John 18:33-40 "Jesus Stands Before Pilate" - Dr. Steven J. Lawson

[Music] [Laughter] thank you dad uh you can't blame him one fan can't be all wrong so [Laughter] that is really funny well what a great turnout this morning um i think we're gonna have to go into a building program uh put a balcony in um no it's so exciting to see what god is doing in the life of this church the people that he's bringing from really all walks of life um so many young people but also people my age which would not be young and everything in between and that's part of the beauty of a church is that it really is to be a cross section of of life and uh that's what god is doing and only god can do that so it's not contrived it's just the spirit of god drawing bringing people providentially into the fellowship of this church and if you've not already joined i'd encourage you to be a part of the new members class and would encourage you to be a part of the sunday school class that will be starting very soon and so we're up and going and it's a full-orbed church well today i want you to take your bible and turn with me to the gospel of john john chapter 18. and today we're going to be looking at verses 33 through 40 and the title of this message is jesus stands before pilate i want to begin by reading the passage then i'll pray and then we'll look together into this text and as i read this just to remind us all this is god's inspired word when we open the bible god opens his mouth and when the bible speaks god speaks and so this is the infallible record of of truth so john chapter 18 beginning in verse 33. therefore pilate entered again into the praetorium and summoned jesus and said to him are you the king of the jews jesus answered are you saying this on your own initiative or did others tell you about me pilate answered i'm not a jew am i your own nation and chief priest delivered you 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 so that i would not be handed over the jews but as it is my kingdom is not of this realm therefore pilate 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 testify to the truth everyone who is of the truth hears my voice pilate said to him what is truth and when he had said this he went out again to the jews and said to them i find no guilt in him but you have a custom did i release someone for you at the passover do you wish then that i release for you the king of the jews so they cried out again saying not this man but barabbas now barabbas was a robber this is god's word now you seal it to our hearts let us pray father we desire to sit at your feet today and to receive from you instruction in your word i pray that you would use me as a fallible instrument that you have picked up to explain interpret apply exhort with this passage but this is your word that we are handling today it is undefiled it is unvarnished it is pure unadulterated truth and we pray that it would have free access into our minds into our hearts to shape us and to mold us and to propel us forward in your will as we read this text our heart just goes out to our savior that he was subjected to such insane treatment but lord we know it was all a part of your plan from before the foundation of the world so we look on to the drama of this real-life narrative and it just draws our hearts even closer to christ even closer to our savior and so may it have this effect in us today father we pray this in jesus name amen in these verses that i have just read we see the trial of jesus continuing the time is early friday morning the city is jerusalem the place is the praetorium and the occasion is the trial of jesus of nazareth the judge is pilate the prosecutors are the jewish leaders the defendant is jesus and the charge is blasphemy and treason the defense is the truth that jesus now speaks the inevitable outcome will be the death sentence upon christ and pilate here finds himself between a rock and a hard place trying to mediate between two vice grips that are tightening upon him how can he appease this angry mob that is blood thirsty that is circling like sharks around the lord jesus christ and want him to be crucified and at the same time how can he put to death an innocent man pilots pilate must now decide one way or the other he will try to compromise he will try to ride the fence he will try to play all ends into the middle and he will try to find a way out of this dilemma but there will be no way out of this dilemma it's the dilemma that every person in this world faces as well we must make a decision for jesus christ and we must decide is he the son of god and we cast our lot with him by faith and repentance or do we cave into the demands of the world that continues to put christ on trial and continues to seek the condemnation of the lord jesus christ i trust that you have made the decision to be a follower of jesus christ and if you have i want to affirm you that you have made the greatest decision that anyone will ever make in this life it is the decision to become a true disciple of christ and to follow him as we look at this part of the trial which will eventually extend next week into john chapter 19. but as we look at this part of the trial there are three things that i want you to see that will break out these verses very simply i want you to note the examination that's in verses 33 to 35. and then the defense that's in verses 36 to 38 and then finally the verdict that's in verses 38 to 40. so that's where we're headed so we begin with the examination this trial begins with pilate questioning and examining the one who has been turned over to him the lord jesus christ and so we read in verse 33 therefore pilate entered again into the praetorium just to remind you pilate is the roman governor who has been placed here by rome to preside over judea over israel and he alone has power of life and death in his jurisdiction and we read here that he enters again back into the praetorium which was like the governor's mansion the governor's palace and the reason it says again is because he has come out of the praetorium to meet the jews who will not come in because they do not want to desecrate themselves so having met with the jewish leadership of the sanhedrin the pharisees the chief priests the elders the scribes he comes now back into the praetorium where jesus is for this one-on-one encounter with the lord jesus christ and so we read that he summoned jesus he called for jesus to be brought before him and jesus with hands bound like a criminal is now brought by soldiers to stand before pilate and pilate now speaks to him and begins the examination and he asks him this very simple question are you the king of the jews because this was the charge that had been brought against jesus he had claimed to be the king of the jews that he had claimed to be the son of god therefore he would be a part of a conspiracy to overthrow the nation as the king of the jews and he would probably be opposed to the payment of taxes to rome that's really all pilate cares about is to keep peace in the area and to be able to continue to gather taxes to be sent back to rome that's all he cares about and his desire is to determine whether or not jesus is a revolutionary who will seek to overturn the stability of the nation so verse 34 jesus answered interesting he answers the question with a question are you saying this on your own initiative in other words did you come up with this on your own or did others tell you about me are you simply asking this question because this is what the jewish leaders have already told you peter excuse me pilate answered and it's interesting he answers jesus's question with a question of his own pilate answered i'm not a jew am i and the implication of that is i'm not one of you i'm not one of them i'm a roman governor and i don't carry out the bidding of of them so i'm not a jew am i he says your own nation the chief priest delivered you to me your own fellow jews handed you over to me and now here's the question what have you done what have you done that has created such a an uproar and has turned this city upside down and before we go any further we see here that jesus christ is the single most controversial figure who has ever lived in human history and he continues to be the most controversial person to this very hour in this nation and around the world all of humanity is is divided by this continental divide where do you stand regarding the lord jesus christ and so that is the question that he is pressing here what have you done well this leads now to the defense beginning in verse 36 jesus now offers his own defense and he answers the questions of the examination and jesus answered verse 36 my kingdom is not of this world now by saying this there's a positive element and a negative element there's a positive assertion and a negative denial the positive assertion is i am a king and i have a kingdom and i preside over the kingdom he says my kingdom is not of this world so he begins by asserting and affirming his kingship his lordship his sovereignty his supreme authority to rule and reign over his kingdom but then the negative denial he says my kingdom is not of this world my kingdom is not like the roman empire of which you are a part my kingdom is of another world of another realm of another domain my my kingdom is not of this world it is a kingdom unlike anything you know anything about in the middle of verse 36 if my kingdom were of this world my servants would be fighting a second time he now affirms that he is a king who possesses absolute sovereignty and that he resu presides over a kingdom and what is implied is there are servants and citizens within this kingdom he does not deny any of this he only specifies what his kingdom is he says if my kingdom were of this world then my servants those who are citizens in my kingdom my followers my my disciples my my true believer believers he says they would be fighting there would be swords drawn and chariots blazing and spears raised and horses charging and shields upheld and trumpets blaring if my kingdom were of this world there would be open conflict in the streets of jerusalem and there would be blood that would be being shed and they would be doing this he says at the end of verse 36 so that i would not be handed over to the jews if my kingdom operated like the roman empire if my kingdom operated like the egyptian dynasties or the assyrian or babylonian kingdoms then i would never be handed over to you my servants would have killed you by now my my servants would have delivered me and i would be free to go my own way but as it is my kingdom is not of this realm third time he affirms that he is a king third time he establishes that he presides over a kingdom and within this kingdom there there is his rule and his reign he says it's not of this realm though it's not of an earthly realm it's not advanced by physical force or by military power it's an of an entirely different realm and it advances by entirely different means what jesus is saying is that my kingdom is spiritual not physical that my kingdom is internal within the hearts of men and women not external in the hands of men he is saying my kingdom is invisible not visible my kingdom is advanced by the gospel not by the government my kingdom to quote the apostle paul romans 14 verse 17 for the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking but righteousness peace and joy in the holy spirit what jesus is saying is my kingdom is marked by righteousness not riots my kingdom is marked by peace not violent protests my kingdom is marked by joy not juggernauts it's an entirely different kingdom on an entirely different level of an entirely different realm with totally antithetical values so verse 37 therefore pilate said to him so you are a king jesus answered you say correctly i mean true jesus is the truth jesus is a truth teller jesus cannot say anything other than the truth of course he's a king he is the king of kings he is the lord of lords he is the judge of judges he is the prince of princes you say correctly that i'm a king for this i've been born jesus came into this world as a king in the form of a bond servant but he came as a king he says for this i have been born for this i have come into the world and what that presupposes is that i have come into this world from another world that my beginning is not in this world all of our beginnings took place within our mother's womb but jesus is saying no i have come into this world and the implication is i have come down from another world i have come into the world to testify to the truth i was born to bring the truth into this world of lies this world of false doctrine and false teaching i was born to bring the truth about my kingdom about how to enter my kingdom about how to live in my kingdom we know ultimately he came into this world to go to the cross and to die but he came as a prophet as a priest and as a king to fulfill all three offices of the old testament and here jesus is validating that he came to fulfill the office of the prophet deuteronomy 18 verse 5 moses said that there is coming a prophet one great prophet who will be greater than than all of the other prophets and that was fulfilled in the lord jesus christ who every time he opened his mouth he spoke such raw unadulterated unvarnished truth so i've come into this world to testify of the truth he came into this sin cursed world from ivory palaces in heaven in order to testify to the truth about his kingdom and everything that he said he heard directly from his father above in verse 37 in the middle of verse 37 jesus says everyone who is of the truth hears my voice to be of the truth means that you have been born again by the truth first peter 1 verse 23 to be of the truth means that you are a believer in the truth and you possess the truth and more than that the truth possesses you and dominates you and everyone who is of the truth which is really synonymous with being a true believer and a true disciple of the lord jesus christ he says here's my voice not everyone hears the voice of the lord jesus christ you say is that an audible voice oh no it's much louder than a mere audible voice now jesus continues to speak by his effectual call his sovereign irresistible call that calls his sheep by name calling them out of the world unto himself they've been given ears to hear the voice of their shepherd calling them by name it is the divine summons of those who have been chosen before the foundation of the world to hear and to respond and all who have been chosen by the father within time at the perfect time will be given ears to hear this effectual call and will respond john 10 verse 3 jesus said the sheep hear his voice and in john 10 verse 4 jesus said the sheep follow him because they know his voice verse 5 a stranger they simply will not follow they will not follow muhammad they will not follow buddha they will not follow brigham young they will not follow any cult leader they will not follow the pope they will only follow the voice that they hear the lord jesus christ they are made to hear that voice a stranger they simply will not follow but will flee from him they won't show up at that church they will run away as fast as they can and flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers they don't hear the voice of false teachers they don't hear the voice of cult leaders they are given ears by god to hear the voice of the one who speaks truth the lord jesus christ and if you're a believer in jesus christ today as i am a believer in jesus christ today it's not because i'm smarter than someone else we know that is it's not because i have a an iq or i grew up in a certain family my father was a professor in medical school my brother was a professor in medical school i mean i grew up with a bunch of smart people that had nothing to do with me becoming a believer in jesus christ and let me just tell you not to hurt your feelings but you're not that smart either it was said in love the only reason you have been able to connect the dots is because god has done a work within you he has given you eyes to see what others do not see he has given you ears to hear what others do not hear he has given you a heart to believe that that which others do not believe all glory goes to this one who is standing on trial the lord jesus christ so peter who excuse me peter paul excuse me pilate peter paul and pilate leaving on a jet plane written by john denver by the way who wrote it while he was at texas tech but anyway that's right here in the notes so pilate said to him what is truth that you have to hear the tone of voice that this is not the sincere humility of a truth seeker this is an agnostic atheist who has disdain for the any any notion of truth much less absolute truth and speaks this in a mocking disdain rejection convinced that there is no such thing in the world as truth absolute truth and we hear the same mocking today do we not we hear it on college campuses we hear it in halls of government we hear it in courts of law we hear it in pulpits of churches we hear it in classrooms of seminaries we are filled with a world that is echoing this same bane mocking question what is truth so i want to talk for a moment about what is truth i just want to hit the pause button for a second and step out of this narrative just for a moment because you need to know what truth is to boil it down to one word truth is reality truth is the way things really are is not how things may appear to be truth is not how we want things to be truth is not the way opinion polls say things are truth is reality and truth is what god says anything is now i want to give you some characteristics of truth number one truth is divine it's not human it's divine in its origin it comes from god truth originates in the infinite genius of almighty god it does not originate in culture or society or with man truth comes down from the throne of god above truth is and out of this world virtue god the father is the god of truth psalm 31 5. jesus is the way and the truth and the life john 14 6 the holy spirit is the spirit of truth john 14 7. so truth is trinitarian and truth always speaks with one voice god the father god the son god the holy spirit they never speak in contradiction to each other they always speak with one voice and truth is the self revelation of god's own being a truth is the self-disclosure of god's mind and god's nature and god's will god is the sole author of truth god is the standard of all truth god is the determiner of all truth god is the highest arbitrator of all truth god has the first and the last word on what is truth let god be found true let every man be found a liar romans three verse four second truth is absolute truth is absolute that means truth is sovereign truth possesses supreme authority truth reigns with the highest authority to determine all matters everything yields to the truth truth is exclusive it is not inclusive truth draws a sharp line between what is truth and what is not truth therefore truth is very discriminating truth is never both and it is always either or truth is never relative truth is never arbitrary truth is never conditional truth is unconditional regardless of what the conditions are everything contrary to the truth is a lie everything consistent with the truth is true so not only is truth absolute third truth is objective truth is propositional proof truth is defined with specific words that have specific meaning truth is black and white never gray truth is narrowly defined truth never blurs the line truth is never ambiguous truth is never vague truth is never fuzzy truth is razor sharp truth is therefore exact it is explicit it is crystal clear truth is fact-based truth is rational truth is not based upon subjective feelings truth is truth whether you feel it or not truth can be studied truth can be exegeted truth can be parsed truth can be interpreted truth can be analyzed truth can be compared truth is objective propositional statements of reality fourth truth is singular truth stands together as one body of truth it is one entity it is one system of revealed truth all truth holds together there is never a contradiction between one truth and another truth truth is never at odds with each other truth never has an in-house argument truth never speaks out of both sides of its mouth what truth says to one person is precisely what truth says to everyone else what is preached on sunday morning is true as it is on wednesday night as it is on saturday night truth is singular it is never true for one person but untrue for another group of people therefore truth is self-consistent it presents only one diagnosis of the human problem it presents only one solution one way of salvation truth presents only one design for the family it presents only one way of holiness it presents only one view of life and death and judgment and the eternities to come so therefore truth is all it all hangs together as one body of truth it is all interconnected what you believe about one truth determines what you believe about 50 other truths because it is all joined together fifth truth is immutable truth never changes truth never ceases ceases to be true truth remains true from one generation to the next from one century to the next uh truth never needs to be updated truth is right whenever it is spoken with truth right is forever right and wrong is forever wrong society changes culture changes morality changes truth never changes its mind truth is unalterably fixed it is permanently established truth rises above time it transcends the centuries it transcends the generations there is no generation gap with truth what you believed in your twenties what you memorized in your thirties what you taught in your forties will be true on your deathbed truth is never outdated truth is never archaic truth has a long shelf life truth has no expiration date truth never becomes obsolete sixth truth is authoritative nothing can overrule truth there is no higher court of appeal than truth truth drowns out every other voice every other opinion truth makes assertive demands upon our lives truth necessitates something from you and me truth is never intended to be merely interesting truth is never meant to be simply to stimulate our curiosity truth is never a suggestion for us to consider it's never one of many options for us to weigh no truth must be obeyed truth possesses the right to rule our lives and it will be the basis and the judgment on the last day we will be judged by the truth truth demands a response truth demands our obedience truth demands that we respond to it with faith number seven truth is powerful truth cuts to the bone truth convicts and truth challenges and truth cuts to the core of our very being like like a sharp knife through hot butter truth pierces us and opens us up it fills us and it allows us to see ourselves as god sees us and unless the truth has opened up our heart you'll never know who you are you'll never know what you are you will never know what your true needs are until the truth like a sharp two-edged sword pierces as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart for there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are open and laid bare before the eyes of him with whom we have to do only truth can do that truth alone can save no one will ever be saved in the history of the world apart from the truth no one will ever be sanctified apart from the truth no one will ever grow one quarter inch in their christian life independent of the truth the truth strengthens us the truth equips us for ministry and for service you can't serve god without the truth the truth motivates us the truth moves us the truth molds us the truth encourages us when we're downcast the truth challenges us when we're sluggish the truth comforts us when we're discouraged the truth restrains us from sin your word i have hidden in my heart that i might not sin against you the truth gives us victory when we are tempted how did jesus respond to the temptations of the devil it is written it is written that is how you and i are to live our christian lives because the truth contained in the word of god alone is powerful enough to resist the wiles of the devil and nathan finally truth is determinative truth will decide where you spend eternity truth will decide whether you go to heaven or whether you go to hell truth will either save you or damn you but truth will judge you nonetheless truth is that important to your life my friend you can't get there from here without the truth no matter where you're trying to go within the will of god you just can't go there without the truth and so you need to buy up as much truth as you possibly can if they had a sunday school class here that met at six o'clock in the morning you ought to be here at 5 55 sitting on reading because you just can't live without the truth so what is the truth a pilot obviously had not been given ears to hear the truth he's probably smarter than some fisherman from galilee he's probably smarter than a tax collector and a political zealot but he had not been given ears to hear what you hear this leads finally to the verdict beginning in the middle of verse 38 we've seen the examination we've seen the defense now the verdict and when he pilate had said this he went out again to the jews referring to the jewish leaders the sanhedrin the elders the scribes representatives of the pharisees who are clamoring for the death sentence and pilate pronounces the verdict i find no fault in him of course he found no fault in the sinless son of god the holy one of israel the virgin-born son of man of whom even the the demons cry out you are the holy one of israel of course he cried he said to them i find no guilt in him there's no crime that's being committed there's no cause for punishment he's exonerated he's cleared of all charges verse 39 but and what is sad but this is though a but for ordained before the foundation of the world that this death sentence must be passed upon the sinless son of god but and when he says but he begins to wilt and he begins to he begins to cower his voice begins to quiver his knees begin to shake and he's looking for an exit door out of this dilemma he has rendered the verdict that even his seared conscience knows is true i find no guilt in him and yet he is feeling the squeeze of this jewish uprising that could result in all kinds of anarchy in the streets and so he's looking for a way for jesus not to be condemned and yet for the the jewish leaders to be appeased and so he says but you have a custom that i release someone a prisoner a criminal for you at the passover and this was the passover season do you wish that i release for you the king of the jews he's catering he's compromising he's looking out for his own hide he's trying to appease this blood-thirsty crowd he's caving in to the pressure thinking that they would say oh certainly release jesus or barabbas need to understand barabbas at the as the end of verse 40 says was a robber that understates it he was a terrorist he was public enemy number one he was the man who had struck terror into any civilized order of society this is like offering do you want the son of god the son of man or do you want the devil himself incarnate to be released so they cried out again in response to the offer that was put on the table before them and here is the the depravity of the human heart here is the the blindness of the unconverted eyes here is the insanity of a mind that is held captive by sin not this man but barabbas release barabbas now barabbas was a robber he is a man who was killed to get his way he is a man who has killed innocent life he is a man who is threatening to overturn the law and order in israel and they want barabbas released and on the streets to do his harm because he has hardly any impact upon us compared to this man who says unless we are born again we will not see the kingdom of heaven this man who says unless you repent you will likewise perish this man who says that even we have to enter through the narrow gate that we have built our house upon sand and when the rains come and the winds blow and beat against the house great will be its fall no crucify this man and release the most notorious dangerous criminal in all of israel how blind can blind be how intoxicated can sin make a person to make the most irrational decisions that anyone could possibly make and their whole strategy is to kill the messenger so that we don't have to hear the message anymore i hope you see how important the truth is the truth is so important they are willing to risk everything to get rid of the one man who is speaking the truth to them i pray that god has given you ears to hear the truth i pray that you have ears to hear him today jesus came to testify to the truth and the truth is this he is a king he is the king and he rules and reigns over a kingdom of salvation it is a kingdom of grace it is a kingdom of forgiveness it is a kingdom of mercy it is a kingdom by which all that citizens are made right with god the father are reconciled to god the father it is a kingdom in which you have escaped the kingdoms of this world in the kingdom of darkness and have been granted entrance into his kingdom of light if you have never believed upon jesus christ if you have ever heard the truth in your life you're hearing it right now you must believe in jesus christ as a decisive act of your will no one else can believe for you you have to come to christ alone by faith and surrender your life to him submit to his lordship you must turn your back on your own self-righteousness and your own self efforts to save yourself or justify yourself that that's a farce you can never save yourself there's only one who can save you and that is jesus christ you need to be saved from god and there's only one way to be saved from god and that is to be saved by the son of god whom he sent into this world to be the savior of the world the world is still on trial or excuse me jesus is still on trial but the evidence of the word is you should believe in him let us pray father what a scene what a reality this was no fairy tale that this was no short story this is what really happened our savior was put on trial how can this be except you put him there through the acts of sinful men in order that he might go to the cross and die in our place bearing our sins so father work this message these verses these truths into our heart into our soul and when we leave here in a little bit may we be all the better for having been in this house today in jesus name we pray amen

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Length: 53min 0sec (3180 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 07 2021