Making the innocence of Jesus manifest to all
“What accusation do you bring against this man?”
(John 18:28-40, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 23, 2010)
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. 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?” 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.
Then they led Jesus... (28-32)
As we continue on the road to the cross, the ironic victory of God that looks so much like a defeat, we are moving now from the seat of Jewish religious power to the civil authority of the Roman empire and her governor. Besides Jesus and His mother, Pilate is the only human being who has made his way into the creeds of the church, immortalized in the phrase, “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” We start in verse 28 at the point of intersection between Jewish and Roman power, and it is not a very comfortable meeting.
The delegation of Jewish leaders and their officers have led Jesus early in the morning from the house of Caiaphas, the Jewish priest, to the headquarters of the Roman governor. They need to come to the Romans for a variety of reasons, yet they can only go so far. They cannot go in with the Gentiles. According to their traditions that would make them unclean. Here we have the collision of a subjugated power with their masters. Yet the servants consider their masters to be ceremonially beneath them. But Roman power is necessary in order for the goals of the priests to be accomplished. This is an odd situation. Everyone considers himself superior to the others. Yet there is one who is above them all. He is the prisoner. His purposes will be accomplished.
Going to the Romans was necessary. The Jewish authorities would be more than happy to have the civil rulers be the ones who put Jesus to death. The Empire gave the Jews a measure of freedom but that freedom did not extend to the taking of a man's life. Beyond any purpose of the Jewish leaders, God had a purpose in Jesus dying at the hands of Gentiles. Jesus had said earlier that the way he would die would involve being lifted up. This pointed to a Roman penalty, the cross, as did the expression in Psalm 22:16, “They have pierced my hands and my feet.” The involvement of Gentiles in the death of Christ was also a fulfillment of Psalm 2, where the rulers of the earth, and not just of the Jews, are against the Lord God and His Anointed, the Christ.
So Pilate... (33-38a)
To bring all this about was not an easy project. The civil authorities did not initially want to have anything to do with this prisoner of the Jews. Pilate was interested in Jesus, at least interested enough to privately question this man who fellow Jews accused of being a challenge to Roman authority. Pilate asks Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus asks Pilate a question that draws attention to the source of the accusation. This did not come from Pilate's own mind, but from the leaders of the Jews, the chief priests who have delivered Jesus into the hands of the Romans. They are the ones who are making this disingenuous claim that Jesus is a secret insurrectionist who is challenging Roman authority.
Is Jesus a threat to Roman order? Only in so much as Jesus is a threat to all order that would attempt to defy Him. He is above Roman rulers, because His kingdom is not of this world. At His resurrection, Jesus will be recognized by the Father as the true Son of God. This Son is above all earthly powers according to Psalm 2. His kingdom is not from the world. His reign will not stand against decent Roman order. His followers will be good residents of the Empire unless Rome demands that good subjects turn against the higher authority of God. People will be able to give to Caesar what is Caesar's provided they are first able to give to God what is God's. If Rome, or any other state, insists that to be good subjects one must defy the Law of God or worship the emperor as a god, they will find that Jesus will defy them in that idolatrous claim.
Jesus, His kingdom, and His gospel will be a challenge to every person, every societal structure, and every religious society who cannot make peace with the plain fact that Jesus is Lord. Over the centuries of New Covenant life He will build His Kingdom of willing subjects. Jesus will not use the sword to coerce converts into saying things that they don't believe. The power of Christ is much stronger than that. From His throne in heaven He will use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to change lives. Far from forcing unwilling people to believe and obey, Jesus will free lives from the bondage of unbelief and disobedience, so that the service that they render to Him as King will be a willing act of worship. This is why Christ has come: to be the Truth of a new kingdom. He is the voice of God that is heard by all who are of the Truth. Pilate cannot understand the truth that Jesus speaks of because He cannot understand Jesus Himself.
After he had said this... (38b-40)
He does know this crucially important and necessary fact: Jesus is not guilty. Pilate testifies to the Jewish leaders who are waiting to see if their plans will succeed, “I find no guilt in Him.” Not only that, Pilate wants to use the Passover custom of releasing one prisoner to the people in order to be done with this entire troubling situation. Surely the people will ask for the life of the innocent man Pilate has taken to calling by His title, “the King of the Jews.”
Psalm 2 says, “Why do the nations rage?” We might expect that Gentile rulers would hate the King of the Jews, but what about Jewish crowds that had seen evidence of His miracles and had so recently been shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Or are those Jews gathered here now just a group who have always been in league with the priestly powers who insist that Jesus be kept in Roman hands, and that a robber named Barabbas be released? Either way, Jews and Gentile are hearing that Jesus is “not guilty.”
If Jesus is the King of Israel, the Israel gathered there in the presence of Pilate does not seem to want to own Him as their King. They despise Him. Yet He is the King of some chosen Israel of God. Though the priestly rulers envy Him, reject His understanding of His Kingdom, are threatened by His insistence that their view of the Law is wrong, and resent His claim to be the true Son of God who is equal with the Father, He will always be the truly righteous King of the Kingdom. And He will be lifted up to die for the sins of guilty Jews and Gentiles.
Despised and rejected by His own nation, a prisoner who has been handed over to the Romans, this innocent Man who will die on the cross for our sins. Jesus is beginning His reign. He was born to be our King, but His Kingdom is not of His world. We have become His willing subjects through repenting of our sins and believing in His Name. Own Him forever as your glorious Lord. There is no accusation that can be justly brought against Him. Through this strange collision of hostile powers, this fact has been manifest to the world. This was God's plan in this strange meeting of Jews and Romans.
(John 18:28-40, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 23, 2010)
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. 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?” 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.
Then they led Jesus... (28-32)
As we continue on the road to the cross, the ironic victory of God that looks so much like a defeat, we are moving now from the seat of Jewish religious power to the civil authority of the Roman empire and her governor. Besides Jesus and His mother, Pilate is the only human being who has made his way into the creeds of the church, immortalized in the phrase, “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” We start in verse 28 at the point of intersection between Jewish and Roman power, and it is not a very comfortable meeting.
The delegation of Jewish leaders and their officers have led Jesus early in the morning from the house of Caiaphas, the Jewish priest, to the headquarters of the Roman governor. They need to come to the Romans for a variety of reasons, yet they can only go so far. They cannot go in with the Gentiles. According to their traditions that would make them unclean. Here we have the collision of a subjugated power with their masters. Yet the servants consider their masters to be ceremonially beneath them. But Roman power is necessary in order for the goals of the priests to be accomplished. This is an odd situation. Everyone considers himself superior to the others. Yet there is one who is above them all. He is the prisoner. His purposes will be accomplished.
Going to the Romans was necessary. The Jewish authorities would be more than happy to have the civil rulers be the ones who put Jesus to death. The Empire gave the Jews a measure of freedom but that freedom did not extend to the taking of a man's life. Beyond any purpose of the Jewish leaders, God had a purpose in Jesus dying at the hands of Gentiles. Jesus had said earlier that the way he would die would involve being lifted up. This pointed to a Roman penalty, the cross, as did the expression in Psalm 22:16, “They have pierced my hands and my feet.” The involvement of Gentiles in the death of Christ was also a fulfillment of Psalm 2, where the rulers of the earth, and not just of the Jews, are against the Lord God and His Anointed, the Christ.
So Pilate... (33-38a)
To bring all this about was not an easy project. The civil authorities did not initially want to have anything to do with this prisoner of the Jews. Pilate was interested in Jesus, at least interested enough to privately question this man who fellow Jews accused of being a challenge to Roman authority. Pilate asks Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus asks Pilate a question that draws attention to the source of the accusation. This did not come from Pilate's own mind, but from the leaders of the Jews, the chief priests who have delivered Jesus into the hands of the Romans. They are the ones who are making this disingenuous claim that Jesus is a secret insurrectionist who is challenging Roman authority.
Is Jesus a threat to Roman order? Only in so much as Jesus is a threat to all order that would attempt to defy Him. He is above Roman rulers, because His kingdom is not of this world. At His resurrection, Jesus will be recognized by the Father as the true Son of God. This Son is above all earthly powers according to Psalm 2. His kingdom is not from the world. His reign will not stand against decent Roman order. His followers will be good residents of the Empire unless Rome demands that good subjects turn against the higher authority of God. People will be able to give to Caesar what is Caesar's provided they are first able to give to God what is God's. If Rome, or any other state, insists that to be good subjects one must defy the Law of God or worship the emperor as a god, they will find that Jesus will defy them in that idolatrous claim.
Jesus, His kingdom, and His gospel will be a challenge to every person, every societal structure, and every religious society who cannot make peace with the plain fact that Jesus is Lord. Over the centuries of New Covenant life He will build His Kingdom of willing subjects. Jesus will not use the sword to coerce converts into saying things that they don't believe. The power of Christ is much stronger than that. From His throne in heaven He will use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to change lives. Far from forcing unwilling people to believe and obey, Jesus will free lives from the bondage of unbelief and disobedience, so that the service that they render to Him as King will be a willing act of worship. This is why Christ has come: to be the Truth of a new kingdom. He is the voice of God that is heard by all who are of the Truth. Pilate cannot understand the truth that Jesus speaks of because He cannot understand Jesus Himself.
After he had said this... (38b-40)
He does know this crucially important and necessary fact: Jesus is not guilty. Pilate testifies to the Jewish leaders who are waiting to see if their plans will succeed, “I find no guilt in Him.” Not only that, Pilate wants to use the Passover custom of releasing one prisoner to the people in order to be done with this entire troubling situation. Surely the people will ask for the life of the innocent man Pilate has taken to calling by His title, “the King of the Jews.”
Psalm 2 says, “Why do the nations rage?” We might expect that Gentile rulers would hate the King of the Jews, but what about Jewish crowds that had seen evidence of His miracles and had so recently been shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Or are those Jews gathered here now just a group who have always been in league with the priestly powers who insist that Jesus be kept in Roman hands, and that a robber named Barabbas be released? Either way, Jews and Gentile are hearing that Jesus is “not guilty.”
If Jesus is the King of Israel, the Israel gathered there in the presence of Pilate does not seem to want to own Him as their King. They despise Him. Yet He is the King of some chosen Israel of God. Though the priestly rulers envy Him, reject His understanding of His Kingdom, are threatened by His insistence that their view of the Law is wrong, and resent His claim to be the true Son of God who is equal with the Father, He will always be the truly righteous King of the Kingdom. And He will be lifted up to die for the sins of guilty Jews and Gentiles.
Despised and rejected by His own nation, a prisoner who has been handed over to the Romans, this innocent Man who will die on the cross for our sins. Jesus is beginning His reign. He was born to be our King, but His Kingdom is not of His world. We have become His willing subjects through repenting of our sins and believing in His Name. Own Him forever as your glorious Lord. There is no accusation that can be justly brought against Him. Through this strange collision of hostile powers, this fact has been manifest to the world. This was God's plan in this strange meeting of Jews and Romans.
Application: Have you given the fact of Christ's full innocence careful enough consideration?
1. Why was it necessary for the Jews to bring Jesus to the Roman governor?
2. How would you describe the interaction between Jesus and Pilate?
3. What kind of King is Jesus, and over what kind of kingdom does He reign?
4. What are the various reasons that the crowd yelled for Barabbas?
1. Why was it necessary for the Jews to bring Jesus to the Roman governor?
2. How would you describe the interaction between Jesus and Pilate?
3. What kind of King is Jesus, and over what kind of kingdom does He reign?
4. What are the various reasons that the crowd yelled for Barabbas?
posted by Pastor Magee at 2:48 PM
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