To Bear Witness to the Truth | Sermon on John 18:33-40 by Pastor Colin Smith

Well, good morning everyone. Now, based on this morning's scripture reading, you might think that the

pastor

confused Christmas and Easter. In fact, that is not the case. We have been analyzing the words of the Lord Jesus throughout this month of December. Christ in the Gospel of John explains why he came into the world that first Christmas and we have seen wonderfully that Jesus declared very clearly that he came into the world to do the will of the Father, he came into the world so that we might have life. abundantly came into the world as light so that we would not be overtaken by darkness and today we come to Jesus' last statement about why he came into the world on that first Christmas and I wonder if you noticed it that way. was reading from

john

18 and verse 37 jesus says very clearly for this purpose i was born and for this purpose i have come into the world to

bear

witness

to the

truth

these words of jesus of course said to pontius pilate the roman governor a few hours before that our lord jesus was handed over to be crucified but they are a statement about christmas, they are a statement about why jesus came into the world and i want you to try to imagine the drama of the occasion when these words were spoken here.

It's Pontius Pilate, he's the secular ruler of the day, he has all the power, authority and brute force of Rome behind him and early in the morning, this man is rudely awakened and the high priest, 70 of them, the Sanhedrin is have gathered outside their front door. and there is a growing crowd that is with them and they are restless and pilate has to make a decision about jesus now i want to make four very simple observations as we go through the passage that has been read to us today, let's just go through it verse by verse, let's go back to four very important themes, all of which speak directly to us and our world today, first, that Jesus is king, second, that Jesus knows the

truth

, he says I came into the world to carry. testimony of the truth third that on that basis Jesus will bring justice and fourth that Jesus invites us to listen to him first then Jesus is the king and we begin in verse 33 where we read that Pilate entered his barracks again and called Jesus and said to him he is the king of the jews now when jesus was tried by the sanhedrin which are the religious authorities of the time the charge they brought against him in the religious court was that he claimed to be the christ or the messiah if you are the christ tell us but remember that pilate is a secular man he knows little or nothing about the old testament scriptures and the prophecies of a messiah or a christ so the chief priests translate the accusation into their language they bring jesus to him and tell pontius pilate luke records that he is saying that he himself is the christ as a king in other words, they said that pilate now this man says that he is the christ and what you must understand is that that means that he is a king and so pilate is natural The first question in verse 33 is are you king? are you the king of the jews?

Now look at Jesus' response. Verse 34. Jesus responded. Are you saying this on your own or did others tell you this about me? That seems strange, doesn't it? Pilates. I asked him what seems like a very simple and direct question: are you a king? are you the king of the jews? Why doesn't Jesus give him a direct answer? But remember again that Pilate is a secular ruler, the Roman, he has no knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures. The word king simply means a monarch who rules a particular territory and if Jesus had said yes, I am a king, he would have fooled Pilate into thinking that Jesus was some kind of rival to Caesar and that his goal was to establish a political alternative. . in some particular alternative territory and then Jesus says: are you saying this of your own free will?

In other words, are you using the word king in the way that the Romans would normally use the word king to refer to a monarch who claims a particular territory? or others told you about me and the others of course here are the main priests who took Jesus to Pilate and they had a very different understanding they knew the old testament so they knew that they promised messiah that in fact he would be a great and glorious king a king like no other king who would have a kingdom that would be eternal and that would extend to the ends of the earth and if they had told all this to Pilate and then Jesus said no, I am not a king well then he would have denied the truth because he is the king of kings and is the lord of lords so jesus takes care to speak to pilate in a language that he can understand and here jesus models for us the importance of understanding the way in which other people use language and words so that we can speak clearly and

witness

a good confession, but there is something else that is important here and that is that Jesus is clearly challenging Pilate to do his own investigation into the truth.

Are you saying this on your own? or others told you about me in other words jesus is saying pilate people say many things about me but here I am standing in front of you now do your own investigation of the truth do not be a weak echo of what other people may think or say and to this challenge Pilate responds in verse 35 saying: am I a Jew? In other words, you are challenging me to do this research on your claims. Why would I care about that? Why would there be any interest? What's with this? What to do with me this sounds very clearly like a religious issue and I don't own any religion I don't want anything to do with it I am a secular man I have no interest in your god in your scriptures or in your faith and pilate is ready it seems to move forward in the conversation and then he says what have you done verse 35 and jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world now the question the pilot asked was what have you done and jesus could have easily answered that question by saying well this is what I have done it, I came into the world to save sinners and if Jesus had said that then no doubt Pilate would have responded oh well that has absolutely nothing to do with me, you can continue saving sinners if you want and as long as you save them.

Sinners pay their taxes to Caesar I have no problem with that but you see what Jesus is doing here when he says my kingdom is not of this world he is answering Pilate's first question which was are you a pilot king? You asked me a serious question and I'm going to give you a serious answer now that there is a lot to learn here. The Scriptures tell us in First Timothy chapter 6 that the Lord Jesus Christ made the good confession before Pontius Pilate. The good confession, in other words, the testimony of Jesus. Pontius Pilate is a model for all of us who want to

bear

witness to the truth today and notice some of the things we learn is a model because Jesus speaks in a language that Pilate can understand and challenges Pilate to do his own investigation into the truth. he takes Pilate's question seriously, and because he takes Pilate's question seriously, he will not move forward until he answers the question the pilot has now posed.

I hope that the vast majority of Christians in this congregation this morning have had a conversation with someone who does not believe. where they ask question after question with barely a pause to breathe between them and you know what it is, how is it possible to believe that the Bible is true and how could God have allowed the holocaust and how can you allow yourself to defend what it says the Bible? sexuality and how you can believe that there is only one way to find peace with God. There hasn't even been a break between questions and a good way to respond might be to ask if you're serious about any of these questions and to anyone here. who still do not believe and there are always those who do not yet believe and I am very grateful that you pray for that every Sunday for any of you who do not yet believe.

I want to give you this challenge on the last Sunday of the year if you want to know the truth about Jesus don't jump from question to question stay with a question long enough to consider how Jesus would answer it Jesus takes Pilate's question seriously and when Pilate just wants to keep going Go ahead it's like Jesus is telling you now wait a minute you asked me a serious question and I want to give you a serious answer and here is the answer you are a king my kingdom is not of this world this is a very important statement and some people might have The impression that these words my kingdom is not of this world sound like a retreat after all, in the time of Jesus the people of God were oppressed by the brute force of the Romans and the burning question among all the people of God in the times of Jesus.

How should we respond to this brutal occupation that has overwhelmed us? Should we comply? Should we engage in passive resistance? Should we rise up in active rebellion? I mean, the debate went on and on between God's people in Jesus' time and you. I remember a man called Matthew and he was a tax collector, a Jew who worked for the Romans, so it's very clear from that, isn't it that he had decided that compliance was the best way forward for our people? Mateo would do it. I said you have to comply to endure this we have to comply with what is we have to recognize reality and so on and so on and Jesus called this man and said now I want you to be my disciple and then there was another man that you may remember with the name simon, not simon, peter, simon the fanatic and you know from the fact that he was a fanatic that what that man had decided was that active resistance was the path that god's people should follow and Jesus came to this man, Simon the fanatic, and said to him: I want you to be my disciple.

Now think about it, um, Matthew the tax collector, Simon the fanatic, it's really hard to imagine these two men even having a civil conversation with each other, but Jesus said. both follow me follow me and in following jesus these two men who would have been bitter enemies in the culture wars of their time became genuine brothers as followers of the lord jesus christ and gave themselves to a new mission and a new one calling to serve him whose kingdom is not of this world they had to put aside their very different ideas of what was best for their kingdom and give themselves to the work of Jesus kingdom that is not of this world my kingdom is not of this world and so these words are of great importance for us today for this reason that these words of Jesus point out to us the relevance of the Lord Jesus Christ for each and every person today.

Think about it, if Jesus' kingdom was out of this world, then it would be of great importance. has no relevance to any of us who live 2000 years after he came into the world and, honestly, the question of who the rightful king of the Jews might have been around 30 AD. might be of some historical interest to you, do you know any academic historians? but what is the interest or relevance is a question for any of our lives today, but you see, here is why Jesus is relevant to every person here this morning, he says my kingdom is not of this world, I am a king, I have a kingdom, you have.

To understand this you cannot put a geographical limit or limit to my kingdom it has no borders and you cannot put a historical time frame on my kingdom it spans all generations my kingdom is not of this world that is in no way a retreat there is a Dutch theologian with the name of class expert who says this I love to quote pilot, be careful, in no way has he said that it is not dangerous, you must enlist everyone, the king, as normally understood, is simply not a word big enough for the lord jesus christ he is friend king of kings isn't he? and he is the lord of lords and his kingdom is an eternal kingdom that will transcend all other kingdoms and continue until eternity when all other kingdoms are long gone, he is the king second jesus knows the truth verse 37 for this purpose Jesus tells Pilate I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.

Now here is something truly wonderful. Jesus is telling us that there is a kingdom in which the truth is fully known. Note that it is not in this world. He says I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. The Bible tells us that in this life and in this world we know in part and that is why in life we ​​are often left with this uncomfortable feeling that we are only understanding part of the story. and we often meet. I would like to know the whole truth about this, but where do you go to get it?

Where the hell is the truth fully known? But you see. Jesus is telling us that he has come into the world. He has come from the place and kingdom where the truth is fully known. God knows the truth. God knows all the truth. And God knows all the truth fully. That is, he knows every thought, every word and every action of every person in every place and at every moment he knows everything that is and knows everything that has been and knows everything that will be God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground he He knows the thoughts and intentions of every heart in this room nothing escapes his sight or his attention and David the psalmist in the old testament says of this such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is high and I cannot reach it in other words David is saying like we must all say the knowledge of the wholeI really don't understand, this is something that belongs only to God, but Jesus tells us here that he came into the world to bear witness to the truth.

Now notice that twice here Jesus refers to the truth. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have vision. to the world to bear witness to the truth everyone who is inside whoever is outside the truth listens to my voice twice refers to the truth before Pontius Pilate now I want to share with you something that encourages me these days would you like Listen to what I encourage, we all need some encouragement. One of the most encouraging signs I see in the world today is that I believe there are many hearts that have a new hunger for the truth and I will tell you why we have been told for an entire generation that there is no truth, there is your truth, that is , you know the world as you see it and there is my truth.

The world as I see it, they tell us, but there is no truth. We've been told that for 30 years. I remember becoming a

pastor

in the 1990s and the big question, one of the big questions before us, how? Do we prepare our young people to go to a secular university where they will be bombarded with a single message? There is no truth, only the truth as it has been told to you and the truth is that it has been told to someone else and so on, for 30 years there is no truth and now, a generation later, we are reaping the bitter reap from that lie because, if truth exists, then we can have a conversation about what it could be.

We can humbly pursue and seek the truth together, we can disagree about what could be, we can debate, but if there is truth, there will be some recognition that there is something beyond your opinion, beyond my opinion and the opinion of another person, and that we must seek as far as we can achieve it together, but if there is no truth, if there is only your truth and my truth, then, in the end, the discussion becomes very difficult because, in any way, questioning your La The truth is going to feel like a personal attack, and as you will see over time, what has happened is that losing the conviction that the truth exists has led people to become more deeply divided, to the point that sometimes it is difficult to even know it. have a reasoned conversation and I think people are tired of that.

I think that more and more people are getting tired of endless discussions tired of a world of spins and I want to tell you that if today you have in your heart a longing for the truth, you are not far from the kingdom of God and if you really hunger for the truth, you will be drawn to jesus because he came into the world to bear witness to the truth the truth of who god is the truth of who you are the truth of our world and why it is in the state it is in the truth of what is the life and the truth of how you can be truly blessed Jesus is the king and by witnessing the good confession before Pilate we find that Jesus knows the truth and then there is a third thing here that follows from that Jesus will bring justice and I want to see here the next verse, verse 28, Pilate's very famous question in response to what Jesus says about truth Pilate told him what truth is after that after he had said this, he went back outside with the Jews now we don't know the tone in which Pontius Pilate asked these famous uh asked this famous question and so there has been a debate about how we should understand the meaning of Pilate and some suggest that Pilate was in fact, a genuine seeker of truth, what is truth and that is possible, but I don't think it is probable that for this reason Pilate did not wait for an answer, asked the question and then left, in other words, he used this question.

As what we would call today an exit line, he had heard enough from Jesus, he was not interested in continuing the conversation about the truth any further, so he interrupts the conversation with Jesus with this phrase, well, what is truth and thinks in this? The man who says what is true is the judge presiding over a case in a court of law. Wow, now imagine what that means. Imagine standing in a court of law. Your enemies have taken you there on false charges and your only hope is for the judge. You will discover the truth and the charges against you will be read and the judge now asks you if you have anything to say and you say: "Well, I have come to this court to testify to the truth" and the judge then says: you what?

It's the truth well then you're going to tell yourself well now here I am in a court with a judge who doesn't believe the truth can be found there is no hope of justice for me here at all how can you have justice if the truth doesn't exist only your truth and my truth Pilate aborted justice because he did not believe in the truth you lose the truth you lose justice but thank God Pilate was not the only judge in the conversation Jesus said the father has given all judgment to the son so Jesus Not only is he the king, not only is he the one who knows the truth but he is also the one who one day will judge the entire world and Jesus will bring justice because he knows the truth, the whole truth. and he knows it fully I came into the world to bear witness to the truth there is a kingdom in which the truth is fully known and that means there is a kingdom in which one day justice will be fully served wonderful good news and there will be no miscarriage of justice When Jesus judges the world he will bring justice because because he knows the truth nothing is hidden from him he will bring to light everything that was ever hidden in darkness and in Romans chapter 3 and verse 19 we read that on that day the whole world will be silenced because we will all know that justice has finally been done and I think it is very important for us to hold on to this clear revelation of Scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ will judge the world with justice.

There will be justice and everyone will know that it is justice. I have been very helped by some words written by Professor Donald McCloud related to the day of judgment when Jesus will judge every person who has ever lived in the light of the full knowledge of his every thought. That has ever crossed every person's mind, let alone everything we have done. Mcleod writes these words emphasizing the justice of Jesus. God will listen carefully to every plea you can offer in mitigation. He will not condemn unless he absolutely has the rights that Macleod. I can give you categorical assurance that if you have a real case to offer in your own defense you will have nothing to fear, no innocent man went to hell and no man was sentenced to hell if the judge had any other option, see what It is emphasizing God.

It's fair but if you know yourself a little you will know that like me you are very far from complying with the first thing that the law of God requires of you, which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself what kind of defense are you going to offer regarding your failure to do that there is only one defense that any of us can offer on that day and that is the defense of the lord jesus christ the judge who came into the world to bear witness to the truth to do the will of the father so that we may be saved in soul and body and to bring us into the light and life of his love forever a defense that a person with justice will be able to make The offer is that there is a savior who came into the world and he took upon himself all my guilt and took upon himself all my failure and I have put my trust in him and justice has been done because he took the lord he should have been. mine, what was my sin, was laid upon him and as a result, god's mercy comes to me, god acts justly, how else could he justly bring sinners like us to his eternal jesus will bring justice on the last day and that is why we all need to humble ourselves and embrace the lord jesus christ so that when the day of justice comes we will have a defense jesus is king jesus knows the truth jesus will bring justice thank god so here is the last thing just very briefly jesus tells us invites you to listen to the last word of Jesus to Pilate here is verse 37 everyone who is outside the truth listens to my voice and I simply want to end here you know that Pilate had so many voices ringing in his ear the voice of his own past failures the voice of his wife saying have nothing to do with me this man because I have suffered a lot because of a dream because of him the voice of course of the chief priests the growing crow increasingly restless crowd outside the voice of their own conscience three times he says about Jesus that he is innocent or I do not find any charges against him and then the voice of Jesus is heard speaking to him I am a king but my kingdom is not of this world I came into the world to bear witness to the truth and all who They are out of the truth they listen to me and my friends, we all have so many voices ringing in our ears and I end with this question and challenge: whose voice are you listening to as we are about to enter a new year whose voice Will you hear the voice from your own past?

The voice of anger and frustration screaming loudly around us. The voice of disbelief. The voice of fear. None of these will bring you help, hope or healing. None of them hear the voice of Jesus we make us hear the voice of Jesus through the Scriptures that is why we open the Bible at the center of everything we do when we gather to worship so I hope that as we move forward In another year you commit to listening. the voice of jesus through the scriptures make worship a priority as we gather to hear the word of god and get into the habit of opening the bible yourself to soak up the truth jesus came to reveal, don't just pass by from one question to another. another listen to the voice of jesus and you will find strength and life and hope and healing by listening to him let us pray together father we are very grateful that the lord jesus christ came to the world to bear witness to the truth we worship him as the king of kings and as lord of gentlemen and we are very grateful that the one who knows the whole truth about us and is on the last day the judge himself is also the one who comes to our defense becoming our sin bearer so that on the last day sinners like us can enter into an eternal life that we can never earn or deserve but that will be your gift to us in and through your wonderful son Jesus Christ, let us all the days of our lives hear him believe in him follow him love him serve him and obey him for these things we ask in and through of our savior Jesus Christ the Lord and all the people of God together said amen