John 18:36-40 -The King and His Kingdom

Christ Before Pilate and the Meaning of His Kingdom

I don't know about you guys,.

That was a beautiful song though. That was, that was, I'm sure that was difficult for any of us to sing since it was something new,.

But that was, that was, that was beautiful.

That was absolutely right on,.

Especially with the text that we're going through today. And thank you, Brother Greg, for reading.

Daniel chapter two, verse 44. That was awesome as well. We're gonna be in John chapter 18 today.

So if you have your Bibles with you, or a device or something that means to be able to turn to that,.

I would encourage you to turn there.

And follow along with me. We're gonna be in verses 36 through 40 today. And before we begin, and as you're turning there, let's open up with a word of prayer, and then we'll read over this text. So let's pray.

Lord God, we just, like as we just sung, Lord, we wanna be a boring all our sin.

Lord, when we do this, we wanna be focusing on you.

So Lord, help us be sanctified in these things. Let us run away from that which takes us away from you, Lord. Let us run only and grieve only to your cross. And Lord, just be glorified in all these things.

That we do, and Lord, once again,.

We just pray in the sanctification of ourselves, Lord, that you would be glorified and that we might grow in loving you and knowing you and the spiritual growth that we seek, Lord. And we also just pray for the numerical growth of this church, Lord.

We want people to know the gospel. We want people to know who you are. And so Lord, we just pray for these things. So Lord, we know that you are the only sovereign and that it's going to be according to your will.

And so we lift these things up in your name, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

So we are, like I said, in John chapter 18. We're gonna be in verses 36 through 40 to the end of this chapter in John 18. And church, once again, we, as a context goes, this is right before the cross.

This is literally hours before him being crucified. This is hours before him being pierced in the side and being pierced in his arms and his feet and so on and so forth. This is hours away from that. So this text, I hope, as we read it and we look into it, I hope it brings a heaviness to our hearts that we can see in this text, the weight of what's going on here.

And so let us read John 18, verses 36 through 40. It says in here, let me actually read verse 35. As last week, when we went through this, we just looked at verses 36 and 37 and we just were focusing on ways that we can prepare ourselves for doing evangelism.

But now we're focusing really into what this text is saying. So let's start in verse 35 and go to 40 here. It says, Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you up to me.

What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world and my servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm.

Pilate therefore said to him, so you are a king. And Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to 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 guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release someone for you at the Passover.

Do you wish then that I release for you the king of the Jews? Therefore they cried out again, saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

Let us pray.

Lord God, we are so thankful to be a part of your kingdom, God. We're thankful to be servants of you, Lord. God, I would pray that we might have the heart in us that we would be a servant that would be willing to fight for our kingdom, Lord.

That we would be willing to go after advancing your kingdom and glorifying you and worshiping you.

And serving you, Lord.

God, this text is one that is saddening to see, but Lord, let us remember our own sin and in our sin we would be no different than those that would call out for Barabbas to be released.

We'd be no different than those that would call out.

For you to be crucified. So Lord, once again, God, let your kingdom be advanced today and let you be glorified.

And we just say these things in the almighty name,.

Jesus Christ, amen. So let us start in verse 35 as we break out of part.

What Jesus says here to Pilate and what's going on in the context.

Just as a reminder, this is Jesus before Pilate. He's in the praetorium. The Jews are refusing to go into there, and so Pilate's serving as this middleman going back and forth between Jesus and the Jews to find out what reason that the Jews have brought him here.

Jesus has been gathered and captured by the Roman cohort, likely 600 men plus that have come to capture Jesus while in the garden of Gethsemane. And they brought him now to Pilate, and this is now Jesus being on essentially a trial before Pilate, and we see that the rules reverse here in this text a little bit.

But let us look here in verse 35 and see. It says, Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you up to me.

What have you done?

And let's remember what a chief priest was. That was supposed to be the one that was representing Yahweh. That was the one that was serving God, supposedly, and that was the one that should have been rejoicing.

At the coming of Christ.

And Pilate's saying, look, your chief priests are the ones that are sending you to me, the ones that should have recognized Christ at his incarnation, the ones that should be bowing before him right now are the ones that are delivering them up to Pilate.

And so Pilate asks this question, what have you done? And I think this is a wonderful question to ask. I would ask us that same question today. What has Jesus done? And we could sit and say really quickly, yes, he died on the cross for me.

Yes, he lived for me. Yes, he was buried and rose again. Yes, that's what he's done for me. That is what Jesus Christ has done. And there's no doubt these things are true, 100 true. But he is on trial right now.

This is not asking about the good that he has done for us. This is asking what bad thing Christ has done. And what's the answer to that?

Nothing, nothing.

Luke 23, we won't turn there and read it, but Luke 23, verses 40 through 42, it describes the thief on the cross that is next to Christ being crucified. And he says to the other one rebuking him, the other thief, he says in there, he says, do you not even fear God for you are under the same condemnation, recognizing Jesus as God?

And he says, this man has done nothing amiss. It's John the Baptist that looks to Jesus as he's coming down the banks, and he says, behold the perfect lamb that takes away the sins of the world. Jesus Christ has done nothing amiss.

He's done nothing wrong.

He's done no sin.

He's not broken one law.

The only thing that the Jews are trying to accuse him of is being blasphemous and taking the name of God for himself, which he had the right to do so. And we're gonna talk a little bit more about this, but Jesus Christ has done nothing wrong, nothing.

Absolutely nothing. It makes you think, because we're gonna talk about the Passover here in a little bit too in verse 39, but the Passover lamb that they would slaughter and rub the blood on the doorpost,.

What had the lamb done.

That was anything wrong to the people?

Nothing, there was nothing wrong, nothing amiss that that lamb had done.

And that's what Christ is doing for us again here in this text. It goes on to say in verse 36, Jesus answered, and this is the words of our Almighty King. He says in Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world.

We talked last week and we need to make mention of it again. Who's the one that is in control and authority over this kingdom? I want you to pay attention to the pronoun. It says in here, it says my kingdom.

This is not the world's kingdom. This is not our president's kingdom. This is not any other being other than God's kingdom alone. And he says, it's my kingdom. He takes ownership of this. And what's miraculous in this is that, that we have the three persons in the Trinity that all talk about the ownership and authority and being introduced into the kingdom.

We have this all throughout the Bible. I just want to make mention of them. In Matthew 26, verse 29, it says in there that Jesus says to his disciples, he says, I will drink this anew with you when you come into my father's kingdom.

Okay, so Jesus' father has authority over the kingdom. And then it goes on to say in Romans chapter 14, I'll read this one, Romans chapter 14, verses nine, verse 17 through 19, excuse me. Romans 14, verse 17 through 19, it says in here, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

So Christ's kingdom is a kingdom that has people that are having peace, joy, and happiness.

In what?

The Holy Spirit.

And it says in John chapter, well, let's keep on reading this. Verse 18 goes on to say, for he who is in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

So we see that part of us enjoying.

And having peace in the Holy Spirit.

Is building each other up,.

Building up God's kingdom,.

Building up God's kingdom.

And there's so many different ways that we see throughout the entire order of God.

I'm sure there's different ways that you can think of today.

About how you today can build up God's kingdom. You're doing it right now by coming to church and by looking at what the text is saying and learning about what it's doing and learning more about Christ and glorifying Him.

You are building up God's kingdom currently.

If you're doing those things,.

If you're glorifying Him in those manners. If you are going out and doing evangelism.

And telling somebody that doesn't know who Jesus Christ is.

And you're telling them about who He is, you're building up God's kingdom. You're building them up.

You're building up them.

If you're discipling another person or rebuking their sin or meeting with them or whatever it is that you're doing, you're seeking this discipleship, that is building up God's kingdom. Last week, when we asked the question,.

What is God's kingdom?

Is this some type of stone that we have here in the world that we can put these stones on top of one another and that makes God's kingdom? No, we see in Revelation 1, verse six, that it says that He has made us to be a kingdom and to bring priests working for God.

He's made us to be the kingdom. This is a kingdom that is not built out of dead stones. This is one that's made out of living stones, you and I, that is the kingdom. That's the kingdom that we see in this text.

And we see that the Father has authority over it, the Son has authority over it, and we see in the text that in John chapter three, it says that no one can enter into the kingdom of God unless he be born again, unless he is born from the Spirit.

So in order to be a part of this kingdom, you have to have the Holy Spirit. You see, all three persons of the Trinity reside within this kingdom language that we see in this text, all three of them. This is beautiful, three persons, one being me and God.

This is another way that we can talk about the Trinity. Tell me one other person in the entire Bible that says that they have ownership of the kingdom.

There isn't one.

It's only those three persons.

It only says that in Daniel chapter two,.

What we just read from it,.

Says that he has an everlasting kingdom, and so on and so forth.

This is a singular kingdom.

It's owned by one king, and that is our God. And so we see Jesus in John 18, verse 36. He says, my kingdom is not of this world. Now, church, we can think about dynasties, empires, governments, kings and queens, whatever form of government that you remember learning about in history class, or anything that you've been studying recently.

There's one common factor that they all have with each other.

They all fall.

They all eventually go away. There's only one kingdom that lasts forever,.

And that's God's kingdom,.

And it's the kingdom that's not built with dead stones. It's not of this world. It's one that is one that he purchased with his blood,.

You and I.

That is the kingdom that lasts forever. It's only because we have a king that is everlasting, like Jesus himself. So this kingdom is one that lasts forever, and it says it's not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants, and he's speaking about the Jews, those that are supposed to be representing him, those my servants would be fighting that I might not be delivered up to the Jews.

They would be fighting over this, that I wouldn't be being delivered up. This idea, if Jesus was king of the world in the sense that he is supposed to have a reality right within 2 ,000 years ago of his kingdom, people would be fighting over the fact of him not to die.

Don't we see the complete opposite?

They're fighting for him to be killed. They're fighting, they're going after that. They're seeking it. And now, I want us to think right now, because we see in here that it says.

That they would be fighting,.

That he might not be delivered up to the Jews, and it says that his kingdom is not of this realm.

So if you were in this kingdom today,.

And you are a servant of the king, how are you fighting for Christ today? I don't know if we can look at any form of government, and we see that there's people.

That have been put in different positions.

That serve in the community, whatever the example is of the government that we're talking about. There's people that have different abilities, different purposes, different callings, so on and so forth in that setting to be able to participate in their community or whatever that setting is, right?

So if we are a part of the kingdom,.

We see this all throughout the New Testament, that we are a part of the body, we are a part of the church, we all have different gifts. The hand is not the same as the foot, nor is the ear the same as the eye.

They all have different purposes, but they all serve the one and almighty God. And so I see the same language being used here today. How are you today serving the king? Are you going out there and fighting purposely for him and advancing the gospel in such means?

Are you going out and peacefully showing people who Jesus Christ is? Are you serving him in your own work today?

Because if you're a part of the kingdom,.

That is what you ought to be doing,.

Is serving the king.

That is what you ought to be doing. My kingdom is not of this realm, in verse 36. So are you fighting for your king today? In verse 37, Pilate therefore said to him, so you are a king. This is not the only time that Pilate is and has answered Jesus in such a way.

Did Jesus not just say he is a king? My kingdom is not of this world. And Pilate says, so you are a king. He doesn't get what Jesus is getting at in this text. He says, so you are a king. And Jesus answered him, you say correctly that I am a king.

For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And so Jesus in this text, he says, after being questioned about if he is a king, Jesus does not say, no, I'm not a king.

He says, yeah, you say correctly, I am a king.

What kind of king is Jesus?

I want us to turn to Revelation chapter 19, verses 11 through 18. John or Revelation chapter 19 says in here in verse 11 through 18, this is the kind of king we have. And I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he who sat upon it called faithful and true.

And in righteousness he judges and wages war, verse 12. And his eyes are a flame of fire and upon his head are many diadems. And he has the name written upon him which no one knows except himself. And he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood.

And his name is called the word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on a white horse, on white horses. And from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may snipe the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God,.

The Almighty.

And on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds which fly in the midheaven, come assemble for the great supper of God in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of the mighty men and the flesh of the horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free and slaves and the small and great.

This is speaking of those that are not a part of the kingdom of the king, the King of Kings. And it says, I saw the beasts and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat upon the horse and against his armies.

And we all know how that ends for them. You have to be a part of the kingdom in order to call Christ the King of Kings.

And Lord of Lords.

You have to recognize him as this. And that is what Jesus says in here. He says, you have said correctly that I am king. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Now in this text, church, we see something very remarkable, I think. He says in here, for this, I have been born.

This is the purpose of Christ.

This is the reason that he came into his incarnation. And this is speaking of his birth. This is Christianity 101. If people don't understand the incarnation of Christ,.

They mess up their entire theology.

They mess it up completely. Just to give you some examples.

Of how this can be done,.

Is if somebody just says that Jesus was only a man and not God, that's not right. That's not what we see in the Bible. That's not God becoming flesh. How can a man make an everlasting atonement? How can a man be a perfect lamb?

How can a man so on and so forth? You just can't. And so we see in here that Christ, he's talking about his incarnation. He says, for this reason, I have been born. The Christian has to understand to some basic level what the incarnation is, and that is that the God-man, God became flesh and dwelt with us, lived a perfect life, was placed before Pontius Pilate, was judged incorrectly on basis from you and I, and died upon a cross, and he rose again on the third day.

To understand the incarnation has serious implications on the rest of your theology. If you misrepresent what the incarnation is, you are not a part of the kingdom.

You just can't be.

But he says in here, for this, I have been born, and for this, I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And so what is this that Christ is saying in here?

I have written down here in my notes, it says Christ was born so that he, as king, ruler, and the supreme authority could save, would save, those that are a part of him being the truth, and that they would glorify him as king.

Those that are a part of the truth will recognize and worship the king. They will, and so we see in this the great joy that we have in Christ, that Christ did this to glorify himself,.

But it is to our benefit, it is to our enjoyment,.

And that through this, we have a release of being captive. We have this miraculous thing in our lives, and so we ought to praise the king for this. And so we see that truth of that Christ has done this on the benefit of us for his glory.

And so it goes on to say in verse 38, actually, before we go there, it says in this, it says in verse 37, and for this I've come into the world to bear witness to the truth.

And this is important.

Christ says to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who's of the truth hears my voice. John 14, verse six says that Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but through me.

So once again, Christ is the way, he's the truth, and the life. You can't be a part of the kingdom without being with him, without going through him, without being a part of him. And in John 18, it says, everyone who is of the truth, who is the truth according to Christ himself, he is the truth.

And so if you are a part of the truth,.

You will hear his voice. This is, we talked about it last week, this is very reminiscent to Jesus in John chapter 10, where he says, my sheep hear my voice. I lose not one. No one is able to snatch them from my father's hand.

They hear my voice. I am their shepherd. They are my sheep. We see this all throughout John chapter 10. And so he says that if they are a part of the truth, if they're in me, is essentially what it says in this, if they're in me, they will hear my voice.

They will hear my voice.

Pilate said to them, him, what is truth? Now, there are some scholars and people.

That would read this that think that Pilate.

Is asking genuine questions here, that he's trying to find out more about Christ, is seeking him in that way.

That's, I would highly disagree with that.

I don't see that in this text whatsoever. He is just said in verse 35, he says, or in verse 37, you are a king. And now he says, what is truth? He's going against what Christ has already revealed to him.

And he's going about it in a way where Pilate has a disdain for who Christ is. He has a disdain because he's a sinful man. He has not been saved and he hates Christ before him. And so he goes about this saying, what is truth?

And this is interesting because every false religion, I don't know if you've ever talked with a Buddhist or an atheist or an agnostic or anybody else. And that is a common phrase that they will say. How do you know what truth is?

What is truth? And they want to change reality and say that it's all subject to your own opinions and feelings.

And so on and so forth.

They want to change what it is. Christ is truth. His word is truth. There is a absolute truth and that is Christ. They might not like it, but that's the way it is. In verses 36 through 37, we see Christ in here be saying exclusive terms.

Like his kingdom is not of this world,.

That he has a kingdom.

He is the king and everybody that's a part of him will come to him, hear his voice. You can see this exclusive language that is being used in here.

Why is it that the world,.

And I know that you've seen this today,.

The world hates Christians.

We're willing to be, co-exist and exist with those that believe in Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam and so on and so forth.

Because it's their personal beliefs.

That's okay.

We're more than welcoming to that kind of perspective. I hear this constantly. But they're always against Christians. Always against Christ. They're always against that kingdom.

Why?

Because the other ones that they just talked about are all a part of the kingdom of the devil.

Is what I would argue.

They're a part of that kingdom. They're not a part of this kingdom that we see in here. And so Pilate says, what is truth? And before even getting the answer from Jesus in this text, this is why I would say that Pilate's not seeking a sincere answer from Christ.

Right after saying what is truth, he leaves. He departs from Christ and he goes back to the Jews. And so it says in here, and when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, find no guilt in him.

So Pilate sees that Christ has done nothing that can put him to death. Pilate, once again, as context goes,.

As we talked about, I believe two weeks ago,.

That Pilate has recently received the right to do capital punishment for the Jews. It's been transferred to the Romans in this day. And so Pilate is saying, I have no reason.

I can put this guy to death.

There is nothing I can see. He's not a murderer. He's not a thief. He's not done any of these things that you're bringing him to me to try to crucify him for. I can't do it. I find no guilt in him. But he gives this alternative to them.

He says, but you have a custom.

That I should release someone for you at the Passover. If you wish, then I release for you the King of the Jews. Now, what is this custom that is spoken of?

There's, I don't know if you know this,.

But there's kind of a custom in the United States of something very similar to this. At the end of every president's term, almost always they do a huge pardoning of different prisoners. This is a common thing that happens in governments and kingdoms, is really what it is.

And so we see that there was a custom of that day that on the Passover, the Jews could have a prisoner released to them. And what was the reasoning for this?

It foreshadowed something.

It was because the Passover was, once again, back in Egypt when the Jews were captive, Christ, God, and God, Yahweh, released them from captivity. And it was by the means of this Passover. And so we see now how that custom has now influenced Pilate in this way.

See, on the Passover, I can release to you one prisoner. I can do this because I am Pilate, I have this authority over you, and you brought me in, he's now my prisoner, I can release him back to you. And it says in here, do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?

And we ask this question, is Christ King of the Jews? Yes, yes, and yes, he is King of the Jews. That's what's inscribed above his head on the cross. It says that in the very next chapter in verse 19.

And Pilate wrote an inscription also to put it upon the cross. And it is written, Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. And we see that in Romans, those that are Jews.

Are not ones that are circumcision.