John talk 6 - Ch 19 Jesus Trial

Who’s on Trial?
Big Idea: Through the character of Pilate we see it is not Jesus who is on trial, but Jesus is the Judge presiding over the trial of the Jews, Pilate and us as the reader.

I’m sure your life is no different to mine in this respect, - that the speed of the year is determined - by how quickly it seems we get to those most important of events of the year, - the Public holidays.

The second half of the year always seems to me to be longer than the first. With only the October long weekend after the queens birthday, - but both Easter and Anzac days before it -the first half of the year it seems much quicker.

If you can’t believe Easter is with us already, - another marker as to what happened at Easter in recent years, - it was just over 5 years ago that Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion came out. As you may remember there was a lot of controversy surrounding it’s release - and it’s story line.

In fact - I was talking to someone who works in an Arabic nation and they were telling me - that the movie was incredibly popular there and regularly sold out. I have to admit - he had my attention with this statement - so I took the bait and asked, “Isn’t that a Muslim nation, why would they want to see a movie about the historical beginnings of Christianity?” He replied, “It was because the American press had reacted so strongly against it calling it anti-Semitic, - a lot of the Arab people thought to themselves - it must be good”.

Kind of strange way of thinking really!

But the question still remained for me really from his statement, - I mean just who is responsible for Jesus death.

So I thought the best place to look at the evidence for ourselves - would be the account of the Trial from John’s Gospel, - it’s an incredibly famous account - even in our society today - and that fame stems largely - from how well John tells the story.

The story is driven by tension, tension seen in the conflict both between characters, and the conflict within characters. And John’s story is brought to life as it is told through rich word pictures and his use of irony.

So to set the scene, - Jesus has just been arrested, and had a kangaroo court trial before the Jewish religious rulers in Jerusalem - and now he was to appear before the real power of the day - the Roman Empire.

It is worth noting - that he had of course had been betrayed into the Jews hands by one of his own disciples.

[story] Now just to emphasize how well known this story is, - would you please raise your hand if you know someone in your family who has a first name that is the same as one of the disciples, - so Matthew, Mark, Luke John, Andrew, Phillip, Peter etc.

Just Keep your hand up - if the member of your family who is named after a disciple is called Judas?

No didn’t think so. So it is a famous story.

But as we turn to the Gospel of John, - I want you to keep in the back of your mind, the question, who is on trial? Who is on Trial?

And we can picture the scene - Jesus is inside the Praetorium - and the Jews are outside - and Pilate - has to constantly shift between the two.

So please turn with me to
John 18:28 - 19:22 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

If you can picture the scene - Pilate is the ruler of the region, - Caesars representative - he’s quietly going about his business and here come those constant thorns in his side, - the Jewish religious leaders. These two had clashed quite violently on a number of occasions, - they were far from being on good terms.

[story] The Jews in Jerusalem remind me a little of a friend of mine who is an avid St George supporter, - he keeps harping back to glory days when they ruled supreme, - even though he’s too young to have actually seen these glory days for himself.

In the same way the Jews hadn’t ruled in Jerusalem in any shape or form for over 300 years, - and the height of their rule was over 1000 years ago at this point.

29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?" 30 "If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you."

Interestingly the Jews are so determined - they don’t even bother with a specific charge against Jesus, - it’s just about the vibe of the thing. It’s almost like a petulant child?

You can almost see Pilate rightly thinking, - listen no charge, none of my business.

31 Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

But it already appears that Jesus is a condemned man, - in fact not just a condemned man, - but a dead man walking if the Jewish leaders have their way.

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" 34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" 35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied.

I have always found Pilate - to be an intriguing figure, I can’t decide whether I believe him or not, - and I really struggle to understand exactly what his questions mean, - they seem to be deep, but I’ve never been sure exactly what he is trying to say.
Well it seems in John’s story, the term “Jew” is not really a description of your national and cultural identity, But it is a description - of the people who will oppose Jesus. The term “Jews” in the Gospel is exclusively - the Jewish Religious Leaders who want Jesus dead. It is not about a race as such, because Jesus and all his disciples are Jews also by birth.

So Pilate sets out to get to the bottom of the issue by inquiring of Jesus, - but then finds himself answering the questions. His response to Jesus, “Am I a Jew” is an amazing veiled question for us as we read.

If a Jew means a member of a cultural group, - the answer is clearly and simply – NO.
But in John’s story the “Jews” are the people who want Jesus dead, - so when Pilate asks the question “Am I a Jew”, we actually think – well maybe you are a Jew. We want Pilate to answer his own question, - when all he really wants to do is sit on the fence.

So we now start to wonder, who is on trial here anyway?
As we move on we see Jesus states clearly - that he is not with the Jews, - they are not his people, but he is a King.

"It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." 37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked.

Jesus finally tells Pilate plainly that he is a King, - but not any King - he is God’s king. The king that God has promised to King David some 1000 years before, - the one who would rule for all eternity. Jesus’ Kingdom - is from God himself.

And finally Pilate seems to understand, “you are a king, then!”. By this stage in John’s Gospel You feel like cheering yah! he has got the point. But then Pilate goes and ruins it - by asking another of his cryptic and illusive questions, “what is truth?”.

Well we know what the truth is because Jesus has used this term lots of times throughout the gospel story, - and he’s used it about himself. In verse 37 he says he reveals the truth, and those who follow him recognize him as the truth.

John 3:3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
John 3:11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

Truth is a big issue in John’s Gospel
Jesus reveals the truth about God, because he was sent from God.
Jesus tells the truth, because he is the one who gives eternal life
Jesus tells the truth and his followers see him for being the truth from God.
Truth is a big issue in John’s Gospel

Pilate sees the truth standing in front of him, - and he evades the issue with his slightly flippant “what is truth?” as he leaves the Praetorium to be with the Jews again outside.

And now - we suspect we can answer Pilate’s earlier question for him. Pilate asked “am I a Jew?”, and we are beginning to think, It sure looks like it buddy.

And we see him head outside to be with the Jews - and So again we think - who really is on trial here?

But again with a sense of irony of the situation, - the one who does not seem to want to think that there is truth, - he proceeds to go out the Jews and tell them exactly that, the truth.

With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release 'the king of the Jews'?" 40 They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. NIV

The Jews again reject the King their God has given them - and would prefer some common criminal. Whose name ‘Bar-Abbas’ literally means the son of the father, which is ironic given Jesus is the true son of the father.

John 19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" 6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him." 7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace.

Again with this wonderful sense of Irony, - Pilate has three times told them the truth, that there is nothing to charge Jesus with, he has done nothing wrong. The Jews however, are adamant, - Pilate’s attempt at sitting on the fence and appeasing the Jews by flogging an innocent man is not enough - Jesus must die.

In their fury - they finally come up with a charge, “he claimed to be the Son of God”

And Pilate is rocked to his core, - you can see him thinking, “can this be the truth?” and he scurries back from the Jews - to Jesus inside.

"Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

Pilate feels he has the power in this situation, - after all he is a Roman, - and Jesus is the victim. But we know from earlier in the gospel story, - that Jesus is no helpless victim, - but a willing participant. Jesus goes to the cross because:

John 10:17-18 I lay down my life-- only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again

And We know why he is a willing participant
John 3:16-18 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Jesus is no passive victim, but willing participant.
And so back to the trial story;
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

And with that - the trial is over - and the guilty verdict rings out, the penalty is death. Only we now realize that it wasn’t Jesus who was on trial, - because he had long before made up his mind to be obedient to his Father - and die on the cross.

And it isn’t the Jews, - (the religious leaders) who are on trial, - because they also have long before made up their mind - and rejected Jesus and just wanted him disposed of. But the Jews in rejecting Jesus, - were in fact rejecting their own King, - they were rejecting God’s King.
In rejecting Jesus they don’t just reject God’s King, but they reject God himself and their condemnation is just.

The passion trial isn’t really just about Jesus condemnation, - (we knew that was coming since early on in the book of John). In the passion trial, - the real person defending the charges is Pilate. How will Pilate respond to the truth? How will Pilate respond to God’s King?

Three times Pilate pronounces Jesus innocent of any charges, Three times he pronounces him to be the King of the Jews, - Jesus is God’s King and it’s for this he will be crucified.

As we read the story, - John paints this wonderful picture for us - that there are only two kingdoms a person can belong to; you can either belong to the kingdom of Caesar; or you can belong to the Kingdom of Christ.

Caesar’s Kingdom is of this world, the kingdom of the dark. To have No King But Caesar is to either be; just like the Jews who boldly proclaimed it; or like Pilate has almost been shamed into saying. Either way you are a member of Caesar’s kingdom none the less.

In this life you can belong either to Caesar’s kingdom; or you can belong to Jesus kingdom. Jesus Kingdom is the Kingdom of the truth, the kingdom of the light, the kingdom of God.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others-- one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." 22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

Pilate saw the truth, it was staring him in the face, he knew it, and chose to look the other way.

And with that - the trial is over - and the guilty verdict rings out - and the penalty is death.

It’s easy to see why this is such a famous story isn’t it?
It’s easy to appreciate why John is such a great story teller, a great writer, - but actually he isn’t finished with us as the readers just yet.

As we read the account of Pilate and move through the trial with him - we start to realize that in looking at him and his reactions, - we are holding up a mirror to ourselves. Is Pilate the only one on trial here? - Or are you on trial here? - and am I on trial as well?
From the pages of John’s gospel - the truth is staring us in the face, the truth about God, the truth about God’s King and the truth that we needed him to die on that cross so that we can be forgiven.

Pilate saw the truth and recognized it, but was too attached to the Kingdom of Caesar to accept the offer - to become part of the Kingdom of God.

[illust] When I was growing up - I never really understood why this day would be called Good Friday? I couldn’t understand why we celebrated someone’s death - as being good.

[Story] After reading John’s Gospel - I am certain that it wasn’t Pilate who decided to coin the phrase Good Friday. He had anything but a good day.

It’s called Good Friday because it’s the day God acted decisively and clearly - to deal with the division between himself and man, the day God demonstrated his love for us for all to see

A good Friday is on offer here today. A chance to turn to God and thank him for what he has done through the death of his Son. To ask God for His forgiveness - and turn to him as our heavenly father.

There are only two kingdoms you can belong to; the Kingdom of Caesar; or the Kingdom of God. Don’t be like Pilate having seen the truth, to turn your back on it - and walk away.

So why don’t you talk to someone here at church about God’s offer of forgiveness in his son Jesus Christ, - whether it’s me or or even the person who brought you here if you like.

Today - God has got a Good FriDay on offer, why don’t you take him up on it?
We’ve read a lot about the Truth today, let me leave you with some of Jesus great words of truth for those who belong to his kingdom.

John 14:1-6 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

PRAYER: