WWUTT 997 Jesus Tried and Sentenced?

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Pilate said to Jesus, don't you know that I have the authority to either crucify you or set you free?

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And Jesus replied, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above, when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's word, that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the Gospel of John, Chapter 19.

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And as with yesterday, I'll begin by reading the first 11 verses. The Apostle John wrote,

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Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged Him, and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and arrayed

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Him in a purple robe. They came up to Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and struck

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Him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing

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Him out to you, that you may know that I find no guilt in Him. So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

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Pilate said to them, Behold the man! When the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out,

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Crucify Him, crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Take Him yourselves and crucify

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Him, for I find no guilt in Him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to that law

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He ought to die, because He has made Himself the Son of God. When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

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He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, Where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer.

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So Pilate said to Him, You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and authority to crucify you?

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

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Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. So yesterday we considered

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Jesus being flogged, being mocked, given a purple robe and a crown of thorns.

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I didn't talk as much about this statement in verse 3. They came up to Him saying, Hail King of the

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Jews. This is a playoff of the salute that was made to Caesar. Hail Caesar or Kyrio Caesar in Latin.

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The Romans didn't make hails to kings. There wasn't a king in the

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Roman Empire. There was a king over Judea, the Herods, who were appointed by the

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Romans because the Romans figured if we want to keep people happy, we should just give the respective nations that we have conquered what it is that they want.

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And the Jews wanted a king. So they gave them a king, one of course that was going to be submissive to the rule of Rome.

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So the Herods were put in charge. But the Romans didn't like this idea of a monarchy where you would have a person in charge and then when he would die, the son would take over.

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So they really mocked the whole idea of a king. So to call Jesus King of the Jews was part of their mockery to say,

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Hail King of the Jews. You're not Caesar. You're not as great as our emperor. You're just a king and you are the

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King of the Jews. Of course, they didn't realize the prophetic statement that was being made here, a fulfillment of prophecy that Jesus was indeed the

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King of the Jews, the King of Kings who was promised to come through the line of Judah and that Jesus in his kingship was even greater than Caesar.

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They just didn't even realize that. But as we have stated in Philippians chapter two, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the father. So whether you do that voluntarily or you do that in fear of the judgment that is to come, every knee will bow and know that Christ is the

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Lord. So going on here, verse four, Pilate went out again and said to the Jews, see,

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I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. Jesus has done no wrong.

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Pilate doesn't find anything wrong with him. The Romans knew how to govern. They knew how to govern well, and they tried to be fair in their judgments.

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In this particular case, Pilate, it really wouldn't have been anything for him to crucify

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Jesus. Fine. You want me to kill the guy? I'll kill the guy. But he was trying to be fair and he's looking at Jesus and he doesn't see anything wrong.

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He does not understand the mob that has been incited over whatever this

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Jesus has said or done. He's not a murderer, not a thief, not even a rabble rouser.

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Like where would his followers be if he was inciting some kind of a mob? Shouldn't they be here causing a commotion?

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But the people who are causing a commotion are the ones that want to crucify him. So Pilate's really kind of flummoxed about this whole thing.

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Why do you want to kill this guy? There's nothing wrong with him. Jesus comes out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

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Pilate says, behold, the man. And when the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him.

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So again, Jesus is silent. He's fulfilling the scriptures like a lamb that is being led to the slaughter.

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And he opened not his mouth, according to Isaiah 53. But the mob, man, they're going crazy.

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They're demanding blood. Crucify him. And Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him.

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For I find no guilt in him. I really don't see anything wrong with the guy. But it's obvious that Pilate is not going to appease their wrath unless he gives them

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Jesus. And so that's what he's going to do. He's going to let them do with Jesus what it is that they're demanding be done with Jesus.

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But Pilate's not going to get his hands dirty over the whole thing. The guy apparently has a conscience and he doesn't have doesn't find anything wrong with Jesus.

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So he's going to turn him over to the Jews. Now, of course, it's not a conscience that runs deep enough to set

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Jesus free, which is what he should do. Instead, he turns Jesus over to his enemies.

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Verse seven, the Jews answered Pilate and said, we have a law. And according to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God.

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Now, indeed, this is a reference back to Leviticus chapter 24. And there is a law about blaspheming and a person who blasphemes shall be put to death.

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Now, of course, we know Jesus is not blaspheming. If he calls himself the son of God, it's because he is the son of God.

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So therefore, it cannot be blasphemy. But the Pharisees think that he's blaspheming.

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And in Leviticus 24, verse 16, it says, whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.

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They think they're following this law, right? Well, it goes on. All the congregation shall stone him.

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Oh, now there's a problem because that's not what the Pharisees are calling for. They're calling for Jesus to be what?

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Crucified. It's exactly what they said in the previous verse. When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him.

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And that's not the manner of the death penalty that's supposed to be carried out in Israel, according to the law of God.

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He is supposed to be stoned to death, the one who blasphemes. So they're really not paying attention to the law.

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They're using the law to their own purposes, which is to kill this man who has exposed them as being sons of hell, producing more sons of hell.

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That was among the seven woes that Jesus had issued to the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23.

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So they want to put him to death, but not by stoning. They want him to be crucified because they are submitting to the rule of Rome rather than truly submitting to the law of God.

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They do not know God, which is why they do not know Jesus Christ is the son of God. Rather, since he has claimed to be the son of God, he is guilty of blasphemy and must be put to death.

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But having said this to pilot, he has made himself the son of God.

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It says in verse eight, when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

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Now, we don't know why. In the context of John's gospel, we don't understand why Pilate expresses fear here.

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But the reason why might be because of what we read in Matthew chapter 27, when the crowd is choosing

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Barabbas to be set free instead of Jesus, as all of this exchange is going on between the priests and Pilate.

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It says in Matthew 27, 19, while Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.

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So because of this word that had come to Pilate from his wife, it may have struck fear into Pilate to hear that Jesus was making himself the son of God.

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It was common even among pagans to think of dreams as being connected with the divine.

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This was how spirits or divine persons would have communicated to mere mortals.

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They commuted to communicated to them in dreams. So since Pilate's wife had said to him,

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I've had bad dreams because of this guy. So don't have anything to do with him.

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And this righteous man, she knows he's righteous. Pilate's looking at him and sees a man who is innocent.

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Somebody who is not guilty of the things that these Jews are saying that he is guilty of. He won't answer my questions, won't even try to defend himself.

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But now he's fearful because his wife has said to him, she's had bad dreams because of him.

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And now the Jews are saying he's made himself to be a son of God. Really?

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Well, is he? Because my wife's had bad dreams. I can't find anything wrong with him.

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Is he the son of God? So when Pilate heard this, verse eight, he was even more afraid.

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He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from? Still trying to get some more information about this guy and there's a possibility maybe he really is who he says he is or who the

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Jews are saying that he is, that he said he is. But Pilate has not heard

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Jesus say this, so he wants to hear it for himself. And maybe if Jesus does say to Pilate that he's the son of God, what

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Pilate would probably ask as a follow up question is, will do a miracle for me then and prove that you are.

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And Jesus has already said it is a wicked generation that asks for a sign.

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So that's just kind of filling in the blanks of where this conversation would likely go had

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Jesus responded to him and said, yes, I am the son of God. So when Pilate heard this statement, he asks

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Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave no answer again. He opened not his mouth being led to the slaughter.

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Verse 10. So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me. Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?

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And Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

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Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. Now, three things to note about this particular statement.

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Number one, this is very similar to what Jesus said to Pilate back in chapter 18 when

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Pilate said to him, so you are a king. And Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. For this purpose,

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I was born. And for this purpose, I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.

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Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. And then Pilate responded in verse 38.

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What is truth? So Jesus has said that he is the truth.

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Pilate believes that he's the truth, like Pilate himself is the truth, whatever he says goes.

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But Jesus is claiming that he is the truth. And Pilate's response to this is, well, what is truth anyway?

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Like, what is truth apart from me? If I say you're going to be crucified, you're going to be crucified. If I set you free, then you're going to be set free.

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So what is truth apart from what I say? But Jesus claimed to be the truth himself.

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John 14 6, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to the father but by me.

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He is the meaning and purpose for life now. And he is the deliverance afterlife.

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When everybody goes to the grave, how can we be delivered up from the grave? It is only by faith in Jesus.

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So Jesus' statement here is once again a statement of authority, just like it was back in chapter 18.

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So Jesus is saying it again to Pilate. You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

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So in this way, his statement is like the same, a similar statement he made back in chapter 18.

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That's number one. Second thing about this particular statement is that Jesus is making an appeal to an authority higher than Pilate.

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And he did that earlier, too, when he said that he had come to bear witness to the truth. Truth is an authority higher than Pilate.

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But here he's saying that the authority Pilate has, he would not even have if it wasn't for the fact that it had been given to him from above Romans chapter 13.

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Starting in verse one, the apostle Paul wrote, let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God.

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And those that exist have been instituted by God. Even the Roman Empire existed by the providence of God to bring about in the fullness of time that which he had decreed for ordained from before the foundation of the world.

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Verse two, therefore, whoever resists the authorities, resists earthly authority, resists what

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God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment. You resist the governing authority.

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The judgment of that authority will come down upon you. You break the law. Well, you're going to have to face the consequences for that.

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Whatever law or government has been established in the area in which you live. Verse three, for rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

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Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority, then do what is good and you will receive his approval for he is

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God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain.

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He is a servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

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Now no government of man is perfect because every government is full of sinful man.

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So, of course, there's going to be corruption. There's going to be mistakes. There's going to be injustice, et cetera.

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But the purpose of government, the reason why God establishes government and even gives authority to men to create governments that rule over people.

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The reason he does this is to keep civil order. The intention of government is to be a terror to bad conduct and to promote good conduct so that people will do good things and they will fear doing bad things, lest the judgment of that government come down upon their heads.

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And so this is how God keeps civil order in the world, by establishing man -made governments.

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However bad your government is and whatever government you live under, it could be much, much worse.

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The government that you live in still exists to keep order, and that is happening. Otherwise, the entire world would just be immersed in chaos.

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It would just be massive anarchy and there would not be good being promoted or being upheld.

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It would just be a lot of evil. So the Lord stifles the evil of men by establishing even man -made governments.

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And he gives the authority to those governments. All authority that has been granted on Earth comes from God.

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And Jesus is saying to Pilate, here, the authority that you have, you would not have unless it had come from above.

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And Jesus is actually answering Pilate's previous question here. When Pilate asked him, where are you from?

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For Jesus to say, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above, is

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Jesus' answer to Pilate's question, where was he from? Remember what

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Jesus said back in John 18, for this purpose, I was born and for this purpose,

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I have come into the world. So Jesus is saying, I'm not from this world,

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I'm from another. What world is he from? Above. The authority that you have that has been given to you from above, you would have no authority over me except that that authority would have been given you by my father to accomplish the purpose that the father has willed.

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So that's the second thing about this statement. The third thing is actually the last portion of the statement where Jesus says, therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.

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Now, who is that? Who delivered Jesus over to Pilate? There are three possibilities.

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Number one, Judas, because Judas had betrayed Jesus and turned him over to the hands of the authorities.

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But it's probably not Judas because Judas didn't directly give Jesus to Pilate. So we can rule

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Judas out. Number two is Herod, because after Jesus had appeared before Pilate, Pilate sent

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Jesus to Herod and then Herod sent him back to Pilate. But it's probably not Herod because Herod is not mentioned in John's account of this story.

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So we can rule Herod out just by way of context. The third possibility is the most likely, and that's

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Caiaphas. Caiaphas, the high priest, is the one who turned Jesus over to Pilate, and he has the greater sin because Caiaphas would know better than Pilate that all authority has been granted by God.

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Caiaphas had the law of God, and it was his responsibility to uphold it over his people,

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Israel. And yet Caiaphas did not know the law, does not truly know the father, and turned

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Jesus over to be crucified. And because Caiaphas should have known better, therefore

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Caiaphas has the greater sin. He who delivered me over to you has the greater sin because he should know and he does know that all authority has been granted from above and that Jesus has said in the presence of all the

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Jews in fulfillment of the scriptures that he has come from above. Caiaphas, who should know better, has turned the son of God over to Pilate to be crucified.

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So Caiaphas sin is going to be greater than than Pilate's sin.

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And Paul actually makes this point also in Romans in Romans chapters one and two.

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He points out that the Jews are guilty of even greater sin before God because they had the law and did not obey it.

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The Gentiles are sinning without a law, and and though they are going to stand in judgment, they're not as guilty as the

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Jews because the Jews had the law and yet did not obey it. Caiaphas had the prophecies given from the prophets and yet did not recognize

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Jesus. And though Jesus claimed to be the son of God, turned him over to be crucified.

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So Caiaphas' sin was going to be greater. Yet we still must understand the statement in Romans 3, 23, well, 22 leading into verse 23, for there is no distinction.

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All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It doesn't matter whether you're guilty of a greater sin or a lesser sin.

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Everyone has broken the law of God and we stand guilty before him. It is only by faith in Christ that we are justified.

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All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and we are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom

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God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

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Amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

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You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

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Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.