You Need Absolute Truth • John 18:28-40
Notes
In 1 Timothy 6 the Apostle Paul says that Jesus made the good confession before Pontius Pilate. He also exhorts Timothy to hold fast to that same confession, that Jesus is the Son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords. We are going to see that confession today. Jesus is testifying to who He is, the King of truth.
We might find this wearying, like Pilate, who finally asks, what is truth? Then he walks away, without waiting for an answer. But today we will see that to live rightly we need absolute truth in our lives.
Absolute truth is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Jesus is taken to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate so He can be put to death.
A. Notice that John passes over Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Senate, and Caiaphas, the high priest.
B. The other gospels show that it was not a real trial, because the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas weren’t trying to investigate Jesus and decide if He were guilty or innocent. They were trying to find some grounds to condemn Him so they could take Him to Pilate and get Jesus executed. We’ll see why they do this in a minute.
2. Notice the pure hypocrisy of these men.
A. Hypocrisy is not having the virtues that you pretend you have, as a covering for evil.
B. These men bring Jesus to the Roman governor’s residence, called the Praetorium, but they themselves stay outside. If they had gone in, they would have been ceremonially unclean and unable to eat the Feast of Unleavened Bread that happened directly after the Passover and was included with Passover.
C. Yet, they hate Jesus and want to kill Him. But they don’t see that as breaking the law of God. They are unaware of their sin.
D. Some people justify themselves because they do certain things by which they can prove they are righteous. I remember talking to a Catholic man who didn’t want to hear the Gospel. He said, “I go to Mass every single day. Don’t you tell me that I need to be born again. I can prove I’m right with God!” I do these things, and I’m okay. Is that what the Bible says? How do you know what you believe is true?
3. Pilate throws a monkey wrench into the chief priest’s plans. He doesn’t want anything to do with Jesus.
A. That sentence of Pilate in verse 29 is the classic opening sentence of a Roman trial. Court is in session. This is standard procedure.
B. But the chief priests have a short-tempered reply: “If this guy wasn’t an evildoer we wouldn’t have delivered Him up to you.”
1. The explanation for this is that before the chief priests arrested Jesus they wanted to make sure they could get rid of Him quickly. This is happening during a major feast, there are a lot of pilgrims in Jerusalem. They didn’t want to drag things out with a trial and go public. There could be a riot if they didn’t do what they did quickly. So before they arrested Jesus they had to make sure the Roman governor would cooperate with them and condemn Jesus once they had arrested Him.
2. So instead of rubber-stamping the Sanhedrin’s decision quickly, Pilate is opening an investigation. What are you doing, they are saying in effect. We had a deal, we deliver Him up, you condemn and crucify Him. What is this?
C. But it gets worse! Pilate says, go take Him and judge Him according to your law. He does not want to deal with this.
D. The real reason they can’t do this is because Jesus already said how He was going to die, and His word must be fulfilled.
1. The priests say we can’t judge Him because it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. The Romans were the occupying force, and capital punishment belonged to them alone. If the Jews were to condemn Jesus as a blasphemer the penalty would have been stoning.
2. But the Scriptures say nothing about the Messiah being stoned. If you look at Psalm 22 that death is fulfilled only by what happens in crucifixion. Jesus said multiple times He was going to be crucified and crucifixion was a Roman punishment. Jesus’ words must be fulfilled because Jesus is God.
4. Pilate tries to interrogate Jesus but Jesus interrogates Pilate instead.
A. In all four gospels Pilate’s first question is: Are You the King of the Jews?
B. The reason for this is Luke 23:2. And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” When Pilate starts to back out of their deal the chief priests lie and say that Jesus is claiming to be the King of the Jews, knowing that Rome would not tolerate any Jewish uprising. Now Pilate can’t ignore this whole mess. So he goes in to the Praetorium and asks Jesus, are You the King of the Jews?
C. Jesus responds with His own question: “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” That’s really interesting: is this you speaking, or are you just repeating what others have told you? As if to say, why do you want to know? What’s it to you?
D. The reason you ask a question is to get a response, hopefully a true response. And Jesus provokes a true response from Pilate. “Am I a Jew?” It is true to say, no. That means: None of this has anything to do with me! I don’t care!
E. Pilate says it looks like you did something. Your own people, your own high priests, have handed you over to me. So what did you do?
F. Jesus answers Pilate with truth.
1. True: I am a king. I have a kingdom.
2. True: I am not a danger to Rome because this kingdom is not of this world. The Greek word is kosmos, meaning the world and the universe. The only other option is above, that is, heaven.
3. Here is proof that I am telling the truth. My servants would be fighting for Me right now so that I would not be turned over to the Jews. They are not. Earthly kingdoms don’t function like this. The king has bodyguards to protect him. I have servants but they are not fighting for Me.
4. Therefore this is the truth: My kingdom is not from here, this kosmos, this world.
F. Pilate’s curiosity is piqued! He’s curious even as he is skeptical. He doesn’t believe Jesus is telling the truth. You?? You are a king, huh?
G. Jesus again tells Pilate the truth.
1. Yes, I am a king. I am a ruler with sovereign power.
2. For this cause I was born, for this cause I have come into the world. I have a purpose, and this purpose I had before I was born. I existed before I came into the world.
3. My purpose is to bear witness to the truth, what is real, fundamental reality. Absolute truth that applies to every person in all places and in all times.
4. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. That divides everyone into one of two camps.
a. Those who are of the truth. They are true themselves, and they obey My voice. I am their king.
b. Those who are not of the truth. They are liars. They do not hear My voice, they do not obey Me, they are enemies against Me, they are rebels.
5. Now, I wish we could ask Pilate, do you see that conflict? Is it true that there are liars and murderers and deceivers in this world? Look at those chief priests, look at this Man. Which of these are true, which of these are liars?
5. Pilate discovers he really needs the truth.
A. He doesn’t think he needs truth. He doesn’t think there is any truth. “What is truth?” he asks. And he doesn’t stay for an answer!
B. He is saying, who can determine what is true for all people, all times, all places? What is truth that applies to everyone? Who decides that?
C. Pilate is saying I don’t want anything to do with this. I don’t need this!
D. It is amazing that he goes out to the chief priests and says, I find no fault in Him. You brought Him to me as an evildoer. If He were not an evildoer we wouldn’t have brought Him to you! Well, there is no fault in Him at all. You are wrong.
E. Now Pilate looks for a way out of this situation. The tradition is that I release a prisoner for you at Passover. How about I release to you the King of the Jews? He still doesn’t want to condemn Jesus, which is what the chief priests want!
F. But the priests have told the gathering crowd to ask for Barabbas instead. Barabbas is a murderer and a robber, a violent thief. He deserves to die for what he has done.
G. But the pressure is on Pilate. And he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions. He knows that Jesus is innocent, but he doesn’t have the moral strength to declare Jesus innocent and these Jews guilty. He finds that he is being forced to do something that he knows is wrong.
6. So what? There is such a thing as absolute truth. And we all need absolute truth in our lives.
A. It’s often said, “There is no such thing as absolute truth!” Just realise, that is a statement affirming a truth in absolute terms. So that statement cannot possibly be true. There is absolute truth, that is true for every person, in every place, in every time.
B. What is truth?, asks Pilate. Who decides what is true and what is a lie? Which religion, which philosophy, which dictator? The biblical answer is God. God created everything by His will and by His understanding and His power. It belongs to Him. He determines reality. It all holds together in Him. In Him we live and move and have our being.
C. God! Who is God? How do we know which God is the true God? We have so many religions that claim absolute truth. The modern version of Pilate says, all religions say the same thing. What is truth? I don’t care. I don’t want to deal with this.
D. But you do have to deal with this. If you don’t have the truth in you, you are already deceived by lies.
1. You might be like the chief priests, absolutely certain you are right, careful not to be defiled even as you plot to kill someone.
2. Or like Pilate, knowing what the truth is, but afraid to live for what is right. Then he is forced to do what he knows is wrong.
3. The Bible says everyone has to stand before God and give account of one’s life. The truth will come out.
E. Here we have the witness of Jesus Christ. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. He said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.
F. Not only did Jesus die for our sins and rise from the dead, He is coming back to the earth to set up the kingdom of God on earth. He is a king. He is going to rule in truth.
G. How do we test this? We test it through the Bible.
1. The word of God is true. People who reject the Bible have never read it. Does that make sense? Why be afraid of a book? The Bible says men loved the darkness because their deeds are evil.
2. If you read the Bible you will find a God who loves you. You will find that you have sinned against God who loves you. But rather than destroy you He sent His Son to die for your sins so that you could be truly forgiven and know Him in truth.
3. The Bible also says that before Jesus returns to the earth God will allow a liar to appear. Just like Jesus is the king of truth, this liar, the antichrist, will breathe out lies. He will perform miracles and lying signs and wonders. He will sit in the temple of God, and proclaim that he is God. If you don’t worship him, he will put you to death.
F. Even now as that time draws near we see more and more lies, growing all around us. You see lies in the news, in the social media. Who is telling the truth? Who can we trust? Jesus is coming, but the antichrist comes first. How will anyone stand without the truth? The answer is, you won’t. You will be made to do what you know is wrong. You won’t be able to resist the pressure. We need the truth in us, now. We need to be of the truth.
G. Jesus prayed in John 17 to keep us from the evil one, He prayed, sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. When we have the word of God in our hearts we won’t be deceived by lies. When Jesus lives in us, He will keep us in the truth and we don’t have to be afraid of being deceived.
We all need absolute truth. His name is Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.