Turn in your Bibles to John 18 prior to our participation in the supper. By way of meditation, the trial before Pilate, part two, specifically verses 33 to 40. So as you turn to John 18, I'll just remind you of what's gone on thus far up to this point. There's a preliminary hearing that Jesus stands before Annas, according to John 18, and then he's delivered over to the Sanhedrin.
You see that specifically in verse 24 in chapter 18. Of course, John does not expand on that, so we looked at Matthew's gospel with reference to the trial before the Sanhedrin. And now he is sent by the Sanhedrin to Pontius Pilate. Remember, the Sanhedrin did not possess the authority to be able to execute our Lord.
So they had to frame it in such a way that Pilate would see guilt in Jesus and guilt of a capital nature so that he would be executed. So this is that Jesus before Pontius Pilate. Of course, after this, Pilate sends Jesus over to Herod, according to a parallel, Luke's gospel in Luke chapter 23. We'll notice that a bit tonight.
And then finally he is sent back to Pilate. Pilate gives the verdict and of course Jesus is sentenced to die by crucifixion. So I'll pick up reading in John 18 at verse 28. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium, and it was early morning.
But they themselves did not go into the praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this man? They answered and said to him, If he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you. Then Pilate said to them, You take him and judge him according to your law.
Therefore the Jews said to him, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke, signifying by what death he would die. Then Pilate entered the praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew?
Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews.
But now my kingdom is not from here.
The Affirmation of His Kingship
Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
Pilate said to him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no fault in him at all. But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews?
Then they all cried again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank You again for Your Word. We thank You for the gospel accounts of our Lord Jesus and His life and death and resurrection. And certainly what we see here is Psalm 22 played out. We see it fulfilled in the wretchedness of these bowls of bastion surrounding our blessed Savior, seeking to destroy Him in a way that is so criminal and so vicious and vile, and yet the purpose and plan of the Most High God to save His people from their sins.
Truly, the wrath of man shall praise you, and we rejoice that we have been blessed benefactors of this great act on behalf of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask now that you would guide our thoughts, guide us by the Spirit, forgive us again for all sin and unrighteousness, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Introduction
Well, as I said, the Jews know they don't have authority, and they say as much in verse 31, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. So they needed Pontius Pilate, and in that first sort of section of the trial, we notice their procedural errors. We notice how they are completely off the mark in the case that they are trying to prosecute. Notice in verse 28, they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium and it was early morning, but they themselves did not go into the praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
These men are engaged in complete and utter lawlessness at the level of the Sixth Commandment. They're going to murder or ask for the murder or execution of the only holy, harmless, and undefiled man that ever walked the face of the earth. He never sinned. He never committed a crime.
He never did anything wrong. These men want to kill him, but fastidiously, they don't want to walk into the praetorium because they will be ceremonially unclean for the observance of the Passover. Hypocrisy is pretty obvious to those on the outside, but certainly not as obvious to those on the inside. A lack of self-awareness causes one to look as foolish as these men look.
We're going to break the sixth commandment, but we don't want to do it in such a way that we'll be ceremonially defiled so that we can't eat the Passover. And then notice as well what Pilate does in verse 29. He functions as a legitimate governor. He functions as a legitimate enforcer of the law.
He asks for a charge. You see, you can't just ask for the death penalty without some formal allegation. You can't just get the death penalty without some sort of a conviction for a particular crime. Thankfully, in the Western world, we've operated under the assumption that a man is innocent until proven otherwise, and Pilate operates under that assumption.
Notice in verse 29, what accusation do you bring against this man? In other words, what is it that you want me to render a verdict on with reference to the disposition of this man? And then notice again their wickedness. Again, when we consider Psalm 22, and the psalmist there describes his enemies in beastly language, bulls and dogs and lions.
He is right on the mark because that's exactly how they're acting. Those beastly descriptors are absolutely spot on with reference to the beastly opposition that our Lord found himself in. So again, notice in verse 30, they answered and said to him, if he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you. They begged the question.
I mean, we're only here because he's wicked. If he wasn't wicked, we wouldn't be here. Try that in any courtroom where the person has a smallish brain, and you'd be laughed out of the court. And yet this kangaroo court is operative, it's ultimately under the providence of God, and it is ultimately for the glory of God and the salvation of the likes of you and I, but it doesn't negate the fact that it's a kangaroo court.
It's a sham. So that then
Examination by Pilate
brings us to the latter section in verses 33 to 38. We notice
The Question of His Identity
first there's a question of his identity in verses 33 to 35, and then secondly the confirmation of his identity in verses 36 to 38. So under the examination by Pilate, those two main emphases, the question of his identity and then the confirmation of his identity. But note first with reference to the question of his identity in verse 33. Then Pilate entered the praetorium again, called Jesus and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews?
Now, remember that they need to make sure that they formalize the charge in such a way that Pilate will render a capital sentence on him. Now this is probably not it. This is a theological debate between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews. Remember the issue for the Jews according to Matthew's gospel in the trial before the Sanhedrin was simply tell us if you are the Christ the son of God.
Remember, sort of a secondary issue was, this fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God. In all likelihood, the Jews probably would have gotten more traction by coming before Pilate and saying, this man wants to destroy the temple. But they have framed it in such ways that Pilate brings up, as far as the primary issue is concerned, are you the king of the Jews? And so now Pilate has to determine if he is in fact asserting himself as the king of the Jews, does that pose a threat to the emperor?
Does that pose a threat to the Roman Empire? Is it just a theological debate or is it such that if Jesus really is the king of the Jews, the way they're alleging, Jesus might then call on his troops to destroy the civil government in Rome and to no longer be in subjection to the Roman government. So the framing of the particular charge is on that particular issue. Are you the king of the Jews?
Are you a threat to my emperor? Are you a threat to me as a governor here in Judea? So then notice what Jesus does in verses 34 and 35. Jesus answered him, are you speaking for yourself about this?
Or did others tell you this concerning me? Notice specifically, are you asking this because you've perceived me yourself to be a threat to the civil polity in the Roman Empire. Of course he's not. Jesus is showing and exposing that Jesus knows exactly what's going on there.
In fact, Jesus is going to say to him in 1911, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. In other words, I think John along the way in his passion does what Matthew, Mark, and Luke do as well, but seems to be even more preeminent in John is that he constantly shows us that Jesus is in charge. Jesus is in charge.
He knows what's happening. He knows what's coming his way. He knows it's the cup of God's wrath. He knows that these men are means used by the Lord Most High to bring him to that place wherein he will satisfy divine justice.
But are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning me?" In other words, Pilate, did you have an epiphany? Did you one day wake up and say, I wonder about this Jesus from Nazareth? Is he really the king of the Jews? It's obvious that Jesus has been delivered by the Jews out of envy and spite, and Pilate is now functioning as their puppet.
They are going to ultimately blackmail Pontius Pilate in verse 12 of chapter 19. Those of you who know me and know the times that I've preached through this scene with Pontius Pilate, Pilate to me is a curious specimen of a human. He's in a very difficult position. And I'm not exonerating him.
I'm not saying, you know, he's a great guy. But man, he is in a rock between a rock and a hard place. He's got the Jews wanting the blood of Jesus. And he's got right before him this Jesus that he three times confesses, I find no fault in him.
And this Jesus who's saying to him, you'd have no authority at all unless it had been given to you from above. So he's in a very precarious situation and a very difficult situation, but Jesus presses him. Are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning me? Pink makes this observation.
Sent to be the governor of these Jews, they nevertheless compelled him to be their slave, the executioner of their wrath. Don't miss that. They manipulated the powers that be. They engaged in machinations behind the scenes that come out forefront in 1912 when they say to Pilate, if you don't do what we say, then we're going to turn you over to Caesar.
If you don't do what we say, we're going to send an email to Caesar. We're going to text him pictures of you and shady predicaments. They blackmail this man. He's in a very difficult spot.
But then notice what Pilate says in verse 35. So basically he confirms that I am acting as a puppet. Am I a Jew? No.
Well, why are you doing what the Jews are calling upon you to do? He's in this precarious position. But as well, in terms of the origin of the charge, he affirms and confirms what Jesus says in verse 34. Are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning me?
So Pilate answers, am I a Jew? Of course it wasn't me. It was your own nation. It was your own people.
It was those to whom you came that received you not. They've delivered you up to me." And then he says, what have you done? I don't think he means what particular issue did you do that crossed the Rubicon such that now you are in this position? I think it's what have you done in general?
Why are you at odds with these particular men? Why is there such an opposition or antipathy from these men towards you? Again, I think even the pagan pilot understood the difficulty of the situation, the pressure that he faces from the Jews, and the reality that the man standing before him is not guilty of any offense. He's not guilty of any crime.
Three times in the interaction from Pilate to Jesus, three times Pilate says and confesses, I find no fault in him. Pilate's wife, according to Matthew, has this dream. And Pilate's wife comes to Pilate and says, have nothing to do with this just man. Pilate, in Matthew's gospel, stands before them all and washes his hands of the entire mess.
He is being manipulated. He is a political pawn. He is being prevailed upon by unbelieving Israel because of their antipathy, their enmity, and their hatred for our Lord. So again, Psalm 22, when the psalmist there describes the bull's obation, when he describes the ravenous lions, the ferocity of the dogs, He's not off the mark.
This is precisely what he faced. This is precisely what he saw. This is precisely what he experiences in this particular instance. Now, notice then, after this, am I a Jew?
Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done? Now this is where he confirms his identity.
Confirmation of His Identity
He confirms his identity to Pontius Pilate. Are you the king of the Jews? Remember, that's the question. Does Jesus evade that?
Does he not answer that? No, of course he answers it. He answers it in verses 36 to 38. So there's three things here.
First, the nature of his kingdom in verse 36. Secondly, the affirmation of his kingship in verses 37 and 38. And then a quick jaunt to Luke to see, thirdly, the mockery of his kingship in Luke chapter 23. Pilate sends him over to Herod.
But
The Nature of His Kingdom
note first concerning the nature of his kingdom. Verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. It's going to describe the nature of his kingdom. But notice what he says.
If the question is, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus answers, My kingdom is not of this world. Has Jesus answered the question? Yes, he has.
I have a kingdom. What you're alleging or what you're asking or what you're trying to ferret out is absolutely spot on. I am a king. But most likely Pontius Pilate, you have a faulty understanding of the nature of my particular kingship.
So he affirms that he is indeed a king by referring to his kingdom. And then notice how he describes that kingdom in verse 36. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews.
But now my kingdom is not from here. So he's describing the nature of his kingdom. Notice the kingdom of Christ does not originate in the world. My kingdom is not of this world.
Now, brethren, that does not mean it doesn't include this world. It doesn't mean that Jesus, as the enthroned God-man at the right hand of the Father, doesn't own every jot and tittle of this particular world. The emphasis is on origin. My kingdom does not originate in this world.
How would this work in his argument with reference to Pontius Pilate? Pilate, you don't have to worry. I'm not a competing kingdom like you're used to in terms of the various kingdoms on earth. I'm not voted in.
I'm not voted out. I'm not going to conquer your earthly kingdom because that's not the nature of the kingdom that I established in my first advent. My kingdom is not of this world. It doesn't originate.
Again, I'm not voted in, I'm not voted out. I'm not here armed with bullets, armed with servants to take you out. As Ryle says, belonging to, dependent upon, springing from, or connected with this world. So again, he's not of this world or his kingdom is not of this world, but that does not mean it doesn't include this world.
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Matthew 28, 18 to 20. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 19 to 23, he's exalted to the right hand of the Father. He's got absolute authority and dominion over all principalities and powers. Every name that is named in this age or in that which is to come, Christ is preeminent.
Christ is superior. But again, he's assuaging Pilate's investigation in terms of him being a rival king with a rival army that's going to cut the throat of Pilate and eventually march on Caesar and desecrate and denounce and destroy ultimately the Roman Empire. See, Pilate's got it all wrong. He's fed by the Jews.
They all got it wrong because who does Jesus actually bring judgment upon in about a generation later? It ain't Pilate and it ain't the Roman Emperor. It's the city of Jerusalem. It's the apostate unbelieving Jews.
It's the temple. It is ultimately prey to what was prophesied in Deuteronomy chapter 28. You go break this law you will reap the curses of God most high. It happens in 722 B.C.
The Assyrians overtake the northern tribes. It happens in 586 B.C. The Babylonians overtake the southern tribes. It happens in A.D. 70 when the Roman armies under the authority and power and rule and reign of Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father, sack Jerusalem.
They destroy the temple. That's it. The curses of the covenant have been fulfilled. So Christ is telling Pilate, Caesar doesn't have anything to worry about and neither do you.
The kingdom of Christ specifically that he's referring to here is his mediatorial kingdom as the God-man. Not as the second person of the Trinity. As the second person of the Trinity, Christ has all authority over all things at all times. It doesn't matter who, when, where, why, or what.
He's talking about his mediatorial kingdom. Now notice,
Confirming the Kingdom by Argument
he not only makes the declaration, my kingdom is not of this world, but now he confirms what he is saying. And again, he's dealing in a kangaroo court, albeit, but with a man who knows enough to realize there must be a charge, there must be evidence, there must be guilt, there must be crime in order for me to be able to give the death sentence concerning this individual. So Jesus is answering the charges in kind. Are you a king?
Yes, I'm a king. But my kingdom is not of this world. Now he confirms this by what he says in verse 36, if my kingdom were of this world, Pilate, if it were as it's been framed in your hearing and presented to you If it were only about the earthly kingdoms of men in this first century milieu, if it were the case, then here's what I can tell you. My servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here.
You want to know something about the nature of my kingdom, Pilate? If my kingdom were of here, If it were just like every earthly kingdom, my servants would fight. And what's the implication? My servants would win.
They would win. The Son of God has the bestest servants ever. The Son of God has the most power ever. You take him on in a fight concerning earthly kingdoms, you're always going to lose.
So the validation of his statement is simply the invocation of the use of violence with reference to earthly kingdoms, which I think substantiates the reformed interpretation of Romans 13, 1 to 4. Why does the magistrate bear the sword? He doesn't do it in vain. He does it to execute criminal offenders within the body politic, and he does it to protect the body politic from foreign invasion.
That's a lawful use of the sword. The state has the monopoly on that use of the sword and they should execute that and utilize that and protect its citizenry from problems domestic and abroad. So Jesus argues from the kingdoms of this world, if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight. Notice the use of his reference here in terms of being victorious.
My servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. In other words, I would not be in this scenario right now if my kingdom were just like your kingdom. In other words, I think he's saying in a roundabout way, Pilate, this doesn't involve you. This ain't your fight.
You're up to your eyeballs in a very difficult position, and Christ is essentially saying, I haven't put you here, they've put you here. But you're here and they're here ultimately because of my father, John 19 11, because the hour has come and the cup has come and it's time for me to execute my function, my role as the mediator of the new covenant to satisfy divine justice by being delivered up to the cross by the Romans to be sure, by the unbelieving Jews to be sure, but ultimately by my father because it pleased Yahweh to crush him. So he says then at the end of verse 36, my kingdom is not from here. So again, don't fret, Pilate.
Don't fear. I'm not here to take you off your governorship. I'm not here to challenge the emperor in the Roman Empire. I'm not here for that.
So then Pilate doubles down and now we've got the affirmation of his kingship. Verse 37, Pilate therefore said to him, are you a king then? He's not dense, he's following the argument. You get that, right?
Again, Pilate's an interesting study in human curiosity. He's in a rock in a hard place. He's following the argument. So you're saying you're a king?
You're affirming that? Notice that Jesus then affirms this. Verse 37, are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king.
For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. So notice, you say rightly that I am a king. His appearance at this point may have suggested otherwise, right?
It's been a tough week for the Savior, that passion week. This is, you know, an all-nighter before the Sanhedrin, early morning delivered up to Pontius Pilate. He's not wearing a crown. He's not holding a scepter.
He's been slapped and buffeted in the Sanhedrin. He might bear some marks of that, mistreatment or maltreatment. He hasn't had a nice night's sleep. He's not fresh and springing his step and ready to go.
So you can forgive Pilate for asking what we know is obviously true. Are you a king then? He didn't look like a king. He had no form or comeliness that when we looked at him, there was anything about him that screamed king.
He was a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. He describes himself in Psalm 22.6, I'm a worm and not a man. So kind of hard for Pilate to internalize the thought at this point that this is a king standing before me.
So Jesus affirms it. But notice what he says in verse 37. You say rightly that I am a king for this cause I was born. This cause I was born.
We have birth narratives in Matthew's gospel and in Luke's gospel. We have incarnation language in John's prologue. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. There's no birth narrative in the Gospel of John.
Here's the only sort of assertion or rather attribution concerning his birth. And notice why he was born. He was born to reign. He was born to govern.
He was born to be a king. What does that suggest? Hopefully a connection with Isaiah the prophet chapter 9 verses 6 and 7. That child given. that child born, that one upon whose shoulders the government will be placed, Or Micah chapter 5, the birth predictions or prophecies concerning the nativity of our Lord.
Jesus just invokes this in a sort of a passing way. You say rightly that I am a king for this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world. That doesn't mitigate his prophetic ministry. It doesn't mitigate his priestly office.
Remember, he's prophet, priest, and king. But in a discussion with an earthly king, or at least a governor, Jesus invokes the very cause of his birth as being one of reign, one of royalty, one of power, one of glory, one of majesty. One of sovereignty, as he stands before Pontius Pilate. And then notice, with reference to his birth, he was born to reign.
I say notice, I want to read Spurgeon on Micah 5. After commenting that men are born princes but never kings, Spurgeon says, the moment that he came on earth, he was a king. He did not wait till his majority that he might take his empire, but as soon as his eye greeted the sunshine, he was a king. From the moment that his little hands grasped anything, they grasped the scepter.
As soon as his pulse beat and his blood began to flow, his heart beat royalty and his pulse beat an imperial measure and his blood flowed in a kingly current. He was born a king. He came to be ruler in Israel. Again, in the larger discussion of the context, are you a king then?
Yeah. For this cause, I was born. Again, you're missing the nature of the kingdom. It's not of this world.
If it were of this world, my servants would fight. And if my servants fight, you can rest assured they would win. So there would be no more Pontius Pilate. There would be no more emperor of the Roman Empire.
There'd be no more Roman Empire. But that's not the nature of my kingdom.
The Power and Advance of His Kingdom
Notice the power of His kingdom, it is indicated in the same verse. Notice, for this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear, notice, witness to the truth. How does Christ govern? How does Christ rule?
How does Christ lead? How does Christ advance? It's the truth of His holy word. That's not the way Pilate or the way Caesar would advance their kingdoms.
They would advance by gaslighting, by deception, by lying, by penalizing taxpaying middle class people. I mean, the governments of this world advance not because of their commitment to the truth. They advance because of their disdain for the truth and their willingness and ability to lie to people to get what it is that they want, not Christ. He advances His kingdom, He protects His kingdom, He leads His kingdom by the truth.
He bears witness to it, He makes subjects by it, He wages war by it, and as Spurgeon again says, our Lord in effect tells us that truth is the preeminent characteristic of His kingdom and that His royal power over men's hearts is through the truth. Interesting that Paul describes the church as the pillar and the ground of the truth. Maybe the church is supposed to follow its head in terms of advancement, in terms of leading, in terms of governing, in terms of doing what it is that Christ has commanded her to do, maintain fidelity relative to the Truth, if Christ puts a premium on truth, then Christ's church puts a premium on truth. And as Watts says in that famous hymn that we sing at Christmas time, he rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness.
For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth and then notice the identifying mark of the subjects of Christ's kingdom, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. That's what separates the kingdom of Jesus Christ from the kingdom of the emperor, from the kingdoms of men. It's truth that sets us apart. It's the truth of the gospel.
It's the embodiment of the truth in our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. It's truth.
Everything's truth for God. God is the Lord God of truth. As the people of God, we should thrive on truth. We should delight in truth.
We should feed on truth. Seems to me that whenever we have difficulties in our lives, we ought to go to God for his truth and not stay away from God and keep ourselves from the truth. It's always the right remedy to seek out the truth. It's always the right thing to come to church.
It's always the right thing to listen to the voice of the master as it comes through the scripture, as it comes by the spirit of truth, that other comforter, that one who provides for his people those things that they stand in need of. In other words, the truth is what marks us as Christ's subjects, and the truth is what keeps us as faithful subjects. In John 10, Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Now, in verse 38,
Pilate's Question: What Is Truth?
notice Pilate's question. Again, I'd love to know how he asked it. What is truth? Was it cynicism?
What is truth? That's what a lot of people say, and they might be right. It's hard to exegete tone. It's kind of like emojis.
Why'd they send that one? There's a whole art to interpreting how people text. There was no LOL. I must be in trouble.
Honey, are we okay for tonight? There was no LOL. There was no kissy face. It's hard to interpret tone, isn't it?
What is truth? Maybe Pilate's actually having an existential crisis. Maybe he's at the point of actually saying, what is truth? Because it sure sounds like you're putting it down.
And it sure sounds like the Jews got an ax to grind against you. And I've seen their ways, and I'm going to experience it even more. I don't know. Maybe he said, what is truth?
I don't know. I wish I did. I wish I could tell you, here was his tone, here was the emoji that would have been appropriate, and here's how we know exactly what it is that he meant. The guys are probably right.
Might have been just cynicism. Yeah, what's truth? That's not our fish to fry right now, Jesus. I've got these Jews breathing down my throat.
You're giving me what appear to be evasive answers. I mean, they're clear. They're unambiguous. They're not vague.
But they're not sort of a context or category the rest of us deal in. We deal in the here and the now. We deal in emperors and governors and Jews and everybody competing and contending and vying and jockeying for position. You know, you come along, Jesus, and you say, you know, if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, my servants would win, we'd mop the floor.
I just can't sort of understand that approach. So, you know, Pilate could be at that cynical point, like, truth, whatever it is, it ain't for us at this point. We're in a corner here, and there's decisions that have to be made, and I'm probably going to have to make them, and I'm not happy with the way they're going to go. Because notice, he says in verse 38, and when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no fault in him at all.
Nothing. Nada. He didn't mess up. I may not understand everything he's saying because, again, I think we're in different categories.
He's dealing in a spiritual kingdom that's advanced and protected and guarded by truth. I'm dealing in a temporal kingdom that's, you know, pressured by unbelieving Jews. And I've got a Caesar that I've got to, you know, make sure is happy and protected. But this much I know, I don't find any fault in him at all.
What a tough spot. Again, I'm not, you know, Pilate's defender here, but Pilate's in a tough, tough spot. And then when he sent over to Herod, basically the Lord was questioned by Herod and the religious leaders, and then the Lord was mocked by Herod and his troops. They just mocked him outright.
Psalm 22. When you read the beastly descriptors of Jesus' earthly opponents in Psalm 22, think Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Think gospel, because it tells us about those beastly characteristics. So
Barabbas and Substitution
then Pilate makes this compromise in verses 39 and 40. But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews? He's probably thinking or at least hoping that they're going to say, yeah.
Whatever your theological debate with Jesus, unbelieving Jews, whatever your issues are concerning his messianic claim, you have to say that given the opportunity, you're going out of town, your grandkids need babysat, you got Jesus or Barabbas? Who is it? It's an easy question, right? Do we want the terrorist Barabbas?
The insurrectionist? The one who's obviously anti-Rome? The one who's, you know, got some C4 sitting in a closet somewhere, getting ready for the time when he, you know, detonates? Do you want him to babysit grandkids or Jesus?
So for Pilate, it's probably a no-brainer. I can probably weasel out of this difficult predicament by them saying, yeah, release Jesus. It's a no-brainer. Of course they're going to say Jesus, right?
Again, Psalm 22. We're programmed. If we've read Psalm 22 and we understand Psalm 22, at a level that we can't explain, we've got to know that they're not going to say, give us Jesus. We want Barabbas to babysit our grandkids.
We want Barabbas to play in the nursery with our kids. We want Barabbas with all of his weaponry, with all of his evil, with all of his machination, we want Barabbas. Notice in verse 39, you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews?
Then they all cried again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Now, robber makes it sound like he just takes out a gun, or a highwayman, or a bandit, but it's also like a revolutionary, an insurrectionist, and a guerrilla. Not the simian type, but the soldiering type.
Mark 15 tells us that he had two companions. There were going to be three crucifixions that day, Barabbas and his two compadres. There were three crucifixions that day. Jesus and Barabbas' two compadres.
What do you think John's hinting at, theologically? Substitutionary curse bearing. I'm not suggesting Barabbas is going to sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb, but I can't suggest that he won't. Have there been revolutionaries, insurrectionists, terrorists, and guerrillas that were saved by God's amazing grace?
I'd argue that the Apostle Paul, he was a persecutor, a blasphemer, an insolent man. He tried to eradicate the church from the earth. Gill says that this is a picture of the just for the unjust. He says, who was an emblem of God's elect, Barabbas, in a state of nature, released and set free when Christ was condemned.
These, as He, many of them at least, are notorious sinners. The chief of sinners, robbers and murderers, who have robbed God of His glory and destroyed themselves, are prisoners, concluded in sin and unbelief, and shut up in the law and in a pit where is no water, in their natural state. And were as this man worthy of death, and by nature children of wrath, and yet children of God by adopting grace, as His name Bar-Abba signifies, the Son of the Father. These, though such criminals, and so deserving of punishment, were let go free when Christ was taken, condemned, and died, and which was according to the wise and secret counsel of Jehovah, and is a large discovery of divine grace, and what lays those who are released under the greatest obligations to live to Him, who suffered for them, in their room and stead.
He gills on to something there. Whether Barabbas is in heaven or not, this is emblematic of substitutionary curse-bearing. Christ, the just, took the place of the unjust and took the punishment that the unjust deserved. That's exactly what Christ does for us men and for our salvation.
Peter puts it this way, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. So the just for the unjust at the time of Passover. And of course, Christ is our Passover sacrifice.
Application: The Lord's Supper
Well blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has indeed blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. They're secured for us by what we find here in Jesus before the Sanhedrin and then Jesus before Pontius Pilate. And the fact is, is that Jesus understood all too well that this was the hour that God had given Him, this was the cup that the Father had given Him, and He has committed and resolved to drink that cup, to fulfill that hour, and to do all that the Father had given Him to do in order to save us from our sins. Hopefully this evokes from us gratitude, thanksgiving, and praise as we eat this bread tonight, as we drink this cup, and corporately as the people of God proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for that incarnate Word, the author of our salvation, even the Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing Savior. What an amazing testimony that we have here with Pontius Pilate concerning the guiltlessness of our blessed Christ, the fact that there was no fault in Him, the fact that He is all that you had purposed Him to be, that Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
We thank you that you've included us in this wonderful plan of redemption. We pray for family members, for friends, for work associates, for those that we have contact with, that you'd open hearts to receive the truth as it is in Jesus, and that you would continue to advance this kingdom through the preaching of the gospel of truth. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.