WWUTT 992 Jesus Before Pilate?

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Jesus appeared before Pilate, the Roman governor, and said, everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

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Pilate said, what is truth? But the answer to his question was standing right there in front of him, when we understand the text.

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You're listening to When We Understand the Text, an online Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty.

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Find videos and more at our website, www .wutt .com. Now here's our host,

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Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the Gospel of John 18,

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Jesus brought before Pilate. I'll begin reading in verse 28 to the end of the chapter.

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Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning.

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They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the

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Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man?

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They answered him, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.

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Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. The Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.

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This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was gonna die.

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So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, are you the

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King of the Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me?

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Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me.

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What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world.

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If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the

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Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, so you are a

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King. Jesus answered, you say that I am a King. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose

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I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

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Pilate said to him, what is truth? After he said this, he went back outside to the

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Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the

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Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews? They cried out again, not this man, but Barabbas.

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Now Barabbas was a robber. So back in verse 28, Jesus has gone from appearing before the two high priests,

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Annas and Caiaphas, and now he has come into the house of Pilate, who is the

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Roman governor over this particular region. And as is pointed out here by the officials that have brought

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Jesus before Pilate, they don't have authority to put anyone to death. Capital punishment was something that was done only by the

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Romans. But as the text also explains, this was being done to fulfill what the scriptures said.

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It's in Psalm 22, where it states that Jesus would be crucified. He would be pierced in his hands and his feet.

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That was a prophecy that was made hundreds of years before the Romans came on the scene and invented the capital punishment known as crucifixion.

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Now there were other ways in other ancient civilizations of killing a person by hanging them up on a post.

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That had certainly been done before. Usually it was done by impaling though. They would impale the person and erect the post with the person being impaled there on the hanging up in the air.

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In the book of Deuteronomy, where it says, "'Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.'" That was either a reference to a person being hung by a rope from a tree, or it was a person being hoisted up on a post like that.

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In the book of Esther, when we did our study through the book of Esther, when was that, last year, two years ago?

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I mentioned that the gallows that Haman had made for the purpose of killing

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Mordecai, but then it ended up being the other way around. Haman ended up being the person who was hanged on those gallows.

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The gallows wasn't like we consider to be a gallows to be, like hangman, you know, you're playing hangman, you got the rope hanging from the gallows.

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It was an impaling pole. So it was a pole that was that high that a person would be impaled upon.

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And those poles were erected up there with bodies hanging on them so that a person would see that and understand the kind of punishment that would be done to a person for crime.

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So it would strike fear into them. That way they would not rebel against whatever governing authority was in power at that particular time.

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But the Romans decided that impaling a person and erecting them up on a post like that was too quick.

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A person died too fast. They wanted something that would last a lot longer. So they came up with crucifixion.

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It was not a common form of punishment, but it was a regular form of capital punishment for the

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Romans. And the Psalms prophesied exactly the way that Jesus would die.

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That Psalm, Psalm 22 was written a thousand years before Christ, although the

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Romans had probably been doing crucifixion a hundred years before that. So you're thinking, you know, like eight, 900 years before the

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Romans started using crucifixion. The Bible prophesied that this was exactly the way that Jesus would be crucified according to the prophets.

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So Jesus is being led from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning.

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The sun is up by this point, but you know, the trial and everything that had taken place there, that was all in the cover of night.

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It was supposed to be on the up and up. It would have been in daylight in public. People would have witnessed it, but the

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Pharisees are trying to keep things under wraps. They want Jesus to be put to death. They don't want him to be found innocent of any crime.

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So now they're bringing him to Pilate, specifically for the purpose of being executed.

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Now it says they themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but they could eat the

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Passover. The cleanliness law at this particular time, it isn't necessarily the law of God, but it was certainly the way that the

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Pharisees enacted these laws upon the people. If a person went into a Gentile's house, they were considered unclean.

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So because the Passover was coming up, the Pharisees did not want to go into Pilate's house and therefore be considered unclean.

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But if there was an open roof, then you could be in that area.

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It wouldn't be under the roof of a Gentile. So there was kind of the courtyard area that they would come out to, and Pilate is overlooking that courtyard.

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This is common to a lot of film portrayals. The trial of Jesus at which

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Pilate was present wasn't held within a building. It wasn't held in a covered area, but it was rather in an open area.

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And John is pretty clear about that. So Pilate had to go outside to them, verse 29.

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And he said, what accusation do you bring against this man? And they answered him, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.

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That's kind of a selling point on their part. This guy's doing evil. That's why we brought him to you.

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We wouldn't have even come and bothered you if not for the fact that this guy is guilty of some serious evil.

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They may be hoping that he's not really gonna ask a lot of questions, but that Pilate's just gonna take for granted, hey, they brought a guy to me, so therefore he must've done something really, really bad.

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And Pilate, without too many questions, is just gonna put the guy to death. It's not uncommon for Pilate to kill somebody unmercifully.

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In fact, in Luke 13, we read right at the start of the chapter, there were some present at that time who told

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Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

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And Jesus answered them, do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other

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Galileans because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

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Now, we don't know exactly what this incident was that they brought to Jesus, and then

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Jesus is responding to by telling them to repent. But what it appears like is that there were some

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Galileans in the temple sacrificing and Pilate just to show that he was not gonna be intimidated by the

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Jews just sent some soldiers in there to kill those Galileans, mixing their blood in with their sacrifices, which would presumably make the sacrifices that were being offered up unclean.

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So the fear then would be, well, if these Galileans were killed with their sacrifices and the blood of their sacrifices made unclean, did the blood therefore cleanse them of their sins?

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Perhaps they had done something really bad to bring about this evil that had befallen them.

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That would have been the speculation by a lot of the Jews at that particular time. And Jesus is saying, they've not done anything worse than anyone else and looks at the people and says, but I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

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Now, there was a wall that was in the temple grounds that Gentiles could not pass.

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They couldn't go beyond that wall. So they had to stay in the Gentile court and they couldn't go into the temple.

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Pilate was showing that he was not going to be restricted by the Jews' laws. So he just sent soldiers in there and they killed the

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Galileans for fun because Pilate was bored that day. Whatever reason it was, he just did it because he could.

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So he was known for being that ruthless. He would kill a person unmercifully without asking any questions or having any other seeming reason to do it.

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So I believe the Pharisees are just kind of hoping Pilate is going to do exactly that. They said, we wouldn't have brought this guy to you if he wasn't doing evil.

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So that should be enough. We've brought a man to you that you could put him to death. But Pilate says in verse 31, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.

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Now he probably said that because he did not think that they were bringing this man to him to kill him.

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That's not what they said. Says, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.

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So they haven't revealed their hand yet. They haven't said, hey, we want you to kill this guy. So Pilate says, judge him by your own law.

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And that's when the Pharisees say, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.

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And then it was kind of like a realization to Pilate. Oh, you want this guy put to death? Okay. That wasn't what he had expected.

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So verse 32, this was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was gonna die, specifically crucifixion.

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The Jews didn't crucify, the Romans did. If the

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Jews had it their way and they were following the law of God, they would have stoned him to death. That's what they would have done.

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But Pilate being the governor of the Romans, the governor of that province, of that region, would have sentenced

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Jesus to capital punishment by hanging on a cross. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and he called

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Jesus to him and said, are you the King of the Jews? Exact same question that Matthew asked, that when

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Jesus was brought before Pilate, Pilate asked him, are you the King of the Jews? And in Matthew's gospel, that is framed with the introduction to the story, with the start of Matthew and the

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Magi who came into Jerusalem shortly after Christ's birth and said, where is he who has been born the

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King of the Jews? For we have seen his star when it rose and have come to worship him. So Pilate was asking

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Jesus the same question that the Magi had asked all those years ago.

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It was as if Pilate was saying, so you're the guy all of this commotion has been all about, this

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King of the Jews that we've heard about from 30 years ago to this day, so that's you.

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And obviously all this commotion is still continuing on because word that is spread about Jesus having done miracles and the people wanting to make

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Jesus King, and there was the entrance into Jerusalem just a few days before the triumphal entry and people are shouting, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. So a lot of word has gone out about Jesus being a King and people are expecting because of his power, because of the miracles that he does, he's gotta be the

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King who with power is gonna ascend to the throne of Israel and overthrow the Romans and we will be a great empire again.

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So Pilate's heard some things about this guy and says, are you the King of the Jews? He's kind of sizing him up here in a certain way.

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He wants to see if Jesus is a potential threat. We've heard all the commotion, people saying things about you.

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Are they planning on making you King? Are you gonna do some sort of overthrow against Rome?

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That's kind of what Pilate is curiously asking about. And Jesus answered him, do you say this of your own accord or did others say this to you about me?

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Now, the interesting thing here is that Jesus in asking this question of Pilate has turned the tables.

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Pilate is trying to assess whether or not Jesus has done anything wrong.

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And Jesus is asking these questions of Pilate as though to test his heart.

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Pilate or Jesus is the one who's on trial here, yet he's the one who's speaking to Pilate as if Pilate's the one on trial.

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And look at the way that he asked the question as well. Do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me?

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So if Pilate is asking for himself, then he's sizing Jesus up and viewing him as a potential threat.

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Yeah, if all of this is coming up about you being the King of the Jews, are you gonna stage a coup here?

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Are you gonna raise up an army to come up against me? Are you gonna rise to the throne of Israel?

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Is that what's gonna happen here? So he's viewing to see if Jesus is a threat. The other part is, or did others say this to you about me?

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So are they the ones who are threatened by me? Which, who's the person that's asking this question?

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Is it Pilate who is trying to determine if I'm a threat or is it the people who told you that I'm a threat to them?

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And Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me.

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What have you done? Doesn't really answer the question that Jesus has asked, but the response that Jesus gives is though Pilate has asked him, are you planning on rising up against Rome?

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Are you planning on assuming the throne of Israel so that you might rebel? And Jesus responds to that question that way.

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My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the

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Jews, but my kingdom is not of the world. So remember again, when they came to arrest

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Jesus, at least according to Matthew's account, Jesus said, don't you know that I could call 12 legion of angels to come against these who are attempting to arrest me?

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And this was after Peter drew his sword and lopped off the ear of the servant of the high priest and Jesus told him to put his sword away.

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It was silly for these 12 guys to jump up and try to come to his defense when Jesus could have called 12 legion of angels to come to his defense.

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So Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world. Of course, he's making reference to the heavenly kingdom, which

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Pilate doesn't understand. So Pilate says, so you are a king?

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Because remember his first question is, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus says, who's asking here?

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Is it you? Because you see me as some kind of a threat or is it the people who told you that I was claiming to be a king?

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And Pilate says, am I a Jew? Like, what do I have to do with this situation? And so Jesus responds to him regarding Pilate's interest as to whether or not

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Jesus is going to overthrow Rome. And because he makes a reference to, my kingdom is not of this world,

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Pilate said to him, so you are a king. You're talking about your kingdom, so you are a king.

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And Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. Now, this is often interpreted by skeptics as Jesus going, well, do you say so?

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I'm not saying so, you're the one that's saying so. It's kind of the way that they interpret it. But Jesus was affirming that what

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Pilate said was right, that Jesus is a king.

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For this purpose, I was born, and for this purpose, I have come into the world, Jesus says, to bear witness to the truth.

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So Jesus is a king. That is a reality that he is not trying to aspire to.

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It's not something that he is trying to confirm. It just simply is the case. Jesus is a king, and he's bearing witness to the truth.

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So that's his response. This is what I came into the world to do, to bear witness to the truth, that he is king of kings and Lord of lords, and that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

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He goes on to say, everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. And Pilate said to him, what is truth?

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See, that was actually a very ironic statement for Pilate to make. Again, the tables have been turned here.

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Jesus is the one responding as though he is king, and Pilate is the one responding as though he's the one on trial.

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Pilate is the one responsible to determine the truth of the matter that is at hand. He's the governor. He's the one who's gonna decide whether or not

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Jesus lives or dies. And yet though he's the one who's supposed to be making statements and decisions of truth, yet it's almost as if he dismisses truth altogether.

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Like, how can you even know what truth is? So he's supposed to be a judge of truth, and yet he's even confessing here that he can't know the truth.

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Remember what Jesus said in the upper room to his disciples in John 14, six. I am the way, the truth, and the life.

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No one comes to the father but by me. So the answer to Pilate's question is right there in front of him.

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Jesus, the truth, is right there. But in kind of dismissing this, with Pilate going, man, what is truth?

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I mean, he's basically saying Jesus is just some philosopher who says things and asks questions no one can truly know the answer to because what in the world is truth?

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So he is determined that Jesus is no threat. That's been his conclusion.

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And after he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the

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Passover, so do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? And they cried out again, not this man, but Barabbas.

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Now Barabbas was a robber. We'll pick up there tomorrow as we jump into John chapter 19.

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Jesus is the one who is the author of truth. He made truth. He spoke truth.

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Everyone who loves truth will listen to the voice of Christ. Everyone who is of the truth,

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Jesus says, listens to my voice. There is nothing more true than the word of God.

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Amen. This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes.

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and let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.