THE ABORTION OF TRUTH
John 18.28-40
S: Jesus’ Trial
C: Truth
Pr: IF WE ARE TO BE PEOPLE OF TRUTH, WE MUST REFUSE TO COMPROMISE.
TS: We will find in our study of John 18 how the truth is twisted when people are controlled by their own agendas.
Type: Inductive
I. HATE (28-32)
II. POWER (33-38)
III. ABSURDITY (38-40)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Refuse to compromise on the truth about Jesus.
• Receive and act on His values (even if they are different than your own.
• Welcome Jesus as your King!
Version: ESV
RMBC 18 March 07 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Truth (H)
A teenage girl had just been given family-car privileges. One Friday night she returned home very late from a party.
At 11:30 in the girl sleepily walked into the kitchen, and her father asked her, "What time did you get in last night?"
"Not too late, Dad." she replied nervously.
Dead-panned, her father said, "Then I’ll have to talk with the paperboy about putting my paper under the front tire of the car."
Sometimes, the…
1. Truth is hard to escape.
Ultimately, truth is always hard to escape.
It catches up with us.
I am sure that many of us have experienced that.
We shade the truth or tell just a little white lie, and sooner or later, it comes out that we were not entirely truthful.
We had better realize this, though…
2. Truth is essential.
Our relationships depend on it.
We want our relationships to be based on what is true.
For if they are not, how will we be able to trust one another?
We will always be guessing.
No one really likes that in relationships.
Our society depends on it.
More specifically, our justice system depends on it.
Consider what happens there.
At court, who is at fault for the death of a loved one is decided.
At court, who gets custody of the children is decided.
At court, how much will be paid in damages is decided.
Interestingly, all of these decisions are based on the belief that natural-born liars will tell the truth.
Certainly, this makes the task of the justice system seem impossible.
A lot is left on judges and jurors, for they must decide who is telling the truth and who is lying.
Last week, we discovered that…
3. Peter has struggled to tell the truth.
He had told Jesus that he would always be there for Him.
But sadly, that was not true.
When it came to testify that he was a true follower of Jesus, he chickened out, and emphatically denied that he even knew Him.
Three times, he testifies, “I don’t know the man.”
The rooster crows, and Jesus’ prediction has come true.
Peter has let down Jesus by not telling the truth.
Truth takes a hit during what we call the Passion.
Not only has Peter struggled with it, but the courtroom drama is filled with lies and innuendo.
It is full of characters that are willing to compromise when it comes to the truth.
So, today…
4. We will find in our study of John 18 how the truth is twisted when people are controlled by their own agendas.
OUR STUDY:
Our first example is the Jewish leadership who is twisted by their…
I. HATE (28-32)
(28) 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. (29) So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” (30) They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” (31) 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.” (32) This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
It is interesting to note that the Jewish leaders don’t want to be defiled by walking on Gentile ground, but they don’t hesitate to condemn an innocent man.
So, apparently, they can allow hate to have full reign in their lives, but still take care to not be declared unclean because they have been walking in a Gentile palace.
Nevertheless…
5. Pilate is ready for business.
Usually, he is not in town.
He lived on the Mediterranean coast in Caesarea about sixty miles northwest of Jerusalem.
He didn’t want to come to Jerusalem any more than he had to.
But during the Jewish holidays, he stayed in the palace in Jerusalem to make sure things went smooth.
So he asks, “What’s the charge?”
Since he had already cooperated with the arrest, he probably already knew he was going to see Jesus on this morning.
The response is interesting.
It is as if the Jewish leaders thought they were going to get a free pass, and not a question.
So…
6. The Jewish leaders speak in generalities.
They don’t give a definite answer.
It is as if they are saying, “Just trust us. Take our word for it. He’s a really bad guy.”
So Pilate gives an appropriate answer, “You take care of it then. If he is so bad, you do what seems best.”
This report reflects accurately the Roman attitude of the time of allowing the local jurisdiction to have their way in enforcing national and religious laws.
But this won’t do in this case, for…
7. They have only one thing in mind for Jesus.
They are out for an execution – Roman style.
They probably could have gotten away with a vigilante stoning of Jesus, because in just a few months, they are going to do it with Stephen.
Pilate would usher a slap on the hand and move on.
But Caiaphas wants Jesus crucified.
He wants to discredit Him.
For in Deuteronomy 21.23 it says…
And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.
We know at this point in time, from the other gospel accounts, that the charge of treason is brought up at this point.
They say that Jesus is a competing king.
If you take Jesus’ side, you are no friend of Caesar’s.
Unknowingly, Caiaphas was fulfilling prophecy.
For all that is happening is under the control of the plan of God.
It is not Jesus that is on trial.
It is Caiaphas.
It is the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders governing body.
And, Pilate is on trial as well.
He was an ambitious opportunist.
He loved political power.
He had gotten his position by marrying well, the granddaughter of Augustus Caesar.
And though his wife warned him not to have anything to do with Jesus, his desire for…
II. POWER (33-38)
…twists his understanding of the truth.
(33) So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (34) Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” (35) Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” (36) 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.” (37) 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.” (38) Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
8. Pilate begins the investigation.
The examination starts with a statement of disbelief.
He asks, “Are you king of the Jews? You?”
You see, he is expecting a revolutionary, but Jesus’ appearance does not fit that.
So Jesus carries on the conversation.
“Do I look like one to you, or do you go by what they say?”
But to Pilate, this is a Jewish matter.
He is not that interested.
But Pilate wonders…
After all, where there is smoke, there is fire.
“So, what have you done?” he asks of Jesus.
And here…
9. Jesus explains that he is no threat to Pilate.
He is a spiritual king.
He does not rule by material force.
This is a new kind of kingdom, where what is important is the heart of the followers.
Jesus makes the point that they don’t depend on fleshly means to advance His cause.
Otherwise, His followers would have assembled an army and fought to release Him by now.
You see, Jesus communicates that…
10. The key issue is truth.
…and not power or position.
Jesus says…
“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth.”
Note this…
Jesus states that He was born, which indicates His humanity.
Then He states that He came into the world, which indicates His deity.
Even at this point, He speaks theology to Pilate.
He has come as the embodiment of truth.
He has come to speak the truth.
He has come to act the truth.
But Pilate has no interest in this.
He is interested in royal robes.
He is interested in position.
He is interested in power, honor, and glory.
And with this, Pilate gives his famous question, “What is truth?”
He asks the question, but he does not wait for answer.
He is not looking for one.
Whether he is sneering or sighing, we do not know.
But he has the answer he is looking for.
Jesus is no threat to Rome.
Now comes the pure…
III. ABSURDITY (38-40)
After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. (39) 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?” (40) They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
Pilate sees that Jesus is innocent.
So he begins to look for a way to get out of the situation.
We know from the other gospels that he sends Jesus to Herod, but Herod sends him right back.
What is interesting here is that a Gentile gets it.
Jesus is no revolutionary in the political sense of the word.
In Pilate’s understanding, Jesus is no danger.
He is, at most, a wandering, antisocial philosopher.
So…
11. Pilate believes he has cleverly found a way out.
He is going to follow an annual custom and let one prisoner go.
He offers Barabbas.
He is a thief, murderer, and insurrectionist.
He is a vile citizen.
Pilate is thinking that there is no choice.
It is no choice at all.
The crowd will certainly pick Jesus.
He has not hurt anybody.
But here we learn that…
12. When truth is ignored, chaos ensues.
When darkness is embraced, humanity refuses logic.
Somehow, the crowd is persuaded by the chief priests and elders.
It is a mob mentality.
The people are enraged.
Truth has been aborted.
Their choice is absurd.
They call for Barabbas.
And Pilate does not have the nerve to say “no.”
APPLICATION:
[Pause]
ILL Compromise (H)
Perhaps you have heard about the pastor who met with a pulpit committee? He really wanted to go to that church. No, he didn’t just want to go to that church; he needed to go to that church. And so he tried his best to answer their questions in the way he thought they wanted them answered.
He was doing pretty well, he thought, until somebody threw him a theological curve ball. “Pastor,” they said, “about your eschatology. Are you a premillennialist, a postmillennialist, or an amillennialist?”
Well, the poor soul could hardly remember what these words meant, much less develop a position on the question. So he came up with an all-purpose answer: “I’ll tell you what. I can preach it any way you like!”
Usually, we like our pastors to be a bit more firm in their belief system than that.
And while flexibility may be alright in the details of eschatology (after all, it hasn’t happened yet), there is no flexibility when it comes to the fundamental truths about Jesus.
The voices that call us to compromise are many.
They ask us to be flexible when it comes to the truth.
You see…
13. IF WE ARE TO BE PEOPLE OF TRUTH, WE MUST REFUSE TO COMPROMISE.
Throughout our study today, we have been made aware of truth twisters.
The Jewish leaders allowed their hate to twist their understanding of who the Messiah would be.
Since Jesus did not fit their understanding and challenged their power and authority structure, they were very willing to compromise.
Pilate’s continual thirst for power kept him from standing on the truth.
He was more interested in keeping his position of power.
In fact, he had a history of compromise, so his dealings with Jesus demonstrated nothing new in his character.
The most curious part of the story is the absurdity of the crowd.
To be allowed to be led into believing that Barabbas was a lesser threat than Jesus is an example of mindless compromise.
If we are to be people of integrity, we must not compromise when it comes to truth.
And this we must realize…
The difference between right and wrong is not found in what you and I think.
What we think does not matter.
Truth, you see, is found in who God is.
So, when we become followers of Jesus…
14. When we belong to Jesus, we embrace values that are contrary to the world’s (and even our own).
In God’s economy, His way of doing things, there is a reversal of appearances.
The meek rule.
The least are the greatest.
The poor are considered rich.
The weak are strong.
The unlearned are wise.
We live in a culture today that steadily embraces values that are in opposition to God.
We live in a secular world that purports that the here and now is of more importance than the eternal.
We live in a place where value is placed on the equality of all of nature as opposed to man as the superior creation made in the image of God.
We live in a society that lives the lie that we are born good and innocent instead of the truth that all have sinned.
We live among a people that place great value on what feels good and what works, instead of what is right, just and good.
But we will not have such things right when we insist on our way over God’s.
We will end up opposing God in the same spirit of those that determined to send Jesus to the cross.
We can be different.
We can…
15. Welcome the truth of Jesus as King.
Throughout this trial, Jesus is in control.
The whole time…
Not once does He lose it.
Not once does He lose track of what He is doing.
Every step Jesus takes is deliberate, because He is the true King, establishing a kingdom that will not only last a lifetime, but an eternity.
This King can be your master now, or later.
This is the truth.
Every knee will bow to Him some day.
This is why it is good to start practicing today.
Bow before the One who loves you, more than anyone can or would.
Bow before the One who goes to the cross for you, not because you have to, but because you want to.
Bow before the One who pain the penalty of sin, because He is worthy.
For Further Study: Proverbs 17.15; Isaiah 53.2; Daniel 7.13-14; Matthew 27.19; Luke 23.2; John 3.14, 8.32; II Corinthians 5.21; Philippians 3.8-10; I Peter 2.24
BENEDICTION:
ILL Trial of Jesus (S)
Max Lucado has written:
Perhaps you, like Pilate, are curious about this one called Jesus. You, like Pilate, are puzzled by his claims and stirred by his passions. You have heard the stories: God descending the stars, cocooning in flesh, placing a stake of truth in the globe. You, like Pilate, have heard the others speak, now you would like for him to speak.
What do you do with a man who claims to be God, yet hates religion? What do you do with a man who calls himself the Savior, yet condemns systems? What do you do with a man who knows the place and time of his death, yet goes there anyway?
Pilate’s question is your. "What will I do with this man, Jesus?"
You have two choices.
You can reject him. That is an option. You can, as have many, decide that the idea of God becoming a carpenter is too bizarre - and walk away.
Or you can accept him. You can journey with him. You can listen for his voice amidst the hundreds of voices and follow him.
Pilate could have. He heard many voices that day-he could have heard Christ’s. Had Pilate chosen to respond to this bruised Messiah his story would have been different.
Pilate vacillates. He is a puppy hearing two voices. He steps toward one, then stops, and steps toward the other.
So many voices. The voice of compromise. The voice of expedience. The voice of politics. The voice of conscience.
Jesus’ voice is distinct. Unique. He doesn’t cajole or plead. He just states the case.
Pilate thought He could avoid making a choice. He washed his hands of Jesus. He climbed on the fence and sat down.
But in not making a choice, Pilate made a choice.
Rather than ask for God’s grace, he asked for a bowl. Rather than invite Jesus to stay, he sent him away. Rather than hear Christ’s voice, he heard the voice of the people.
And the Angels Were Silent p. 161,162
[Invitation for prayer…]
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral:
Axelrod, Marc Questions for a King
Goettshce, Bruce Moment of Truth
Smith, Joseph Skepticism or Commitment?
Talton, Chris What Is Truth?
Tow, Richard A Pursuit of Truth Aborted
Books:
Hughes, R. Kent. John: That You May Believe. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999.
Keener, Craig S. The Ivp Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament, ed. F. F. Bruce. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977.
Stern, David H. The Jewish New Testament Commentary. Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., 1992.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament. Colorado Springs: ChariotVictor Publishing, 1989.
