John 19:9-15 Behold Your King

So, like I said, we're going to do a quick baby dedication. And I don't know if any of us have ever seen anything like this, or if we've ever been a part of something like this.

This is a pretty common thing to do in Baptist life. And it really comes from, just to talk about some of the differences between Presbyterians and what

Baptists are. Presbyterians, what they would do for a baby dedication is they would baptize the baby, showing that they were in covenant faith is kind of the idea of doing that.

Well, us being a Baptist, we believe in what's called a believer's baptism, that somebody needs to confess faith in Jesus Christ before they're baptized.

But we still want to go about showing the world that we have babies that we're raising in the name of Jesus Christ in a covenantal -type manner is what we're going after.

And the idea of this comes from Exodus chapter 13, I believe. And in there it says that the firstborn of the house is going to be dedicated, and is going to be concentrated, is what it means in there.

And so that's what, like I said, normally I've been a part of baby dedications. I even did it with Shepherd, but I wasn't the one that was the pastor and doing it in that sense.

And so normally what would happen is that the family might be asked a couple of questions about who Jesus Christ is, what they're going to do in raising him in the name of Jesus, and so on and so forth.

And so what I'll have is Emily to come up here real fast. And what we as a church are going to do is I want to just talk about how what we as Emily and myself, how we're going to raise

Shepherd, and afterwards we'll just say a prayer for Owen, not

Shepherd. Sorry. We will continue to raise Shepherd. Yes, we will continue to raise Shepherd. So just let us know, church, that as both

Shepherd and Owen, Owen right now, it's one of the greatest duties of a parent to feed, clothe, love, and protect their children.

This is something that every mother and father hopefully have an instinct to do, and hopefully they do.

And so that's something that I hope every one of us, as we've had children and so on and so forth, that's something that I hope that you have wanted to do.

But there's one thing that is far, far more important than any of that, and then feeding, clothing, loving, changing his diaper, so on and so forth.

There's one thing that's far, far above that, and that is to show your children who Jesus Christ is and to teach him in the way of the

Lord and to raise him up deliberately knowing who he is. And so we ultimately know, once again, that Owen having faith in Jesus Christ is a part of God's plan, and there's nothing that Emily and I will say or do that would change what

God's plan is. But we as a couple, Emily and I, are absolutely going to do so in a dedicated, deliberate manner in making sure that Owen has no excuse for not knowing who

Jesus Christ is, that we will teach him from the day he was born to the day that we are far gone and out of his life who

Jesus Christ is, and that's what our goal is going to be. So let us pray over Owen right now, and afterwards we'll get into the message.

So, Lord God, what a privilege it is to be able to pray over my own son in this way,

Lord. And so God, we just dedicate this baby and Emily and I on time into glorifying you and raising up Owen in your name.

And so Lord, we also continually pray for his older brother, Shepard, that we too might continue to care for him in that same exact manner, teaching him who

Jesus Christ is and showing him the importance of the death, burial, and resurrection upon which we are saved.

And so, Lord, let your will be done. We know that you listen and you hear this petition. And once again, what a great honor it is and what a good day it is to pray over this.

And so Lord, we just say these things in your name, knowing your will be done. Holy, holy, holy is your name,

Jesus Christ. Amen. Okay.

Well, like I said, that wasn't in the announcement, so that was kind of impromptu and doing something like that.

So, church, we're going to be in John chapter 19 for today. So however you want to turn or go to your respective devices or whatever it is, however you want to read

God's word today, I highly encourage you to please turn to John chapter 19 with myself today.

John chapter 19. So we're going to be in verses 9 to 15, but before we begin, let us offer one more word of prayer directed towards the message and text that we have before us.

Lord God, we just thank you for our privilege to come to this church today.

Lord, we thank you for the safety that you've given to us throughout this week, and we thank you for the fellowship that we have here.

And Lord, we thank you for this Thanksgiving that we've had. Lord, we know that we are beyond thankful for who you are,

Lord. And so today, God, I would pray that in our sanctification and knowing and learning more about you, we just might be able to give a deeper and more meaningful thanks.

And so Lord, we just say these things in your holy name, Jesus Christ. Amen. So we're going to be in, like I said,

John chapter 19, verses 9 through 15. John chapter 19, 9 through 15.

And we're going to back up and probably read from verse 6 to 15 just to help us understand the context.

For those of us that can't remember what happened last week or where we're going from in here, let us start in verse 6 and read to 15 here.

It says in here, When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying,

Crucify, crucify. Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him.

I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered, We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be the son of God.

When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid. And now onto the text that we are looking at today, verses 9 through 15.

And he entered into the praetorium again and said to Jesus, Where are you from? But Jesus gave no answer.

Pilate therefore said to him, You do not speak to me. Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?

Jesus answered, You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above.

For this reason he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin.

And as a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying,

If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes

Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat him down on the judgment seat.

Pilate sat down on the judgment seat at the place called the pavement. But in Hebrew, Galilee.

Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.

And he said to the Jews, Behold your king! They therefore cried out,

Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!

Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? And the chief priests answered,

We have no king but Caesar. Let us pray. Lord God, we come before you once again in humility, seeking to know you better,

Lord. As we look at this text and the awfulness that we see in here, Lord.

The injustice that takes place. And this desolate people that cry out for you to be crucified.

Lord, I just pray that you might help each one of us wherever we might be in our walk. Lord, I just pray that you might help us learn more about you today.

And that this text might bless our hearts and our minds and our thoughts and our actions this week. And Lord, let us recognize you as our king daily, weekly, and monthly.

Lord, let us not forget that you are our king. And we have nobody else but you.

So Lord, let us just remember these things that your will be done. And we just say this in your name.

Jesus Christ, Amen. Church, I hope as you have been listening along through the messages and reading.

I hope throughout the weeks of preparation for church and so on and so forth. I pray and I hope that you understand the weight and the reality of what's going on here.

This text is terribly, terribly hard to even read, let alone study, let alone even preach on something like this.

This is not difficult because it's Hebrew or Greek that you're trying to read through. It's difficult because it's the reality of Jesus Christ, God in flesh, dying for you and I.

And it comes with great pain and turmoil to look and see how Christ was treated 2 ,000 years ago.

It's very, very difficult. So let us go to verse 9.

Well, let's go to verse 8. Let's start in verse 8. We're going to start dissecting this a little bit and understanding kind of what's going on here.

Just as a reminder, the pilot has now scourged Jesus.

There's a crown of thorns that's on the brow of our Savior. He's been covered in a robe, taken off.

He's been beaten. He's been made fun of. He's been mocked in that way.

He's been set up as this, oh, you consider yourself a king, Christ. Well, now we're going to mock you by making you bow to us and have a robe over you and a crown of thorns and this reed.

We're going to mock you in this way. And so Christ is walking this bruised, beaten man, bloodied, and sought as the lowest of the low in this text.

And so Pilate, now hearing the Jews say he has made himself out to be the son of God, and hearing

Christ's words resonate in his mind of Christ saying, My kingdom is not of this world.

Pilate has heard Christ say this. And not only this, but he's found no guilt in him. Pilate understands, to a certain degree, what the

Jews are accusing him of, what Christ is claiming to be.

And there's this, so when it says in verse 8, it says, When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was more afraid.

And the question needs to be examined. Was he afraid of what the Jews were going to do, or was he afraid of who was on trial before him?

And I think the answer is, it's ultimately both. That he was afraid of, if this is the

Christ, if this is God in flesh, I am doing something completely... I've already done something completely terrible.

By even scourging the back of him, I've done something terrible. But I also know who the Jews are, and I know that there is going to be great outbreak of protesters in that sense.

This great outbreak of an insurrection of the people if I release Jesus. And so he's here right now, he's been more afraid, is what verse 8 says.

And so that's where we're coming from. We're rolling on to verse 9 from that. We understand that that's the scene that has been set up for us, that is what we're looking into.

Verse 9, he entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, So this silliness that's taking place between Pilate going in to the people, coming back to Christ, going out to the people, back to Christ.

This back and forth that takes place that would never take place in any other sense. It happens again. Pilate goes back into the

Praetorium and returns to Jesus and said to Jesus, Where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer.

And this right here, Pilate is asking the question that essentially

Jesus has already remarked to. He's already said, my kingdom is not of this world.

If you had a kingdom, that means that you were from that place. That is where you reign from, that is where you have authority in, this is where you're from.

And so Christ has already given him the answer to this question. It's not of this world. Christ is not from this world.

He's from the heavenly realm. He's God in flesh. He's God. And this is expounded upon when the

Jews say, this is the reason, Pilate, that we brought him here. Is that we think he is a man, and he's making himself out to be the son of God.

He's making himself out to be God. And so Pilate is now starting to understand, it's unfolding for Pilate in this way.

Where once again, he's in this difficult place where he, being a judge, should not punish anyone or put anyone to death if they are not guilty.

That this is true. Let alone put to death Jesus Christ, who is the perfect lamb, and is truly guiltless in this way.

And so verse 9, once again, he entered into the praetorium and said to Jesus, where are you from?

And I think he asks this because he understands what the Jews are asking. So he's like,

I really need to now know where Jesus is from. If Jesus is from, if he's from this one place in the world, okay, then

I can say that he's lying. He's, where are you from, Jesus? Because I know you've said that you're not of this world.

Where are you from? And Jesus, it says in here, but Jesus gave no answer.

He gave no answer. The reason that Jesus gives no answer is not because he's scared of Pilate.

Not because Pilate is deserving of an answer or not deserving of an answer.

He doesn't give him an answer, I think, because it fulfills some Old Testament prophecy about who Jesus Christ was.

In Isaiah chapter 53, verse 7, we could turn there, but I'll just quote it for you. It says in there, like a lamb led to the slaughter and a sheep that is silent before the shears.

Jesus Christ has the most, he being the Almighty, has the most mighty voice.

And he could stop Pilate from doing exactly what he's trying to do and the Jews are trying to do, and that is to kill him.

But like a sheep, he is silent before the shears. He is silent before this judge in this place.

And we see that he's been led like a lamb to Pilate already. He's been bound, he's been tied up and taken to Pilate to be judged.

We now see Jesus being silent before the judge. And so, it goes on to say in verse 10,

Pilate therefore said to him, Pilate has already announced three times,

I find no guilt in him. Jesus should have been released in the very second he stepped into the praetorium.

Jesus should have already been released. He shouldn't have gone through the scourging.

He shouldn't have gotten the crown of thorns. He shouldn't have been held captive and let

Barabbas go. These shouldn't have already taken place. And so Pilate here, seeing

Jesus bleeding and beaten up, he says, Jesus, you need to start pleading with me.

Because don't you understand, Jesus, that I, being this governor, this Roman governor, this judge of you,

Jesus, you should be pleading for your life for me. Because I have authority,

Jesus, to kill you or to release you. I have that authority. This is coming from a prideful place.

Pilate truly thinks that he has the authority to condemn Christ or he has the authority to release

Him. Now, superficially looking at this kind of a text, knowing the outcome of what took place, that Christ was crucified and it was because of the judgment of Pilate that he walked to Calvary, is there any chance or any possibility that Pilate had the ability to release

Christ? He thinks he does.

He 100 % thinks, Jesus, I have this authority over you.

I can release you and I can kill you. That's what's being given to me as being this judge in Rome this day.

I have this authority, is what Pilate's thinking. But in reality, looking back, because hindsight is 20 -20, looking back,

Pilate did not have the authority to release Jesus. There is no chance of that taking place.

And we have to ask the question, why is there no chance of Jesus being released?

I don't know if you read in Isaiah 53 when we just quoted from it, it does not say at the end of that chapter that the land will then be released and let go.

It does not say that the binding of the land will be cut and that the land will run into the wilderness and escape the sword.

It does not say that. It says that the land is going to die, is what it says in there.

In Psalm 23 it says that he's going to be killed upon this Roman cross.

There is no chance, there is no possibility of Jesus escaping this bitter cup that he's going to drink.

So Pilate thinks superficially that I have this authority to do this. And in a sense he does, but in the decree and sovereign will of God, he does not.

He does not. And we're going to talk a little bit more about the importance of this.

But in verse 11, this is where we understand this from. In verse 11, Jesus answered,

You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above.

For this reason he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin. Jesus answered, this is very important for us to see this in this text,

You would have no authority over me. Jesus is speaking in a hypothetical when he says, you would.

He's saying, look, Pilate, you don't understand this. That the supposed superficial authority that you think you have over me to either release me or crucify me, you would have none of that unless it had been given to you from above.

Unless it had been a part of God's decree from above to have such.

Pilate, being the sinful, evil, prideful, impetus, evil, wrong, unjust judge that he is, it has been so because God has placed him there.

And he did so for a purpose. He had a purpose in this evil man being the ruler of this place, part of Rome in this day.

You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above.

And we're going to come back to this here in just a second, but let us talk a little bit more about this next sentence. It says, for this reason he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin.

There's some thinking and thought on what this kind of a text could mean. For this reason, he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin.

Some would say that this is speaking about Judas. That Judas is the one that has the greater sin.

I don't see that in this text because Judas didn't deliver Jesus to Pilate directly. He delivered him to the high priest

Caiaphas. He delivered him to the Jews in that time. And it is true that that is an absolute terrible sin that Judas talked about, but I don't think that's what

Jesus is talking about. He's talking about people, the person that has delivered him from the high priest's room to Pilate himself.

Who is that person? Well, it would most likely be alluding to Caiaphas, the high priest of that year that we talked about months ago.

That Caiaphas, being the high priest of that year, he's been the one that has determined for Jesus to go before Pilate.

And so, Caiaphas, being the high priest of that year, is representative of the entire ethnic nation of Israel being that high priest.

And so when he says, he who has delivered me over to you has the greater sin, he's speaking of the ethnic

Jews, the Pharisees that have taken him from the high priest Caiaphas and led him to Pilate.

Now, when Jesus says this, I need you to pay attention with this, he says, for this reason he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin.

The greater sin. This sentence includes Pilate as sinful.

He does not say, you are without sin, Pilate, and these people are sinful.

No, he says, they have greater sin, including Pilate as being sinful when he says that.

When he says they have the greater sin, he's saying, look, you too have sin, Pilate, but they have the greater sin.

And what is the greater sin? If we looked at this in a comparison, Jesus before Pilate or Jesus before a

Jew, Pilate being a Gentile Roman and not studying in depth anything from the

Old Testament, not understanding the prophecy, not looking at any of those things,

Pilate, though yes, it is sinful and evil of him to condemn to death an innocent man, it is a totally another thing that we talk about when we say you from the birth, you as a

Jew from birth, have been reading about Christ. You from birth have been reading about Abraham.

You from birth have been reading about David. You from birth have been reading about all these things that have pointed to the

Christ. And you rejected him. So when it speaks of the greater sin, it's saying that the

Jews out of all people should have recognized who Christ was, and they were the very ones that rejected him.

They were the ones that have the greater sin in a sense. And this is another important thing that we need to talk about with a greater sin, because this, church, if we were to look superficially at a lie and murder, which one would you say is worse?

We would say that the greater sin is the murder. That being said, though, they both receive the eternal reward of damnation if they are go about uncovered, unpaid for, unsatisfied before God.

They both result in an eternal punishment. But to us, we can look at something and say, that was far more evil than this.

They're both sinful, and they're both equally receiving a just condemnation, but one is definitely more evil in the sense of it's more wrongdoing to your fellow neighbor.

We can do this. And so Jesus in here says, he delivered me up to you as the greater sin.

He's speaking of the Jewish ethnic people. They are the ones that should have received me. They are the ones that should have recognized me.

They should have been the ones that would be singing in this text. Right now, Christ, instead of being beaten, bruised, and bleeding before Pilate, he should be being sung to,

Hallelujah. That's how Christ should be recognized in this text.

Hallelujah, our Messiah is here. Our King is here. Come sit upon your throne. Come let us worship you.

That is the type of what the Jews should have been doing for Christ, and that is not what takes place.

It's the complete opposite that's taking place in here. So let us now look a little bit prior to this in verse 11 as well.

You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above. I want to turn to three different places in Scripture in the book of Acts to help us understand what's going on here a little bit better about this decree that God has given to Pilate being the governor, doing a sinful act here.

No doubt this is sin. From the very beginning of verse 1 of 19, actually back in John 18, when we see

Jesus being judged, this is sin that's taking place. The Scriptures here in this text, the blood of Christ, you should see a drenched page of sin in this text, of man doing evil to their

God. Acts chapter 2. Do not forget that. Acts chapter 2, verses 22 through 24.

And we're just going to read a string of Scriptures here in the book of Acts from three different chapters, three different places.

Acts chapter 2, verse 22 through 24. When we started going into Pilate's judgment,

I told you that we'd be reading this text a lot, and we will be, and we are. Acts chapter 2, verse 22 through 23.

This is Peter preaching to the common people of Israel.

And for knowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hand of godless men and put him to death.

Acts chapter 3, verse 17 through 20.

Acts chapter 3, 17 through 20.

It says in here, And now, brethren, I know that you act in ignorance, just as your rulers did also.

But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that his

Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, that his Christ should suffer, he has thus fulfilled.

Repent, therefore, and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the

Lord, and that he may send Jesus, the Anointed One, appointed for you, that he might send the

Christ appointed for you. It says in there in verse 8, Announced beforehand by the mouths of prophets, we made reference to Isaiah 53.

We can look at every single chapter of the Old Testament and we see Christ in it.

We see Christ in it. You see the lamb that is caught by the thicket? It's Christ.

You see the lamb that is murdered and slain and the blood is wiped on the doorpost as the

Passover? That is Christ. That is Christ. And it says that these things have been announced beforehand by the mouths of the prophets.

Like I said, there's no chance of Pilate ever saying, You're good to go, Jesus. You're free.

I release you. There's no chance of that taking place, because why? God has spoken through prophets about his predetermined plan that is going to take place.

Jesus Christ, dying upon a cross, he's done this. He's spoken of it.

Acts chapter 4, verses 27 -29. This is specifically talking about Pilate, the man that we are looking at in John 19.

Acts chapter 4, verses 27 -29. For truly, in this city, they were gathered together against thy holy servant

Jesus, whom thou didst appoint both Herod and Pontius Pilate.

Two people that have judged Jesus, you did appoint both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the

Gentiles and the peoples of Israel. This is including everybody that we see in the text from John 19 and 18.

This is saying, every person that has judged Jesus Christ, God has appointed to be in that position.

The very people, the men, the Gentiles, that were the common people of Israel that had followed the

Jews to the trial of Jesus, to the very Jews themselves, have been appointed by God to be there for a purpose.

And that purpose was for them to cry out, Crucify! Crucify! It says in here,

It's important for us to see in this text, there's two truths that are taking place in here.

There's been greater theologians than I will ever be that have spoken very much in detail about these events, especially in Acts chapter 4, that the man in John 19,

Pontius Pilate, will be held eternally condemned for the things that he did against the

Messiah. He will be eternally held responsibly for his actions.

But yet, it was still in according and done in a way that was predestined beforehand to take place.

That it was the will of God for these things to take place. And church, this is the reality, that every hand that was ever raised against the

Holy One, Jesus Christ, every voice that was in the crowd that said,

Crucify! Crucify! Away with Him! Those acts, those sins, those evil things that happened, were done accordingly to God's almighty creative will that we see in this text.

You just can't get away from that in this text. It happens, we see it from Genesis, years before the cross.

We see it take place in the reality of the cross, and then we read about it post -cross like we are today.

This was a sovereign act of God to take place. So the authority that Pilate thinks he has over Christ, he doesn't have over Him.

Pilate couldn't lift a finger unless God had declared for him to lift a finger.

Pilate could not pass a judgment unless it had been decreed by God to pass a judgment.

Yet, it's still Pilate that is held responsible for the things that he does. This is once again, these are two truths that you see in Scripture.

I want to go back to John 19 now. John 19, just to read that verse again, it says in 11,

Jesus answered, You would have no authority over me, unless it had been granted or given to you from above.

Pilate has been given this authority to pass judgment upon Jesus by God from above.

This has been given to Pilate. It says in verse 12, it goes on to say this,

As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release Him. But the

Jews cried out, saying, If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself out to be the king opposes

Caesar. As a result of what Christ has just said to Pilate, that Pilate, you think you have this authority over me, but you really don't, unless it has been given to you from my

Father, which is in heaven. You think you have this authority over me. Jesus has just said this to Pilate, and because Pilate is a result of this,

Pilate tries again. This is Pilate. He's stuck between a rock, the rock, and a hard place.

He's got Christ before him, the rock, and he has the difficulty of the stubborn, greater sin lying upon the people of Israel before him.

He's truly, in that metaphorical language, he is stuck between the rock and a hard place.

And we know which one he ends up choosing, and it was the one that was according to God's will. But he is stuck between Christ and Israel, the people that reflect who

Jesus was supposed to be, or that they should have been reflecting who Christ was supposed to be. As a result,

Pilate made efforts to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.

Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposed to Caesar, the Jews are starting to now throw mud towards Pilate, because the

Jews know that Pilate is seeing that there's no guilt in him. They see the bloodied and beaten

Savior. They see Him. And because they see Him in this way, they are seeking different means about to accuse

Christ to get Him killed. They're continuing after this. They're continuing after this.

It wasn't enough that we have now accused Him from our law, being blasphemy, but now you know that He's claimed to be a king,

Pilate. And any king, of course, opposes Caesar, the one that you are subject to.

You should kill him on that basis alone, Pilate. Pilate... We see in there, this is why

Pilate is known as this impetus leader. He can't see the just thing to do here.

He can't just do what should be done. But he keeps on listening to the cry of the people outside the praetorium, the

Jews, saying, crucify, crucify. He keeps listening to them. If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.

Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar. This is important.

There is no greater friend that we have other than Jesus Christ. I think there's a song that talks about that, that we probably all know.

If we bow down to a sinful man, doing that which is evil, that is rejecting

God, that is blaspheming Him, however you might think about doing that in context of the day, that is exactly what the

Jews are accusing Pilate of doing right here. Don't bow to that king that you have placed a robe upon and a crown of thorns upon.

You know that you are subject to this Caesar, who would not be okay with somebody else calling himself a king.

This is happening every single day. There's Christians that call themselves Christians, that bow the knee oh so quickly to the evil and wicked men and women of today.

This happens throughout the entire world, and it's atrocious and it's wrong. We are subject first to the king of kings and the lord of lords, and that is who we go to for our absolute rule in things.

It says, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes

Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought

Jesus out. This is the thing that has now influenced Pilate to start to pass a judgment.

It's hearing that you are no friend of Caesar, Pilate. You are no friend of Caesar. You are subject to him, you should be fearful of your king.

Your higher magistrate, you being a lesser magistrate of this Caesar, you should be afraid of him.

And so Pilate therefore, hearing these words, he brings Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

Now some context in here, the pavement, there's some different thinking about where this was at in Jerusalem, but the pavement, this would have been a judgment seat given to Pilate to be able to judge those that were accused or those that had done evil, those that had broken law.

And it would be of an elevated stature, an elevated place, and where the person that was on trial would be at is at this

Roman pavement, this area before this throne that Pilate is on, this judgment seat.

And so that's what the pavement is called, and they called it the pavement, that's what they would call it, because that's where trials and judgment took place.

So Jesus is now literally below Pilate. Pilate is lofty and exalted and lifted up in this text.

Don't see Pilate and Jesus being eye to eye in here. Pilate is staring down upon what he has done.

He's staring down upon the back of Jesus. He's staring down at the wounds that he's given to him.

He's staring down at the innocent man that he has declared to be innocent three times. And Jesus is on that pavement, on trial.

We see God being low, and you see man elevating himself above God in this text, which we know does not work out in the end for them.

That Jesus had to do this. He had to take the means of a humble servant to be on trial and to be judged so that you and I could be made released, that you and I could be forgiven of sins, that you and I could have this friend that we have in Jesus.

He had to do these things, and so we see Jesus below Pilate in this text. Now it was the day of preparation for the

Passover. It was about the sixth hour, and he said to the Jews, Behold your

King. Before we get into that final sentence here, there's two things

I want to discuss in here. The sixth hour, there's some different controversy on what time this would be.

Some would say that this might be 6 a .m. in the morning. Some would say this is closer to high noon. It doesn't change what's going on here.

It's the sixth hour, and however the author, that John, wanted to explain this, it's the sixth hour, and it's the day of preparation.

John, the author here, has specifically put this here for us to notice this.

It was the day of preparation for the Passover. What would the

Jews normally be doing if they were not calling out for Christ to be crucified? They would be preparing themselves for the

Passover. But where are the Jews at in this text? Not preparing themselves for the

Passover. The Jews, unknowingly, are fulfilling the ultimate and true

Passover that we celebrate today. That through the blood of Jesus Christ, we've been passed over.

That it's through Jesus. They don't know this, and so we see the wickedness of them here.

The Jews, we just see, just previously in the text, that here they are unwilling to enter the

Praetorium, because it's not a part of their law. They're so eager to obey this law, yet they are not in preparation for the

Passover, their biggest celebration throughout the year. That's how much they hate

Christ in this text. That is how much they're going after crucifying

Him. Don't forget that. The Passover was reflective of Christ.

They should be going and doing that right now. They should go and start preparing themselves for the Passover, but they're not.

Now, this is another sovereign thing that we see in this text. The Jews being so concerned with keeping the law, if you told me that they were going to miss the preparation of the

Passover and not show me this text, I would say, no, a Jew would not do that. Especially 2 ,000 years ago.

No, those were religious Pharisees that were seeking to obey every letter of the law that they could.

There is no chance that they would miss that day. There is no chance that they would do that. But they are in this text.

Just as much as we see the silliness of Pilate going back and forth between the Jews and Jesus, we see the silliness that's taking place in here, that the

Jews are missing the Passover, the preparation for the Passover. Why?

It's because of sovereignty in this text. It's because these things had to take place. It would be like if you were having a newborn baby, and you forgot that your wife just called you to go into the hospital, and you decided to go and do something else.

That wouldn't happen. You would go drive to the hospital. Whatever context, that's just the quickest thing

I can think of, because it recently happened. I didn't miss the first birthday. Don't think that's what I'm saying.

That's the example. The Jews would not miss this day for anything, except to condemn

Christ and fulfill the Testament prophecy. It says in here, he said to them, so this is

Pilate passing judgment on Jesus. Like I said, he's looking down upon the wounded back.

He's looking down upon the crown of thorns before him. He's looking down at the perfect Lamb. And he looks out to the

Jews, knowing that they're the ones that have brought Jesus to be on trial before him. He's before him on the judgment seat.

Pilate being the judge in here, he says to the Jews, Behold your

King. That is the judgment. Pilate passes upon Jesus.

Behold your King. I need this to resonate in your mind when you read verse 15.

They therefore cried out, Away with him. Away with him.

Crucify him. Pilate after passing judgment that this is the

King of the Jews. Shall I crucify your King? And the chief priests answered,

We have no King but Caesar. Pilate says,

Behold your King. That's my judgment. I have passed upon this supposed traitor that you brought here to me.

Behold your King. There is no doubt. He is your King. Behold him. And what do you see that the sinful man does?

Away with him. Away with him. Crucify him.

Church, we've asked this. Is Jesus the King of the Jews? I want to ask you a more direct question again.

Is Jesus your King? Do you behold him in this text?

Do you accept him as who he is in this text? Behold your

King. Behold your God. Behold your salvation. Do not look to Jesus and just see his smiling face.

Look to Jesus and see the blood that has fallen down his face. Look to Jesus and behold your

King that should have been lifted up and praised but was placed low before an evil and wicked judge.

Behold your Savior who has come unto an abstinent and desolate and evil and wicked people and has done nothing but shown to them that he is a fulfillment of what they believe and hear them cry out against your

King, Church, away with him. Away with him. Crucify him.

They therefore cried out, away with him.

Away with him. Crucify him. And Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your

King? Pilate has announced judgment already on Jesus. I'm not going to crucify him. Behold your

King. That is what he is. Behold him. And he says, shall

I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, we have no

King but Caesar. What an evil and wicked people that we see in this text.

They're the Jews. They're not even the Romans and yet they're recognizing Caesar as their King. Away with him.

Away with him. Church, we need to end in this text here.

This is terribleness that we see in this. This is sad, hard text to even look at.

This is sin that's taking place here. This is the greater sin that the

Jews had. Away with him. Away with him. Crucify him.

When I read this, I think back in the Mount of Olivet discourses after Jesus has given the seven loaves to Israel.

And he's left the temple after driving out the money gatherers and those that were selling in the temple.

And he's looking at the temple, this thing that was made to worship himself, Yahweh.

And he cries over it. He cries over this place.

Christ was rejected by the very people that should have received him.

I think it would be befitting for us to just read Acts chapter 2 one more time. Acts chapter 2, verse 22 through 23.

Acts chapter 2, verse 22 through 23. Men of Israel, listen to these words.

Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which

God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.

This man, delivered up by the pre -determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death.

By the hands of godless men. He's talking about the very

Jews that just said, I have no king but Caesar. Christ was crucified.

He died the death that you and I deserve. He took the judgment that you and I deserve. It's through his death, burial, and resurrection that we are saved.

Church, behold your king in this text. Behold him.

It's my worry today that any of us might die and come before Christ and reject him.

Church, please don't let this fall on deaf ears. Behold your king.

Your king in this text. Have faith in what he has done.

Even John 19 verses 9 -15, this terribleness that takes place. Place your faith in him alone today.

Church, let us pray. Lord God, we just thank you for this time to be able to come together and to look into John once again.

Lord, it's a great reminder that this word of yours is true and that it's living and that it cuts deep.

Lord, I pray that you might cause us as those that call you our king, that behold you as our king,

Lord, that you might cause us to be faithful servants and to go out to the world knowing that our victory has been won, our salvation has been purchased, our sin has been covered, our debt has been paid, our death has been satisfied.

God, let us be a willing people to share your kingdom with our fellow man and our neighbors.

So Lord, we just say these things in your name. Jesus Christ, amen.

Church, for this final song, I would ask that you just stand and as we sing, our closing hymn today will be

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross and how beautiful that hymn is for our final song today.