Here we see that Pilate is through with questioning Jesus. Again, he goes out to the Jews. I said last week that he's accommodating the Jews.

The picture here, the picture we have here is of the Jewish leaders waiting outside the governor's headquarters. They sure would not come into the governor's headquarters for fear of defilement. Remember that hypocrisy? So they're waiting on a report from Pilate. Now there are three observations I want to make here. First, I want us to see Pilate states Jesus' innocence. What does he say in verse 38? "I find no guilt in this man." Here Pilate tells the Jewish leaders that he has found no guilt in Jesus according to Roman law. He has broken no Roman law, so there is no need for death.

Interestingly, we see this statement of innocence two other times from Pilate in John. In John chapter 19 verse 4 and 6. So this isn't a one-time situation where Pilate states Jesus' innocent. Second, notice Pilate, he appeals to a custom. Pilate, he appeals to their custom. Verse 39, "But you have a custom that I should release someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish that I should release for you the king of the Jews?" Here we have a custom which we know little about. Apparently there was a practice of releasing a prisoner on special Jewish occasions, especially occasion like the Passover.

Now we have little information written about this custom, but the other Gospels mention this practice, but they do not give many details. Mark chapter 15 verse 6 says that the people had a choice as to who would be released, and that is what we have happening here. Pilate is asking the crowd that had gathered who they wanted to be released according to this custom. The third observation, the crowds demanded Barabbas. Verse 40, "Therefore they cried out again." The picture here is of a repeated crying. They were saying, "Not this man talking about Jesus, but Barabbas." Now Barabbas was a robber.

Here we see that the crowds call for the release of Barabbas. Mark's gospel tells us that Barabbas was jailed for taking part in an insurrection or a revolt. He had even committed murder during this revolt. In the eyes of the Romans, this would have been seen as terrorist activities, a threat against Rome. He was an insurrectionist. In our language today, we would say that he tried to lead a coup. Matthew states that Barabbas was a well-known prisoner and well-known for his rebellious activities. Now notice two contradictions here. First, Pilate knew full well the extent of Barabbas and his crimes.

He would have known thoroughly all that Barabbas had done, yet he allowed the crowds to persuade him to release Barabbas. Now think about this. Barabbas wanted to overthrow the Romans, but Pilate releases him. This shows you how he was weak in these types of circumstances. Second, the Jews knew full well that Jesus was innocent of these trumped-up crimes. Yet they allowed the Jewish leadership to persuade them to condemn Jesus to death. Just like the religious leaders, the crowds, they would shout for Jesus to be crucified and then they would go participate in the Passover. So what do we see here in these verses?

Earlier Pilate was revealed for who he was. Well that is still taking place. Pilate is placing these Jewish leaders and this Jew- he is placating, excuse me, these Jewish leaders and this Jewish mob. He is revealing himself as a people pleaser. He is weak. He is vacillating in his leadership. He is revealing himself as one who wanted to keep the peace at all costs, but the Jews were being revealed as well. They wanted rid of Jesus. They did not want Jesus as their Messiah. They were rejecting Jesus as their Messiah and we know the rest of the story. Ultimately the nation was judged, but this was a part of God's predetermined eternal plan.

Now in application, we need to see where we are in this drama. Yes, we need to see where we are in this story. Now most of you would say, "I probably would be in the crowds pastor. I would be in the crowds screaming crucify." Some of you might say, "Well, no pastor. I wouldn't be in the crowds. I would be like the disciples probably hiding from our life," which is what they were doing. But I think a more accurate answer is this. We are just like Barabbas. We are rebels against God's word. We are rebels against God's ways and we are rebels against God's Kingdom and we were born that way and we have acted that way.

We are murderers from the beginning because we have broken God's law. We have broken God's heart. We are rebelled against God's ways. We are criminals who deserve death and eternal damnation. Yes, outside of the saving grace of God, we're exactly like Barabbas. And that's who we need to see in this story. And just like Barabbas was set free, listen by the grace of God and the saving work of God in our life, yes, we can be set free. Now as we move away from our verses this morning, I want to make a shift. I want to make a shift.

Just like there was a shift from the hypocritical Jewish leadership to the Romans, this governor pilot, I want to make a shift in some observation and application as we move away from the verses of our message. We need to see that Pilate made a critical mistake here. This mistake revealed his true nature and put him on the wrong side of everything that is going on here. Now question, what was his mistake? Pilate tried to remain neutral. Another way you can say it is this. He tried to stay in the middle. He did not want to upset the powers of Rome. He did not want to upset his position and his salary and his prestige.

And he did not want to upset the Jews and their leadership. He wanted to keep things the way they were. He just wanted to be neutral. There was one problem with this approach. There was no way he could stay neutral. In trying to stay neutral, he revealed who he truly was. He revealed his true nature because he rejected Jesus. He stared into the face of God the Son and he rejected Jesus. Now a question for you, an application. Do we realize that people try to do that in the life of the church today? This goes on today. People come into the church. They come under the Word of God. They come under God's people.

Again, I'm talking about a true church. God's true people. They come into the work of the church. What I mean by the work, the activities of the church. And listen, they try to stay just the way they are. You know, just stay neutral. They don't want to move either way. They don't want to move either way. They just want to keep the peace in their life. They want to keep the peace. They just want to stay the way they are. Let me help you with this. Sometimes people come in the life of the church and they have family who are ungodly. Moms and dads, cousins, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters.

They come into the life of the church and they have this family that is ungodly. And see, they want to keep the peace with their family. They don't want to stand up for godly things. They don't want to stand up for the Word of God. They don't want to stand up for the truths that are taught in God's Word. Why? Because that'll have a ripple effect in the family. They'll come into the life of the church and they'll hear the Word of God taught. They'll hear the Word of God taught and the Word of God taught and they'll want to remain neutral because if they listen and absorb it, they'll have to change.

They have a life at work that's different than their church life. See, if they take the teachings of God's Word into their work life, see, they'll have to deal with lost co-workers and deal with the lost boss and see, they want to keep things neutral at work. They even sometimes want to keep things neutral with a spouse. See, what I'm showing you is when some individual, whether it be a man or a woman, comes into the life of the church and they just want to remain neutral. But then there are certain individuals that come into the life of the church and man, they love God. They've been born from God.

They've been born again and listen, they are thankful to be a part of the work of the church. They are thankful to be a part of hearing God's Word and look, they just want Jesus and it does not matter how it affects family relationships or family holidays. It does not matter how it affects their workplace because they're going to share Jesus and live for Jesus at work. It does not matter how it affects their marriage. Listen, they will not remain neutral. They are following Jesus.

I want to say something and I don't mean this arrogantly, but if you can come in here month after month, even year after year and remain unchanged by the teaching of God's Word, the influence of God's people and the work of the church here, you just might be more like Pilate than you know. You might be just trying to keep the peace. You might be just trying to remain neutral and let me warn you my friend, you cannot stay neutral. Now this morning, specifically, some of you have come and you've tried to remain neutral. You've tried to placate everyone in your life, everything in your life and I'm urging you, you can't do it. It won't work.

With Jesus, you have to go all the way and look, my friend, the only way you can go all the way with Jesus is if you were first born again. See, the other way is just religion and it never works. Oh, but there's some of you here. You've been following Jesus since you came here. Maybe you got saved. God saved you when you came here. You received God's Word taught. You received the work of the church. You can't get enough. You love God's people and you want them in your life and you want to be changed and you're following Jesus no matter what happens. So what do we see? We see Pilate.

See, we've made a shift from these hypocritical Jewish leaders to this man Pilate and we've learned a lot that really applies to us even today. May the Lord help us to never be like Pilate, trying to pacify everyone, the circumstances in our lives and ultimately rejecting Jesus. Let's pray.