If you would, open your Bibles to John 18. John 18. You know, in our communion time, as we commemorate and remember the Lord's death, we see that his suffering began quite a bit before his death. And as we look here in this portion of scripture, leading up to his death, we ask ourselves, why are these things recorded for us? Why doesn't it just simply go straight to his death? Well, as we read here in 18, John 18, beginning in verse 28 through 40, it sets the stage for exactly how wrongful, how unjustly our Savior was accused. And that truly, as we'll see, that even the judge at his trial here, the governor, Pilate, had to conclude that he was innocent. It's in, I think in Luke, it says he makes that statement three times, I find no fault in him, in Luke 23. And then he, even to the point when Pilate understood that Christ was from Galilee, or that he had ministered in Galilee, he decides well because Herod has jurisdiction in Galilee that he would send him to Herod. Which the passage here in John 18 records none of that. Doesn't at all hear about, we don't hear about that here, but in Luke 23 it's recounted how that when Pilate did find out that Jesus had ministered there because Herod had jurisdiction there and Herod was in Jerusalem at the time he decided to send him to Herod and Herod was of course greatly rejoicing that he got to see Jesus and and he had wanted to hear had wanted to have an audience with him for a long time it says And Jesus said not a word to Herod. And even Herod then concluded, along with Pilate, that there was no fault of death in this man. So there's some of the reason why these things are recorded to us is that in the civil authorities who dealt with this trial and dealt with the religious people who brought him and delivered him to this civil trial, that in that day it was clearly made known that it was a sham trial because Christ was repeatedly vindicated as being not worthy to die. So let's read here in John 18 beginning in verse 28, we'll read through the end of the chapter. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover." Now this praetorium, if I'm pronouncing it correctly, is simply the governor's headquarters. It's where Pilate stayed when he was in Jerusalem. It was the headquarters of the commanding officer of the Roman military in Jerusalem. Verse 29, Pilate then went out to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this man? They answered and said to him, If he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you. Then Pilate said to them, You take him and judge him according to your law. Therefore the Jews said to him, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke, saying, by what death he would die. Then Pilate entered the praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Are you speaking for yourself about this? Or did others tell you this concerning me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your nation and the chief priests have delivered you 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 fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore said to him, are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king, for this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness 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 he said to them, I find no fault in him at all. but you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" Then they all cried again saying, not this man but Barabbas." Now Barabbas was a robber. So we look at this, let's think about in verse 28 when it says, then they led Jesus from the high priest to the praetorium. They led him from Caiaphas to the praetorium to Pilate. Who are they? Well, we know even in verse 35, Pilate identifies them, your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. Now, I want to just go back to Acts 3. It talks about Peter preaching there in Acts 3, he speaks about this as well. In Acts 3 and verse 13, verse 13 through 15, this is following the healing of the lame man and so there was a great uproar about what happened and many people were greatly amazed and they looked at Peter and John as if they were some sort of miracle workers and here's what Peter said in verse 13, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the Prince of Life whom God raised from the dead of which we are witnesses." And then in 8 chapter 4 verse 8, Acts 4 verse 8, Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by him, this man stands here before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders." You see what he did here? He made it very personal. He says, this is the stone which you builders rejected, which means that these builders were none other than the rulers and elders of Israel. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." I want to just point out here in these two sections here, how that these builders, these elders, these religious people, were the ones who delivered Jesus to Pilate. They were the ones who were... It wasn't Rome that made the arrest. It wasn't Rome that was instigating this trial. It was none other than the so-called people of God who were the builders who were the religious elite of the day. They were the ones who were at odds with Christ. Notice that in verse 13 of chapter 3 in Acts, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, notice what he says next, glorified his servant Jesus. In contrast to how God was viewing Christ was the religious builders of the day, the Jewish elite, the Sanhedrin, they delivered this Jesus up and denied him in the presence of Pilate when Pilate was determined to let him go. You denied the Holy One and the just and literally traded this holy one and this just one for a murderer. Now we think sometimes that our judicial system is a little crooked. This was the epitome of a crooked sham trial. It was the absolute high-water mark of someone being set up to be killed. This is what our Savior experienced. What does he say in John 1? He says, truly he came to his own and his own received him not. You know, they did much more than that. They did not just receive him, they rejected him. but more than that even they arrested and falsely accused him and in Matthew 29 just gleaning a few thoughts from some of the other passages on this in Matthew 26 59 it says this way in relation to when Jesus was facing the Sanhedrin there at Cephas house. By the way we don't have that account in John either. John does not point out or does not give the narrative of Christ in front of the high priest. He simply skips over that and goes directly to the one with Pilate. But here is what it says about when he was at Pilate's house, I mean at the high priest's house. In Matthew 26 59, now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put him to death. They wanted to kill him but it needed to look legal. Needed to look like it was legit, so they sought for False testimony they needed to have some sort of accusation to bring as we seen here in John 18 that the first thing that pilot asked well what accusation do you bring against this man? they had to have some sort of something that they could bring to the to a pilot and they sought false testimony against Jesus to put him to death. See in their mind they had already convicted him, they just need a sentence, they needed him to be sentenced so that they could have him killed. You know usually in our court system we are innocent until proven guilty. here and that was also the the Roman authorities were much more interested in that as well they were also interested in proving someone's guilt before they convicted them or before they sentenced them and that's why pilot asked what accusation do you bring against this man well we usually look for a criminal who committed a crime. Here they caught Christ and then they sought for a crime to put to him. They were looking for a way to convict him and it says in chapter in Matthew 26 60 but found none even though many false witnesses came forward they found none but at last two false witnesses came forward and they were Saying that this fellow said I'm able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days and in another place It says that even those two did not agree and so it was a it was a it was a real Debacle and then also in Matthew 27 in verses 12 and 13 Now here the account is before Pilate and while he was being accused by the chief priests and elders he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him, do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he answered him not one word so that the governor marveled greatly. And as this went on, and Pilate ended up coming back out, I believe that was in the Luke account, he comes out and says, I find no fault in him. And they became, it says in verse five of Luke 23, they became even more fierce, it says. So Pilate said to the chief priest in the crowd, I find no fault in this man. But they were the more fierce, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place." It was just an emotional hatred for Christ that was coming out of them. And in Luke 23 10, also, it says here, that the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him." The language is really strong language. They became more fierce and they vehemently accused him. They were consistent in their desire to kill Jesus and this desire was in their hearts Yet they were more concerned about being defiled by entering a Gentile's house than they were worried about or considering their own animosity. Notice what he says, this is an amazing thing is how that someone can be so preoccupied with ceremonial and ritualistic protocol and justify the hatred and the bitterness and the defilement of their own heart that's what we see in verse 28 this is the this is a mark of dead religion which is so focused on propriety rather than righteousness rather than purity protocol versus purity and they wanted to there's some there's some question about how that this could mean the Passover here but they themselves did not go into the building of of this pilot lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passover there's some question how this could have been the Passover if Christ and his disciples had eaten it the night before And so there's some thought that it may have meant the eating of the feast that followed the actual Passover. So that's just a thought that I came across, that it was possibly referring to the feast that followed the actual Passover lamb. So they would not go in because they did not want to be ceremonially unclean. And this is a great irony because they were completely unclean already. And as one commentary pointed out, that Pilate should have been concerned about having his place defiled by these people coming into his house. So Pilate actually bent over backwards here. He was the governor of this province of occupied Israel here in Jerusalem. He could have said, well if you won't come in and stand before the judgment seat here, you can go back to where you come from. But no, he didn't. Pilate actually, they went out, then went out to them. He walked out and accommodated their piety, so to speak, and asked them there, well, what accusation do you bring against this man? So they answered him and said, well, if he weren't an evildoer or a male factor, if he wouldn't be a wrongdoer we would not have delivered him to you." I think Pilate very quickly perceived that this was a matter of Jewish custom and Jewish religion and that it was rather a religious question and he said to them, Well, if you don't have anything to really accuse him of, you might say, you take him and judge him according to your own law. Notice what they said in verse 31, therefore the Jews said to him, well, we don't have the authority whereby we can kill him. We don't have the right to put him to death. Romans have taken that away from us. Capital punishment is no longer an Israeli right here. It's not right for the Jews by Roman law to apply the death sentence to anyone. Because that is why they were there at the first place. We want you to sentence him to death because we can't do it. You won't allow us. to do it and you see how he was prejudged in the minds of these Jews and that he was just, Pilate was just simply being used. by the religious elites to kill him. It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. Interesting that I want to just point out what it says next. Well let me finish this thought here. The Jews were admitting that they were a captive nation. Right here they were admitting that they were not under their own jurisdiction. They were being subjected to the Roman law that you cannot apply your own judgment, you cannot execute a sentence against someone that you've judged. Not in a capital way, not in capital punishment. They were admitting that they were not a free people. It is not lawful for us, we don't have the authority for us to administer the death sentence. And so they brought him to Christ. Now notice what he says in verse 32, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke signifying by what death he would die. What did Jesus say about his own death? He said, in I, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. Now, the lifting up of crucifixion was a Roman, that was a Roman punishment, that was a Roman sentence. The Jews, if they wanted to kill somebody because of a breaking of a law, they stoned them. So what we see here is that even in these, even in this, this whole sham trial we see that God was in control and that he was going to die the death that God had planned for him that he was not going to be stoned under the Jewish law but that he was going to be crucified he was going to be lifted up on a Roman cross not the stoning of a Jewish sentence. And this that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke signifying by what death he would die. And so we see clearly here that God was in the business of orchestrating this whole event, even as it was led up before he was ultimately crucified, even he was involved in the sentencing and making sure that his word would be fulfilled as Jesus had said that it would be. signifying by what death he would die. Then Pilate, he entered the Judgment Hall again, called Jesus and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Now in the other passage, I want to make a point of this, the courage that we see here of our Lord when he was in front of the religious people, When he was with the Sanhedrin, they asked him this question, are you the son of God? And he admitted that he was. He testified that he was. He owned a fact right in front of this knowing how hateful that would make them. That they would accuse him of blasphemy by admitting that he was the Son of God. By acknowledging the truth of who he was in front of the religious authorities. Now, when he comes over to the civil authorities, notice what he does here with the civil authorities, with those who are in authority in the government. When he is asked, are you a king? Think about the threat that this would have been to Caesar. The idea that, okay, we have a man who claims to be a king and that we should When Caesar says there is no king but Caesar, that he is the ultimate authority, here too then, when Pilate asked him, are you a king? Jesus answered him and said, are you speaking for yourself about this? Is this something that you're concerned about? Or did others tell you this concerning me? I'm not quite sure why Christ asked this question, where he says, are you speaking? yourself about this or are you asking this because you just heard? Well Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Am I a Jew? And the commentaries were pretty much in agreement that there was a great disdain here. This question Am I a Jew? That I should be concerned about this? Your own nation and chief priests have delivered you to me." That there was a real contempt here by Pilate in regards to this in verse 35. Well, To finish my thought there about the question which as we come further down in verse 37, are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king. In front of this royalty or in front of this civil authority he acknowledges that he is a king. Just in the same sense that he acknowledged his Him being the Messiah in front of the religious set, we see the same courage being demonstrated here that Christ was very willing to stand and testify of His true identity. So in verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. My kingdom is not from here. Now does that mean that his kingdom is not here? No, he says, my kingdom is not of this world. He doesn't say that his jurisdiction does not extend to the world, but he says that the nature of his kingdom is not from the world, that his mode of operation is not the same as this world. And he proves it, that his kingdom is not of this world, by the fact that his servants would not fight for him. And not only that, we know if we go back just a few verses, we'll see that he not only, they didn't, he commanded them not to fight. He said, put the sword up. And so we see that his kingdom is not, it doesn't, the, is not increased or extended or prospered by fighting in a physical sense that the weapons of his warfare are not carnal but mighty through God and so he says to Pilate if my kingdom were of this world Then my servants would have fought that I would not be delivered to the Jews." And he makes this point that there was no fighting in relation to the Jews capturing him and bringing him before the judgment. Pilate persisted, he said, are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Now, this is a great statement. For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world to testify of the truth, to bear witness to the truth. It is the currency of heaven. the truth is and we see Christ here suffering for the cause of truth he was willing to align himself with the truth that there was no other agenda that he had but to stand for the truth and I want to remind you of what it says in Acts how that God glorified his servant Jesus remember that that was the true state of affairs it didn't doesn't matter so much about what the religious authorities were trying to do but the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus that was the true state of affairs Christ was willing to stand for that he was willing to witness to that truth he was Uncompromising in the true reality the true state of affairs as it stood and So we see here that he says Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. There's an interesting passage in Romans 15 in verse 8 where it says, Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God. to confirm the promises made to the fathers." You see here that he became a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God. That was the mode of operation was demonstrating the truth of what God was saying about the Jewish people, about sin, about salvation, about the law, And he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so when Pilate said to him, what is truth? He had the incarnate Son of God standing right in front of him, who was himself the truth. Pilate said to him, what is truth? And we have many people today who are very interested. I believe if someone is truly interested in what is true, that God may well have already been doing a work in their hearts. Because if you have a true desire, if you have a real desire to know what the truth is, I believe it's because God has put a love for the truth in your heart. And that love for the truth, as it says in, is it Timothy, I think? Having not received a love of the truth in relation to the false teachers. But here, he says, Pilate says to him, what is truth? I recently, a friend of mine was talking to me, We had a lengthy conversation about religion, about, you know, the important questions of life. And he said, as he's getting older, one of the things that was driving his interest is the fact that his children were becoming older. He had, I think, two or three children. And this man is prominent in our county government. this little girl, his little girl asked them why they don't pray before they eat. Because they just, their habit is to do it at Sunday lunch, to say grace at Sunday lunch. And he was convicted and it was like, he began to question himself, well what is really important? What is really important in life? And so we had this long conversation and I told him, Well, you need to go read the book of John. Read the Gospel of John. Just begin at the front and read the Gospel of John. And I want to ask him at some point whether he has taken up my assignment. But this is the heart's cry of someone who is who is looking. I don't believe Pilate was honest here in his question about what is truth because he went out. He did not persist in his desire for truth. He was just saying, maybe he was just saying in a kind of a cynical way, well what is truth? I mean who can know truth? What is the reality of life and all that it means? But I think this is where I was just thinking about what Isaiah said this morning in the opening about truth and the fact of what is important. The truth is all that we have. And so when he went out again to the Jews, he said to them, I find no fault in him at all. He was again, trying to get out of it. He was trying to, I believe he knew that, honestly knew that Christ was falsely accused here. And he was looking for a way to get him out of this situation, but he did not have the courage to actually stand up against the chief priests and the scribes. And we see in verse 39 and 40 here that this was, I think, a way that he was trying to get Christ off the hook. He said, but you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews? I think it was in one of the other accounts that he asked the people this, because by this time there was a great crowd of people out there. And he asked the people, Because truly, if anyone would have stood up for Christ, it was the local people. It was the people who had followed Him. But the scribes and Pharisees had already circulated through them and said, hey, we want you to ask for this robber, this Barabbas, Instead we want you to ask for him then they all cried again saying not this man But Barabbas now Barabbas was a robber We see here very clearly that it was They were choosing and in a in a in a sense this is a picture of the gospel isn't it a that one who was guilty of sin, one who was guilty of a robber was traded for the perfect son of God. That Christ in all of his perfection went to the cross and paid for the crime of this, was sentenced instead of this robber who was actually guilty. And we recognize here that the crowd was crying this out. We want We want Barabbas released and we'll see as we go further in chapter 19 as we go on that it is indeed, it was indeed Christ that they condemned and ultimately crucified. But let's ask this question, what is this picture we see here? Have you and I, have you and I ever been falsely accused? How do we relate to that? Have we ever been... Those who, let's ask this question, those of us who have, those who have been closest to us, have they ever been against us? I think we know that we face these things for the sake of the truth. Are we willing to go through and follow this example of Christ standing for truth in light of this great this great animosity that came to him from the religious people. Well let's consider these things, let's come before the Lord in prayer. Father we thank you for this example of the Lord Jesus and how we recognize your great sovereignty even in this sham trial, how that the people were against him but you You orchestrated the events that Your Word would be accomplished from all of the prophets and all of the prophecies of the past, Father. We just marvel at how You're able to bring Your Word to pass. And Father, we just pray that as we consider our Savior and the great trial here that He went through, even before His crucifixion, how he was marked as a criminal. Father, we just are humbled and convicted. And Father, we pray that these truths would ring into our hearts and we would consider these things and pray that you would go with us and keep us for your own purpose and glory. Through Christ we pray. Amen.