JESUS BEFORE PILATE – Part 1

John 18:28-38

JESUS BROUGHT TO PILATE’S COURT 18:28

The Jewish leaders’ motive for bringing Jesus before Pilate was envy, jealousy, and hatred of the blameless Son of God.

The Jewish leaders had been plotting to kill Jesus for a long time but their murderous designs had been frustrated by God because His hour had not yet come.

The Jewish leaders wanted to sneak Jesus into the Praetorium before anyone became aware of what was happening so it was early morning when they brought Jesus before Pilate.

The Jews considered all Gentile homes and buildings to be unclean, so the Jewish leaders entered the courtyard outside Pilate’s residence.

How sick and sinful was their logic to think that they would please God by not entering a Gentile house while at the same time illegally murdering God’s Son.

The Jews took elaborate precautions to avoid ritual contamination in order to eat the Passover while at the very same time, they were busy manipulating the judicial system to secure the death of Christ who alone is the true Passover.

PILATE ASKS FOR THE CHARGES AGAINST JESUS 18:29-32

Pontius Pilate had been appointed the fifth governor of Judea by Emperor Tiberius in A.D. 26 and held that position for about ten years.

The Jewish leaders were not looking for a trial of any kind they simply wanted Pilate to rubber-stamp their decision and sentence Jesus to death. Instead, exercising his prerogative as governor, he ordered a fresh hearing over which he would preside.

The Jewish leaders’ false, blasphemous assertion that Jesus was an evildoer was an assault on His character, but not an accusation of a specific legal violation. That fact that they could not bring one legitimate charge against Jesus affirmed His innocence.

It was inevitable that Pilate would cave in to the Jewish leaders’ demands that Jesus be put to death so that the word of Jesus indicating how He was going to die would be fulfilled. Jesus in Mark 10:33-34, had predicted that He would be handed over to the Gentiles to be put to death.

PILATE’S EXAMINATION OF JESUS 18:33-38a

The Jewish leaders had sought to portray Jesus as a rebel, bent on overthrowing Roman rule and establishing His own. So Pilate, after entering the Praetorium, again summoned Jesus and asked Him: Are you King of the Jews?

Not seeing Jesus as a threat to Rome Pilate moved on to ask Jesus what He had done, that is, what laws had he broken, what crimes had he committed?

Jesus answered Pilate’s original question by saying, My kingdom is not of (Greek preposition ek; “out from the midst of”) this world. His kingdom was a spiritual kingdom, a heavenly kingdom where only those who are born again can enter.

John 3:5-6 Jesus answered Nicodemus, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:50 Paul said to the church at Corinth: I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Only those born again (born from above by the Holy Spirit) can enter this kingdom, and when Jesus returns to judge this world He will hand over His spiritual kingdom to the Father:  1 Corinthians 15:21-25

Jesus was not and never will be an earthly king. No earthly king would have allowed himself to have been captured so easily.

The messianic kingdom is not about conquering armies and nations but about the conquering of sin in the lives of those who belong to Christ’s spiritual kingdom.

Christ’s mission on earth was to testify to the truth by proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23).

What people do with the message of truth Jesus proclaimed determines their eternal destiny thus Jesus said: Everyone who is of the truth hears (implies obey) My voice.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:27-28).

Like skeptics of all ages, including contemporary postmodernists, Pilate mocked the idea of there being universal absolute truth. This is the tragedy of fallen man’s rejection of God.

PILATE’S VERDICT OF JESUS 18:38b

Having completed his examination of Jesus, Pilate pronounced his verdict. He went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in Him.

There were no valid charges brought against Jesus at the beginning and no conviction of Him at the end.

The blameless Son of God was maligned, hated, falsely accused and condemned to death so that guilty sinners like you and like me could be forgiven and made right with God through faith in Him. The innocent was put to death so the guilty could go free. Does that sound fair to you? That is the gospel.