chapter 13, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come to depart out of this world and

Transcription

1 John 18:28-38 Jesus and Pilate We have been looking at the events and the teaching of Jesus the last night before the crucifixion. This extended section in John begins with an interesting phrase in chapter 13, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come to depart out of this world and to the Father, and having loved his own, he loved them to the end, and then showed that love, displayed how love works itself out practically in the community of faith: he stooped down and washed their feet. In the long monologue that follows, chapters 14-17, Jesus passes on to them instructions about love and unity, and affirms his own constant love and presence with his followers. Last week we looked at Jesus arrest in the garden and mentioned briefly Peter s denial, as well as the short paragraph describing Jesus at the house of the High Priest, which immediately precede this text today, his examination- or trial, before Pilate. John presents much more conversation between Jesus and Pilate than do the three other gospels. He enlarges the part of the Romans, and Pilate, beyond the other gospel accounts. It should be informative to consider the ideas Jesus discussed with these three people- or sets of people, disciples and High Priest and Pilate, which should help us understand what he is trying to accomplish in each setting.

2 As I said earlier, he teaches the disciples love and oneness, assuring them of God s love and presence among them. With the High Priest he very pointedly tells him that religious leaders should already know what he believed and taught; Jesus says that he taught openly in synagogues and in the Temple, wasn t hiding anything, no hidden agenda, very unlike the intrigue and church politics the High Priest and his gang practiced. It seems the author wants to show the Jewish leaders as a lost cause, with minds made up- just look at verse 31, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. They aren t interested in the truth or in a fair trial; they only want Jesus dead. But John is saving the bigger test for the discussion with Pilate. Here, Jesus talks about kingship and truth, and later, in chapter 19, about power. It s a different atmosphere now, and hanging in the balance is God s plan for Jesus and for the whole world. At the end of the reading we have Pilate asking that famous question, What is truth? Perhaps we wish that John had included a response by Jesus because we would like to get his take on our confusion, we need an answer when we wonder what life is all about. But if we have been reading this gospel closely, we know the truth. In chapter 14 Jesus had said, I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me, so we know that he is the truth. And in chapter

3 1, John describes the Son of God come down to earth, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth and the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the truth, all through John s gospel, taking us to these last hours until he shows us how he is truth. Jesus is the truth because he is the only person in the world who can reveal what truth is. He came down from God the Father to reveal truth. And just as he showed his disciples what love is when he washed their feet in chapter 13, he will show the world- and any of us who are watching or listening- what truth is. It is on the cross that we see the truth about the world and about ourselves as part of the world, our need and desperation; and there, too, we see the truth about God, that God loves us without limit, and will bear any burden to give us that love. That s why any talk in our passage about Jesus as a king is true speech, he is the ruler of the Kingdom of Truth. Pilate may have simply wanted to know Jesus political ambitions with his first question, Are you the King of the Jews? but Jesus is not really King of the Jews, we can t think of him as the King of any nation; he is rather the King of truth, and his subjects are those who have learned the secret of the truth which he reveals: they are those who receive God s love and selflessly share it with others.

4 And that is why Jesus says that his Kingdom is not of this world, because this kind of love is not the truth in the dark world. In chapter 18 we see Jesus accused and judged by two great powers of the world, religion and the state. The uncaring state, and religion that upholds itself and redeems itself by its dogma, the rules and traditions it creates and obeys. Actually, it is not hard to see religion as an entity that could exist totally without God. Because here we see it doing exactly that, as they are so concerned in verse 28 about their purity laws, and yet without hesitation they can lie to the governor about Jesus, calling him an evildoer, hoping to get him killed; but Pilate knows, returns to them twice saying that he could find no fault in him. Pilate asks the great question, not as a seeker of wisdom, not even as a cynic, as he replies to Jesus witness about himself. Rather, he speaks these words as a politician and as a representative of the state. One author (Bultmann) has written about the neutrality of the state, meaning that it doesn t care about the truth. Think of your own experience as a political observer: the truth is a non-factor, truth is whatever they can get us to believe. It is the job of government to keep governing- or to get in power and then to keep it. This in true even in governments that seek the best for its people. Truth doesn t matter, just whatever keeps the

5 wheels on the engine of political and social progress. This is not necessarily a bad or an evil thing- most likely there is information citizens shouldn t know. But it does mean that there is a limit to the benevolence or the fairness of even the best and most enlightened governments. And so, what we are going to need is a government headed up by someone- a King let s say- who does care about truth, who cares about our personal truth, and who will welcome us, any of us, who wish to know his truth- the great truth that shines in this world and that is revealed by his profound love. It s a philosophical question. It can t help but be. What is truth? The question of truth is always there, even for those who aren t seekers or who may seem to be shallow, never looking for deeper meanings, or those who are merely out for a good time, living for the moment. At some point the truth will confront each of us. When that happens will we be ready to recognize it and able to believe it? Will we be strong enough to act on it, to come to grips with what it tells us about ourselves? To deal with Truth is what education is for; it is an important facet of one s prayer life and the spiritual journey; it is an important part of Christian fellowship- in that we support and encourage one another, we love one another. If Jesus is the way

6 and the truth and the life, that must mean we are together along the way, seeking his truth and life, being comforted by the eternal presence of his grace and goodness, and led farther on by the truth and life that he is, and that he has shown to us, and that he calls us to. I hope you will come to my open house this afternoon, and when you come into my home this afternoon, I hope also that you will not be too curious and won t open more than a couple of closet doors. But if you were to do so, you would find the true me. I am not all organized, neat, and swept up; really, I m kind of a messwhich puts me in company with most of the world. But just realizing that fact doesn t make me closer to the truth of Jesus. It only means that I know how far I have to go. Let us help one another; if your house is always clean and your life ordered, or if not, let us serve our Lord and King, traveling together, and trusting in the truth that heals and liberates.