John Lesson 46

Introduction

When the Jews took Jesus to Pilate, they charged that Jesus said he was a king. Pilate asked him, Are you a king? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I unto the world. Jesus Christ never denied being a king. But he told us what kind of king he is. He is a king of a spiritual kingdom. Now the Jews did not understand that, and there are those either today who do not understand the kind of king that Jesus Christ is or will be.

1. Then Led They Jesus Unto the Hall of Judgment

I hope you’ll get your Bibles open with us as we study from John chapter 18, and we’ll consider the answer to this very important question as we let the Bible speak. In our last study in the Gospel of John, we considered the first uh twenty-seven verses of John chapter eighteen. And so today we want to pick up with John chapter eighteen and about verse twenty-eight, and continue this story or the scene of the trial of Jesus before the Jewish court, and then as it took him before Pilate. I hope you have the New Testament open that you will read right along with me. Beginning in verse 28 of John chapter 18, the scripture says, Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, and it was early.

And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out unto them and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what debt he should die. You may recall in the early part of this, the eighteenth chapter of John, that we read how that the Jews came with Pilate to arrest Jesus.

They found him in the garden of Gethsemane, a place where Judas knew that he all resorted. Jesus did not try to hide himself from them. He knew that the time of his death was here. He had fulfilled the will of God. And now the time that he should give himself up for the sins of the world had come, and he voluntarily gave himself. Nevertheless, the Jews took him, they bound him, and at night time they took him to the high priest, first of all, to Annas, who inquired of him concerning his doctrine. Jesus said, What I have taught, I’ve taught openly, and you can find many witnesses to verify that what I have said. They were trying to trap Jesus with some word or some action by which they could charge him before the council.

Of course they failed in every instance. Jesus did nothing that violated the law of Moses. He did no sin. But then failing and in finding some legitimate charge against him, they found some false witnesses, and so then they took him before the Sanhedrin Council. Now remember that he has been awake all through the night, they’ve taken him to Annas, and then before Caiaphas, the official high priest, to the Sanhedrin court, and it’s real early in the morning, no doubt. But after coming before this terminal gathering of the Sanhedrin Council, the highest Jewish court, then they take him to Pilate. Now Pilate is the Roman governor of Palestine. And when they bring him to Pilate, Pilate asked them, Well, what accusation to do you make against him?

And they sort of react respond, well, if he were not a malefactor, if he if he wouldn’t if he had not broken the law, we wouldn’t have brought him to you. As though to impress upon Pilate that hoping that Pilate would go ahead and convict him without really having a court trial. But Pilate responded to them that if in effect you’ve already tried him and you know he’s guilty, then why don’t you punish him according to your law? But when when Pilate did this, then they had to respond that the real reason they had brought Jesus to Pilate was because it required Pilate’s approval or Roman government approval for Jesus to be put to death. And what they really wanted was his crucifixion. Now you have to understand that though the Jews had their own system of government, they were but a puppet form of government under the Roman Empire.

2. Signifying What Death He Should Die

For Rome ruled the world. And Pilate was the governor in charge of this particular area. Really, in order to understand the trial of Jesus, yeah in the various uh places where Jesus went, like to the to the high priest and the Sanhedrin, then to Pilate, and then to Herod, then back to Pilate, all these different parts of his trial were necessary because of the prevailing Roman law. But verse 32 said that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. It is it is really amazing when you consider that nearly a thousand years before this, in Psalm 22, the psalmist had spoken about as a crucifixion. In verse 14, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax that is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potter, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. And thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones and their look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. You know, when I hear some skeptics today who who wonder if the Bible is really the word of God, and they question whether or not it really fits us today, and whether it’s really just a book of Miz or the Word from God or men inspired by God. I think fulfill prophecy is one of the strongest proofs that no man could have written it had he wanted to.

Who could have guessed even a thousand years before that Jesus would be crucified? Yet to fulfill scripture, Christ was crucified. Now I tell you the Jews who brought Jesus to Pilate were not trying to fulfill the Old Testament scripture. Though they had the prophecies, and though they believed in the scriptures, they didn’t really know that they were fulfilling the scripture. Or the prophecy that Jesus had made. In Matthew chapter 20 and verse 19, he himself had predicted that he would be crucified, and that on the third day he would be raised again. They weren’t trying to fulfill the scripture. But when you consider it from a Jewish point of view, had the Bible simply been the writings of some Jew and some Jewish myth, what would have been logical is that the psalmist would have predicted the stoning.

3. My Kingdom Is Not of This World

For according to the law of Moses, when one blasphemed, he was worthy of being stoned to death. Crucifixion was not a Jewish form of putting one to death. It was not a Jewish form of capital punishment. It was a Roman form. But now in their anger and in their vengeance, these Jewish leaders bring Jesus to Pilate in order that he might be crucified. Unwittingly, they fulfilled a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. Continuing, though, in verse 33 of John 18, Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Says thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priest have delivered thee unto me, what hast thou done?

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servant spite that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence it’s a significant answer that Jesus made to Pilate. The Jews have charged Jesus with claiming to be a king. Now Pilate is not involved with the Jewish religious matters and he’s trying to find out what’s the real truth of this claim. And so he asked Jesus, are you a king? Are you the king of the Jews? But Jesus responds with a question that helps Pilate to see that in fact this was a religious charge made out of their own envy and out of their own prejudice against him. Did you hear this, Jesus said from some other source as though I’m a political traitor, as though I threatened Caesar’s throne?

Or did you hear this from the mouth of Jews? Have you heard this from the men who are making the charge against me as though it is a religious matter? Pilate really knew the answer to that question. He had not heard of any charge like this against any man that was trying to act treasonous against uh against the Caesar. And so then Pilate just responded, Well, am I a Jew? In other words, you uh how do I know about your Jewish matters? It’s your own nation who has delivered you unto me. What have you done? What have you done to stir up these these officers and and rulers like you have? And Jesus then replied to him, My kingdom is not of this world. That’s such a significant statement.

There are there are people who do not understand that answer even to this day. You see, the Jews were looking for a Messiah. They were looking for the anointed one to come in the in the lineage of David to reign on David’s throne. There were many Old Testament scriptures that spoke about how that David should come and reign on his throne, figuratively speaking about Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ was to come. The Messiah would reign on David’s throne. But what they thought of was there would be an earthly king, and that he would restore physical Israel again to its glory days, back as it was under the reign of David and of Solomon. They were looking for an earthly king. Jesus Christ did not fit their idea of that king.

And so in rejecting Jesus Christ as their king, they were willing to make now this charge before Pilate. But you see, Pilate also, he didn’t know what kind of king Jesus was, and Jesus got him straightened out on the matter when he told him, My kingdom is not of this world. It’s a spiritual kingdom. But just as the Jews who put Jesus to death did not understand the nature of Christ’s kingdom, neither do premillennialists of our own day. It is a very popular belief today to preach that Jesus Christ is coming again to this literal earth, and that he’s going to set up a literal throne in the city of Jerusalem and there reign for a thousand years. But it does them justice to the scriptures, both Old and New Testament.

And particularly in this passage, Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, then do my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. You see, Jesus Christ is King of kings. But his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. In fact, in Colossians chapter 1, in verses 13 and 14, Jesus spoke about those who are citizens in his kingdom as being people who have been forgiven of their sins. He writing to the church at Colossae to these Christians, he speaks of them as already being in that kingdom. When he said, Who have delivered us from the power of darkness, and have translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins.

You see, he said, We are in the kingdom, translated out of darkness, but forgiven. Now, people who are in the kingdom of Christ have been forgiven of sins. But they’re in his kingdom even from the first century until now, those who are forgiven of sins. You see, Jesus had said that to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, verses 3 to 5, Jesus said it said, Except you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. How can you get into the kingdom of God? Not by fleshly birth, not because you’re born of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and you are a fleshly Jew. That’s how you were in the kingdom of God on the days of David. But now in the reign of Jesus Christ, you’re in the kingdom of God by being born again.

And he replied to Nicodemus when he asked, How can a man be born again? Jesus said in John 3 5, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. A man who is born again is born of water and the spirit, redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, in the Revelation letter, in Revelation chapter 1, in verses 5 and 6, in the description of Jesus Christ, verse 5 says how that he is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.

4. Christ Is Now Reigning on David’s Throne

He’d made us a kingdom and a priesthood, one translation makes it. In chapter 5 of Revelation, verses 9 and 10, it speaks how that he’s made us under our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. But how has he done that? In Revelation 5 and 9, by the blood of Jesus Christ. He has redeemed us to God by his blood. Those who’ve been redeemed by the blood of Christ, you see, we have been born again. They are in his kingdom. Jesus Christ is now king, and he is now reigning on the throne of David. If you believe that Jesus Christ arose from the grave, then according to what Peter preached in Acts chapter 2, verses 29 through 36, you must believe that he’s on David’s throne.

For he arose from the grave. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 30, he said, How that David, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his lawns, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. Literally the language is that Christ is raised to sit. And if he’s been raised, then he’s sitting on David’s throne. If he’s on David’s throne, he’s been raised. If he’s not on David’s throne, then he’s not been raised. That’s the strength of the language. In Acts 2 and verse 36, he said, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now somebody says, How could Jesus be on David’s throne today?

David’s throne was in Jerusalem, wasn’t it? Well, it is true, David’s throne was in Jerusalem, but think about it. David was a king over God’s people. He reigned on the throne of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 29 and verse 23 speaks about it as the throne of the Lord. So what David reigned over was on the throne of the Lord and over God’s people. But under David’s day, people were made God’s children by fleshly birth, being born a Jew. Today Jesus Christ reigns on the throne of the Lord. In that sense, he is on David’s throne. But God’s people today are made his children by a spiritual birth. As we’re born again spiritually, we are God’s people, God’s family, God’s children, and in God’s nation. We are citizens of his kingdom.

Christ today reigns over God’s people. He is king of kings and Lord of Lords. We’ll be back in just one moment, and we’re going to continue this thought. How that the scriptures say that Jesus is a king, but his kingdom is not of this world. It is spiritual. Is Jesus really reigning as a king today? Or is his kingdom to be something that is future and to be on earth? Just as the Jews from times past misunderstood that the nature of Christ’s kingdom was spiritual, so do premillennialists of our own day understand or they look for a material earthly kingdom. But when Jesus stood before Pilate in John chapter 18 and verse 36, he said, My kingdom is not of this world. And he identified the fact that his kingdom is spiritual.

Now he is a king. In fact, the Bible says that he is the king of kings. Jesus Christ spoke about a kingdom that is spiritual. And in fact, the New Testament describes those who are citizens in his kingdom as being forgiven of sins, Colossians 1 13. That they’re made citizens by being born again, John chapter 3, verses 3 to 5. And Peter preached that Jesus Christ was raised to sit on David’s throne. Acts 2, 29 through 36. Indeed, Christ is King of kings. He is so called that in Revelation chapter 17 and verse 14. But here the language in Ephesians chapter 1, where in verses 20 through 23, the Bible describes how that God worked his power in Christ. He said, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

Now what happened at the resurrection of Christ? Peter said that he was raised to sit on David’s throne. Is he? Now listen to the language of Ephesians 1 20. He raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. Far above, all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now if God had put all things under his feet, and if he is reigning over all these things, principalities, powers, might, dominion, and every name that is named, tell me what is lacking to being under the rule of Jesus Christ.

Indeed, he is King of kings, and he is Lord of Lords. And Christ is now reigning. It is a spiritual kingdom. And when Christ returns, the Bible speaks about his return, not as a time to set up a kingdom on earth. There is nothing that Christ has left to be done on the earth. He has brought redemption. When Christ comes again, there will be resurrection, and there will be judgment. In fact, in John chapter 5, verses 28 and 9, Jesus said, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, into which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil under the resurrection of damnation.

In chapter six, in several places, verse thirty-nine and 40 and fifty-four, Jesus spoke about the resurrection as being at the last day, not at the beginning of a thousand-year reign, but rather as the at the last day there would be resurrection. And also in John chapter twelve and verse forty-eight, Jesus said, He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day. What’s going to happen in the last day? Well there will be resurrection. There will be judgment, and in the judgment there will be the separation of the righteous from the wicked. The righteous, being in the kingdom of the Lord, will then be delivered to the Father.

Listen to the language in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where in verse 23 it speaks about Christ at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. When there is the resurrection, there death will be destroyed. And Jesus Christ must reign till he hath put down the last enemy, even death. Christ is coming again. But it is not to establish something on the earth, but rather it is to receive his own, and to deliver that kingdom, that spiritual kingdom, unto the Father. Indeed, the Jews did understand that, and men today who study the Bible ought to study carefully, that they not contradict what the Bible says concerning the kingship of Jesus Christ or of his reign.

5. What Is Truth?

As we continue, though, in John chapter 18, verse 37, Pilate said unto him, Art thou king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. In essence, that’s so, just as you’ve said. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Now, to this end was I born. Jesus never denied being a king. You see, it was the Jews who had said of him that he says he is a king. When we earlier noticed back in verse about verse 30 and 31, Pilate, in his first investigation of Jesus, could say, I find no fault in him. In verse 38, in fact, Pilate said unto him, What is truth?

And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews and said unto them, I find in him no fault at all. They’ve accused him of being a king. Pilate could say after his first investigation of him, what fault has he made? I find no fault. It’s going to be significant, and as we go on into our next study in chapter nineteen, three different times Pilate says, I find in him no fault. This Roman governor, who knew justice, and who was not prejudiced as these religious rulers were, as he examined Christ, there was no cause for him being put to death. Jesus Christ was put to death only out of envy and out of hatred by these Jews. But Jesus Christ did no wrong.

He violated no law of the law of Moses or the law of the Romans, and Pilate knew that he was without fault. I find in him no fault at all. But you notice that Pilate said unto him, What is truth? What is truth? I don’t quite know how to give the inflection to that question. I’ve often wondered how to really say it. I don’t think Pilate was saying what is truth in the sense of I’d like to understand it and know it. Because if he were seeking truth, he would have acted much differently. For if we continue on, we know that Pilate himself did not fulfill the office like a Roman governor should have fulfilled it, for he was pressured by the Jews to fulfill their vengeance, and he allowed Jesus to be crucified.

He tried to wash his hands of the matter. He wasn’t really seeking truth. Jesus is the source of truth. He is the only source of truth. In John 8 32, Jesus said, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And in John 14 and verse 6, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh the Father except by me. But Jesus Christ is the only way for there to be truth. Pilate, though, like a lot of people today who who really refuse Jesus as the source of truth, turned away. There are many today who refuse Jesus Christ, and they likewise turn away. And sort of like a skeptic, they might just say, Well, what is truth? As though no one has the truth.

6. Pilate Tried to Avoid Judgment

But Jesus Christ had the truth. Pilate just did not search for it. He did not listen. He did not have the courage to stand up for Christ. The Jews made a false charge. Pilate witnessed it was false. I find in him no fault at all. But notice what Pilate did. He tried to avoid judgment. He tried to avoid his special role as a as a fair-minded Roman ruler. In verses 39 and 40, but ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. There are two different things that Pilate did to try to avoid judgment.

One of them is here told, the other one is not. But rather in the book of Luke, chapter 23, verses 5 through 12, we learn where that Pilate sent Jesus unto Herod in all the clamoring of these religious leaders. They finally spoke about Jesus being from Galilee. And when Pilate heard the word Galilee, knowing that Herod, the king of the Jews from that region, was in Jerusalem at that time, he then sent Jesus under Herod. And though they had been enemies before, Herod and Pilate became friends on that day. But Herod, as you read in Luke 23, verses 5 through 12, Herod himself could get nothing out of Jesus. He could find no charge against Jesus, and he in turn sent him back to Pilate. But Pilate was attempting to avoid his own role and position as a Roman leader.

Well, another way he thought he would get out of or escape passing judgment on Jesus, then was offering them Barabbas. Well, it was a custom at the Passover every year that he would offer at least one of their prisoners to be released. And he chose Barabbas. You see, Barabbas, according to Mark, was a man who was guilty of insurrection, of murder, and of robbery. Criminal. Pilate surely thought that these people would would not let Barabbas go when you put Jesus against Barabbas. He could find no fault in Jesus. He was Barabbas a noted criminal. But Pilate did not understand the depth of their hatred for Jesus Christ. And they clamored, Barabbas, release Barabbas. Crucify Jesus Christ. Indeed, Pilate was somewhat overwhelmed, no doubt, at this point.

Conclusion

He’s tried to escape his own role, at least of releasing Jesus. He feared what the Jews might do, their reaction to him. He was trying to appease the crowd, trying to appease the rulers, but he failed in his role. How do you stand up for Christ? Or maybe you, like a Pilate in attitude, you know what the truth is, but you don’t have the courage to stand for it. There are some today who know Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, but they’ve never really openly confessed him. Like cowards, like a pilot, they would try to pass off that responsibility of theirs to stand up and confess, I believe Christ to be the Son of God. I hope you’ll study with us again as we continue in John chapter nineteen in our in our next study.

Until then, may the grace and peace of our Lord be with you.