Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Turn with me in your Bibles to Jn 18.

The Netflix series “Manhunt: Deadly Games” is a dramatized psuedo-historical account of Eric Rudolph, the bomber of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and numerous other locations.

After setting off a bomb at the Olympic Games, Rudolph went on to set off several more bombs, targeting abortion clinics, gay bars, and other targets.

He fled to the wilderness of the Nantahala Mountains in North Carolina where he lived as a fugitive from the FBI for five years.

The FBI pursues after Rudolph, and In this dramatized account of the events, they build a giant base in the town and bring in lots of military support.

In the process, they don’t make many friends with the locals, who view them with suspicion and distrust.

Rudolph recruits assistance from a local Christian militia group in the NC mountains.

He makes himself out to be a ‘freedom fighter’ on behalf of unborn children.

He deceives the locals into thinking that he’s a good guy, and with the support of this local militia group, Rudolph is able to hide out in the NC mountains for 5 years as a fugitive hunted by the FBI.

(Spoiler alert!)

The turning point in the show which led to his arrest was when the leader of the local militia group finally realizes that Rudolph is not a true believer, but in fact just a violent man who liked hurting people, and starts cooperating with the FBI in the manhunt.

(Much of this aspect of this show is historically based speculation, not facts.)

What is interesting is how Eric Rudolph was able to make himself look like a good guy.

He was a handsome, normal looking, charming guy.

He knew the right words to say and seemed to be concerned with some of the same issues that the local Christians were concerned about.

But he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Finally, one of the leaders of the militia group realizes the truth and says:

“You know, I used to imagine exactly this, that the enemy would come in exactly like this—build a base, oppress the people, and I would recognize him right away for who he was and be able to fight him with this (guns).

I just thought it would be so clear.”

Historically, there is no hard evidence that he worked with any “Christian militia” groups—that much is pure Hollywood speculation and dramatization.

But, the fact is, it can be difficult sometimes to tell the difference between those who are truly on our side, and those who aren’t.

The same was true in Jesus’ day.

There were many seemingly devout Jews who seemed to be genuinely serving God and zealous for his Word.

Yet those same seemingly devout Jews are the ones we see here in John 18 calling for Jesus’ death.

Scripture Introduction: (FCF) We are in the midst of a spiritual war between two kingdoms: the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan.

But the problem is that it’s not always easy to tell the two apart.

In 2 Cor.

11, Paul rebukes the Church at Corinth for failing to recognize false apostles and prophets and for receiving a false gospel.

He says:

Why did they accept a false gospel?

Paul tells us clearly a few verses later:

And that, sadly, is what we see happening in John 18.

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the Kingdom of Satan from the Kingdom of God.

Just as Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, so does the Kingdom he represents.

As Christians, we are called to recognize the Kingdom of Satan for what it is, and make sure we’re fighting on the right side.

John 18 shows us very clearly how to distinguish between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness.

Prayer for Illumination

Transition: So, when Satan disguises himself and his Kingdom, how are we to know the difference?

How can we be sure that we’re fighting on the right side?

The Kingdom of God is characterized by non-violence.

The Kingdom of Satan, by contrast, is characterized by violence.

18:3--Judas and the chief priests brings soldiers

18:8--Jesus seeks the safety of his disciples

18:10--Peter attacks

18:11--Jesus rebukes him (and heals the man)

18:22—Servant of the high priest slaps Jesus

18:40—Jews find murder more palatable than Christ

19:1-3—Roman soldiers make crown of thorns and strike Jesus

19:6—Jews riot for Jesus’ crucifixion

“But wait, didn’t Jesus say that he came not to bring peace, but a sword?

And wasn’t Jesus the one that told Peter to carry a sword?”

Jesus’s words are figures of speech, not literal.

Jesus is simply saying that he will be a source of division, even between close family members.

He’s obviously not encouraging sons to try to kill their fathers with a sword.

Jesus’ command to ‘buy swords’ was simply a metaphorical way of foretelling the coming persecution.

His statement “It is enough” in Greek could also be interpreted as “Enough of this.”

Supporting this interpretation are two facts:

Jesus rebukes Peter’s assault on Malchus

Nowhere in Scripture do we see followers of Christ engaging in violent conflict in the name of Christ.

The Kingdom of God is non-violent.

We are not called upon to take up physical weapons for Christ.

When John the Baptist was imprisoned, he began to have doubts about whether or not Jesus truly was the Messiah.

He did not expect the Kingdom of God to enter so quietly and involve so much suffering.

Jesus implicitly affirms that he is the Messiah and then says this:

Jesus’ point is that from the very beginning (with John the Baptist), those who are part of the Kingdom of Heaven will suffer violence at the hands of evil, violent men.

But, we are not supposed to be the violent ones.

There is a war going on, and we are called to take up arms and fight.

But, as Paul rightly notes, our weapons are not physical, but spiritual.

Can you imagine a more worthy cause for taking up arms than that of defending someone from being falsely accused and murdered?

Than defending the Son of God from a brutal, violent death?

And yet Jesus told Peter to put away the sword.

We don’t fight with that kind of sword.

Our sword is God’s Word.

Jesus’ statements in v. 36 show that the Kingdom of God was not a physical threat to earthly kingdoms, even to the Roman Empire.

Jesus’ claim to the Kingdom of God did not threaten violence to the earthly kingdom that he was a part of.

If members of the Kingdom of God were not called upon to violently resist Roman rule and persecution, then what excuse could we conjure up?

Whenever someone encourages physical violence, you can be sure that their words do not represent the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is not advanced through physical warfare but through spiritual warfare.

The Kingdom of God is characterized by truth.

The Kingdom of Satan is characterized by lies and hypocrisy.

Peter’s denials of Christ (18:17, 25, and 27)

Peter was faced with a difficult situation—he wanted to follow Christ and stand for the truth, but doing so could mean death.

Lying, even in the face of death, does not represent the Kingdom of Heaven.

Perversions of justice by chief priests

False witnesses called

From “10 Reasons the Trial of Jesus Was Illegal” (lifehopeandtruth.com)

Bribes given and accepted

“No session of the Court [was] to take place before the offering of the morning sacrifice” (1887, translated by Julius Magath, p. 109).

No night meetings were permitted.

The law allowed such an investigation only upon daylight.

Mendelsohn states, “Criminal cases can be acted upon by the various courts during day time only, by the Lesser Synhedrions from the close of the morning service till noon, and by the Great Synhedrion till evening”

In Isaac Wise’s book Martyrdom of Jesus, we read, “No court of justice in Israel was permitted to hold sessions on Sabbath or any of the seven Biblical holidays.

In cases of capital crime, no trial could be commenced on Friday or the day previous to any holiday, because it was not lawful either to adjourn such cases longer than over night, or to continue them on the Sabbath or holiday”

Jewish law states, “A criminal case resulting in the acquittal of the accused may terminate the same day on which the trial began.

But if a sentence of death is to be pronounced, it cannot be concluded before the following day” (Mishnah, “Sanhedrin” IV, 1).

This was to allow sufficient opportunity for any witnesses in support of the accused to present themselves.

But the court did not allow Jesus this opportunity.

The condemnation of Jesus by part of the Sanhedrin was illegal because those who might have voted against His condemnation were not there.

According to Jesus Before the Sanhedrim, the Talmud states, “After leaving the hall Gazith [the court] no sentence of death can be passed upon any one” (p.