Gospel of John - The Courtroom Shenanigans Part 2

       

The Courtroom Shenanigans - Part 2

John 18:28-40; Matt.27:11-25

After failing to get a substantial answer from Jesus that warranted the death penalty, and after his being beat in the courtroom and in the outer courts, the high priest Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin scurried Jesus over to the presiding Roman governor, Pontius Pilatus (Pilate). In the wee hours of the morning, they awakened him and his wife, who was tormented by a dream about Jesus’ trial (Matt. 27:19) in her fitful sleep. Pilate, being the ruling Roman authority in Judea, probably knew of the Sanhedrin’s scheme against the one called Jesus of Nazareth, but in order to keep some resemblance of peace in the city, he heard the case against Jesus near the break of dawn. Let’s begin with the first portion of the text, “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. So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.”  Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law… This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. (Deut. 21:22-23)” 

Pilate’s frustration with the Jewish religious authorities was tolerable at best, and exasperating at worst. Now they asked that he come outside in order to deal with their squabble because his gentile residence would defile them, make them unclean during their holy week of the feast of the paschal lamb, unleavened bread, the celebration of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, and a holy convocation and memorial to their God, Jehovah.

Pilate stood out on the portico of his residence and listened to their demand. Upon hearing that their evidence had to do with evil, a very generic term for a crime. He tried earnestly to rid himself of this fracas of religious contention. “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” 

Jesus looked around at his accusers, knowing the real accuser was overlooking this foray against him. For he had told his disciples what kind of death he was to undergo (Matt. 26:2). All of this was according to law and prophecy, “If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.” (Num.33:21-23) For crucifixion was also the common Roman execution of the time in Israel according to the law.

Application - Throughout history, injustice has been done by men and relished by the evil accuser within their hearts. Jesus told the same group that had condemned him that their father was the devil. “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn. 8:44) 

Like Jesus’ day, people today appeal to a higher authority (court) until they obtain the outcome they desire. For as true believers, our higher authority is God. Imagine the end of the age, and mankind is standing before the ultimate authority, God. He will not ask them to speak or provide evidence but will open the books of their lives and read the truthful evidence, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence the earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.” (Dan. 7:9-10; Rev. 20:11-13)

Next, the Sanhedrin exasperated Pilate with the death penalty charge. Let’s look at the next portion of text, “The Jews said to him, ‘It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.’... So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 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.”

The hypocrisy of the high priest, chief priests and the other members of the Sanhedrin became apparent to Pilate. They want Jesus dead, but they wouldn’t do it themselves because of the Jewish religious law and the festival. So to hear Jesus’ plight and plea, Pilate agrees and has the maltreated Jesus brought before him in his official chambers and Pilate sits himself on the judgment seat (Gabbatha) to hear this case. 

Pilate begins with the first interrogative, “Who are you? Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate’s questioning may have been peaked by his hearing about a Galilean leader who was accomplishing miraculous healings and even raising the dead and leading a large following. Jesus was now standing in his presence. Pilate knew Herod Antipas, the Idumaean tetrarch, who posed as the ruling king of Galilee and Parea, and imposed himself on ruling in Judea as well. Pilate's question was met by a question from Jesus, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” For Jesus knew the Sanhedrin had placed this in Pilate’s mind from all their disputing over what Jesus had said and the acts Jesus had performed in Israel. But Pilate also postulated in his mind what it meant to have a king arise amongst the Jewish people. Pilate replied offhandedly to Jesus, for the Jewish religious ruler’s obvious desire was to influence his office as the imperial procurator and magistrate of Rome in Israel. So to quell any thought that he had leanings of favoritism towards Judaism, his response was “Am I a Jew?”. 

Pilate finally gets to the apex of this early morning incursion, “What have you done?” Jesus responds about his nobility and divinity. “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.”

As the Roman perfect for Judea, this is a quandary.

Jesus has told him, “My kingdom and I are not of this world, and if I were, my army of servants would fight for the deliverance of their king from the Jews.” Pilate responds, “So you are a king?” This revelation places a new light upon the accusations against Jesus by the Sanhedrin, for he had heard the rumors of the prophecies of a Messiah, a Jewish ruler king. Pilate didn’t want an incursion from another king in the area he was appointed to magistrate, nor would Caesar allow it. For Jesus clearly stated, “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.” Even now Pilate realizes that Jesus is a king, and Jesus stated he was born for that very purpose, and to come into this world and to bear witness to the truth.

Application - Kingship in America is a foreign idea, but to those who believe in Jesus, he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and his throne is in the temple in heaven, and in the hearts of those who call him Lord, master, and king of their lives, “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords… I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (1 Timothy 6:13-15; Dan. 7:13-14)

Jesus desires that he be placed on the throne of your hearts willingly, not forced. He asks you, “...confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Rom. 10:9, Rev.3:20). But at the end of the age “...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:10-11) 

Jesus is truly the King of kings and Lord of lords as Isaiah prophesied and God purposed, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” (9:6-7)

The world, like the Jewish leaders and Pilate in Jesus’ time on earth, refuses to believe in Jesus as King, and the evil one who is at the center of their hearts doesn’t want Jesus to be their King of kings either. But the Bible states “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (Zech. 12:10)

Jesus is a compassionate king who extends grace and mercy to those who will call upon him and believe, but he is also a victorious king who will trample on the head of the one who has deceived the world, and all who have made him king of their hearts and souls will enter into his eternal kingdom which is not of this world. Jesus’ reigns in the kingdom of the Truth.

Last, Pilate is perplexed by the revealing of the purpose of Jesus’ kingship, to bear witness to the truth. Let’s look at the remaining text, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. 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?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.”

Pilate contemplates his wife’s note of warning and the revelation of Jesus’ kingdom is based on “truth.” But what is the truth? Pilate had been trained in the greco-roman worldviews. Truth was a philosophical term, a term used among the scholars and dreamers in the Proculean, Stoics and Epicureans. The Proculean was the breeding bed of ethical views being manifested in the Roman view of jurisprudence in the senate. Pilate decided to wash his hands of this pandering to the jewish religious leaders and declared Jesus’ innocent upon the evidence expounded by the Sanhedrin and Jesus. 

Pilate found a loophole from a jewish custom of releasing one prisoner during Passover and condemning the other to death. While Pilate interrogated Jesus, the jewish leaders knew of the custom, and they had aroused a rebellious crowd to ask for the other criminal offered, and to crucify Jesus. Pilate was tired of this early morning malcontent, he knew it was only their selfish ambition that drove their hatred of this man. Pilate offered them Jesus Barabbas, a convicted killer or Jesus the one who is called Messiah. In unison, the cohorted crowd asked for Jesus Barabbas, and the death by crucifixion for Jesus the Messiah, the King of the Jews. 

Application - Jesus is the Truth and all who enter into his kingdom must enter by him. (Jn. 14:7) All in his kingdom hear, follow, and obey the voice of truth, and all who are of the truth (still here in this world) hear and obey Jesus’ voice. “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” But the world doesn’t hear his voice nor does it obey the truth. There was a time in much of the world where the Bible was the absolute infallible truth. It was used in courtrooms for swearing upon an oath to tell the truth. But truth has been ruled relative and subjective in the courtrooms today. Like Pilate, the world asks “What is truth?” 

The innocent and the guilty are weighed by the vote of people (a jury) and a verdict is handed down by the majority, innocence is not based on truth but on presented evidence by advocates swaying and desiring one side over another. 

As in the case of Jesus before Pilate, the advocates of the majority won the case by voicing their desires and rights. The authority who saw that the majority weren’t correct in their decision, offered a custom (law) that would allow for an appeasement for injustice. The scapegoat law (Lev. 16:8-22). In the laws and customs of the Old Testament is the scapegoat. The two male goats symbolize the atonement for sins. One goat is allowed to escape judgment and be released back into the wild by lot, the other is an atonement for the sins of all and it is put to death as well by lot. Barabbas represented the scapegoat released back into the wild, Jesus was our atonement goat for all our sins. He bore these upon his death on the cross. 

Jesus knows the hearts of those who cast their lots with the world, who seek a verdict favoring their viewpoints, and it was for their sins as well as for all in the world who are sinful because of the fall in the garden of Eden. Jesus is the scapegoat bearing all our sins. Jesus told Pilate, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” Not only King but for the truth as well.

God the Father had purposed that his Son would be the atonement for this sinful world. God’s Truth has overcome the world’s injustice, and he sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling with all authority as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. We who are of the Truth hear his voice and know that He bears witness to the Truth. In the end Truth and justice will triumph, the accuser of all mankind will receive the judgment that was set for him and all who followed him from the beginning. Today, if Jesus is not the King of your heart, please ask him to come in and rule in your life.

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation (JD Farag). Please, Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. And he wants to empower you with the Holy Spirit. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I am developing a new webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. I’m adding answers each week to questions that pertain to our time today.  Thank you

http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com