Sermon Tone Analysis

ME:

Let’s start this morning by talking about government

Our government here in America was quite unique when established by our founding fathers

There was no queen, no prince, no lord, and no king

It made America distinct from our European ancestors

But we see in the Old Testament, we see the nation Israel

governed in an even more distinct way

Israel was governed by God Himself

It was a theocracy

Not only did God govern His people, He also defended them

But Israel was not satisfied being governed by God

So they repeatedly expressed a desire to be governed by a king

like all the other nations were

time and time again, they cried out for a human king

Eventually, God did give Israel their human king

First was Saul

After Saul was David, and David was a great king

After David, was an up and down cycle of some kings doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord

But most kings doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord

This resulted in Israel being split into two nations

with both nations experiencing defeat and captivity

Their desire for a human king proved catastrophic

But that isn’t where the story ends

God had promised to send a King who would rule over Israel and all other nations as well

The OT foreshadows repeatedly this coming King who will reign over an eternal kingdom

We see it in Jacob’s blessing in

In Balaam’s final prophecy in

Moses and Joshua both served as human leaders, but neither were king

Gideon and Samson were judges that delivered Israel from foreign powers, but neither were kings

In fact Judges ends saying, “In those days there was no king in Israel.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Israel gets David to serve as a king, but he is not the fulfillment of the earlier prophecies

but the prophesied King will come from the line of David

So who then is this king?

Back in , we see Jesus’s disciple, Nathanael, who is a Jew, state;

And last week, we were in the first 32 verses of

We observed Jesus was sovereign over all the events that had been taking place

as vs. 4 stated, Jesus knew everything that was happening

So Jesus orchestrated His arrest, predicted Peter’s denial, and guided His trial with the high priests to be brought before the Roman governor, Pilate

So that Jesus could control how He dies as well, by being lifted up

We ended with Jesus before Pilate

And now we pick up in vs. 33 with him asking the question that was proclaimed by Nathaneal back in chapter one

Is Jesus the King of the Jews?

This is the question before us this morning

So let’s pray this morning then we will open up John’s gospel together

So let’s pray this morning then we will open up John’s gospel together

WE:

Is Jesus the King of the Jews?

That is our question this morning

And I am going to go ahead and give the answer

And I am going to go ahead and give the answer

Yes, yes He is

Well ok, that settles it, we can all go home

Not really

Yes, Jesus is the King of the Jews who came down to earth for a specific task

and He won’t depart until it is finished

So yes, Jesus is the King of the Jews

But we are going to study God’s Word to explore this truth

We are going to start to see that The King is Down to Earth in ;

This passion narrative continues in John 18

If you recall back to last week, earlier in this chapter we saw Pilate didn’t want to deal with this

The Easton Bible Dictionary gives some background information on Pilate, describing him as a...

“Typical Roman, not of the antique, simple stamp, but of the imperial period, a man not without some remains of the ancient Roman justice in his soul, yet pleasure-loving, imperious, and corrupt.

He hated the Jews whom he ruled, and in times of irritation freely shed their blood.

They returned his hatred with cordiality, and accused him of every crime, maladministration, cruelty, and robbery.

He visited Jerusalem as seldom as possible; for, indeed, to one accustomed to the pleasures of Rome, with its theatres, baths, games, and gay society, Jerusalem, with its religiousness and ever-smouldering revolt, was a dreary residence.

When he did visit it he stayed in the palace of Herod the Great, it being common for the officers sent by Rome into conquered countries to occupy the palaces of the displaced sovereigns.”

“typical Roman, not of the antique, simple stamp, but of the imperial period, a man not without some remains of the ancient Roman justice in his soul, yet pleasure-loving, imperious, and corrupt.

He hated the Jews whom he ruled, and in times of irritation freely shed their blood.

They returned his hatred with cordiality, and accused him of every crime, maladministration, cruelty, and robbery.

He visited Jerusalem as seldom as possible; for, indeed, to one accustomed to the pleasures of Rome, with its theatres, baths, games, and gay society, Jerusalem, with its religiousness and ever-smouldering revolt, was a dreary residence.

When he did visit it he stayed in the palace of Herod the Great, it being common for the officers sent by Rome into conquered countries to occupy the palaces of the displaced sovereigns.”

It was believed to be custom for Pilate to go to Jerusalem to preserve order during the Passover

So after Pilate wasn’t able to just disregard this accusation, He brings Jesus in and cuts right to the chase, as we read this morning

Jesus, are you the King of the Jews?

And as was common for Jesus, He doesn’t answer Pilate directly, instead, He responds with a self-reflecting question for Pilate

And Pilate, still seeming to operate with a sense of callousness, asks if he is a Jew, implying, Jesus isn’t his king

Then takes it one step further, Your own nation handed you over to me

Your own people betrayed you

The Jews have handed their King over to the Romans to be crucified

So, King of the Jews, what did you do?

And Jesus tells him, I’m not just the King of the Jews

My Kingdom, is not of this world, it transcends this world

So I wasn’t betrayed by my subjects

If My Kingdom was of the world, my subjects would have seen to it that the Jews were not able to hand me over like this

Pilate’s tone seems to change slightly in vs. 37

So, you really are a king?

Jesus just said His Kingdom is not of this world

now He is saying that He is the King that has come down to earth

He came to bear witness to truth

A subject Pilate seems to not be a fan of

because He basically walks away from Jesus at this point rhetorically asking, what is truth?

But then, He goes out and announces that Jesus isn’t guilty and refers to Him as the King of the Jews publically

This is the first of four public proclamations by Pilate that Jesus is King

In 19:14, after Jesus is whipped, Pilate says “Here is your King!”

Then immediately after, in vs. 15, He asks “Should I crucify your king?”

And we will look in greater detail when we get there, but the sign he places atop the cross says “King of the Jews.”

Those four accounts, in addition to vs. 33 and 37, which we just read and three other times in chapter 19, Jesus is described as King

This is a key focus of His crucifixion in John’s gospel

It is made abundantly clear that Jesus is the King that has come down to earth