Sermon – John 18:28-40 – Trial

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – John 18:28-40 – Trial
Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Churches
March 21, 2010

Listen to this sermon.

We have reached the fifth Sunday on our journey with Jesus toward the cross. Remember the dinner at Bethany with Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Judas when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet for burial? And remember the Greeks coming to Jesus triggering his “hour”? Do you remember the dinner when Jesus gave Judas a piece of bread and Judas left into the night. And do you remember Jesus’ arrest and interrogation by Annas. We remember these things, but to we really believe in Jesus. If we do the promise is eternal life. If we don’t it is darkness and death. This choice cannot be avoided and as we will see today the wrong choice leads to tragic consequence.

But before we get to this please pray with me. “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?" 30 "If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you." 31 Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" 34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" 35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." 37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked.

With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release 'the king of the Jews'?" 40 They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

This weekend the Congress of the United States is making a choice. We will make the changes in healthcare the President proposes? Or will we keep the healthcare system we have. Most congressmen decided long ago which side they stand on. But some have tried to straddle the middle and not make a choice. These congressmen have been receiving calls and visits from the President and high officials from both sides. High level negotiations are going deep into the night. Ultimately each congressman must make a decision; they must choose one side or the other.

A government official two thousand year ago was also faced with a choice. Pontius Pilate was forced to believe in Jesus or not. And his decision will follow him for eternity. Pontius Pilate was a minor official in the Roman government. Coming to Judah was probably not a good career move. Judah was basically quiet, on the far edge of the empire and not in a really strategic location. The local government was adequately administered by a cooperative religious authority in Jerusalem called the Sanhedrin. There were a few perks in the job. Pilate got to live in a luxurious palace in Caesarea on the Mediterranean where, if he could avoid making decisions he would be alright.

His major problem concerned some nationalistic tendencies among the local. Chiasmic leaders, often called “anointed ones” would go around the country demanding that the Roman government be overthrown. All Pilate had to do to deal with this threat was to capture the leader and have him killed then the remaining followers would scatter. Another problem was one of the ancient religious festivals called the Passover. This festival commemorated the deliverance of the Hebrew people from oppression in Egypt. Some in the crowd thought that the Roman government should be overthrown as well. And this caused Pilate to leave his seaside estate and travel to Jerusalem for the Passover feast to keep a lid on things, because letting things get out of control would be bad for his career.

On arriving in Jerusalem Pilate received word from the Sanhedrin that one of the anointed ones had been stirring up the countryside with miracles and the expectation was that something big was about to happen in Jerusalem. So Pilate agreed to have this person arrested to keep a lid on everything until after the Passover when people had gone home. Pilate sent some Roman soldiers with the temple guards to make sure that nothing unusual would happen during the arrest. After all you couldn’t be too careful. When Pilate went to sleep that night he had no idea what he had unleashed.

Late that night a group of temple guard came from the High Priest and woke Pilate. He was annoyed having to get up. He was annoyed because Jew called him “unclean” and refused to come into his palace. So Pilate had to put on a robe and come out into the night to talk with them. He asked them why they brought someone to him in the middle of the night. He was annoyed by their answer and asked why the local authorities did not deal with the problem themselves. That’s when Pilate remembered his rule about not stoning people during the crowded Passover celebration. So Pilate took the man into custody and brought him inside.

By now Pilate was wide awake and asked Jesus if he was the King of the Jews. This was what the anointed ones usually claimed. And if Pilate could just get one of them to admit it then he could convict him of treason, execute him on a cross and his disciples would scatter and the problem go away. But Jesus refused to answer Pilate’s question directly and admit to being a king. So Pilate began indirect questioning and asked Jesus about his activities. It was here that Jesus admitted to being a king, but his definition of “king” was very different from Pilate’s. Jesus was not a king in the usual sense. Rather, his kingdom was in heaven.

From ancient times the Hebrews believed that God was their king. The Psalmist said, “The LORD is King for ever and ever.” (Psalm 10:16) And “Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-- he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10) People like David or Solomon might become an earthly king for a time, but they would always be subject to their heavenly king, the LORD God of Israel. The kingship that Jesus was admitting to was this heavenly kingship. The disciple Nathanial confessed his belief in this way, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." (John 1:49) In other words Jesus was saying that he was God.

This gave Pilate a choice: he could believe that what Jesus said was true, that he and God were one and receive the blessing of eternal life, or he could disbelieve Jesus and continue in darkness. Pilate tried to take the middle road and neither believe nor disbelieve. Like Pilate we are given a choice. We can either believe that Jesus is God or not. The miracles we read about in scripture can either convince us or not. Seeing Jesus prophesized in the Old Testament can either convince us or not. The Holy Spirit can either convince or not. We can try to hold off making a decision as long as we can. We can try to hold onto a middle ground. But ultimately we have to make a choice to believe in the truth and walk in the light, or believe a lie and walk in the darkness. The choice is ours.

Pilate tried not to choose. But a choice was forced upon him by the crowd, and Pilate put Jesus to death. And this inconsequential Roman official because the chief arch villain of all time. His name went into a baptismal creed of the Roman Church and we stills say that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.”

Pilate teaches us that we must choose either to believe or not believe. Believe that Jesus is the son of God and receive eternal life. Or believe something else and walk in the darkness. It’s up to you. You can’t straddle the fence on this one. You choose one or the other. My choice is to accept the evidence of Jesus miracles, the testimony of scripture, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and believe that Jesus is God. Amen.