Now we're going to read from the scriptures. We're in the book of John chapter 18. We're reading from verses 28 through 38. 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. 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. This is the word of the Lord. Before his execution, Jesus stood in front of two different courts. The first court, it was a court of organized religion. The second court, it was a court of the civil government. In our text, the first court finds Jesus guilty, and they hand him over to the second court. This first court, the religious court, the Jewish priests and elders, they convict Jesus And then they hand Jesus over to the civil court pilot, the Roman governor. Now, we're talking about the trials of Jesus, who is a very public figure. And isn't it the case, even in our day, when there is a public figure who's on trial, we want to know. We want to know the dirt about public figures. We want to know what's really going on. Does this person have a past? Are there scandals in this person's life to be discovered? Was this person involved in any kind of criminal activity? Well, here you read that Jesus is charged, and then he's subjected to two major trials. And the people involved wonder, the people in the city would wonder, we're wondering, what is the dirt? What did he do? There's all this controversy that surrounds Christ. Briefly, in the court of organized religion, the Sanhedrin, they condemn Jesus for the crime of blasphemy, for identifying himself as the son of God. That's in the court of organized religion. In the court of civil government, Rome, his charge will be rebellion for identifying as king of the Jews. Now in our passage, the Roman governor punches Pilate He takes custody of Jesus and we read of the Roman trial of Jesus. So we're gonna look at four key questions that are asked in the civil trial of Jesus. The first question, what accusation do you bring? That's the first accusation in his civil trial. What accusation do you bring? verses 28 through 32, the Jewish authorities, they bring Jesus and hand him over to the Roman authorities, and the Jewish authorities, they just say, execute him. This guy needs the death sentence. Verse 29, the Roman governor Pilate asks them, as he's receiving the prisoner, what charges, what charges do you bring against this man? Now, for a court case, there needs to be an accusation and there need to be specifications. And as they transfer the custody of this prisoner, Jesus, Pilate asks them, what is the accusation? What accusation do you bring? In the text, the Jewish authorities don't specify a charge, but they do specify a verdict and a sentence. They want him to be guilty, they want him to be executed. Verse 31, they say, we don't have, we, the Jewish court, we don't have authority to give the highest penalty. We don't have authority to execute criminals. Only the Roman court, only the civil court can sentence an evil person like Jesus, they say, to death. Now, by them not answering his question, what accusation, the writer wants us to see the hypocrisy of these accusers. Specifically, the writer wants us to see severe hypocrisy in the highest places of organized religion. So what's hypocrisy? If you're a kid and you're taking notes, can you define hypocrisy? Here's one way to define a hypocrite. Someone who is hard on others, but easy on himself. Hard on others, but easy on himself. A hypocrite is someone who will criticize and condemn others but ignore her own big flaws. So for instance, I'm a hypocrite. I am a hypocrite. If I tell my kids to conserve water, conserve energy, don't run too much hot water when you are doing the dishes, and maybe I even show them, here's the way to conserve water, hot water, while you're doing dishes. Run the hot water, run it at a little trickle. but turn on the spray nozzle, the spray mode, so it works just fine and uses only a little bit of water and it will save us water, it will save us money. And so maybe I bug them, maybe I correct them when they're running too much hot water when they're doing the dishes, but then, from there, next morning, I take these long, hot showers and I spend, I don't know, like 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes just mindlessly lost in thought while the hot water is just pouring over me. What am I? I'm a hypocrite. Now, hypocrisy can be relatively inconsequential, just trying to lower the water bill, but hypocrisy can be intensely damaging. Take the person who gets very worked up about politics, maybe worked up about how the politics are playing out and their crusade is about traditional family roles, traditional family values. Or maybe the thing that they're getting very worked up about in the political legislation and the candidates about treating women as equals, worthy of respect, worthy of equal opportunity. And the person, whether they're conservative or progressive, they may rant, they may make all kinds of insistent and charged accusations against others, but then you find out, after all that talk and all that public posting, He talks big about traditional family structure and traditional family values, but he treats his wife and kids like dirt. That's hypocrisy. Or maybe she talks big about the dignity of women. But at work, she slanders and she cuts down the women who work with her and for her, and that's hypocrisy as well. In this account, the highest leaders in the faith, they act with the greatest hypocrisy. Verse 28, these people are, they are super meticulous about keeping themselves ritually pure so that they can attend all the feasts of the Passover week They won't step foot into the ceremonially unclean parts of town, the grounds of the Roman court, the Gentile courts. But as they are being so scrupulous about which commands they are keeping and keeping to the nth degree, they are intentionally moving against an innocent man and to put him to death even though there is no justification. Jesus, they press for his execution in order to protect their personal retirement plans. Earlier, John 11, these same meticulous religious leaders say, if we don't stop Jesus, and if we don't get Jesus killed, we will lose our place. Better that an innocent man die than we lose our financial and lose our political security. They're so careful to keep their feet clean. but their hands are dirty, their hands are covered, they have blood on their hands. So hypocrisy, hypocrisy is so easy to fall into. Attacking someone, amplifying someone else's errors, and when we do that, this is what makes hypocrisy so easy. It takes the attention, when I attack others, when I attack them, it takes the attention off of my sin, it takes the attention off of my own selfishness, it takes the attention off of my own guilt. And so, Beware, be careful. Are you hard on people? Are there some people that you are especially hard on? Hard on people, maybe they're just online. They don't agree with you. Hard on people who live in your house. Hard on people where you serve. Hard on people where you worship. The stronger your zeal for something, whether it's conserving water, or saving the world, the stronger your zeal, the greater risk of hypocrisy. You can have a fantastic grasp on hermeneutics, on pneumatology, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, But if your kids find that you are unkind, that you're an unkind person in how you treat them, you're a hypocrite. You are lacking that fruit of the Spirit, kindness. You can be published, you can be respected, you can teach classes on eschatology or covenant theology, but if your relationships in ministry always end somehow in some kind of conflict, Maybe you're a hypocrite. Pilate asks, what accusation do you bring against this man? They state no accusation that justifies this call for execution. Hypocrisy hides in even the highest places, especially in those who profess careful adherence to religion. Beware. Now the second question in the trial of Jesus, the next question, Pilate asks, are you the king? Are you the king? He asked this twice, verses 33 and verse 37. Pilate asks Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? Are you a king then? Pilate, this Roman governor, He's not concerned about the theology disagreement. He's not concerned with Jesus contradicting the theology of these Jewish leaders. But Pilate is concerned about this. Pilate is very concerned about any, even just a whiff of rebellion against the Roman government. And if Jesus does claim to be king, well then Jesus may be defying Rome may be defying Caesar. And so Pilate pursues this question more. Are you the king? Are you a king then? Verses 31 through 37, Jesus starts talking about his kingdom. And Jesus says several very unexpected things about his kingdom. First of all, he says, that he is a king. Jesus is the king. That's the first thing we see. Jesus is the king. Verse 33, Pilate asks, are you the king of the Jews? And then verse 34, Jesus answers, in what sense are you asking this? Are you asking for yourself or did others tell you this? In short, Jesus tacitly is saying, I am a king, but not in the sense that you expect. So Jesus is king. The second thing we see here though is his kingdom, it transcends the world. His kingdom, Jesus' kingdom transcends this world. Verse 36, Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is not from here. And so when Pilate hears this, Jesus is just flatly starting to disclose the nature of his kingdom. When Pilate hears this, he can easily see that Jesus poses no threat to Caesar, Jesus poses no threat to Rome. He immediately takes him out of the realm of the political and puts him in the realm of the spiritual. Jesus is a spiritual teacher, not a political activist. That's how Pilate is computing this. Jesus says, if my kingdom were of this world, if my kingdom were of this world, my disciples would take up the sword. They would fight to keep me out of the hands of the chief priests. And so Pilate says, okay, I've got you pegged. I understand. This guy, Jesus, he's a religious philosopher. He's advancing a teaching. He's not pursuing a throne. But the Christian reader recognizes that there is more, there's even more to Jesus' words here. Jesus is not saying, my kingdom is entirely just this spiritual kingdom and not a physical kingdom. My kingdom is a spiritual kingdom of just ideas and doctrines. And we just sit around and talk about it. And we sing songs together. And there's no connection at all to earthly, this world kingdoms. The Christian reader recognizes that Jesus is saying, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not a threat to Caesar. My kingdom's not of this world, but it is in this world. And so listen carefully to hear what Jesus is saying. He says, my kingdom is not based here, but it is involved here. Not based here, but involved here. The kingdom of Jesus is a kingdom in this world, but not of this world. One commentator says, Jesus does not deny that he is a king, but he refuses to make his domain the same as that of the Roman Empire. Jesus is not a king on Pilate's terms. He will not assume a secular interpretation of power. Jesus focuses instead on something that is bigger than this city, bigger than this world's government. So is Jesus attempting to take the seat of Caesar, to take the throne? No, he's not. Because in the heavenly realms, in the spiritual places, Christ already has a throne that is higher than Caesar's throne. It would be aiming too low to sit on Caesar's seat. Jesus' kingdom is not from here. So if you're a follower of Jesus, here's how this applies, one way that this applies. Believer, what is your mission in this world? What's your mission? What mission does Jesus have for you in this world? You could put it this way, here's one angle on it. Tell truth, don't take thrones. Tell truth, don't take thrones. Tell the truth. about aborted babies. Get involved with the uplift of the poor. Get involved in repairing racial injustice. But don't make the mistake of thinking that success is securing seats. Don't make the mistake of thinking that victory is getting the votes and getting your person into office. His kingdom is not based here, but it is involved here. Now, the third question, the next section, the next question in the civil trial of Jesus, verse 35. Pilate, the Roman governor, says, your own people, he says this to Jesus, your own people, the chief priests, handed you over to me for judgment. What have you done? What have you done? That's the third question, he asks Jesus. Pilate asks, why do they want to put you to death? What evil have you done, Jesus? And as the examination continues, Pilate concludes that Jesus has done nothing wrong. Verse 38, he says, Pilate says, the judge says, I find no fault in him, no fault in him at all. Jesus has done nothing worthy of death. Jesus has done nothing wrong. This question to Jesus, what have you done? The thought leaders in Jerusalem said, well, we handed him over, they say in verse 30, we handed him over because he's evil. We handed him over because he is an evil person. But as Pilate conducts this personal examination for himself, when Pilate personally examines Jesus, he realizes they're all worked up about him. But Jesus has done nothing. Jesus has done no evil. That question, what have you done? That question is an implicit invitation to examine the life of Jesus. It's an implicit invitation to read the writings of those who lived at the same time, the contemporaneous witnesses. It's an implicit invitation to examine the life of Jesus and to ask for yourself personally, to make the evaluation yourself, what has Jesus done? And I tell you, if you come to that question in good faith, if you come sincerely as you read the writings, you will come to the same conclusion that this Roman governor did. Jesus did nothing wrong. And if you keep on looking, if you keep on looking, perhaps you'll also see this about Jesus. Not only a sinless life, not only a sinless life, but the most beautiful human life ever known. John is the book of signs, it's sometimes called. I mean, think of some of the signs that occurred in the book of John earlier that we've looked at. You've got this one sign of the outcast woman, the woman that had made a mess of her marriages, made a mess of her life, made a mess of her standing in the community, and Jesus He both challenges her for what she's done, but she also calls her into the life of God. She's been rejected by everyone else, and Jesus invites her in, and she is filled with joy that she can't stop talking about. Jesus did that. And think about this other, one of the many other signs that we've read about that Jesus did. The man that is born, whose body has been broken from birth, Some of these kinds of things are congenital defects. You're born broken in some way. This man could not see, and that also cut him off from the community, and it cut him off from prospects for a job, prospects for supporting his own family, and Jesus comes to this man who no one, no one has ever been able to do anything for people in his situation, and Jesus has compassion on him, and Jesus heals this man, On the inside and on the outside, the man born blind becomes bold. It just goes on and on. As you look at the life of Jesus, as you peer at the life of Jesus, and if you come to that with a good heart, you will see what Jesus has done. What has Jesus done? He has done all things well. There is no other like Jesus. Now, the final question, the fourth question in this civil trial, verse 38, Pilate asks, what is truth? What is truth? From this question, we learn that Pilate, he is a deeply cynical person. Pilate's the kind of person who has, he's just on his way rising up to the top. He has seen too much. He has heard too many promises that were broken. He's seen too much hypocrisy everywhere. Pilate is the kind of person who says, They're all these people, and they've got all these strong opinions about government, about religion, but in the end, people like Pilate say, nobody knows. He's the confident agnostic, which is a contradiction of its own. He's a confident agnostic, the kind of person who says, People say things very strongly about God, about belief, about what's true. People make assertions about God, about Jesus, about meaning, but the cynic, Pilate is a cynic, but the cynic says, nobody should be so certain. Now, is that not a statement of certainty? about meaning, nobody should be so certain. Are you a person who is certain that people should not be certain? How did you get so certain that people shouldn't be certain? In addition to that, we see Pilate, not only is he deeply cynical, Pilate finds himself deeply unprincipled. Once Pilate gives up on truth and says, what is truth? Once he gives up on truth, Pilate becomes pragmatic. Once Pilate gives up on truth, he becomes unprincipled and pragmatic. For Pilate, the question is no longer, what's right and what is wrong? What's the right way? What's the wrong way? The question for him becomes, what will work for my concerns? What will just work for what I'm concerned about? For followers of Jesus, we can fall into that same kind of pragmatism. You know, instead of asking, does this decision that's in front of me, this life decision in front of me, my decision to marry or not to marry, my choice of this job, not that job, does this life decision for me have a morally right or a morally wrong choice? Instead, instead, it can become not a matter of right or wrong, not a matter of what has the word said or what has the word forbidden, but which choice will pay more money? Which choice will bring in a higher salary? Which choice will gain me more respect among my peers? Which choice will increase my personal happiness? That's pragmatism. You know, pastors have the temptation to be motivated by pragmatism. They say that if you are just pragmatic, you're only concerned about your own concerns, not principled. For church leaders, this is how you tend to measure success, by buildings, by bucks, and by bodies. How big is our facility? How large is our budget? how large is the attendance, and I will not say, teach, or do things that could bring any of those things down. That's just pragmatism. It's unprincipled. Another thing about Pilate, though, he's cynical, he's unprincipled, but he's also callous. He's callous. He's the governor, he's the judge over the case of Jesus, and Pilate determines He's innocent. Three times Pilate will say, there is nothing. This man is innocent. He is not deserving of death. And yet, Pilate will inflict on this accused man, he will inflict on Jesus 39 lashes with a ripping whip. Pilate will order Jesus executed, order that Jesus be spiked to a wooden pole through his hands and through his feet. Pilate is callous. Pilate lacks human sympathy. He has utter disregard for the suffering of another human. When he says, what is truth? What is truth? Look at what Jesus says. John 18, verse 37, Pilate therefore said to Jesus, 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. And then when Pilate asked Jesus, are you a king? Jesus says, he says, I was born to this. I came from my world into this world. I came to be this king and to bring this truth into this world." And what is the truth? What is the truth this king from another place is coming and bringing to this world? What is that truth? The truth that he brings is, I was born to be king, the king who dies. And that is anything, anything but pragmatic. The ways of God are not the ways of this world. A king who comes to die, that's just not, that will not work. Pragmatism measures things and say, will it work or not? Will it increase the buildings? Will it increase the budget? Will it increase the bodies who are here? That won't work. In our fallen thinking, the ways of God will never work. A king who came to die, a king who was born to die, Jesus is redefining what success in this world looks like. You know, it's like Oh, I'm gonna make a career change. I'm gonna make a career change that pays less. That doesn't make sense. That won't work. We're gonna have a small church that does not fit any growth models. Does that make any sense? Is that success? The text says, Jesus says, I was born to be king, the king who was delivered to death by my own people. I was born to be the king killed by his own people. And that's why I don't resist being handed over to them. That's why I don't resist being handed over to you. I was born to be the king who dies in order to save his people. I was born to tell the world this truth. And to that, Pilate asks, what is truth? Here is the cure for hypocrisy, the cure for cynicism, and the cure for callousness, the cure for hypocrisy. Hypocrisy demands in others what you don't demand of yourself. Hypocrisy is hard on the failures of others and easy on your own failings. You look great on the outside, but you're rot on the inside. The hypocrite hides his rot and points the finger at other people's rot. Hides his rot, points the finger at other people's rot. In the gospel, Jesus hid his righteousness and let the world point their fingers at him. And he did that so that God does not point his finger at you. The hypocrite hides her sin and condemns the sins of others. On the cross, Jesus didn't hide. Jesus wore our sins publicly and was condemned for the sins of others. If you understand that, then you understand that you've got nothing to hide. Hypocrisy hides sin, fear and condemnation, but Jesus, if you understand this, you understand that Jesus took your condemnation. So nothing, there's nothing, none of the rot in you, nothing, none of it that you reveal, your darkest secrets and sins, none of those. can bring condemnation from God. Even if the world points their fingers at you, God no longer points his finger at you. It's death to hypocrisy when you understand that. And here's the cure for cynicism. What's the cure for cynicism? What will change your heart from this kind of pessimistic skepticism? The cure for cynicism is not arguments, not better arguments that will just convince you that you shouldn't be so cynical. The cure for cynicism is not argument. The cure for cynicism is beauty and nobility. Look at the beauty and the nobility of this king. A king who came not for earthly power but to let go of power and to be killed. A king who wanted not the best for himself but the highest good for his people at the highest cost to himself. Jesus is pushing back against this cynicism in another way. He says, for this I was born. I was born for this. And the cynic hears that kind of statement. and says, people are all frauds, people are untrustworthy, people are selfishly emotive, people will let you down. And it's just a matter of time till you find out that person was a fake. And experience proves this true when parents disappoint, when leaders disappoint, when even church disappoints. But one man was true from the day he was born. Jesus, the Christ child, was born to be king. and he remained true to that his entire life and even unto his death. You cannot be cynical about the person of Jesus Christ if you really look at it and you really know what he said and what he did. He humbled himself and was born. He lived true to his divinely decreed purpose. He died for our redemption and he was raised on the third day and he will return. Consider the life and the acts of Jesus. Meditate on them. Slow think. Slow think them. And don't just grapple with the intellectual claims. Gaze at this. Gaze at the beauty. Gaze at his beauty and at his high nobility, the purpose for which he was born and that he stayed true to his whole life. That's the cure. That's the cure ultimately for cynicism. The cure for callousness. What's the cure for callousness? What will give you a tender heart for others, not a closed heart towards others? Well, I'd suggest you look at the king who came to be killed in the place of his people. The king who came to be killed by the very people who would turn him over to be killed, Jesus, was treated with utter callousness so that you could know his great compassion. Jesus bore the highest cost to himself so that we could receive the greatest benefit. I close with this quote from Diane Langberg about self-sacrifice. And in this quote, it's self-sacrifice in the context of caring for aged parents, aging parents. For people who are now adults, and they're in their 50s, they're in their 60s, but they're caring for parents who are now in their 80s. She says, as parents, and extended family members age, it creates a crisis, sometimes multiple crises. How space can be stretched beyond capacity and finances as well. Working adults are squeezed between the needs of the older parents and younger generations, often with jobs thrown into the mix. For many, the loss of a parent extends gradually over the years the parents, the aged parents failing health, failing mental capacity, and failing finances. And for these aging parents, as external restraints lessen, some aging parents seem to dissolve into the worst of themselves with anger, anxiety, and relentless demands. Patience, kindness, and faithfulness become difficult to demonstrate on the road of a long, slow decline in life. Those who once cared for us now need our care, and the rewards can seem few for some. Others are caring for aged parents who, in fact, did not care well for them. It can be a hard place. It can last a long time. It will also give us some glimpses into our own spottiness. When it comes to looking like Christ, we will be tempted to blame the stress, blame the demanding aged parent, or blame the complicated life we now have. Our God says, what comes out from us reveals the heart. What is the heart of our King Jesus? It's not a callous heart, it's a compassionate heart. Our King's heart is this, kill me, cure them. Let's pray. Lord, you have loved us and we've just edged in a little bit more. into the depth and the breadth of your great love for us, that you would love those who are set against you, who would even hand you over to be condemned for our wrongdoing. We are undeserving. You have been gracious and you have loved us. Lord, would that soften our hearts. Would that give us a deeper love for you, a deeper and a more generous love for others around us. We pray that you would work that in us. We would be so pleased if you would. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.