Bearing Witness to the Truth

Introduction

Against popular belief, I have an amazing talent… a gift if you would. It mainly manifests itself when I am at home, though it is known to pop up away from the home here and there. It is the uncanny ability to miss the things I am looking for as they are situated right in front of my face!

It goes with out fail that as I am looking for something specifically in the refrigerator or in the cabinet, I miss it the first and/or second time I am searching for it. Sometimes I have found that my children have inherited this gift when they are looking for things.

Some might not see it as a gift, but I am embracing it as such.

In our text this morning, Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate (the governor of Judea) and Pilate completely overlooks who it is that is standing before him. I think like Pilate, in this divided time (not only communities of people but churches and Christians), it is important for us to pause for a moment, stare into the eyes of Jesus and seek to understand who He is and how He informs our engagement and interaction with the world around us.

If you have your Bibles, or on your devices, please turn to John 18:28-40.

If you are able, would you stand with me as I read our text this morning.

This is the word of the Lord.

Let us pray. Please be seated.

Hypocritical Nature of Sin

The religious leaders did not want to ceremoniously find themselves unclean before passover. This means that they were not to enter into the household of Pilate.

God had set up in the ‘Torah’ (the law, the ruler, the commandments) how the Jews ought to live. They were to live in such a way that it was dynamic, different, and appealing to the nations around them. They had laws around what was good and what was bad, they spoke in terms of unclean and clean. If you became unclean, you’d have to ritually purify yourself in order to be brought back into community.

Do you see the correlation with sin and righteousness… sin separates us from God (no intimate communion with God), but the life, death, resurrection of Jesus makes us clean and whole, bringing us back to intimate community with God.

Scholarship around Jewish laws in the ancient near east have concluded that this trial of Jesus was not completely above bar. There was not a desire to get at truth (we see that in John’s account last week as Jesus was questioned and he replied he taught in the open, in the day, at the temple, not like anyone who had anything to hide.)

The ways their handling of Jesus and his trial was sketchy at best:

Judges must conduct and conclude capital trials during the daylight (M. Sanh. 4:1)

Pharisaic principles also required a day to pass before issuing a verdict of condemnation (m. Sanh. 4:1)

The trials were not held at the home of the high priest, rather at what was called the “chamber of hewn stone” near the Temple Mount.

Lastly Jewish law opposed false witnesses… the penalty in a capital case was execution (Deut 19:16-21)

So they don’t want to enter Pilate’s headquarters because they might defile themselves, but will go ahead and bear false witness, have a secret trial, and condemn a man that has done nothing wrong.

Now we know that religious leaders are not the hero in the story (hopefully this is not a shock).

What do we do with this?

If we are driven purely by our own self-protecting insulating motives sin will not be lacking

John tells us in our text (vs. 28) that the Passover is being prepared. Jesus is the passover lamb who takes away the sin of the world. God’s plan and sovereignty can not be challenged.

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in him. Therefore, through him we also say “Amen” to the glory of God.”

Isaiah 25:1 “Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you. I will praise your name, for you have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.”

Acts 2:23 “Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.”

Though the religious leaders are culpable in their actions.

While not a perfect example… my daughters used to love Cheetos! If we left them out, they were going to eat them. They weren’t supposed to but they would.

IN the World but not OF the World

Jesus is brought before Pilate and is questioned by him.

Pilate asks him a question and Jesus invites him to make his own assertion, not on the basis of what other people say.

Jesus responds to Pilate after his indifferent response… John 18:36-37 ““My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” “You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.””

Pilate responds with, “what is truth?” … this is where if it’s playing on big movie screen, you stand up and yell at the screen… HE IS RIGHT THERE!!!!

Couple things… the Kingdom of God is not from here.

It can not be from here. Sin has entered the world and corrupted it all.

John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11–21 My Kingdom Is Not from This World (John 18:33–40)

‘The world’, as we’ve seen again and again, is in John the source of evil and rebellion against God. Jesus is denying that his kingdom has a this-worldly origin or quality. He is not denying that it has a this-worldly destination. That’s why he has come into the world himself (verse 37), and why he has sent, and will send, his followers into the world (17:18; 20:21). His kingdom doesn’t come from this world, but it is for this world. That is the crucial distinction.

Jesus taught us to pray for the Kingdom to come, God’s will be done, here on Earth as it is in heaven.

The kingdom ethic is different the ever changing worldly ethic. Depending on where you are from, what point in time we are in, and what culture we find ourselves in does the ethic change.

But Paul wrote down for us what a kingdom ethic, what someone from the Kingdom of God looks like… here’s a hint… it’s Jesus:

Philippians 2:1-11 “If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Second… Jesus was born for this.

Part of the undeniable proof of the authenticity and truth of the Bible is that God from a afar off through His word, the prophets, Jewish fathers, angels, spoke of the day that He would come in the flesh to restore the world unto himself.

This truth is what Jesus is bearing witness of.

He is not making it up. He is not coming up with it as he goes… it already is and he’s bearing witness to it.

John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11–21 My Kingdom Is Not from This World (John 18:33–40)

Pilate, of course, can only see things from a this-worldly perspective. As far as he knows, the only place you get truth is out of the sheath of a sword (or, as we would say, out of the barrel of a gun). Political ‘truth’; my truth against your truth, my sword against your sword, with those two meaning much the same thing. And ultimately, for a Roman governor, my truth against your truth, my power against your weakness, my cross to hang your naked body on.

Ah, but that’s the truth. The truth that belongs with Passover. The truth that says one man dies and the others go free.

What is this truth?

Jesus pre-existed with the Father

He became incarnate and fulfilled the promise to David

Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin

He died for our sins according to the Scriptures

He was buried (slide)

He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

He appeared to many, showing he was raised from the dead

He is seated at God’s right hand as Lord

He sent the Holy Spirit empowering the believer to be His witness

He will come again as judge.

The Kingdom is not defined by violence, but by love.

It’s not of this world. A witness doesn’t fight, they testify.

Testimony is weighty and affective because it is true and it bears itself out in truth.

Poor Substitute

When the truth is denied, we settle for a poor substitute.

In college I came home for a short stint and while at home asked my dad if I could help around the house and if he had any projects I could do. He gave me a door to plane to help make it shut better… as I went down to the shop and looking for tools, I found a hand planer. I had used an electric planer while at school and using a hand one made me feel like I was Amish… I spent what seemed to be hours to get that door planed down so it would shut right.

As I moved out on my own, I started to buy the things I felt I needed and/or wanted. Power tools, electronics, etc. What I realized fast is that often times you get what you pay for. I would be there looking at two options, going with the cheaper one I would be back at that store after awhile needing to replace the cheaper product because it broke, died, or just wasn’t good at doing the job.

They wanted Barabbas. His name literally means “Son of the Father”.

Matthew tells us (27:16-17) that his name is Jesus Barabbas… you can’t make this up. When they deny the true Son of God, they go for the counterfeit.

Barabbas was a robber, an insurrectionist… a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions).

As followers of Jesus, we can not walk out these doors and expect systems, culture, government, peer groups, etc. to save us or bring any sort of long lasting satisfaction.

They are counterfeit to Jesus and the Kingdom of God.

Let us not think that nations have not turned to insurrectionists for the common good. I don’t think this is controversial... I can point to our nation on January 6, 2021 when those who stormed the capital building in Washington DC wanted to affect change according to the way they see things need to be.

Burkina Faso this last week had a coup that took over their government after 8mo. since the last coup that toppled the government.

It is the way of this world. Not the way of Kingdom of God. As we follow Jesus, we look to him, and his way of being to understand and know what the Kingdom looks like. It is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control… these things are what the Spirit of God bear forth in our lives as we abide in Him. It is fortitude, strength, it is self-sacrifice for the good of others, it is not hurting other people, it is where we lay our lives down for the betterment of others.

When seeing the injustice that is taking place… it can be frustrating. In fact we can see why people resort to violence, coercion and the like to get justice accomplished. But this is not the way.

Here is more good news…

Somehow, through the cynicism, the casual local custom, the misunderstandings, the distortions, the plots and schemes and betrayals and denials, the Truth stands there in person, taking the death that would otherwise have fallen on the brigand.

Pilate didn’t see it at the time. Even cunning Caiaphas probably didn’t appreciate the irony of the point. But John wants us to see it. This is what the cross will mean. This is what truth is and does. Truth is what Jesus is; and Jesus is dying for Barabbas, and for Israel, and for the world.

And for you and me.

Wright, T. (2004). John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11-21 (p. 116). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Conclusion

We have an opportunity to follow Jesus and follow Him in the way.

He tells us that if we are to follow Him, it will require something of us. We will need to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him.

Will you follow Him? I hope you will. In losing our lives for Christ’s sake is one of the greatest and best decisions we can make. In losing our lives for Christ’s sake, we find our life, and that life is good, abundant, and full.