Gospel of John chapter 18 the Gospel of John chapter 18 and be reading verses 28 onwards. John 18 verse 28, Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

We'll continue in chapter 19. Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him:

After the farcical trial that the Jews did, which was of no bearing, which was practically useless, they had to bring the Lord Jesus to Pilate. They had to bring him to the Roman Emperor. And in those days, the Emperor was called Caesar. He was not called a king. Caesar, in fact, was a title given to someone. about the king, similar to the title that we have today, King of Kings or Shah-in-Shalek, the Shah of Shahs, the King of Kings and that was the title given to Caesar, a military commander who ruled over the whole empire. And so in this trial, we see Christ coming face to face with the greatest authority the greatest power that was ever known to have existed at his own times. And like the Samus says, it is not just Pilate, not just Caesar, not just the Roman Empire, but it is all kings, all rulers, they have all come together to put Christ to death.

They have all come together to take counsel to put Christ to death. Paul says that the rulers of the world did not know that this was the Lord of Glory. They did not know the things that God had prepared from before the world began. If they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. And so here we have a face-off. A face-off of the only sovereign potentate. That's how Christ is described. The only sovereign potentate. The only potentate. the only sovereign power on this whole universe, coming face to face with the greatest power that man ever has and that is of Caesar. And so there will therefore be a clash, there will therefore be one side winning over the other, there will therefore be one side submitting to the other, there will therefore be a choice to make as to who will rule, who will be the king. whose kingdom will truly come and the choice has to be made by those that accuse Christ.

At the outset of this morning, that is the previous night, they had condemned the Lord Jesus in one of the most illegal fashions ever, but then as soon as morning broke out, they bring Christ to Pilate. And in the previous night, we had seen how the Lord was not just the one suffering, but He was also a caring shepherd. In the midst of His own pain and hurt, He would look at a sheep that is falling, that is denying Him, that is going astray. And just by a mere look, He says that, My sheep hear My voice. But at that instant, He was so powerful that not necessary of his words, not necessary of a voice, but just a mere look a shepherd could bring back a failing sheep, where Peter, who was denying the Lord so callously with much impunity, finally comes to his senses. It was not the cock that crew that brought Peter to his senses. It is written that the Lord looked at Peter and then Peter remembered the words of the Lord. In fact, it is something like this, where the Lord says before the cock cries, twice you will deny me thrice, which means if the cock and Peter were at a race, Peter would beat the cock so badly that Peter would have denied the Lord three times when the cock would have cried just once.

It's only after the third time there would be the second cry. And that's how Peter was running to endless pain. He was running to hurt himself and falling apart and there comes a look that prevents Peter, that holds Peter. In the midst of Satan shifting Peter, we have a look, a look of prayer, a look of intercession, where the Lord says, I have prayed for you. In comparison to that, we then see in the same morning how there is a group of false shepherds, a group of false pastors. Pharisees and scribes who have learned the scriptures so much and they who seem to sit at the seat of Moses also need to tend for the spiritual estate of the people. And so in a stark comparison we see Judas also coming for help. He is broken. He has come to his own self and he comes to these shepherds who he tells them I have sinned and he wants to return that money. He's lost, he doesn't know what to do. He thinks returning the money is the solution.

But either way, he wants to get rid of that scourge. It's something that's bogging his mind down. He's spiraling down to despondency. He's spiraling down to taking his own life very soon. He's on a path of suicide. And he comes at that broken estate to these shepherds and he tells them, I have sinned. He's literally asking for help. And that's when the... so-called false shephers tell him that it is your sin. You look into it. What you have done is your headache. You look into it. And that's the worst thing one can ever tell to somebody who is going through such deep mental trauma, who is in such desperate condition, who doesn't know to make sense of life and what to do. That the last thing he should ever get to your is this is your headache. You deal with it. And the only way he could deal with it was to take his own life. And you see a stark contrast between Christ, the true great shepherd and the overseer of our souls to whom our souls return. And then you see the Pharisees, the scribes who care less about the sheep that is falling astray.

In the midst of this pain and this trials and these oppressions and tortures, we are bound to see a glorious Christ. And that's the narrative that John will not let go of. He has started this book at such a great height by talking of the one who is in eternity with God and he is not going to play or compromise with that description. Even in the midst of what he is going to describe of Christ being tortured and scourged and being tried by Roman soldiers, it is one narrative that John is going to hold on to. There are so many things in this passage that John gives us. That should probably not be said of a messiah. If at all we want a glorious messiah, a messiah that is exalting, a messiah that is victorious, the optics that we see in this passage is so skewed.

It is so bad for a Jew to accept. And yet, John doesn't shy from it. He lays it down. He tells it in plain words. This is what the Jews did to Christ. And as much as if Christ was Christ himself, this is also what Christ allowed. The Jews to do unto himself. That it is not just one hand where the Jews tried to put Christ to death, but another hand Christ was giving his life, laying it down, allowing it, submitting himself to the wicked will of his own people. It is these both pictures that come together. And there is something overarching, something very foundational to both sides, that this is Christ who is God, who is the Word of God. So we will never miss to see that.

We see Christ being brought to Pontius Pilate and we see accusations being rallied against Christ. The first thing we want to consider is Pontius Pilate himself. And we want to see in particular the reluctance of this person, the reluctance of Pontius Pilate because The description of Pontius Pilate given in the Gospels and that of Pontius Pilate given in extra biblical history, historians that wrote of Pilate around the same time, is of great contradictions. Because we see Pilate outside Bible in other biblical sources, a Pilate who is extremely obstinate, a madman. He is extremely cruel, who is not hesitating to do madness. That's Pontius Pilate. In fact, he lost his governorship when he tried to brutally suppress the revolt of Samaritans much years later after Christ. It was because of his inability to handle suppressions and insurrections that he lost the post. That's Pilate. And the description that we have Pilate in the trial of the Lord Jesus is so much at odds. It's a man that's so reluctant, a man that is so cold-feeted. who is literally stopping at every single step of the way, who is literally struggling to put Christ to death.

And that's at odds where people somehow try to put down the narrative, the Gospels is untrue, because it is at so much odd of what people know Pontius pilot to be. In fact, Luke himself said Pontius pilot was somebody who mixed the blood of the Gentiles with the sacrifice. That's the kind of madness this person was really capable of. He was so capable of offending the Jews to their very nerves. And so this kind of person, why was he so slow? Why was he with such great reluctance? Not being able to be fully convinced, in his conviction, even in his accusation, even when he condemned and pronounced the judgment, it was with so much pressure. Why was this person acting so weirdly, so differently? We begin by looking at the accusations that the people begin, that they laid on Christ. In verse 30, it says, if he were not a male factor or if he were not an evil doer, we would not have delivered him up to you.

And that's a very strange way to accuse a person. Pilate is upfrontly asking the Jews what accusation and that answer to that question is another question or a rhetoric one in saying that You should not be asking a question like this. It's as if Jews took offense to the question of Pilate. They were a little taken back. Like, how can you question us? Come on. If he was not an evil doer, why do you think we would be standing here so early in the morning, bringing before you an evil doer? It is just obvious. In fact, were a bit taken aback, probably offended. That's why they rhetorically answered the question of Pilate. When Pilate is asking, what are the accusations? Their answer is rhetoric and say, come on, you asking accusations? It's just obvious. He is an evildoer and that's how they begin that he is an evildoer. He has done things unrighteously.

Matthew and Mark at this point specifically say that they laid on Christ many things. We don't know more things, but many things. In fact, two times it is written that they laid on Christ many things. And then it is written that Pilate asked the Lord Jesus, how many things they are laying on you. So you can imagine a barrage of accusations, all false, all evil in nature, all maligning in nature, being laid upon Christ. It is Luke who actually gives us some understanding of what probably those accusations were. Luke says that they accused him of someone perverting the nation, of someone forbidding tax to be paid to Caesar. of someone who calls himself the Messiah and as well as a king. They made a two-pronged accusation. He calls himself Christ, Messiah and a king. And when nothing was working, then they became all the more furious in the accusation. Their pilot said, I don't find a fault in him and they were not ready.

So they brought in further accusation. They said that this person has been... perverting the nation and stirring up the people as if he's an insurrectionist, as if he's a revolutionary. He has been stirring up the people from Judea to Galilee. They just took the word Galilee and Pilate found an escape hatch. And that's the Pilate that we are trying to see here. A Pilate who's so reluctant. In fact, the very first step in his trial was you go and take him, try him by your own law. He didn't want to try the Lord Jesus. He had not heard any accusations, probably he was so moved off because it was pretty early in the morning they came to him and the very sight of them coming to him and them bringing him inside, that is the Lord Jesus inside the hall but they standing outside because they want to celebrate the Passover which makes him go outside to listen the accusation then come back inside to hear it of Christ then go outside again to hear the accusation. He was thoroughly annoyed. The first thing he told them was, you just go, take him, do what you want to do with your law.

And when that didn't happen, they started to hear the accusations and in the midst of the accusations, he heard the word, Galilee. The moment he heard Galilee, again saw an escape. Take him. If he's a Galilee, there is Herod. Go try him between Herod and him. But Herod was another person who would not put Christ to death. In fact, Herod had no authority. In fact, Herod would have been quite surprised to see Christ come his way. In fact, is written that Herodians and Pilate were enemies, but after that day or after that one incident of Pilate referring a criminal to Herod, they became friends because if they were enemies, it's just an easy guess. They were enemies over authority. They were enemies over who's powerful. They were enemies over jurisdiction as to who holds what power. And suddenly, Herod sees somebody being referred by Pilate, his own enemy, referring somebody to... himself which gives credence to Herod, which gives some credibility to Herod and his authority.

And probably that was the reason why Herod and Pilate suddenly become friends. Herod was surprised that Christ was referred to him, but Herod would not make the decision. And so Christ is brought back to Pilate. The ball is back in Pilate's court. And now we see again that Pilate is forced to take a decision, but someone so slow-feeted, extremely hesitant. He is hesitant because he has seen Christ and he has heard of Christ. He knows that he has done nothing wrong. And that's so strange because Pilate is known to do unrighteously. Pilate is known to give verdicts that are unfair and unjust. He cares less of injustice. It isn't much for him to think to take somebody's life. He has done that his whole life. He will continue doing that after Christ. But for Christ, he's so reluctant. With Christ, he's so cautious. With Christ, he's so afraid. With Christ, he is taking a step at a time and trying to see as much as possible not to put Christ to death.

So eventually when the Lord comes back from Herod, it is written that Pilate sat at judgment. Now there's a formal trial. He sat at the judgment. And now we see not just the scribes and the Pharisees, we see a multitude, a crowd of people coming. to raise their voice. And Pilate was so smart, he immediately understood that they have put Christ on trial because they were envious of him. He was able to see their heart. He had all the reasons now to let him go. And to couple it, was his own wife influencing his decision, his own wife saying, I have seen a dream, let him go. And then to couple it was the testimony of Christ, the things that Christ said, and that he was convinced that there is nothing, fault in him. To couple it was the destiny of Herod, which says that there is nothing in him, there is no fault, there is nothing worthy of him, let him go. So Pilate eventually devises a plan. How can he let Christ go?

He said that he brought up a tradition, a custom, of which he is known to do during Passover, that is to let a prisoner go. In fact, he brought that tradition up not for the sake of Barabbas. He brought that tradition up to let Christ go. He in fact said it this way, Do you want me to release Christ? Not just Jesus, Christ, the Messiah. Or he put it, Do you want me to release your King, the King of the Jews, King of you Jews? Do you want me to release Jesus who is also called Christ? The wordings of Pilate were so carefully crafted to... to at least broad the conscience of the Jewish people, look at what you are doing. Do you want me to release this person who calls himself the king of yourself? He's a king of Jews, come on, you're going to get a king for yourself. Are you going to put your own king to death? Are you going to put someone who calls your own messiah, your own savior to death, your own anointed one to death?

He is in fact using biblical terms, he's using Judean... Jewish culture, Jewish theology to invoke some guilt in the hearts of these people. And so he brings up this tradition to release a prisoner not for the sake of Barabbas, but so that at least through this Christ would let go. But unfortunately the people use that tradition or that custom for Barabbas. They said let Barabbas go and this man be put to death. And so Pilate is prodding them. You see a scene, a very heartful scene where Pilate is now constrained to deal not just with Christ, but Barabbas. If he had his way, he would so on Barabbas dead because Barabbas was truly a murderer, truly an enemy of the Roman Empire. He was truly an insurrectionist. Everything that Barabbas was guilty of, Barabbas and Christ If it was a choice between both, Pilate would choose Barabbas. But now Pilate is now constrained that he is no more dealing with Christ, but now he has to deal with Barabbas. And you see this horrible picture where Barabbas and Christ are being compared. And Pilate is asking the people, literally prodding the conscience, who would you prefer?

Christ, Jesus who is called Christ or Barabbas? In fact, Barabbas, the other name of Barabbas was also Jesus. Barabbas also means the Son of Father. The comparisons are so stark, where you have a genuine, true, heavenly God, Son of the Father, who is truly Yeshua, the Saviour, the Messiah, and you have someone who is a murderer, who is an insurrectionist, who has done great crimes, but who also calls himself Barabbas, the Son of the Father, who also has a name Jesus, Yeshua, who also has the same name like Christ. And you see someone so glorious, so holy, so blameless, so beyond reproof, so innocent, so righteous, being compared to Barabbas in the same line. And that's the word of the Prophet, that they will number him among the transgressors, that they will bring him to the same level, they will reduce him and condescend him or subjugate him to the same level of a criminal who was worthy of death.

And when the choice is so easy... between Christ and Barabbas, the people select Christ, they choose Christ and then Pilate still doesn't want to let go of Christ. He says, okay, if it is Christ, the question is, what should I do with Christ? If you want to release Barabbas, fine, take him, but now what to do with Christ? And they say, crucify him, crucify him. And then Pilate is again constraining them, okay, crucify him, but what evil has he ever done? And the people again have only one answer. crucify Him, crucify Him. That is barely an answer to the question that Pilate asked. But Pilate was constrained by the crowd, by the people, by the Pharisees, to crucify the Lord Jesus. Surprisingly, Pilate has still not given up on Christ. Just because the crowd told him to crucify, he's not going to crucify. So he comes up with the next strategy, the next plan to let Christ go.

And so he releases Barabbas according to their will. But John gives us... additional information where instead of releasing Christ to be crucified in verse 1 of chapter 19, he releases Christ to be scourged. And so it is now Pilate's desire to pacify the people, the anger of the people, the wrath of the people, by scourging the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably thought this would work, that if they... if they really chastise Christ as Pilate says, I will chastise him and release him. That Pilate thought that maybe if Christ would be chastised to such great degrees of torture and oppression, if such great degrees of persecutions would be inflicted on Christ, if they were to behold Christ after such great chastise points, after such great scourgings, that their mind and their heart would let him go. And so that's Pilate's next hatch, next plan. to not put Christ to death. You see Pilate step by step always fighting for Christ, always reluctantly not holding back Christ, not willingly giving Him over to death.

And so he gives Him to be scourged and that is such an awful thing for Pilate to have done. Because when he gives Him over to be scourged, we read in the other Gospels, 600 soldiers come together. a cohort, a band of soldiers come together and surround the Lord Jesus Christ and they do unto Christ unimaginable evil. They first strip him and then they put on him a purple rod and then they twist a crown of thorns and then they smash it on his head and then they take a reed, they put it into his hand and give him an appearance of a great king and then they bow before him hail him mockingly as the king of Jews. And then they took the reed out of his hand and then smote it on his head. And then they took out his purple robe and put back his raiment. And then they scourged him.

And the scourge of a Roman scourge, even in the most minimal damage it can ever do, is to pluck out the skin on which it falls. It is a fulfillment of the Psalm 129 verse 3, where the Psalm says, they have ploughed my back. like a farmland that after having been scourged the back of the Lord Jesus would look no different than a farmland that is cloud. So much flesh just spiling out, so much blood just coming out. Can you just imagine what they have done to the Lord of Glory? You see this is how the hymn writer says that when there was all shame and sin There was a second Adam to the rescue, second Adam to the fight. And here you see a second Adam taking upon himself the curse of Adam. He was stripped, being humiliated of his nakedness, a nakedness that Adam could never bear, but he had to bear it.

He was clothed with scarlet robes, scarlet talking of our own sins, and he was clothed mockingly, whereas Adam was clothed with true flesh, a clothing given. by God himself, not just to cover his nakedness, but to atone for his sin. But on Christ, we see a second Adam who is being humiliated, who is clothed with a scarlet robe. In Adam, see a curse, a curse being given to the ground where thorns have come up and those thorns then are being twisted and made into a crown to mash upon the head of Christ. You see, the irony is so, so much greater because in Christ, we see the image of God, the very face of God and that face now has been marred beyond recognition. You see the face is that part of the body where so much blood flows. In fact the maximum flow rate of blood is on the face. Any injury to the face profusely makes blood come out and you imagine if a crown of thorns is massed right on the head how much blood would just come out.

How much that blood would cover his face fulfilling the words of the prophet that they have marred him, they have marred him, they have marred him beyond recognition that If we were to look at him, there would be no desire that he would no longer bear resemblance to a human, to a healthy human being. That's what they would do to Christ, where Adam fell short of the glory of God, lost the image of God. And here is the true, genuine image of God, the glorious brightness expression of His glory, the very exact representation of God, the very true image of God being martyred, being marred, being scourged, being disfigured. You see, the authority to kill, the authority to take life was given by God. It goes back to the flood when Noah came out of the ark and God gave Noah the authority to take man's life, where not every loss of life is a murder, where there are genuine grounds on which murder can be done, there are genuine grounds on which someone's life can be taken and the Lord said, at the hand of every man, I will require the life of every man.

Which means if one man slays the other man, there is genuine grounds for the person to be put to death. There is genuine grounds for capital punishment. And that is the authority God gave man, God gave Noah and all the governments that came after Noah, all the empires, all the authorities that came out of Noah, even to this day, every state has that right to put somebody to death because it's a God-given authority to put somebody to death. And the Lord says the underlying reason why it is okay to put somebody to death, why it is okay to give capital punishment is because every man has been made in the image of God. And so this passage reeks with irony because here, now it is not just any man who has the image of God being put to death, but it is the very image of God being put to death. It is very Christ, the very express image of His person that is being put to death. And can there be a greater sin than that?

When the very image of God is being murdered, when very Christ is being put to death. And so Pilate thought that this would work and so he brings Christ to the people. He in chapter 19 and verse 4, it says Pilate therefore went forth again and says unto them, Behold I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. I believe this is a U-turn in the in the decision of Pilate. People thought Christ is being scourged and then he will be crucified but he has been scourged, he has been terribly, brutally oppressed but he's not going to be crucified. Pilate brings him back and Pilate is saying, I bring him before you so that you should look at him and understand that he has done no fault. And he brings, then verse five, then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns in the purple robe and Pilate said unto him, behold the man. The irony again is so great because now Christ bears no resemblance of any man. He looks like no man at all. He has been so disfigured. His face has been so marred and the pilot is saying, look, behold the man.

And this was supposed to act like a conscience breaker. This was supposed to at least melt the hard heartedness of the people that at least when they look at Christ in such a state, in such weakness, such infirmities, with such great wounds, that they would let go of him. That they would have at least some sympathy towards somebody who has done no wrong and still suffered such great things, towards somebody who has only gone about doing good and still suffered such great things, towards somebody who has only said gracious words and still has suffered such great things. At least at some point, the heart of man should have melted and this is Pilate's effort. to break down that hard-heartedness of man and saying, come on, where is your conscience? Surprisingly, this heathen Gentile had more conscience than the Jews and he's bringing Christ to them and saying, look, behold the man, look at him, behold him. And he was just hoping that they would let go of him.

On the contrary, they said, crucify him, crucify him. At this point, Pilate had enough. He said, okay, if you want to crucify him, go. Take him, crucify him. Pilate in a way was going to bring the trial to an end at this point. He was saying this is the end of it. There can be nothing more to this. You want to crucify him, he's all yours. Go crucify him. He's not giving authority to crucify, he's very rhetorically and sarcastically telling go crucify him, which means you crucify him according to your desire and then you will face the consequences. Obviously, they're not going to do that. So that's when they literally drop the bombshell. They literally bring about the greatest accusation. It was no more the temple, no more the tax, no more Caesar, no more instruction, no more nation, no more what he preached, no more what he talked, no more destroying the temple. All of that falls apart and they drop the bombshell to this heathen man and says, he is the son of God and that's why he should die.

And here you see Pilate being extremely afraid. When he heard that Pilate was more afraid in verse 8, he was all the more afraid. You see something so intriguing, something that defies logic, something that's so unreasonable. In one hand, the Jews that are the own people of God are not able to understand it. And Pilate, after having thrashed the Lord, after having scourged him, after having disfigured his face, after having put him almost to such great humiliation, on hearing the possibility that this person is the Son of God, Pilate doesn't find that trivial. Pilate doesn't think that's an impossibility. Pilate doesn't think it's unreasonable. Pilate himself has inflicted upon Christ great pain. Pilate himself has exerted great authority upon this person and Pilate still assumes that it could be possible, it could be very much possible that this man who is having a face that disfigured, marked beyond recognition, this man whose head is bruised, who is wearing a crown of thorns, who is stripped, who is so brutally wounded, this person who is so silent, who is weak, who is infirm, this person could still be the son of God.

It was an outlandish claim, it was scandalous for the Jews to accept it but not for Pilate. No doubt Pilate's understanding of God would be far inferior to the understanding that the Jews had about God. No doubt his understanding was not theologically correct, but still his conscience pricked at greatest odds, at the worst possible optics, at the greatest odds he still considered, he still pondered in his heart that maybe Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. That the very accusation that he is the Son of God... brought great fear in his heart. And finally at the end, he delivers him to be crucified. We read in verse 12 that henceforth Pilate sought to release him, where Pilate is determined to release him. But Pilate at the end of the day gives over to the people. He washes his hands as his last mark of defiance, saying that this is not my judgment. This is not what I approve of, but still he releases Christ to be crucified.

Can you just imagine someone just being put to death because of popular opinion? Just because people all come together and say, we want this person dead and so this person should die. Can there be such greater miscarriage of justice where the whole nation comes together against one man who has just been doing good, who has just been saying gracious things, who has just been exhibiting the glory of grace and truth? against such glorious man, all the nations come upon him and says, we want him dead. And that's why they got him dead. This is mob mentality. This is hard heartedness at the large. This is the wrath of man at his extreme limits. This is the hard heartedness of man at limits not known. This is showing how a person like Pilate, who was so reluctant at every step of the way from the very start, he used He least wanted Christ to be crucified, but still he couldn't resist the demands of the people.

Which brings us to the most important question. Why was Pilate so reluctant? What was in Pilate that made him so cold-feeted? Someone known for his brutality, someone known to be unjust and unfair, someone known for his madness, someone known to take split decisions and care least about justice. When it comes to Christ, He is so, so slow on it. He is so reluctant on it. It brings us to the encouragement that Paul gave Timothy, where Paul says to Timothy that you have to confess a good confession. You have to fight the good fight. You have to run the race. You have to confess a good confession before God who gives life and before Christ who Himself made a good confession before Pontius Pilate. And that's the last reference of Pontius Pilate in the New Testament, where Paul invokes this incident of Christ witnessing to Pilate as a reason for Timothy and for all of us to always have a good confession, to always have a great witness. And that's the witness of Christ which we cannot miss.

That's the picture of Christ that John doesn't want to compromise. in the midst of great odds and great ironies and against all optics, there is one unfailing truth that this indeed is the Son of God. And we need to then consider what was the witness, what was the confession of Christ to this heathen Gentile. It follows the pattern, Christ came to his own and his own did not receive him. And now that his own has not received him, he is now going to witness his glory his Godhead, his divinity to his own accuser, to the one who has authority to put him to death, even Pontius Pilate. And how did Christ witness to Pontius Pilate? What was this good confession that Paul talks of concerning Christ before Pilate? We see in verse 33, John chapter 18, verse 33, Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, Are you the king of the Jews? And that's the most that Jews could accuse Christ of.

All their accusation has to be political in nature. If the Romans have to put Christ to death, it has to be something for the Romans also. And so the Jews accused Christ of him being king of the Jews. And so Pilate comes back to Christ. Christ is inside the hall, the Jews are outside. Christ is being questioned in the same political tone. Are you... the King of the Jews. Pilate is asking the Lord Jesus in the same political tone, are you the King of the Jews? In other words, okay, we have an Emperor, we have Caesar, what do you think of yourself? Do you also consider yourself to be a King? Are you also a King of the Jews? And the Lord takes that question, which is so merely political in nature, that is merely political as the Jews put it, as the Jews wanted it to be, and made it so personal for Pilate. Something that Pilate now has to decide for himself.

Look at how the Lord answered in verse 34, Do you say this thing of yourself? Do you say this thing of yourself? The Lord is asking Pilate, Pilate are you convinced about it? Is this your own personal question? Is this your own personal query? Do you say this of your own self? Is this what you are yourself doubtful of or convinced of or do you care about it? And the Lord was trying to tell Pilate, Pilate, this is not just a mere yes and no answer. This is not just a mere political question. This is a question of the great repercussions. To call me the King of the Jews is not just to call me like any other King of all the Jews, like David or any other King. No, the King of the Jews is the Messiah. The King of the Jews is the King of Kings. The King of the Jews is your Savior. The King of the Jews as given by the scriptures is the Holy One, is the one coming to rule over all the world. This is an important question.

This is not just a political question that you've got to answer and say, okay, there's Caesar, there's Christ. No, this is your personal question as well. Are you going to... Are you asking this of your own self? Or are you just saying... Or are you just inquiring because someone else told it to you? Where if the Lord puts Pilate in a place and says, Pilate, this is going to be the decision you need to make. This is not something that you're going to ask for the sake of passing a judgment. No, this is going to be your personal thing. Are you saying this of your own self? What is your opinion first on it? What do you think about myself? You see how Christ is trying to evangelize to this person, where it was merely supposed to be a trial, where Christ had to prove his innocence. No, Christ turns it around and tries to witness to this person and says, Pilate, this is a question for you. Are you saying this of your own self?

And so Pilate had to answer it and how does Pilate answer? Pilate says in 35, am I a Jew? Pilate is very blunt in saying, I least care who is the Jew. I least care who is the king of the Jews. I am neither a Jew. I'm not the one who arrested you. Your own people, your own nation, your own chief priests brought yourself to me. I least care about it. Pilate was blunt in telling, this is not my personal question. Your people brought yourself. to me. I am not a Jew. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't concern me whether you're the king of the Jews. Pilate was blunt and honest in saying, I care least about it. And here's the Lord now trying to make him care about it. Here's the Lord trying to make him understand that this is your question as well. It is a decision you have to make as well. This is a conclusion you have to arrive at as well. whether I am truly the King of the Jews.

So how does the Lord answer? How does the Lord witness? In 36, He says, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? That I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from here? What a beautiful answer. Where Pilate wants to know, are you the King of the Jews? And when Pilate says, your own people, your own nation, your chief... priest, it is all your people, where Pilate tries to strongly associate Christ with the people of Jews, with the people of Israel, where Pilate tries to make that inseparable relation between the one who is accused and the people that delivered him. The Lord tries to say that this is not my kingdom. I am not the king of the Jews. My kingdom is not of here. It is not of Jerusalem. It is not of Israel. It is not of this world itself. My kingdom is not of this place. If my kingdom was of this place, my servants would fight and deliver me from the Jews.

In other words, he says the Jews are not my people. In other words, he says my servants are not of this kingdom. You're assuming that I'm the king of the Jews and the Jews themselves delivered the king to be crucified. You've got it wrong. My kingdom is not of this world and neither the Jews are of my people. My servants, if it was my kingdom, my servants would have fought the Jews. You see how the Lord is now opening himself up to be a savior not just of the Jews but also the Gentiles where he is no more going to be narrow-minded or going to be looked upon as just the King of the Jews but the Lord says to Pilate you're dealing with someone who has the kingdom out of this world you're dealing with someone who is truly the King but not yet not yet I have my servants who would have delivered me but not yet.

And Pilate immediately understood how the Lord disassociated himself with the Jewish people. He immediately understood because his next question was, are you then a king? His first question was, are you a king of Jews? But the second question, he became very specific. Okay, are you a king at least? We get the point, you're not the king of the Jews, but you said you have a kingdom. So are you a king at least? And that's when the Lord beautifully witnessed to Pilate and said, you have rightly said it. I am a king. And this being a king has great bearing on you yourself. You say you are not a Jew, you say you are not of this land, you say that you barely are concerned whether I am the king of Jews, you've got it wrong. Christ is the king of a great kingdom that is coming. He is the king. It is for this purpose He came. And it is then bearing upon Pilate to accept whether Christ is a King or not.

In conclusion, the Lord told Pilate something so beautiful, which explains everything that has happened, which explains why Christ submitted himself. He says in verse 37, Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice. Pilate wanted to know what have you done? What's your crime? What's the thing you're accused of? If the Jews had to tell, they would tell it their own way. But if Christ had to make His own charge seat, He says it this way, for this cause. And the cause is, I have come to bear witness of the truth. And I will continue doing that. because everyone that is of truth will hear my voice. Why would Christ submit himself to such increasing degree of torture and persecutions and oppressions where he becomes a worm on the cross? Christ himself says, I am come to bear witness of the truth. No more through great sermons, no more through great miracles and signs and wonders, no more through great exhibits of his power. But now he's going to exhibit and bear witness of God Immortal, God Unapproachable, God who is just, God that is holy, God that is righteous, God with great wrath who is going to put his own son to death.

He is going to bear witness and as he has always been doing, he is going to continue doing it now through a cross out of all things. He's going to do it through all the persecutions that people are going to inflict upon him. He's going to do it through all the mockings that people are going to talk about him. He's going to do it through whatever people conceive, the worst that they can conceive. Through the wrath of man, he is going to show the grace of God. He is going to bear witness of the truth. And that's the only reason why he's silent. That's the only reason why he's submitting himself to the wicked whims and fancies of men. That's the only reason why he submitted himself to the will of men, because he is here to bear witness of the truth. He has so done it in ages past, through the heavens he has created, through all things that he has worked in the Old Testament, through all his works and wonders, and through his birth, through his life, he has so done it.

But now he's going to do it in a much greater way, that in a crucified man, in the greatest exhibit of foolishness, and unreasonableness, will the glory of God be shown that Christ is, when you have lifted me up, and then you will know that I am, that the same I am, the I am is being crucified. When you have lifted me up, you will know that I am. It is not the arresting, is not the mockings, it is not the beatings, it is not the scourgings that was going to beat, that is going to melt hard-hearted men of Israel. But when they see Christ on the cross, when they see Him crucified, the Lord says, this vision, this sight of Mine being lifted up, is going to make you know that I am. And so Christ so willingly submits Himself to Pilate, that I am here to bear witness of the truth. And everyone that is of truth hears my voice. We are so... blessed so graciously, that in this one statement, everyone, it speaks of all of us.

It speaks of each of us being willing to listen to the truth, being willing to abide in truth, being willing to accept the truth, that Christ, in order to see a day when we will hear the truth, when we, the sheep, will hear the voice of the shepherd. When we who are lost will return to the shepherd and the overseer of our soul, Christ in order to see the reality that everyone that is of truth will hear my voice just for that reality, just for that sake that everyone should hear his voice, submits himself to great torture, great oppression and great humiliation. And so in one hand you see great wrath of men. On the other hand, you see extreme reluctance of Pilate. And we now know which side won. We now know why the wrath of man won, why the reluctance of Pilate could not save Christ, because Christ was here to bear witness of the glory of Christ, glory of God. May His name be glorified.