John 18:19-40

[0:00] But it makes me, in a way, just draw your mind to the moment of coming to the Lamb of God for salvation, for healing of the mind, for everything we just sang about.

[0:14] I like that stuff. It's good to be brought right back to that. So we're in the Gospel of John. We're in chapter 18. I think we got up to around verse 18. And so we'll pick it up right there with Peter.

[0:28] Peter is outside and warming himself while the Lord Jesus Christ was taken in before the high priest. And let's remember that this is taking place in the hours of the night, in the early hours of the morning, as we would consider it.

[0:44] I don't have a time to give you exactly, but I'd say it's well after midnight. And this is going to go on. He's going to be taken back and forth before his crucifixion.

[0:55] And one of the times he meets, I believe it's with the Sanhedrin, would be at, I think, 6 in the morning, if I recall, from another Gospel. But first he's going to be taken to Annas, which was back in verse number 13.

[1:09] And then he's taken to Caiaphas. And he gets jogged around. He goes before the Sanhedrin. He goes before Pilate. He goes from Pilate to Herod and then back to Pilate.

[1:20] And so there's a lot of back and forth going on in these hours before he ever makes it to Calvary. And so we're going to pick it up in this. John doesn't give you every single detail of every trip back and forth.

[1:31] Like we already saw in the garden, John doesn't give us the whole garden experience with the prayers and the agony there. He just takes you straight to Judas showing up. And that's just the way this Gospel is written.

[1:42] So this is the one we're studying. So let's stick with it. Let's start in verse number 19, where the high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. So he's going to get grilled here.

[1:55] Why is he asking him about his disciples? Why is he asking him about his doctrine? Children. It's odd to me that he's going to ask him anything at all. If they've already arrested him illegally at night, apprehended the man with torches and lanterns and swords and staves.

[2:13] And they brought him in the middle of the night to the high priest. And the high priest is going to start asking him questions. What is the purpose of this? Why are we asking questions? The reason he's asking questions is, number one, he doesn't really have anything on him.

[2:27] So he's trying to get him to say something. He's trying to coax some response that, now we got you. And that's what he does. He gets something out of it and then he stands up, rends his garments and says, you know, what need we of any further witness?

[2:40] You know, we've heard with his own mouth blasphemy. So that's why he's going to start asking questions because he's looking for a reason. He doesn't have one. So everything about this from the beginning to the end is illegal, not only in the Jewish customs and laws, but even bringing up into the Roman thing for Pilate to condemn him to be crucified, having no charge to lay on him at all.

[3:04] He admitted three times Pilate said that he finds no fault with him. So the high priest asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. And here's the response of the Lord Jesus.

[3:15] Verse 20, Jesus answered him, I speak openly to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whether the Jews always resort and in secret have I said nothing.

[3:26] So that's a great response. Why are you asking me about my doctrine? I've not hidden anything from anybody. Everybody knows what I teach. Now let me show you something here.

[3:38] Let me back up a little bit. Go back to chapter 7 of the Gospel of John, chapter 7. Every time somebody teaches something, and if it's a little bit new, if it's something that you don't already understand fully or heard of, then you want to kind of tack that man's name and associate him with the doctrine.

[4:01] And history bears this out, and I don't need to go down the road of it, but you can, you know, certain teachings gets a man's name attached to it. And this is kind of what's going on with the Lord Jesus.

[4:13] So look at John chapter 7, and let's start in, let's see, verse 14. Now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.

[4:30] And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Letters meaning something that, writings, the scriptures specifically. And why would they say that he's never learned?

[4:42] Well, he's in the temple teaching. And in Israel, if you're going to go to Bible school, if you're going to study for the ministry, there's pretty much just one. You're going to go to Jerusalem.

[4:53] You're going to go to learn of the chief priests or the Pharisees and those scribes. You're going to sit and learn of those. I'll show you a case of that in a second here. But this is why they would expect we would know this man.

[5:08] And we don't know this man. He did not come and learn from us. He did not come and learn letters, learn the law. So who is this guy? And how knoweth this man all this stuff?

[5:20] Okay, so here's what Christ replies in verse 16. Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.

[5:37] And so the doctrine that he has is of God. It's not his doctrine. This is what he taught. It's not me. Don't attach this to me. Don't claim that this is my teaching, my doctrine.

[5:48] This is from God, what I'm speaking to you. Now, just to back up what I said earlier, look over at Acts chapter 5 and also get Acts chapter 22.

[6:02] If anybody is going to learn, they're going to go to Jerusalem to learn. They're going to leave home and go to Bible school. If they're going to get taught letters or the scriptures.

[6:16] Here's the apostle Paul. Back then we know him as a young man named Saul. And at the end of chapter 5, I just want to introduce this man in verse 34.

[6:28] It says, Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people.

[6:40] And he goes and gives his input about what should be done to these apostles. And what's going on is they're in Jerusalem and they're teaching in the temple. And so they, you know, the apostles, they want to put them down.

[6:52] Now, I just want you to learn this man's name, Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, a great man. Now look over at chapter 22. And this is the apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul.

[7:10] And I'll back up to 21 just to point out. I don't need to. He says it again in 22. So verse 3. In verse 3, he says this, I am verily a man, which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, and brought up in this city.

[7:30] I'm not from Jerusalem. But I was brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers and was zealous toward God, etc.

[7:41] Now the point I'm showing you is that Paul learned letters when he was Saul. He was sent from his hometown to learn letters, to go prepare for the ministry, if you want to call it that.

[7:53] And he goes to Jerusalem to do that. So when Jesus shows up and he's teaching in the temple and he's teaching things that are just sound wisdom and doctrine and truth and biblical, just he has this knowledge and he has this understanding and application of the scriptures and of the prophets and of the law.

[8:11] And they're like, where does this guy come from? Who is he? And how did he? He never learned letters. He never enrolled in our school. And we think the same way.

[8:24] When we run into somebody and if they're a good brother and they know the book and they know what they're talking about, the first question anybody seems to ask is, where did you go to school? We want to associate him with something, with some place and put a pin and say, okay, now we know what you're about and where you're from.

[8:40] That's how they spoke of the Lord Jesus. Now back in chapter 18, the high priest starts off with, tell me about your disciples, tell me about your doctrine. And his response is, I've been talking about this stuff publicly.

[8:53] I've published my teachings openly to anybody who would hear. He that hath an ear, let him hear. And that was common. And the Jews always resort to the temple. That's where I taught.

[9:04] So nothing being done in secret. There's no reason to ask me of my doctrine or of my disciples. They're known by everybody. So verse 21, Why askest thou me?

[9:17] Ask them which heard me what I have said unto them. Behold, they know what I have said. Now, interesting that he added that to there. He didn't have to say that. But he did.

[9:28] And he did. And it incurred something. Verse 22, When he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with a palm of his hand, saying, Answers thou, the high priest, so? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil.

[9:43] But if well, why smitest thou me? Now, the Lord Jesus has all the proper ground to stand on. Because what he spoke was truth.

[9:54] He didn't say anything out of line. And if it sounded disrespectful, well, I mean, it is illegal. Everything about what's happening right now is illegal. And there's no official capacity for this to be sanctioned by.

[10:11] And yet, he responds with just a true statement. Everybody knows what I teach. Why don't you ask them? Why are you bringing me here at this hour of the night to ask me what I teach?

[10:24] And he gets struck in the face by somebody standing by. And that's just very telling. That's something that's inside of me, it's inside of you, is this just desire or capacity maybe to respond with violence.

[10:39] To respond with a slap when it doesn't go the way you want it to go. You kind of have already programmed the way this is supposed to go. And when he doesn't comply, slap.

[10:51] It just, violence comes out. It shouldn't, but it does. And this is how the officer responded. Now, remember the Apostle Paul. Look over at Acts 23. Remember the Apostle Paul standing before the high priest Ananias?

[11:06] And he gets smitten on the face too. And he has a little different response than Jesus does. Take a look at Paul's response to a similar thing.

[11:16] Happens a few years later. Acts chapter 23. And in the first verse, like he just doesn't like what Paul says. Verse 1, Paul earnestly beholding the counsel said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day.

[11:33] And just that statement right there. Smack him on the mouth is what he says. Verse 2, the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by to smite him on the mouth.

[11:44] Because he says he's lived in good conscience. I have lived in good conscience before God unto this day. Now, they don't believe that he's living in good conscience.

[11:55] He was the one that defected from the Jewish faith and is now preaching that Christ whom they have crucified and accusing them. And so the high priest commands him to be smitten.

[12:07] Here's Paul's response. Verse 3, then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall, for sittest thou to judge me after the law and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? And they rebuked him for talking like that to the high priest.

[12:22] And he backed down when he understood it was the high priest and realized he was not to revile the high priest. And gave the scripture in verse 5.

[12:33] But the Lord Jesus doesn't talk that way. In chapter 18, he doesn't respond with... But what he does respond to is to the man that smote him and said, If I said something wrong, tell me what I said wrong.

[12:48] But if I didn't say anything wrong, then why did you touch me? Because you just violated the law yourself. And that's something that will happen if you get in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, is you're going to find yourself guilty.

[13:01] You're going to find just trying to defend yourself or trying to justify your actions or trying to get around the person that he is and his righteous and holiness.

[13:12] And you're going to find he's going to come out on top every time. So this is the case with this man that smote him in the face. Now he's the one that's guilty. Thinking that he was doing the right thing.

[13:24] Just reacting like that. Come back to John 18 and verse 23. He asked the question, Why smitest thou me? Now verse 24. I might actually add this.

[13:35] We won't turn here. But there's a couple scriptures in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 50 describes Jesus Christ being smitten. Lamentations 3 describes him being smitten on the cheek.

[13:47] And these are prophecies. And so if you want to answer the question, Why smitest thou me? Well, it's a fulfillment of the scriptures. The scriptures said he would be smitten. And indeed he was. All right.

[13:57] So now verse 24. Now Annas had sent him unto Caiaphas, the high priest. Then, and Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said, therefore, unto him, Art not thou one of his disciples?

[14:10] He denied it and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsmen, whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?

[14:21] Now he's got an eyewitness. Not just somebody who thinks he might be or speculates, but this guy's an eyewitness to what he did earlier that night. And Peter denied again.

[14:32] And immediately the cock crew. So we don't have the entire scene here of all that goes on again. But all of the scriptures, if you put them together and you run the references, it takes a little time to do this.

[14:44] It all fits perfectly like a puzzle. And here is the fulfillment of something that Christ said would happen. He said this earlier to the men when they were together, that Peter would deny him three times.

[14:56] And there's the fulfillment of the words of Jesus Christ. And just table that because we're going to hit on that again in a second. Verse 28. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment.

[15:09] So this is Pilate. You see in verse 29. Now we're going to the Romans. So the Jews don't have anything that they can accuse him of or that they can crucify him for or stone him for.

[15:21] So we're going to have to fill in a few of the blanks here with the other gospels. The case here is that they found him guilty of blasphemy. They brought false witnesses.

[15:32] This is some of the other gospels putting these pieces together. They brought in false witnesses. Their witness didn't agree together. And so finally he's like, who do you say you are? Are you the Christ?

[15:42] Like tell us plain. Are you the Christ or not? And he says, I am. And he told him that you're going to see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven and power, in the clouds of heaven and glory. And that's when the high priest does his big pomp and show and rends his garment and says, what need we of any further witness?

[15:58] Yes, we've heard him ourselves. He's full of blasphemy is what they accuse him of. But what can the Jews do about the blasphemy, supposed blasphemy? They don't have the power to stone the man.

[16:10] Although they stoned Stephen in Acts chapter 7, didn't they? They certainly did that. But here they got, this is in Jerusalem and here they are with the Passover feast.

[16:21] And it's a busy, bustling kind of place. There's a lot going on. And they need to do this through the Roman government. So they take them to Pilate. But the problem is they don't have the ability or they don't have anything as far as on the Roman books that can be worthy of death.

[16:41] Oh, he claims to be our Christ, our Messiah. Pilate, what's Pilate care about that? How is that a violation of Roman law? So we've got to find him guilty there. So they take him to Pilate.

[16:53] Verse 28, so they led him from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment and it was early. And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

[17:05] So what a, I mean, how godly and how separated and how holy these men are that they would not dare step foot inside this Gentile establishment or be seen or commune with the Gentiles because of their holy feast day upcoming.

[17:25] I want to give you a cross reference here. Look at Acts chapter 10. You might remember that the apostle Peter in the future has a vision where the Lord is going to show him that you can go to the Gentiles now.

[17:40] I've cleansed them in the sense of they're no longer outcasts or dogs and now you can go to them and speak to them. And he gives them this vision shown in three times in Acts chapter 10.

[17:53] And so Peter understands that I'm supposed to go to Cornelius, this Roman. And so he heads over to see him. And find Acts chapter 10 and verse 24.

[18:08] And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them and had called together his kinsmen and near friends, a bunch of Gentiles all gathered together waiting for Peter to show up.

[18:20] And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter took him up saying, Stand up, I myself also am a man. And as he talked with him, he went in.

[18:33] I bet you Peter felt that awkward feeling of crossing over that threshold, walking into this Gentile establishment. Notice in verse 28, And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation.

[18:55] But God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. So there's a transition going on in the book of Acts. Later as he rehearses the matter in chapter 11, he says in verse, He's accused in verse 3 saying, Thou wentest into men uncircumcised and did seat with them.

[19:13] But Peter then rehearses the matter from the beginning and expounded by order unto them and said, No, look, God told me to do this. He showed me that he has made the way of salvation available to them.

[19:25] All right, back in John chapter 18. So these Jews are not supposed to do that. They're actually not. So look at them just picking and choosing what parts of the law that they'll follow through with.

[19:37] They're so concerned with the outward appearance and the purifying of the flesh. And they're not so much concerned with the weightier matters, as Christ said in Matthew chapter 23.

[19:48] The weightier matters of the law. All right, verse 29. Now that's the right first question because the accusation has to be made.

[20:07] And then he would turn to the man and interrogate the man. So what's the accusation? That's where we start. And what's their answer? Verse 30. They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.

[20:22] So malefactor, somebody, you see the first three letters, mal, like malicious, or you know it from malpractice, or it's something that's evil or negative.

[20:36] And a malefactor is an evildoer. They're calling him a criminal or a troublemaker. If he weren't such a bad guy, we wouldn't have brought him up to you. And here they don't give any reason, but they have a few they try to throw out there.

[20:51] Look back at Luke chapter 23. Here's what they tell Pilate that the Lord Jesus is guilty of. They give a fourfold false accusation against Jesus Christ here.

[21:10] Luke 23. And let's start at verse 1. The whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate.

[21:22] They began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation. Where is the case of him perverting the nation? You're not going to find a case of him perverting the nation.

[21:36] He may be teaching some things that some of the rulers and the priests don't agree with. But perverting the nation, that's a stretch. Secondly, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar.

[21:49] Now that's a wild one there, because you've got Luke chapter 20, where he told them plainly, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar, and to God things that are God's.

[21:59] So, you know, remember that where he said, Show me a coin, a penny? And whose superscription's on it? It's Caesar. So give it to him then. So that one doesn't fly. Verse 2 at the end says, Saying that he himself is Christ a king.

[22:16] Calls himself a king. And so this is going to start, That one might catch Pilate's ear. And if he's guilty of not paying tribute, Well, that would catch his ear as well.

[22:27] To consider, okay, is this guy really guilty of treason And violating the Roman law And trying to seduce and teach the Jews to overthrow or to rebel?

[22:38] A little bit later, look at verse number, Where is it? Five, they were the more fierce, Saying he stirreth up the people, Teaching throughout all Jewry, Beginning from Galilee to this place.

[22:51] And nothing's getting dealt with here. He hears Galilee, and he's like, Oh, I'm going to send you to Herod, Because Herod's in town, And that's his jurisdiction. But there's the fourth accusation, Is that he's stirring up the people, Teaching throughout all Jewry.

[23:05] Stirring, stirreth up the people. That sounds like a revolution. That sounds like something violent is going to be going on. When that's farthest from the case with Jesus Christ. So there's the accusations that they give.

[23:18] Come back to John 18. So they do try to shoot some darts at him, And none of them stick.

[23:34] Nothing's landing, Because none of it's true. And so, verse 31, Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him and judge him according to your law.

[23:48] We already did that. They found him guilty of blasphemy. The Jews therefore said unto him, It's not lawful for us to put any man to death. Why would they say that?

[24:00] That's not true. We've studied that in Exodus. There's plenty of reasons under their law Why somebody should be put to death. Smiting their father or mother. Or kidnapping was another we saw.

[24:11] Or cursing, blasphemy. But here they're talking about something else. When they say put a man to death. Verse 32, That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, Which he spake signifying what death he should die.

[24:24] In other words, I'm not going to die by the hand of the Jews. Because what is their course of action If somebody's guilty of death? How do they follow through with that, somebody?

[24:37] How do they put a man to death? They stone him with stones. Oh, you got it down, huh? So, that didn't take place. So, this is what John is informing us of.

[24:49] That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, Which he spake signifying what death? He's not going to die by stoning. What death should he die? Well, he spake of this already. Look at John chapter 12.

[25:01] He said this a few times. Look back at John chapter 12. He used a certain phrase, And John records it three different times, Of signifying what death he should die.

[25:12] And it's never by stoning. It's not by a Jewish means at all. John 12 verse 32. And 33.

[25:28] And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, Will draw all men unto me. What do you mean, Jesus? This he said, signifying what death he should die.

[25:41] A perfect cross reference to chapter 18. Being lifted up from the earth is how he signified he would be put to death. Look, let's see. Look back at chapter 3.

[25:53] This is the first time that he said this. Chapter 3. And this is in his time at night with Nicodemus.

[26:07] And it's in verse 14. So it's not talking about hanging him, Putting a rope around his neck, Or doing what Judas did when he hung himself.

[26:25] He's talking about being attached to, The serpent was attached to a pole, And lifted up. He's going to be hung up on something. Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

[26:37] Another reference to his death. Look at chapter 8. One more time. And he says it in verse 28.

[26:52] Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, Then shall ye know that I am he, That I do nothing of myself, But as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

[27:09] So three times he tells them That that's going to take place In chapter 3, chapter 8, chapter 12. And what I want you to see here now, Back in chapter 18, The Jews said it's not lawful for us To put any man to death.

[27:24] Like our hands are tied, Pilate. We can't do this, But we need you to do this. And it's going to fulfill something. John says that the saying of Jesus Might be fulfilled, Which he spake, Signifying what death he should die.

[27:40] Now let me take a second And point something out to you. Earlier we saw that that happened. Looking back at verse number 9, 18, 9. We saw this last week. That the saying might be fulfilled, Which he, Jesus, spake, Of them which thou gavest me, Have I lost none.

[28:00] So that was, He said that earlier in the night. Or he said that in chapter 17, Was one case. And I showed you a second place, I think it was chapter 7 or 6, Where he had said that. These are his words being fulfilled.

[28:13] Okay, now look at chapter 18, And remember what Simon Peter did. He denied him three different times, And the cock crew, And he had predicted that as well, Earlier this evening, When he was in that room with the disciples.

[28:31] And so here, In this very chapter, Is three separate fulfillments, Of not the scripture. Now that's the popular thing, Right? Look at chapter 19, This is all over the place, Especially at the crucifixion.

[28:45] Chapter 19 and verse 24, Is one case. They said, Therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, But cast lots for it, Whose it shall be, That the scripture might be fulfilled, Which saith, And then there's the scripture.

[29:00] This happens again. Look at verse 28, After this, Jesus knowing all things were accomplished, That the scripture might be fulfilled. A little bit later, In 36, 37, More scripture being fulfilled, Again another scripture.

[29:16] That's the common thing to hear, And to see, The gospel authors, Showing you, Look, He is fulfilling, He is fulfilling, He is the Messiah, The Christ, The fulfiller, Of the Old Testament scriptures.

[29:29] But John, I take this to show you, That John, Equates the Lord Jesus Christ, With the scripture, As he should, The word, And he takes the Lord Jesus, Words themselves, And shows you, That he is fulfilling, His own words, And that, How else, I mean, You could just say, Oh, He's just talking about his own thing, And he's just showing you, Like, Yeah, He said that.

[29:53] But after, The common theme is to show, That the scriptures are being fulfilled, The scriptures are fulfilled, But then to say, And Jesus himself, Is fulfilling his own words, Knowing that he himself, Is the incarnate word, You can't separate, The Lord Jesus Christ, From the scriptures, I could give you, I have a sheet on this, And I think we looked at this, In the one doctrines class, At least 20, And I'd say that it probably goes to more like, 30 to 36 different points, Where the scriptures are this, And Jesus is this, And they're the same thing, The scriptures are holy, He is holy, The scriptures are called, Faithful and true, And his name is faithful and true, And you can look at titles, The word, The word, I said that one already, You can look at descriptions, The scriptures, The holy scriptures, Let me think how that says it, How's the word, The engrafted word, Which is able to save your souls, The scriptures, And then the Lord Jesus, Came into this world to save sinners,

[30:55] I mean we could make a list, To show that they both sanctify, They both judge, And they're, In nature, In attribute, The whole thing, They're just like, They're inseparable, And here's another case, To add to it, Is that the fulfillment, Of the scriptures, And in this time, The fulfillment of his words as well, So moving on, From that verse number 32, Verse 33, Then Pilate entered, Into the judgment hall again, And called Jesus, And said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews?

[31:23] Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell it thee of me? Now, I hope I'm not like, Just reading into this, But it sure seems, That the Lord has, Some kind of tone, In his words, To speak, Which appears to be rude, I mean he already did it, In verse 20, When he didn't answer, The high priest's questions, About his disciples, And his doctrines, The direct question, He did not answer, But just said, I already told you all this stuff, Go ask people, Go ask somebody else, And he gets smacked in the face for it, And now before the governor, He doesn't seem to be too worried, About the authority of Pilate, As a matter of fact, Before the night's over, Pilate's getting pretty worried, About the authority of Jesus, But he says, Sayest thou this thing of thyself?

[32:14] Or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation, I think he's getting a little fired up, When he says that, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation, And the chief priests, Have delivered thee unto me, What hast thou done?

[32:28] It's like, You're in hot water here, Not me. And I'll be asking the questions. So verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom. And those two words, There's so much, Compacted in those two words, My kingdom.

[32:45] If you could understand, This is a big lesson. The book is about, My kingdom. The whole book. And when he mentions that, Just in that statement to Pilate, There is so much, It's such a big topic, That Pilate has no clue, What he's referring to, And what's going on here.

[33:06] My kingdom, Is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, Then would my servants fight, That I should not be delivered, To the Jews.

[33:17] Like, In the garden, When some of his disciples, Peter specifically, Drew the sword, And thought, I have to deliver him. I cannot let them take him, By physical force.

[33:29] But Christ told him, No, I'm going to drink of that cup, Put the sword away. My kingdom's not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight, You'd have a revolution on your hand, Like we would be going at it, Right now.

[33:43] That I should not be delivered unto the Jews. But now, Is my kingdom not from hence. It's curious to me, This scripture reads, Pure and perfectly intact, Yet, Many new translations, Take the word now, Out of the text, And it reads differently.

[34:06] And the word now, Belongs in the text. Because that makes the statement true. Now, Is my kingdom, Not from hence. It will one day. And his kingdom will come.

[34:17] And as he already said that night to the Jews, That they're going to see him coming, In great power and glory. And Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then?

[34:29] Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I'm a king. He's affirming that he is. To this end was I born. Not to be the king. He's going to clarify that.

[34:40] Not to come and start something. This is not what I came for. To this end was I born. And for this cause came I into the world, That I should bear witness unto the truth.

[34:52] Everyone that's of the truth, Heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? Now, Some people like to imagine Pilate gets saved here, Because he has this encounter with Jesus, And he hears things about truth, And he finds no fault in him, And it's just such a wild imagination, I think, To say that, That he washes his hands, He calls him guilty, Or he calls him innocent, And washes his hands.

[35:20] Like, It just, That is not salvation. But, What Pilate says, Is, What is truth? And walks away. What are you talking about?

[35:30] Bearing witness to the truth. Everyone that's of the truth, Heareth my voice. Well, Apparently, Pilate's not of the truth, Because he's not hearing his voice, And he walks off. What is truth? Truth is relative.

[35:41] Truth is, It's speculative. It's, Who decides what truth is? That's where Pilate stands. You Jews, You're the one that claims to be true, To have the truth, And to speak the truth.

[35:56] And so, This is, This is just, There's nothing going on here, Is how Pilate feels. And so he walks away. He's not a troublemaker. He's not a criminal.

[36:07] Whatever they've accused him of, It's just, He has ideas. He's a man with ideas about truth, And that is not harming me, And that is not harming my government. So he wants to get him off the hook.

[36:19] He wants this thing to go away and be over. And so, You might, Let's look at it quick while we're here. Back in chapter 8, It's pretty close. Look at John chapter 8.

[36:30] When Christ said, Everyone that is of the truth, Heareth my voice. This is something that he taught openly as well. And if I could give you the context a little bit, He's contrasting them, Either being of, Of God, Or being of the devil.

[36:49] In verse 44, You remember this verse, Year of your father the devil, And the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, And abode not in the truth. Because there's no truth in him.

[37:00] And that's who you're of, Is who he's telling these Jews that hate him. When he speaks a lie, He speaks of his own, For he's a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, Ye believe me not.

[37:12] Which of you convinceth me a sin? If I say the truth, Why do ye not believe me? Here's why. He that is of God, Heareth God's words. See how that's connected to the truth?

[37:24] Ye therefore hear them not, Because you're not of God. So everyone that heareth, Let me find it. Everyone that is of the truth, Heareth my voice, As he said to Pilate, As a statement of truth.

[37:39] Everyone that is of the truth, Heareth my voice, Because it's the word of God. And hearing it, Doesn't mean with your ears, It means receiving it. It means believing it.

[37:49] It means following. And so, Everyone that is of the truth, Heareth my voice. That would be who his followers are. That's who he's king of, In the sense of what Pilate's asking him, Saying, No, my kingdom's not from hence.

[38:03] And aren't you a king? Well, yeah, You said it. I'm a king. But listen, I'm about the truth. I'm here to bear witness of the truth. And the people that follow me, Are people that follow the truth.

[38:16] And that's how he's kind of, Steering this conversation, And revealing his kingdom, And revealing his authority, And where he's, You know, The realm. It's not about rebellion. It's not about swords and knives.

[38:29] And so Pilate's like, Alright, This is nothing happening here. So, Verse 38, Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, He went out again unto the Jews, And saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

[38:44] That's the first of three times, That he says that statement, Or very similar. I find in him no fault at all. But ye have a custom, That I should release unto you, One at the Passover.

[38:55] Will ye therefore that I release unto you, The king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, Saying, Not this man, But Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber.

[39:08] Now, Let's flip back. We'll quit here. But let's flip back to Luke 23, Just to get a little more feel, For the scene, That is before us here. It's just not a little, A nice gentle conversation going on, Between Pilate and the Jews.

[39:24] It's a strange custom too, I might add, That at the Passover, They release a prisoner. It's a strange custom.

[39:36] And yet, There's a type in that as well. And there's a bit of a prophecy in that, To realize that their custom, Is something that's going to be pictured, Of you and I, Being that Barabbas, To either suffer for our crimes, And be condemned justly, Or to be released, Why?

[39:56] Why am I getting to go free? Because an innocent man, Is going to take my place. And there's a beautiful picture there, Of our salvation. So Luke 23, And, This is, Okay, I'll back up to verse 14.

[40:14] This is Pilate speaking, He says, Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, As one that perverteth the people.

[40:25] That's what they said in verse 1. Behold, I have, Behold, I, Having examined him before you, Have found no fault in this man, Touching those things, Whereof ye accuse him, No, Nor yet Herod, For I sent you to him.

[40:38] For I sent you to him, And lo, Nothing worthy of death is done in him. I will therefore chastise him, And release him. So that's, Okay, I'm going to beat him, Alright, That'll satisfy you, Alright, You see a little blood, You'll be happy, We wore him out.

[40:52] So that's what he thinks, He wants to just, Get this done with. I will therefore chastise him, And release him, For of necessity, He must release unto them, Release one unto them, At the feast. They cried out at once, Saying, Away with this man, And release unto him, Unto us Barabbas, Who for a certain sedition, Made in the city, And for murder, Was cast into prison.

[41:14] Pilate therefore, Willing to release Jesus, Spake unto them, But they cried, Saying, Crucify him, Crucify him, And he said unto them, The third time, Why?

[41:25] What evil hath he done? I found no cause of death in him, I will therefore chastise him, And let him go, And they were instant, With loud voices, Requiring that he might be crucified, And the voices of them, And of the chief priest, Prevailed.

[41:42] And Pilate gave sentence, That it should be as they required. And so then, He releases Judas. So know that this is more of a mob scene, In front of Pilate.

[41:53] And if you're Pilate, And you're the governor, You understand, This is just not an amical conversation, This is not just like, Like, No, Look, I said what I said, This is how it is, So go home.

[42:06] And all the Jews go, Oh, Well, We tried our best, Okay. They're not going anywhere. They are bloodthirsty, They are angry, They are crying out, And screaming for this man to be crucified.

[42:18] Pilate said, Look, I'll beat him. That didn't assuage any of their violent thirst. And so, Pilate knows, Alright, This is not getting any better fast, This is not going to go away.

[42:31] I'm going to have to do what they want. Because, Everything I'm trying is not fixing this thing at all. So he gives in. Later, We also see in another place that he washes his hands, And says like, I'm innocent.

[42:44] You're, This is on you. But just understand the scene, That it is not just a little one-on-one conversation among friends. This is a bloodthirsty crowd, That satanically is lifted up against the Lord and his Christ, And want him put to death.

[43:02] I mean, It just rises up. It's wild, How inside the humanity is this desire to murder God's son.

[43:13] Because of what? They couldn't pin anything on him. So what is it that actually is getting after him? Well, We saw earlier, It was their place. They'd lose their place, Their position.

[43:26] They'd lose their power among the people. So there's some pride that's definitely under the current here. God help us to watch our pride. Good night. Because it's something that rises up in the devil.

[43:38] It rises up in the Jews to murder his son. It's a horrible, Horrible thing. So we're going to have to stop there. We'll close with the end of the chapter. Barabbas was a robber. So we'll stop right there and pick it up, Lord willing, In chapter 19 next week.