Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 18:28-38 (Ep. 48)

Episode Date: July 2, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John.In this episode, Jonny covers John 18:28-38Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artivanis and this is Dial In. In this episode, we continue to witness the trial of Jesus as we look to John 18, verses 28-38. Let's dial in. John 18, verses 28-38. Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? They answered him. If this man were not doing evil,

we would not have delivered him over to you. Pilate said to them, take him yourself and judge him by your own law. The Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be

delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from this world. Then Pilate said to him, so you are a king. And Jesus answered, you say that I am a king for this purpose. I was born and for this purpose, I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him. Now, one thing to keep in mind as we continue in our study of John is that this is real history. The events that we are reading about, the characters that are included, and the drama that unfolds is not a storybook. It's history.

This actually happened. And nowhere in history and nowhere in scripture is the setting more dramatic than in the scenes that follow as Jesus, the creator of the universe, is put on trial before men and then crucified. In our last episode, we looked at the trial of Jesus before the Jewish leaders. And then Jesus is taken from those Jewish leaders to the house of the Roman governor, Pilate. Now, when I was growing up, I used to think Pilate was this weak, impliable man who was manipulated by the Jews to kill Jesus because he was weak. But history tells us that there is much more going on here. Now, Pilate was appointed governor in 26

AD by the second Roman emperor, Tiberius. And Pilate was a ruthless man. According to the 13th chapter of Luke, Pilate went into the temple when Galileans were worshiping, and he basically assassinated all of them in the middle of their worship. He was hated by the Jews, and because he was hated by the Jews, the Jews were constantly rioting under his rule. We read in verse 28 that the Jews that are taking Jesus to Pilate's house did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. This is amazing. These men that are taking Jesus to Pilate's house are being cautious to avoid

ceremonial defilement, according to Jewish tradition, as they are simultaneously involved in the most wicked act in human history. They are detailed about religion while their hearts are as far from God as possible. This is the religion that God hates, hearts that are faithless but going through all the motions and rituals as they murder the innocent and pure and righteous son of God. We can so quickly look at characters such as this and go, those hypocrites. But we also need to consider that we crucify Jesus afresh every single time we honor him with our lips, but our hearts are far from him. We must put ourselves amongst the shrieking mob here. Now in verse 29, Pilate asks, what accusation do you bring against this man?

And they respond and say, well, he's an evildoer. That's why we're here. We're not bringing an innocent man to you. So Pilate says, well, you take him, do with him according to your law. I wash my hands of the matter. Then they reveal really why they brought him to Pilate in verse 31. Well, Pilate, it's not lawful for us to put him to death. We are not allowed to put him to death. Now the Romans had taken away the death penalty from the Jews, and only the Romans had the right to execute on criminal charges. Any criminal charge the Jews might bring would be subject to Pilate's approval or veto.

But you might be wondering, well, why did they do this when in Acts 7, they stoned Stephen to death? And this was just months later. Why did they insist on bringing Jesus to Pilate? Well, number one, because they feared the people and how they felt about Jesus. But more importantly, they were fulfilling prophecy. Jesus had said that he would be crucified. He said that he would be lifted up.

And here, the Jews are making demands that would fulfill prophecy. Jesus alludes to this back in Matthew 20, verse 17, where it says, As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the 12 disciples aside by themselves. And on the way, he said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes. And they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify. And on the third day, he'll be raised up. Jesus predicted a Galilean crucifixion, and that was going to happen. And the Jews are operating here,

this is amazing, within the sovereign purpose of God. So Pilate brings Jesus back inside again, and the trumped up charge against Jesus is not theological, but political. Pilate comes to Jesus and asks him, are you a king? He doesn't ask him if he's teaching theological error. He asks him, are you a king? Now listen to Jesus's response. He says, do you say this on your own accord, Pilate? Or did others say this about me? Jesus flips the tables and puts Pilate on trial. Jesus continues in verse 36, Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight. My kingdom is different than yours in Tiberias or that of Rome. It's not built on violence or war or manipulation or politics. It's different than any earthly kingdom. Jesus is not saying that his dominion is a transcendent Neverland. He's saying that it is altogether different than what Pilate knows and understands. So Pilate responds to Jesus' claim and says, okay, so you are a king. And Jesus responds to him and says, yes, I am a king. And for this purpose, I was born. And for

this purpose, I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Jesus saying that he came to make plain the truth of God. And that is the truth that his father is the only God and everyone will be held accountable to him as the final judge. Pilate here is judging Jesus, but God is the final judge. And the only way to God is through the man that Pilate is talking to.

Pilate responds cynically in a postmodern way to Jesus' final words. Jesus had said that he came to bear witness about the truth and everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice and Pilate responds and says, what is truth? How 21st century of an answer. You and I live in a culture where truth is suppressed and slaughtered in the streets every single day, where truth is no longer objective, but subjective and relative. And yet Jesus here not only claims to be the truth in John 14, but here he claims to bear witness about the truth. That is the truth of his father. Pilate continues to probe and investigate and interrogate and is asking Jesus questions, but concludes his investigation when he goes back outside in verse 38 and says,

I find no fault in the man. Why? Because there was no fault to find. This was Jesus Christ, the son of God. And here Pilate acknowledges the perfection and the sinlessness of Jesus. Jesus was not only truth incarnate, but he was sinless. And in the following chapter, this righteous man who came to bear witness about the truth of his father will be slaughtered.

Stay dialed in.