What Do We Do With Jesus?
Series: A Journey with Jesus (through the Gospel of John)
Brad Bailey – April 10, 2011
Intro
As we begin this morning… I want us to consider the relationship we each have with truth. A part of each one of us bears a pursuit for truth. In a sense every life is a pursuit of truth. When a baby reaches out to touch the object in front of him he is discovering the reality of what he sees. We spend billions of dollars to go into outer space trying to find out the truth about what is out there. We want to know what is and what is not. We are in various ways seeking out truth. (Adapted from Richard Tow)
But then there is truth that confronts us with a decision we want to avoid. Some of the most important truth… can be the most inconvenient truth.
Today… as we continue in our Journey with him through the Gospel of John… we come literally face to face with this aspect of truth. We come to what we refer to as the eighteenth chapter of John’s testimony…and to follow what would be a long text to read… we will follow the portrayal as given in the movie entitled The Gospel of John… which follows John’s text.
The text revolves around a legal inquiry into the truth about Jesus of Nazareth.
It occurs at the palace of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea. Jesus has already been brought before the Jewish authorities at the house of Annas and then Caiaphas. In the meantime, Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, has been trying to follow along… but is afraid someone might associate him with Jesus and get a hold of him….. so he stays in the shadows. But he is recognized… and denies knowing Jesus… not once… but three times… as Jesus had said would happen. The late night becomes all night… and finally at dawn…Caiphas the highest religious leader decides to present Jesus to the local Roman ruler… Pilate.
CLIP – The Gospel of John movie- that captures the text of John 18:28-19:12 The length is 6:52 minutes. [1]
(A version of this can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1BrtpP_kVA )
Pilate is faced with a dilemma… what to do with Jesus. We see here only the final part of the process that had taken place. Throughout every step...no one knows what to do with Jesus.
The religious leaders want to get rid of him because he bears a quality of righteousness that exposes the limits of their own righteousness.
Peter wants to be a follower…. but he is looking at strength in Jesus that is willing to suffer for others and is doesn’t yet understand how to follow.
And now Pilate whose job is to keep peace… is faced with his own dilemma.
In the midst of this process… we learn something about the challenge and the responsibility that each of us must come to terms with.
It begins with in the early morning light as the religious leaders bring Jesus to the palace. [2]
Pilate asks them the most basic but telling question…,
"What charges are you bringing against this man?" – John 18:29
(Below is drawn and adapted from Richard Tow)
That was a perfectly natural thing for Pilate to ask. Just as our legal system requires an indictment of formal charges specifying exactly what laws have been broken, the Roman system also required formal charges.[3] Pilate is following proper legal procedure in asking his question.
But the Jewish leaders do not want to deal in specifics because they know they have nothing that would stand up in a court of law. Rather than give Pilate any specifics they answer in generalities. John 18:30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.” In other words, “Pilate, don’t concern yourself with details, take our word for it this guy is a criminal.”
But Pilate sees these guys for the political manipulators they are [4] and tells them to handle the matter themselves. He is saying sarcastically. “If you have already tried the matter and are not willing to give me the specifics of your accusations, then just handle it without me.”
That forced them to admit the real reason they were there. They wanted Jesus executed and didn’t have the authority to do it themselves so they wanted Pilate to do it for them.
In verse 32, John points out that this whole process of forcing Rome to carry out this death sentence was fulfilling the prophecy about the death of Christ. [5] Jewish law only made provisions for stoning… and was now restricted…while Rome would crucify public criminals. And so the prophecies that his bones would not be broken… and he would be lifted up… were unfolding.
But Pilates question hangs in the air…
"What charges are you bringing against this man?"
It’s a question that every one of us must answer.
Like these religious leaders, we may want to avoid the truth of what we are really doing. We can hide behind generalizations. Many people can not actually tell what they hold against Jesus… what is false about him… yet they will choose to reject him as the savior he can be to them.
I can certainly appreciate the questions such as “Why does he allow so much suffering in the world if he is a God of love?” But to look at Jesus is to see the Son of God left the glories of heaven to suffer and die for all.
There is something about his life unlike any other. There are no impure motives in him toward us. There are no unwise or inappropriate actions. An honest examination will conclude with the words of Pilate, “I find no fault in him.” And this reveals the first point about responsibility we must face…
1. We must consider WHY are we challenged by Jesus?
(Beneath the safe and surface responses we may have, what does Jesus really challenge in us?)
Jesus Christ causes a response unlike any human figure. His life has brought a depth of consolation like no one else…but also a challenge like no other. And while we may not make charges against him…. there will always be a part of us that feels challenged and may unconsciously want him to be out of our lives.
Earlier in this night when he is first brought to the high priests quarters, in the midst of being questioned and at one point struck… Jesus makes this point when…
If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" - John 18:23
What penetrating words. They call each of us to look at what he is really challenging in us. In truth every one of us is challenged by Jesus… and one of the most important questions we should first ask ourselves… is what is it he really challenges in me? Is it my desire for power? Control? Greed? Lust? Independence?
Only when we are willing to face this are we going to begin to know what to do with Jesus?
Now continuing… Pilate asked Jesus…Are you the King of the Jews?
(Below is drawn and adapted from Richard Tow)
Why did Pilate ask Jesus that question? Luke 23:2 gives us a little more detail of what the Jews had said to him concerning Jesus,
Luke 23:2
They accused him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
The Jewish leaders had concluded that Jesus should be executed because of blasphemy…saying that he was equal with God and that he came from God as His Son. [Matthew 26:65-66] But they knew that Pilate couldn’t care less about those kinds of allegations and would never sentence someone to death for blaspheming the Jewish God.
So they trumped up this charge that Jesus was somehow leading a rebellion against Rome. The accusation had two elements to it. One was that Jesus claimed to be a king. This accusation Jesus will answer. The second was that as a king Jesus was telling people to not pay their tribute taxes to Caesar. In reality, Jesus had done just the opposite of that. When the Pharisees had tried to trick Jesus into saying something like their accusation, Jesus took a coin and said to them, (Richard Tow)
Matthew 22:21
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
So they sow this lie into Pilate’s thoughts…. And he asks Jesus…. “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus’ answer was not what Pilate expected. Jesus asked him a question,
"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" - John 18:34
Jesus knows that they have been seeding what is not true to serve their own motives… and even Pilate has a sense of this.
> So Jesus is inviting Pilate to think this through for himself. “Are you just playing out what others have told you or are you personally seeking to know who I am?”
This leads to a second aspect about the responsibility for what we do with Jesus.
2. We each have to face OUR OWN responsibility in how we respond to Jesus.
We all want to be our own thinkers… to make up our own minds… in fact it is one of the most sensitive things we hear defended is the desire to claim “Hey, I’m my own person.” Yet if we were to honestly see the sources of many of pour positions towards things in life…we would see how easily influenced we are by others.
I think of the teenage girl who was heading out the door to school when her mother stops and asks why she is wearing two different colored socks. And the girl retorts, “Hey, I just want to be different… besides…everybody is doing it.”
We can hide behind the masses.
The truth is that you can no more truly claim a commitment to Jesus based on family or friends … than you can claim to reject him based on family and friends. That is a decision that is ultimately your own.
Jesus had made this clear to his disciples when he asked them,
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" - Mark 8:29 (NIV)
We will each ultimately have to answer that question ourselves.
As C.S. Lewis writes,
What can you ever really know of other people's souls - of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculations about your next door neighbors or memories of what you have read in books. What will all that chatter and hearsay count (will you even be able to remember it?) when the anesthetic fog which we call "nature" or "the real world" fades away and the Presence in which you have always stood becomes palpable, immediate, and unavoidable?
-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Ch 10, p 183
Well Pilate feels the dilemma… and tries to retort and get to the bottom of the issue about being a king.
It’s at this point that Jesus said…
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." – John 18:36-37
The fear that had been placed in Pilate was that since Jesus claimed to be a king…. He must be a threat to Roman rule. So Jesus starts by making it clear that if he had any intention of being another earthly king…. He would have called his followers to defend him.
Rome need not fear a political insurrection. He was not a zealot or a revolutionary guerrilla leader. His kingdom is not like that. It is not of this world; it is from another place, that is, heaven. Therefore it comes not by rebellion but by submission to God.
It comes not bearing force…but truth. We must realize that the kingdom of God is not advanced by the force such as was attempted in the Crusades of the Middle Ages nor any such forceful crusade today. How vial it is to grasp this today. So many people are reacting to the idea that religion is being forced upon them. They want to express their freedom, when in reality like Pilate… what is at hand is not force but truth.
> It was not force that Pilate must consider… it was truth… a truth that has come into this world.
Jesus is saying ‘Pilate… I bear the truth that reigns above all. What are you going to do with it?
Something is turned around with these words. Pilate thought he held Jesus’ destiny in his hands. But in reality it is Pilate’s destiny that’s at stake here. That destiny depends upon how Pilate responds to truth. “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Pilate seems at a loss of how to respond to this challenge of responding to truth…. And simply raises the question: “Truth… what is truth?”
It’s a question that has been raised throughout the centuries. And many would define the last decade as the era when western civilization decided to abandon the desire for truth.
Perhaps because the sciences have shown how many new discoveries have helped change our understanding. This can certainly cause us to question our certainty… and should. However if one thinks a little harder… it doesn’t imply that there is no truth… but only that we have the potential to get closer to the ultimate truth about certain things.
Perhaps we have found that it’s the claims to truth that have created so much conflict in the world. Many just want to lay down the very notion of truth and make everything relative. So relativity is the new truth. Relativity implies that truth is only relative to what you perceive. There can be no objective and certain truth.
I can appreciate a level of truth about the limitations of many claims to truth. Many people have carried such levels of presumption and pride to their claims.
We need to understand that Jesus is not talking about the limitations of rational understanding or perception… he is declaring that there is a central source of all truth that matters and it is God.
He reveals what we can and need to know of God... and in him we can KNOW the truth of who God is… and who we are.
John 8:31-32 (GW)
Jesus said … “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
He is not speaking of every aspect of what we might know… but of the truth that is centered in HIM.
Jesus is the clarifying center of whatever truth that ultimately matters.
I have often identified with what Phillip Yancey wrote when he stated:
“Jesus. Brilliant, untamed, tender, creative, slippery, irreducible, paradoxically humble -- Jesus stands up to scrutiny. He is who I want my God to be. Martin Luther encouraged his students to flee the hidden God and run to Christ, and now I know why. If I use a magnifying glass to examine a fine painting, the object in the center of the glass stays crisp and clear, while around the edges the view grows increasingly distorted. For me, Jesus has become the focal point. When I speculate about such imponderables as the problem of pain or providence versus free will, everything becomes fuzzy. But if I look at Jesus himself, at how he treated actual people in pain, at his calls to free and diligent action, clarity is restored.”
-Philip Yancey, "The Jesus I Never Knew"
As the Scriptures declare of Jesus… he is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” (Hebrews 1:3)
This presents us with a third challenge that each of us must face.
3. There is a living TRUTH that defines our choice and position in relationship to God.
Jesus is very clear that the truth he has brought to bear reveals a choice in every human heart. Notice he speaks of those who are on the ‘side of truth’…
There is a truth that is not relative….. but real and relational.
There may be plenty of aspects in life that we are still discovering… and must consider truth to be relative. There may be many aspects that we can not be certain of…and that are subjective… and understood only relatively depending upon our perspective. But Jesus declares that there is a center to all truth…and you can know the center…the center is God…who he has represented in the fullest.
This is the truth that we must realize is more constant than gravity…. more unmoving than the lighthouse that seeks to guide ships from crashing … more eternal than the any aspect of the universe we will ever discover.
This is the truth to which we say like Jesus… “not my will but yours be done”… or else we will have destined ourselves to hear back: “Not my will but yours be done.” [6]
Closing:
There are many points at which Pilate seems to find a way around his responsibility in deciding what to do with Jesus. [7] The tragedy is that when Pilate asks ‘what is truth?’ he has the greatest opportunity to know…. But notice he turns away… he does not even wait to hear Jesus. He turns away and is drawn back into the voices of the crowd. When the center of all truth is standing right in front of him… he chooses to turn away.
Winston Churchill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”[8]
The tragedy is what everybody most deeply long for, was there is Christ.
• The religious leaders and people wanted to be righteous… and accepted by God… and Jesus was provided the very rightness they longed for.
• Pilate wanted to be a ruler with power…and Jesus came with the power to restore our rightful position to reign and rule with God… as children of God. Pilate was trying to keep the peace… Jesus was the very Prince of peace.
• Peter wanted to prove he could be a friend of God…. Jesus made that possible.
He was being tortured and executed for each of them… but some chose power and control… independence… not realizing that they were not really gaining the power or freedom that really mattered.
What will we each do with Jesus? We face the same challenges.
We need to hear Jesus’ last words…He promised that those on the side of truth WILL hear his voice.
If we are prepared to stand on the side of truth we will be able to hear him. This means facing the real challenge he brings to bear… choosing to not simply follow others... and desiring to stand on the side of truth. All of this defines what we call a decision. We may try to avoid it… but ultimately our lives are defined by a decision that is made. As we close, I invite each of us to consider the reality of where we are in our own decision in relationship to Jesus.
Closing song:
I have decided to follow Jesus – Sung by David Conrad
Amazing Love – Worship Team
Resources: The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Richard Tow – I want to note special credit to Richard Tow. Have reached my 42nd sermon in a series flowing John’s Gospel, I have found Richard’s notes the most valuable whenever I have sought to look at what others have done with the text I arrive at. His combination of solid grasp of what is happening in the text with structure of points has been helpful more than any other. I do not actually use my notes as a manuscript either read or memorized but as a reference of thought I take in and can follow closely. In this sermon more than any other, I have included two extended sections that are only slightly adapted from Richard’s notes. I highly recommend him as a resource for anyone doing an entire series through the Gospel of John. My own outline preceded seeing his… and was structured around the three points made. However his own points parallel mine but were centered on three statements by Pilate. This particular point in John became extremely dynamic for me in my particularly post-Christian cultural context as my message is developed with that dynamic at hand.
Notes:
1. Each of the Gospel writers had a special emphasis in his presentation of Jesus’ trial, death, and resurrection. John seems to supplement the material of the first three Gospels. Only he reported the interview with Annas, and he reported the interview with Pilate in much more detail and psychological insight. John did not report the trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin (Mark 14:55-64) with the charge of blasphemy.(Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Jn 18:28–29).
2. Normally the governor lived in Caesarea, but during the great feasts it was prudent for him to come to Jerusalem in case a riot or insurrection took place. Passover was particularly dangerous because emotions ran high as the Jews remembered their deliverance from bondage. (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Jn 18:28–29).
3. Richard Tow cites - Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Book III (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1984) pp. 568-569.
4. Richard Tow cites - Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John (Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody Mass., 2000) p. 624.
5. 18:32. John explained why Jesus was delivered by the Jews to the Romans. Jewish executions were normally by stoning, which broke bones. The Roman method of execution was crucifixion. It was necessary for three reasons for Jesus to be crucified by the Romans at the instigation of the Jews: (a) to fulfill prophecies (e.g., that none of His bones be broken; cf. 19:36-37); (b) to include both Jews and Gentiles in the collective guilt for the deed (cf. Acts 2:23; 4:27); (c) by crucifixion, Jesus was “lifted up” like “the snake in the desert” A person under God’s curse was to be displayed (hanged) on a tree as a sign of judged sin (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13) Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Jn 18:32).
6. "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened." – C.S. Lewis, “The Great Divorce," p. 72-73.
7. There are many points at which Pilate seems to find a way around his responsibility in deciding what to do with Jesus. The other Gospels note that his wife had a dream and sent word that he should not have no part in trying Jesus. And another notes how he would say he is washing his hands of responsibility. But no such statement or symbolic act can change responsibility we have… such hands will never be clean.
8. Cited by Ricard Tow - http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Sir_Winston_Churchill/11 accessed 7-9-04
