Please open your Bibles to the Gospel according to John chapter 18. The Gospel according to John chapter 18. This morning we'll be covering verses 28 to 40 is what I have planned to cover. Although that seems rather unlikely. The title of this lesson is Before the Throne. John chapter 18. beginning in verse 28. Give ear now to God's word. Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? They answered him, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. The Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So Pilate entered his headquarters and Again called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord? Did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, so you are a king. Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? And he said this. After he said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? They cried out again, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas, was a robber, thus far as the reading of God's Word. So it has often been said that there are three sides to every story. There is my side, there is your side, and there is the truth. What we're getting at when we say something like this is that the reality that everyone is going to have their interpretation skewed by biases, by perspectives and backgrounds, that reality is certain. You will have your own background, you will have your own biases influencing your read on any situation, on any document, on any thing. Last week we studied the trial of Jesus before the Jews, and this morning we're going to consider his trial before Pilate. And we will see that these ideas come into play. three sides to this story. There is the side of the Jews, which is a side of vitriol, a side of hatred. Their take on Jesus is that he is wicked, that he is evil. They even say this to Pilate, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you. They have a vitriolic, they have an intense personal hatred towards this man. That's their side of the story. And then you have the Roman government embodied by Pontius Pilate, and their side of the story is that of total apathy, indifference, does not care. Pilate says, am I a Jew? Do I care what your nation says or does or thinks? Your own nation, your chief priests have delivered you over to me. Then he also says to them earlier, in verse 31, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law, dismissive, indifferent, apathy. That's Pilate's side to this story. That's the secular world's side, generally speaking, though these two often do intermix. False religion tends to have a more intense, a more vitriolic response towards the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the world tends to have a more apathetic, indifferent, these things don't matter to me sort of response. Though there is, of course, overlap in and out there. But then there's the third side. There's the truth. Jesus says, I came to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. And so that's kind of the conflict that we have going on over the course of these verses. Arquette Hughes writes, whether Babylon, Greece, Rome, the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, or our own United States. World empires and nations are all ephemeral. They all prove that life is often not what it seems to be. That is one of the abiding truths found in John 18, 24-40. Regardless of how things looked in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Judas betrayed Jesus, and an armed crowd came to arrest him, Jesus was in control. And the same is true as the narrative goes on to describe Jesus' trial before Pilate. We see this in Jesus' marvelous self-control before the exasperated Sanhedrin. And in John 18, 28-32, as dawn broke and Christ was led before Pilate, we see again that He is in control. Close quote. The sovereignty of God, the sovereignty of Christ, the control of Christ is on display throughout this passion narrative. Jesus said, for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I might take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it up again. John chapter 10, verses 17 to 18. What's Jesus saying in John 10, 17 to 18? Saying, I am in control. Nobody, Nobody takes my life from me. I have the authority to lay it down. I have the authority To take it back up again that power is is on full display throughout John's Gospel, but especially in this confrontation with Pilate, and we'll see that as we consider this passage in two sections, perhaps over the course of two weeks. We'll see how we do here. First of all, as we said, the Jews and their contempt towards Christ, and that's verses 18 to 32, the Jews' contempt, which is representative of really all false religions. And then also Pilate's apathy in verses 33 to 40, which is, generally speaking, representative of all world powers. So the Jews' contempt and Pilate's apathy. And the first thing I want to notice is that there's an interaction here between these two perspectives, these two takes between Pilate and the Jews. And notice particularly the proud piety that the Jews display. And it's evident in the very first verse of our passage. They led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. If they had entered the governor's headquarters, if they had entered the non-sacred grounds, if they had entered the secular grounds, they would have been ritually, ceremonially unclean. So they won't go there so that they might enjoy the Passover feast. So they'll technically remain outside of the secular courts. They'll technically remain apart from the secular world while actively in their hearts and their minds pursuing those very things engaged in the activity that that wall of separation was designed to prevent. This is perhaps the best biblical illustration possible of following the letter of the law without following the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law in this case is the very meaning, the very purpose of the law. Jesus says that the entire Old Testament The entire Jewish establishment is about him. If you had believed Moses, you would believe me, for he spoke of me. Oh, slow of heart and foolish to believe all things that the law and the prophets have spoken, he says. It's all about him. They've got the spirit and literally the embodiment of God's word right before them. and they're seeking to have him put to death because they hate him, all the while observing the letter of the law, making sure that they are physically standing in the right spot. John Calvin comments, in abstaining from all defilement, that being purified according to the injunction of the law, they may eat the Lord's Passover. Their religion, in this respect, deserves commendation. He's saying this is good. But there are two faults, and both of them are very heinous. So he's saying, the desire to remain undefiled, that you might partake in the Passover, this is good. That's what Calvin's saying. But there's two huge mistakes that they're making. And the first is, they do not consider that they carry more pollution within their hearts than they can contract by entering any place, however profane. And the second is, They carry to excess their care about smaller matters and neglect what is of the highest importance. Religious people often make both of these errors. We'll consider both of them for a moment. Religious people are often charged with hypocrisy because of things like this. Christians are charged with hypocrisy often because of things like this. Now, make no mistake about it, no matter how you live your life in this world, no matter how righteous, how truthful, how loving, how good you may be to the world, you will be charged as a liar and a hypocrite. That's certain. It's one of the world's favorite accusations against us. My admonition to you is do not let that charge be made legitimately. You understand what I'm saying? Don't let there be actual truth behind that charge. It's going to be made. You can't avoid that. But don't let there be legitimacy to it. Don't pretend to be more pious than other Christians, but rather remain humble. Remember that however good your outward appearance may be, your heart is always, always in need of cleansing. Pray with the psalmist, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me, that's test me, evaluate me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the paths of life everlasting. Psalm 139, verses 23 to 24. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Psalm 19, 12. And one other New Testament passage that kind of gets at this idea here, and then I'll take your question, Chase, is 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. This is a very important passage, very famous passage, especially within the realm of Christian apologetics. Beginning in verse 13. Would somebody actually read this for us? Beginning in verse 13 and going through verse 17. Yes, Miss Duncan. Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile you, your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Okay, so you can suffer for doing good, or you can suffer for doing evil. It does not say to conduct yourself in such a way so that if you are slandered, there won't be any legitimacy to the charge. It says conduct yourself in this way because when you are slandered, we can expect such a thing, but we are to live in such a way that our conscience is clear, and it should be obvious and evident to those who know you personally that that charge actually doesn't stand. You know, it should be, You know, our views on homosexuality are very controversial in our day. I think it's an abomination. I think it's a sin against God. And yet, despite the fact that people will accuse me of being a homophobic, bigot, blah, blah, blah, blah, most of my friends, even who are not Christians, will say, you know, yeah, Jeff's views on that are abhorrent, I think he's wrong, but it's not because he hates those people, it's because he believes the Bible. That's the charge that you want. That's what you want to actually be true, and it should be evident from the way that you live your life. Question. Sorry, I probably got far afield of what you were... Yes, but there's a difference between... Is that... I'm not cutting you off, am I? Okay, you're right. So yes, that's true. We will always be hypocrites in the sense that we fail to adhere to the ideal. But hypocrisy is not failing to meet the standards. Hypocrisy is saying, I have met the standard, but I haven't. Hypocrisy is saying, this is important for you to do, but not for me. That's hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is not saying, yeah, the bar is here and I'm here and I need help. That's how we avoid hypocrisy. But the way it's often used is what you're saying. You say that you should be this and you're not that, therefore you're a hypocrite. Only if I'm not working towards it. Does that make sense? Right. So, yeah, that's a good question. So, first of all, we want to avoid the hypocrisy that is clearly on display with the Jews. And I think that's the reason John brings this up, is he wants to note it. They're crucifying the Lord of glory, but they're making sure their feet are planted in the right place on the ground so that they can enjoy the meal that's all about the one that they're getting ready to kill. He wants us to see their hypocrisy. And to Calvin's point, we must remember that our Our defilement that's in our hearts is always going to be greater than that which is outside we always need to be searching and trying our own hearts and the purity of our Motives and to chase this point. They're always going to fall short That's why we constantly need to be investigating constantly be kneeing eating to pray for the spirit self again I would commend to you who are taking notes write down Psalm 139 23 to 24 and make that a prayer Make that a prayer, search my heart, try my heart, and then don't leave me where I'm at, but lead me in the paths of righteousness. Secondly, to keep the main thing the main thing, the Lord has said very plainly what the main thing is in respect to the actions of his people. What we wanna do is, again, as Calvin was saying, The Jews are making a really big point about this relatively minor portion of the law, where they physically stand, and not at all being worried about the defilements of their heart. And so our application then is we want to be those who keep the main thing, the main thing. The Bible, the word of God has been very clear with respect to what the main thing is. What does the Lord require of you? But to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with the Lord your God. Micah 6.8. What's required of you? Those things. Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with the Lord your God. How do you walk humbly with the Lord your God? Somebody just throw it out there, give me two ways to walk humbly with the Lord your God. Stop trying to take control of your own life. Stop, okay, very good. Stop trying to take control of your own life. Read your Bible. Read your Bible. And what else? Submit to authority, okay. Very good. Read your Bible, pray, stop thinking you're sovereign and you're in control. Submit to the one who actually is, and then also trust the earthly authorities that God has put in place over us. These are all ways that we can walk humbly with our God. Everything that's about this situation is unjust. We went through last week, Several of the preliminary rules of Jewish trial and they I don't know that it's possible for them to have broken more rules Or broken them more to the letter and yet they did It's it's the exact opposite of what they're called to do in their hearts, but at least they're not in their eyes Again Calvin laments such is the manner in which wicked men whom God raised to a high degree of honor blinded, as it were, by their own greatness, allow themselves to do whatever they choose. Such, too, is the intoxicating nature of pride. They wish that Christ would be reckoned a malfactor that's evil for no other reason than but they accuse him." That's what they said. Pilate says, what's your charge? What's he done? What's our charge? If he wasn't evil, do you think we would have brought him to you? Our charge is that we said he's bad. That's the height of pride. I don't need to prove it. I don't need to admit any evidence. I don't need to make an argument. I said he's bad, Pilate, so kill him. That's the weight that they think their word should carry. What a terrible, dreadful thing. We see it in verses 29 to 30. So let us be on guard for these sorts of things. Let us be on guard, and I say this particularly, Calvin points out this is the thing that's most prone to people that are in positions of power and authority. So that applies a lot to me. I need to keep myself humble. I need to constantly be investigating my own heart, my own motives. And Lord willing, I'm looking at a room full of people who will one day exercise various different aspects of authority. I hope I'm looking at a lot of future church officers perhaps pastors, perhaps missionaries, perhaps missionary wives, perhaps those who would head up para-church organizations, perhaps those who would lead women's ministries. You will, and Lord willing, you'll be married and you'll have children, you'll exercise authority. Be on guard. It's really tempting, especially as a parent, to say, do this, why? Because I said so. And sometimes that's true, but I want to be able to say later, when my kids are older, the reason I said so is because A, B, C. Does that make sense? Sometimes for very young children, they can't handle the argument, but you need to be prepared in your own heart, in your own mind, to make it. Okay, so let's move on then to consider the man whom they wish to condemn Jesus, the man whom they wish to bring to execution, and it's Pontius Pilate, Pilate was an ambitious opportunist who was procurator of Judea. He was brutal, politically inept, and anti-Semitic. Originally, he was a native of Spain, and he got his job after joining the Roman legions and met and married Claudia Proculia, a granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. In other words, he was a low-level infantryman He smooshed his way into the affections of the daughter of an emperor, and so he ultimately receives this role. On his initial visit to Jerusalem, he enraged the Jews by having his soldiers carry banners emblazoned with the image of Tiberius into Jerusalem. It's a bad call. This is unnecessarily provoking people, right? The Bible says. Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. Pilate's not their father, but he is the authority. It's unnecessarily provoking them to wrath. And he dealt with the resulting protests savagely and rashly. On another occasion, he foolishly had his soldiers raid the sacred Korban treasury. You remember the Korban is this rule wherein the Jews would wickedly abandon their their responsibility to care for their parents by saying, father, mother, what I would have given to care for you in your old age, I can't because I've dedicated it to the Lord in core bond. And so they'd put their money really in kind of a lockbox until mom and dad were dead and then they'd call it back to themselves. That's bad, but nonetheless, it's also bad that Pilate would raid those treasuries and steal the money for himself. Again, further intensifying the negative relationship there. Later again, he incensed the populace by having votive shields bearing Tiberius' image placed in Herod's palace. That's Herod, who's supposed to be the king of these people, erecting erecting, again, another false god. Luke mentions that he even mingled the blood of certain Galileans with their sacrifices, evidently attacking them as they worshiped. And so, this is Pilate. Not a good guy. Why do they bring him to Pilate for execution, even though they hate Pilate, too? Even though, actually, the reason they want Jesus dead at the hands of Pilate is because Jesus wasn't going to lead an armed revolt against him. Why do they bring them to Pilate? Well, we've talked about this before. There's one very obvious reason, and that is, as they say on the surface, we don't have the right to execute capital punishment. So we're asking you to do it. That's true. And yet, the Jews, they don't altogether mind breaking that law. Six weeks from now. They're going to stone the Apostle Stephen in public They can get around it. They can they can take the slap on the wrist as it were because again pilots apathetic He doesn't really care It's because they want a very specific type of capital punishment They bring him to pilot because they want crucifixion Why do they want crucifixion? Because they want the death of Jesus to not just be getting rid of their problems, that's certainly part of it, but they want it to be a public display. They want to embarrass him, they want to shame him, they want to revile him in the most public way possible so that everybody else will see, this guy thought he was better than me, look at him now. And not only that, but so that he would be discredited in the eyes of the people. The Bible is very clear. Deuteronomy 21, 23 says, cursed is everyone that is hanged upon a tree. As you say, and it was interpreted that time, and I think bears out with the New Testament interpreting that way, to be hanged on a tree is crucifixion. And so if they can get Pilate, to crucify Jesus, not just kill him, but crucify him, they will, in their eyes, invalidate his ministry, because how could he be the blessed one of the Lord when everyone who's hanged on a tree is cursed? But notice the last verse that we'll look at today, verse 32. This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken, to show what kind of death he was going to die. He was in control the whole time. They want him to go to the cross, but he also wants to go to the cross. He's predicted this. Three times it's recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew 16, 21 and following, Mark 8, 31 to 9, 1, In Luke 9, 21 to 27, Jesus says that they're on their way to Jerusalem. He's going to be arrested and killed. And then immediately after that, he tells them, if anyone would follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. But let's press a little bit deeper. Jesus doesn't just want to go to the cross because he predicted it and he wants to be right. Why does he want to go to the cross? because cursed was everyone who was hanging on the tree. He had to go to the cross so that he could receive the curse in your place. He had to go to the cross, not just be killed, not just shed some blood, but to be cursed, stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God for you so that the Lord your God might for you turn the curse into a blessing. And why would he do that? Because the Lord your God loves you, Deuteronomy 23 five. The Lord your God turned the curse into the blessing because the Lord your God loved you. And how fitting, how appropriate it is that the curse that entered the world through the partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be reversed, would be defeated, would be conquered by the one who hung on the tree in our place and for our sake. God in heaven, we give thanks to you for the glorious truths of your word. We thank you for the love that you have shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that love that's on display in the Lord Jesus Christ, who though the world show him contempt, though the world show him indifference, though the world despise him in their low esteeming of him, though we have treated him with contempt, though we have treated him with indifference, yet nevertheless, that it pleased him to love us and give himself for us, to take upon himself the curse in our place. Oh, Father, may we never take that for granted. May we always rejoice in the Lord Jesus who suffered, not for his sins, not for the sins of a faceless people, but for the sins of people in this very room. Pray, Lord, that we would cherish that, and that, Lord, that same power that raised Jesus from the dead would be at work in all us who believe all the days of our lives. We pray in Christ's name, amen.