Sermon Series: Courageous Faith Jesus: Standing for Truth John 18: Truth Never Dies

Transcription

1 Loudonville Community Church Volume 2 - Number 24 The week of May 7, 2017 Sermon Series: Courageous Faith Jesus: Standing for Truth John 18:28-40 THIS WEEK S CORE STATEMENT The Deity and Sinlessness of Christ: We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, and in His sinless life. Jesus in the source of all truth and He is the truth! The following anonymous poem proclaims the eternal value of truth. Truth Never Dies Truth never dies. The ages come and go. The mountains wear away, the stars retire. Destruction lays earth's mighty cities low; And empires, states and dynasties expire; But caught and handed onward by the wise, Truth never dies. Though unreceived and scoffed at through the years, Though made the butt of ridicule and jest, Though held aloft for mockery and jeers, Denied by those of transient power possessed, Insulted by the insolence of lies, Truth never dies. It answers not. It does not take offense, But with a mighty silence bides its time. As some great cliff that braves the elements And lifts through all the storms its head sublime, It ever stands, uplifted by the wise, And never dies. As rests the Sphinx amid Egyptian sands; As looms on high the snowy peak and crest; As firm and patient as Gibraltar stands, So truth, unwearied, waits the era blest When men shall turn to it with great surprise. Truth never dies.

2 THIS WEEK S COMPLEMENTARY PASSAGE Ephesians 1:3-14 (ESV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. STEP ONE... READING what the passage says (Read it at least three times) John 18:28-40 (ESV) 28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this man? 30 They answered him, If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you. 31 Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. The Jews said to him, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews? 34 Jesus answered, Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me? 35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? 36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world. 37 Then Pilate said to him, So you are a king? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. 38 Pilate said to him, What is truth? After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews? 40 They cried out again, Not this man, but Barabbas! Now Barabbas was a robber. STEP TWO... OBSERVING how the passage moves Return to the passage and mark key words, phrases and movements: Circle all of the words in these passages that speak of the Triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit, etc.). Underline the significant verbs/action words in these passages. In John 18:29, underline the phrase: What accusation do you bring against this man? In John 18:31, underline the phrase: Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. Highlight John 18:31b-32. In John 18:33, underline the phrase: Are you the King of the Jews? Highlight John 18:34. Highlight John 18:

3 STEP THREE... Ask the five W questions and the one H question: 1. WHO is speaking? Who is this about? Who are the main characters? And, to whom is it speaking? 2. WHAT is the subject of the passage? What does the passage say about the subject? 3. WHEN do or will the events occur? When did something happen to a particular person, people, or nation? 4. WHERE did or will this happen? 5. WHY is something said or mentioned? Why would or will this happen? Why at this time? Why this person? 6. HOW will it happen? How is it to be done? How is it illustrated? 3

4 STEP FOUR... UNDERSTANDING what the passage means This commentary is intended to enhance your own study of the text. John 18:28-40 (ESV) 18:28 - The governor's headquarters. This is referring to the Roman governor s official residence when they were in Jerusalem. This may have been the fortress Antonio, which was next to the Temple or Herod the Great s palace. It was early morning. We know from Roman records that Roman officials in Palestine met for court at daybreak. Apparently, it was right at dawn when the Sanhedrin met to give some semblance of credibility and legality to the illegal night trials. They immediately took Jesus to Pilate. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so that they would not be defiled. By entering a Gentile s residence they would have been defiled for the Passover meal. It is ironic that they were so squeamish about ceremonial items, but had no qualms about illegally putting a man to death. 18:29 - God used Pilate s personality much like He used Pharaoh s in Exodus. He was appointed procurator of Judea in 26 AD by the Emperor Tiberius. He replaced Valerius Gratus (who removed Annas as High Priest). Pontius Pilate was the fifth Roman procurator. He administered the kingdom of Archelaus (son of Herod the Great), which included Samaria and Judea, Gaza, and the Dead Sea. Most of the information about Pilate comes from Flavius Josephus writings. 18:30 - If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you. Jesus was not an evil doer. This was a sarcastic remark to Pilate who refused to indulge in the nit-picking religious charges of Jews. This verb delivered is the same one usually translated betrayed when used of Judas. The term literally means to hand on over to an authority or to pass on a tradition. In connection with Judas, the term has intensified among English translators. 18:31 - It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. The Jewish leadership had condemned Jesus for blasphemy, but they used the charge of insurrection to have Him executed by the Romans. It was very important to the Jewish leaders that Jesus be crucified because of Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (a man hanged on a tree is cursed by God). 18:33 - Are you the King of the Jews? To call Jesus a King was to accuse Him of treason. 18:34 - Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me? If Pilate was asking the question in reference to a political kingship, Jesus would have denied it. If the Jews had suggested it, then it referred to His Messiahship and Jesus would have affirmed it. Pilate was obviously not ready to discuss the intricacies of Jewish religious thought. 18:35 - Am I a Jew? This question expects a no answer. Pilate is expressing his contempt for the Jewish religion. 18:37 - So you are a king? This was extreme irony on the lips of this symbol of earthly power, confronting Jesus and His spiritual kingdom. You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world. The first phrase is somewhat difficult to translate because of its ambiguity. It is an affirmation with qualifications. Jesus knew who He was, and why he came. Pilate would not have understood! 18:38 - Pilate said to him, What is truth? Pilate asked this question, but apparently left before he received the answer. Pilate wanted to assure himself that Jesus was no threat to the Roman government. He did this. He then tried to have Jesus released as was a custom of the Jews of that day during the Passover season. John is writing, as Luke did, to show that Christianity was no threat to the Roman Empire. 18:40 - They cried out again, Not this man, but Barabbas! It is ironic that Barabbas was apparently a member of the zealot party and, therefore, guilty of the very charge for which Jesus was condemned. This crowd apparently had been waiting there to support their local folk-hero. The Jewish authorities just took this opportunity to ensure the condemnation of Jesus. Resource for Commentary: Robert James Utley s Study Guide Commentary Series from Logos software. 18:32 - Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. Why did the Jewish leaders want Jesus crucified? It is obvious from Acts 7 that they executed people for blasphemy by immediate stoning. Possibly it relates to the Old Testament divine curse of Deuteronomy 21: Originally this referred to public impalement after death, but the contemporary rabbis interpreted this verse in light of Roman crucifixion. They wanted Jesus, this Messianic pretender, cursed by God. This was God s plan for the redemption of fallen man. Jesus, the Lamb of God, offered Himself as a substitute. Jesus became the curse for us. 4

5 STEP FIVE... SUMMARIZING the message When Jesus stood in the dock before Pilate, He said that He came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Pilate mocked (or, maybe dismissed) Jesus claim by saying, What is truth? In this famous encounter, the air was thick with irony. The Roman Procurator had the opportunity of a lifetime. Truth-Incarnate stood before him. If ever there was a moment worth entering into- this was it. Sadly, for Pilate, he didn t stick around to hear Jesus answer to his own question. Maybe he had other important things to do on a Friday morning than to talk to an accused criminal about something so abstract as truth. After all, Pilate was a politician. His world was the realm of expediency and compromise. Jesus seemed to offer him very little in that regard. Nothing has changed since that fateful day. The nature of truth continues to influence our theological, cultural, and political conversations. The mood of the day suggests that truth is whatever opinion conforms best to my reality, as I see it. The Christian, like Jesus, is called to bear witness to the truth. Therefore, we need to have a good answer to Pilate's question. What is truth? According to the Bible, truth is the self-expression of God. He is the God of truth (cf. Isaiah 65:16). The truth is God Himself. He is the only true God (John 17:3). Whatever is true must be defined in terms of what is consistent with the mind, will, character, and nature of God. He is the God of truth, whose Word is truth, and who Himself is true. There is nothing false about God. Since God is the truth, all truth comes from Him. All truth is God s truth. When Jesus said, I am the truth (John 14:6), He was making an astonishing claim about Himself. He is truth incarnate the very embodiment of truth. He not only spoke the truth, He was and is the truth. In a way, Pilate asked the wrong question. He asked, What is truth? He should have asked, Who is truth? It was staring him in the face. Jesus also said that the written Word of God (Scripture) is truth. There is no discord between the Living Word (Jesus) and the written Word (the Bible). Jesus said of the Word of God, Your Word is truth (John 17:17). The Bible is inerrant, infallible, and eternal. 1. Choosing the truth. Since Jesus is the truth, He insists that everyone must make a choice about Him. There is no middle ground with Him. People were never ambivalent about Jesus. Either they loved Him or hated Him. Either they wanted to crown Him or crucify Him. That was exactly the choice Jesus set before Pilate: Everyone on the side of truth listen to Me (John 18:37b). 2. Standing for the truth. If you want to be on the side of truth, you must take your stand with Jesus. You must listen to Him. You must believe in Him. You must be true to Him. You must stand for Him in the world. 3. Minding the truth. According to the Great Commandment, one of the ways we are to love God is with all of our mind. Most of us work in places where the ultimate measure of success is either money, achievement, or power. There is very little attention paid to the cultivation of the mind. The development of our mind is a spiritual discipline. 4. Telling the truth. As followers of Christ, we must also be truth-tellers. We are to put off falsehood (cf. Ephesians 4:15). Don t just shun the bold-faced lie but abandon slight exaggerations, misleading suggestions, damaging insinuations. 5

6 STEP SIX... EXPLORING the passage through discussion Please try and read the entire passage before gathering with your Growth Group. 1. Recently Time published its weekly magazine asking the question: Is Truth Dead? The publishers acknowledged that it was an intentional spin-off of Time from their famous 1966 cover, Is God dead? Though forty years apart, how are these two questions related? 2. Read John 18: How would you describe this epic encounter between Jesus and Pilate? 3. Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king. How did Jesus respond? What did Jesus say He came into this world to do? 4. When Pilate asked Jesus, What is truth? what do you think he had in mind? How does Pilate represent our culture? Are people interested in the truth? Why or why not? 5. Truth is a word we use a lot without ever defining it. How would you define truth? 6. How do we bear witness to the truth? Is there a cost to doing that? How have you found it most effective to bear witness to the truth? 7. Jesus said two things that no one else could ever perfectly say: I am the truth, and I tell the truth. What do you find compelling in those two statements? 8. One way to love God is to love Him with your mind? What are some steps you can take (or, have taken) to fully love God with Your mind? 9. To stand for the truth is to always speak the truth. Regrettably, we are not a truth-telling culture. Why do we exaggerate, mislead, or outright lie? As Christ-followers, how do we ensure truth-telling in our lives, our homes, even in our churches? 6

7 STEP SEVEN... APPLYING the passage to my life Our desire is to not be merely hearers of the Word but doers ~ James 1:22 When you apply God s Word, you are thinking about what God might be saying to you through the Scriptures. Application involves action. Application makes your reading become a reality in your own life. Make your applications specific (state who, what & when). You are encouraged to use the S.P.E.C.K. method to apply God s Word to your life. Remember that each passage of Scripture may not lend itself to answering all five of these questions. S - SINS to confess and avoid (Are there sinful actions, attitudes, or thoughts that you need to confess to God based upon your study of these Scriptures?) P - PROMISES to claim (List God s promises for you from these Scriptures.) E - EXAMPLES to follow (What examples, for right thinking or right actions, can you take for you own life from these Scriptures?) C - COMMANDS to obey (List God s commands for you from these Scriptures and seek to be obedient to them.) K - KNOWLEDGE of God to apply (God s character is visible throughout the Scriptures as an example to us. What attributes and/or attitudes does God display that you can apply to your own life?) Memory Verse 36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world. John 18:36 7

8 Sermon Notes: #asithappened (one-year chronological walk through the Bible) Sunday, May 7 thru Saturday, May 13 2 Sam 7, 1 Chron 17; Ps 25, 29, 33, 36, 39; 2 Sam 8-9, 1 Chron 18; Ps 50; 53, 60; 75; 2 Sam 10, 1 Chron 19, Psalm 20; Ps 65-67, 69-70; 2 Sam 11-12, 1 Chron 20 The Abide in Me Bible study series is written by the pastoral staff of Loudonville Community Church, 374 Loudon Road, Loudonville, NY (