WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.599 Okay, I'm going to share something with you just for a few minutes before we sing another 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.040 couple of songs. 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:16.179 We read the Nativity stories there, Joel and Jess read these stories and we've been singing 00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:24.920 about them in the various carols and I have to say, I can't believe I'm going to do this. 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:32.200 I'm actually going to do something that I've never done before at a carol service and I'm 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:38.480 kind of depending on your good will and on your grace and your generosity to allow me 00:00:38.480 --> 00:00:40.240 to do this. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:46.280 I'm not going to talk about anything to do with the manger or with Jesus as a baby. 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:48.719 I'm not going to mention the fact that there's no room in the inn. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:54.719 I don't think I'm going to speak about or mention angels or shepherds. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:56.079 I'm not going to sing Hark the Herald. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:58.519 You'll be very grateful that that's the case. 00:00:58.519 --> 00:00:59.519 It's completely outrageous. 00:00:59.519 --> 00:01:02.920 I'm not going to do any of these things this evening. 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:06.599 There's not going to be a camel anywhere in sight, not a donkey. 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:10.159 So I ask for your apology already at this point. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:15.560 I beg of your forgiveness because I'm going to take you somewhere that I don't think that 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.000 you're going to want to go. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:22.680 I want to take you this evening beyond the brilliant music which we've enjoyed and you've 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:31.320 participated in and added to, obviously, yourselves and the anticipation of feeling warm and fuzzy 00:01:31.320 --> 00:01:36.200 inside which these events are encouraging us to feel. 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:42.080 But I hope you'll get that from the Mint's pies and the Muldwine later on downstairs. 00:01:42.080 --> 00:01:45.680 What I am going to do is I'm going to take you to a courtroom. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:53.280 I'm going to take you, I'm going to transport you to the last week of the grown-up baby Jesus' life. 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:56.920 His young life, he was probably only about 33 at this point. 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:03.240 And I want you in the darkness of the hall here to just close your eyes and use your 00:02:03.240 --> 00:02:05.640 imagination a little bit about the scene. 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:11.520 There's a baying crowd outside the courtroom and there's an inconvenience to judge on the 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:16.800 inside having to deal with Jesus Christ, this baby who had grown up. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:20.320 He was the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. 00:02:20.320 --> 00:02:27.080 And I want you to just think about the scene and Thomas is going to read from John chapter 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:31.280 18 which depicts and speaks about the scene. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:37.439 And you'll see the link, I hope, to the birth of Jesus in it. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:43.960 Your Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, Are you 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:46.680 the king of the Jews? 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:50.240 Jesus answered, Do you say this of your own accord? 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.800 Or did others say it to you about me? 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.079 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? 00:02:56.079 --> 00:02:59.960 Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:02.400 What have you done? 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:07.240 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:11.480 If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not 00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:13.439 be delivered over to the Jews. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.400 But my kingdom is not from the world. 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:21.560 Then Pilate said to him, So you are a king. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.520 Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:33.640 For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness 00:03:33.640 --> 00:03:36.000 to the truth. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.719 One who is of the truth listens to my voice. 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:45.039 Pilate said to him, What is truth? 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:52.280 And after he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:53.280 in him. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:59.680 Okay, so that's the kind of courtroom scene that we have at the end of John's Gospel. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:05.319 And it does bring us face to face with a massive question and a staggering claim. 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:09.039 And all that I would ask that you would do this evening for a few moments is take time 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:19.439 to consider if a question asked by a powerful political leader and a claim made by a condemned 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:26.360 innocent man or claims made by a condemned innocent man 2,000 years ago can change your 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.959 life to its very core. 00:04:29.959 --> 00:04:35.719 So that's just for a minute or two this evening, that's what I want to look at from this part 00:04:35.719 --> 00:04:40.519 of the Gospel where Jesus refers to the reason for him being born, which we've been singing 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:42.319 about this evening. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:45.759 And Pilate asks that remarkable question, doesn't he? 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:46.759 What is truth? 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:52.359 It does seem a little bit like a throwaway comment from Pilate when Jesus speaks. 00:04:52.359 --> 00:04:59.279 I don't know if it was a throwaway comment, but he asks that huge question when he's 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.279 interrogating Jesus. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:07.000 The biggest question really in the universe, what is truth? 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.799 Is there such a thing as truth? 00:05:08.799 --> 00:05:09.799 It's a huge question. 00:05:09.799 --> 00:05:15.319 It's a really deep theological, but also philosophical question. 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:23.319 And I think all of us, even if we don't think about these kind of illogical reasons or logical 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:27.759 strata, we do consider that there is truth. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:30.959 We live our lives on the assumption that there is truth and it matters. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.159 We know that on a personal level, don't we? 00:05:33.159 --> 00:05:39.959 If someone you love lies to you and breaks trust with you, that's a hugely significant 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:45.439 thing because all our relationships are based on honesty and on loving one another in such 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:47.639 a way that doesn't involve lying. 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:49.279 It matters. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:53.480 When your integrity at work is questioned, you care about that, don't you? 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:55.000 And I care about that. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.040 It's not just someone's opinion against someone else's, we care about that. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:03.360 At a scientific level, certain truth is measurable. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:04.360 There are laws. 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:06.680 There are absolute laws. 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:13.160 If I climbed up that pillar there and fell down from the top, the truth of the law of 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:18.680 gravity will hit me as hard as the ground that I fall onto when I come down. 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:19.680 Facts are real. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.240 They're observable and they're verifiable. 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:24.079 We know that. 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:29.879 What do we wonder if there is truth beyond observable or verifiable facts? 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:32.359 Is there truth behind the universe? 00:06:32.359 --> 00:06:34.560 Is there ultimate meaning? 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:42.319 Is truth simply what we can measure in a scientific way or is it, if it's more, will it never 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.079 go beyond being true to ourselves? 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:49.719 I'm not even sure if I know what that means, really. 00:06:49.719 --> 00:06:51.959 What about being true to others? 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.759 And what do we base that authenticity? 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:55.759 What's our standard? 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:56.759 How do we count? 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:03.159 I count for the universality of love and of the irrationality of hatred and the innate 00:07:03.159 --> 00:07:07.759 sense of fairness and justice and the purpose of living. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:08.759 What is truth? 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:10.159 It's a huge question for us. 00:07:10.159 --> 00:07:17.439 And I think it's a particularly big question for us today in the era of fake news and conspiracy 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.919 theories and competing worldviews and questions. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.480 There's lots of people asking that question of what is truth. 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:31.800 The pilot brushed aside, he brushed aside his moral dilemma with what to do with Jesus 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:35.240 by just shrugging his shoulders and saying, well, what is truth? 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:41.600 And he abandoned his responsibility to consider the claims of Jesus and his innocence. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:48.280 And I would plead with you not to do the same. 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:52.479 So Jesus, we have that question of what is truth, and then Jesus made a couple of really 00:07:52.479 --> 00:07:55.959 significant statements at this point. 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:58.959 Thomas read from this passage, and Jesus said a couple of things. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:01.759 The first thing he said, you're right in saying I'm a king. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:06.079 In fact, for this reason, I was born. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:10.399 So Jesus is basically saying I was born to be king. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:11.719 I was born to be king. 00:08:11.719 --> 00:08:16.479 So the baby in a manger that we've been singing about and that we recall and recount at this 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.560 time of year had a very specific reason for being born. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.560 And he wasn't just born, he came into the world. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.879 It was something that is very deliberate, it was very deliberate. 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:31.319 It was planned and it was purposed. 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:37.120 And there's something absolutely organized and purposed about this statement he made, 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:43.200 especially in the light that it came from someone who was about to face crucifixion. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:51.520 He had no army, no evident power, no apparent kingdom, and no intention of avoiding his 00:08:51.520 --> 00:08:54.680 fate. 00:08:54.680 --> 00:08:56.960 Some king, strange king. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:02.040 You know, in his 33 years, he claims to be divine. 00:09:02.040 --> 00:09:03.840 He has power over creation. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:05.200 He heals the sick. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:06.840 He raises the dead. 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:09.560 He speaks the very words of God. 00:09:09.560 --> 00:09:12.560 No one finds any fault in him. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:19.359 He drew crowds, but after a while these crowds left him and he was abandoned at this point 00:09:19.359 --> 00:09:21.000 by even his closest of friends. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.559 He had no home, no money, and no one to represent him. 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:26.559 Some king. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:28.799 The paradoxical really isn't it? 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:34.039 He's about to be judged as guilty on pain of death. 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:40.919 He is in the dock, but he is there deliberately and he's there willingly to receive the penalty 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:44.839 that he claims is our due. 00:09:44.839 --> 00:09:52.679 This harmless baby from the manger nailed shortly to a cross. 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:54.159 Some king, eh? 00:09:54.159 --> 00:10:03.399 A king who says he's done it for you and for me, and the king who claims authority over 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:10.439 your life and mine, even if we don't recognize it yet. 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:14.600 So his first claim is that he is born to be king. 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:20.560 And the second claim in this passage is that he came into the world, he was born to testify 00:10:20.560 --> 00:10:25.160 to the truth that everyone on the side of truth will listen to me. 00:10:25.160 --> 00:10:30.760 That's a remarkable statement, is that Jesus claims to be truth. 00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:36.120 Now a few chapters earlier he says to his disciples, I am the way, the truth, and the 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:39.680 life nobody comes to the Father except through me. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:43.799 He says he's here to testify to the truth and if you're on the side of truth, you're 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:44.799 on his side. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:46.719 That's what he's saying. 00:10:46.719 --> 00:10:52.199 And in his short life, his very short public life, it was only about three years, public 00:10:52.199 --> 00:10:59.120 teaching life, he taught that, and he was teaching that God is love, that God is God, 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:05.519 that God is just, that God is holy, he's patient and generous and kind and creative. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:12.159 He was teaching that we as a human race are estranged from Him by the very dint of our 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:17.480 broken human nature, by our choices, by our rebellion, by our sin. 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:21.879 He claims that death isn't just a natural separation from life and existence, but is 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:32.439 a spiritual penalty for our sins, separating us from the hope of a sweet existence. 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:39.120 And he knows and he knew that we can't reach up to heaven and live, but he says, I have 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.400 come down for you. 00:11:42.400 --> 00:11:44.920 That is why I have come. 00:11:44.920 --> 00:11:49.800 He loves us and he loves you enough to die in your place. 00:11:49.800 --> 00:11:52.400 That is why he claims he was born. 00:11:52.400 --> 00:11:54.960 You know, it's a huge claim, isn't it? 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.400 Claiming to be truth. 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:02.959 It's absolutely mind-blowing to forgive, to give purpose, belonging, to take away fear 00:12:02.959 --> 00:12:08.000 and guilt, to rescue from what death stands for. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:12.039 It's big stuff what Jesus claims. 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:18.399 And so the response that we give to Jesus can sometimes be a bit like Pilate. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:23.639 You know, we can either shrug our shoulders maybe, till next year, maybe back here next 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:29.759 year, or I'll maybe think about it when I'm older, or we can just ask the question, well, 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:31.080 who knows what truth is? 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:33.840 We might even bury our heads in the sand. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:38.600 We might do a pilot, or we might do an ostrich, one or the other. 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:42.919 But his claim to truth is a universal claim. 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:44.399 It's an absolute claim. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:50.439 And he's either mad, bad, sad, or he is who he claims to be. 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:56.680 He simply can't ignore, or it's not good if we misrepresent him. 00:12:56.680 --> 00:13:03.240 So Jesus Christ is our King as we worship, as believers, as Christians, as this community, 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:05.280 gospel community here. 00:13:05.280 --> 00:13:08.560 And I would really encourage, I would love you if you're not a Christian, if you don't 00:13:08.560 --> 00:13:12.320 normally think about Jesus Christ, or the gospel, or the Bible, or church, or anything 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.640 like that, to investigate the claims of Jesus. 00:13:15.640 --> 00:13:18.160 I really would love you to do that. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:23.600 I came to faith in Christ, well, nearly 40 years ago. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:29.000 I loved Jesus Christ as my King and Savior. 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:34.199 I believe He's the ultimate truth in which I find my true destiny as a human being. 00:13:34.199 --> 00:13:38.240 Through Him I've come to know God, the Father. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:44.799 He's proved an incredible source of joy, a challenge, hope, and transformation for my 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:49.399 selfish, proud, and rebellious heart. 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:53.599 And it has been really tough at times, and it still is tough. 00:13:53.599 --> 00:13:58.719 But I do believe is the only hope, not just for me, not just for religious people, not 00:13:58.719 --> 00:14:02.519 just for a faction of humanity, but for all of humanity. 00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:06.799 He's not just what works for me. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:12.439 He claims that there is no one else that we can go to, nothing or no one else who is worthy 00:14:12.440 --> 00:14:15.480 of that first place in our hearts. 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:19.800 And so I would encourage you to consider and think about His claims if you don't normally 00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:26.040 worship with us, or if you've never really considered His claims, or if it's only second 00:14:26.040 --> 00:14:32.440 hand knowledge you might have, or maybe an accepted stereotype, I would love to invite 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:39.800 you to come any Sunday to church here at 11 o'clock in the morning, or at 5.30 in the 00:14:39.800 --> 00:14:40.800 evening. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:44.000 Or if you speak to a friend who invited you, maybe they come to church, maybe they're Christians 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.120 themselves and they'd be happy to speak to you. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:49.399 Speak to me afterwards, I'd be very happy to speak with you. 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:53.000 Or the bulletin that you've received, I hope you've received it if you haven't. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:57.839 If you haven't, there's some details there and we can make sure that you know other details. 00:14:57.839 --> 00:15:06.279 We are absolutely delighted to have you all as guests here this evening. 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:10.559 We don't normally have quite this many, or week to week. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:14.439 So I know there's lots of friends here today, and it's really brilliant. 00:15:14.439 --> 00:15:21.399 We're absolutely delighted that you're here, and we do hope and pray that you'll be challenged 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:28.399 to consider this great Savior, Jesus Christ, who's changed our lives and transformed us 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:48.000 for ever.