Everything, turn with me back
in your Bibles to John Chapter 19. Everything about our Lord
Jesus Christ, his words, his silence, his action. All of it
is perfect fulfilment of these Old Testament scriptures that
Simon opened up to us just now. It's just lovely to look back
on those Old Testament scriptures and see what was exercising the mind of our
great God and Saviour as He went to the cross. And I want us to
just briefly look at something that's sort of been very interesting. You know in Isaiah chapter 53
it says, Isaiah 53 verse 6, That's sin, isn't it? His own way. And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
done, so he openeth not his mouth. And yet, In John 19 and John
18 he does open his mouth. So I just want us to spend a
little bit of time looking briefly at why did the Lord not answer,
and why did he answer, and what lessons we might learn from that. And I'll try and be as brief
as possible. In John chapter 19, 9 He went again into the judgment
hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? Where have you come
from? And Jesus gave him no answer. He had already given him an answer
in the previous chapter, and this is part of what Timothy
says is the good confession of the Lord Jesus Christ before
Pilate. And we looked at that a few weeks
ago in overview. But the Lord said to Pilate,
he said, my kingdom, verse 36 of John 18, 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. I don't have a kingdom of this
world. My kingdom rules over everything in this world. My
kingdom's a spiritual kingdom. And Pilate therefore said unto
him, Art thou then a king? 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. And then there's a glorious description
of all the children of God. "'Everyone that is of the truth, "'everyone
whose origin is of the truth, "'everyone whose origin is from
God, "'heareth my voice.'" Oh, the voice of God. So the Lord
Jesus Christ did answer, but he didn't answer the Sanhedrin,
he didn't answer Herod, he didn't answer and he didn't answer. And here Pilate gets infuriated
against the Lord when he says, Pilate, verse 10 of John 19,
Pilate said unto him, speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou
not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release
thee? And then Jesus answered. So why, why this silence from
our Lord? And why the answer? Why the good confession? And why the silence? Pilate was afraid of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was fearful because when they
said he's made himself the Son of God in verse 7, Pilate was
more afraid. This man who was representative
of the greatest power on all of earth and had at his disposal
all the power of Rome eventually, he was afraid. He was fearful
in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord obviously could have
answered, and he could have answered as he did in the garden. Down
in the garden, they said, who are you? He said, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus. He just
said one word in the original, two words, sorry. He says, I
am. He was saying, I am God Almighty.
And a small army with swords and staves and lanterns fell
to the ground as dead men. He could have answered, he could
have walked out of Pilate's court there. He is here as our sovereign
God and our glorious substitute. But he came, he came to this
world, he came to declare firstly the glory of the name of his
father. In all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ, and particularly
on the cross, all of the glorious attributes of God have the most
extraordinary light shone upon them. He's come. He says again
and again, Father, glorify your name. That's his prayer. Glorify
your name. He's come to declare the name
of God. He's come to declare the righteousness
of God, the sovereignty of God. He's come in all of that amazing
process. He's come as the great wisdom
of God. He's come as the spotless lamb. He's come as the great
sacrifice to the sins of his people. He's come to save his
people from their sins and therefore, He could do nothing and would
do nothing to stop himself from going to the cross. He gave him
back to the smiters. He set his face like a flint
to go to Jerusalem. He must perfectly fulfill all
of the word of God. From Genesis 1.1 to Revelation
22, all of it has to be perfectly fulfilled in him and him crucified. He's not going to do anything
other than completely trust his Father in perfect faith. His
silence declares himself. He declares himself to be holy.
He declares himself to be faithful. He declares himself to be perfectly
obedient from the heart. He declares himself to be perfectly
trusting of his Father. That's what Isaiah 50 says, isn't
it? The Lord God will help me. The
Lord God will help me. The Lord God will justify. He
is near who justifies me. He is going to declare the faithfulness
and he's going to declare his great love for himself. They
said on the cross, he saved others, himself he couldn't save. What
a glorious word. He couldn't save himself. He
was silent. He was silent. He was offering
his soul, an offering unto the Lord. He must go to the cross. So the first reason for his silence
is he would not vindicate himself. The other reason for his silence
is that here before Pilate and before us is the perfect wisdom
of God. Proverbs 17.27 says, And he that
hath knowledge spareth his word, and a man of understanding is
of an excellent spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ is made
unto us wisdom. He's made unto us wisdom. In Him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. His silence is an exercise of
his wisdom and knowledge. He must go to the cross as the
perfect lamb of God and the lamb of God's providing. In not answering
for himself, we see him bearing all the sins of his people in
his own body. And as he did so, he was the
spotless lamb, the perfect and only sacrifice that was satisfactory
to God. His silence reveals him committing
himself perfectly to his Father, in perfect faith that God would
justify him. I love how Peter describes what
happened to the Lord Jesus Christ at this time in Herod's Here
it's called, in 1 Peter 2, verse 22, he says, this Lord Jesus
Christ, he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again. He was silent. When he suffered, he threatened
not. but committed himself to him
that judges righteously. And this is why, who in his own
self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being
dead to sins should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes
we are healed. To go back to what we've said
so often, how perfect do you need to be in the presence of
God? What sort of faithfulness do
you have to have? What sort of obedience do you
have to have to be in the presence of God? You have to have this
obedience and this faithfulness under these circumstances. He reviled not again. There wasn't
a thought that passed the Saviour's mind
in enmity against these people. He perfectly trusted his Father. In the midst of all of that,
the first thing we do when we revile is immediately we want
to respond. immediately wanted to defend
ourselves. He was reviled by the religious,
he was reviled by the political, and he was reviled by the powerful,
and there he is covered in blood with a crown of thorns on his
head and a purple robe in his hand and a reed, and there they
were mocking him as king, and he was perfect in thought and
in word. Don't you love how the Gospel
writers remind everyone that the life we live, we live because
of the faithfulness of the Son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me. He was perfect under the greatest
trials. His robe of righteousness was
a robe of righteousness that was perfectly woven and perfectly
seamless. Why was he silent? He wouldn't
vindicate himself. He must go to the cross. He is
the perfect wisdom of God. He was silent. Because all of the
sins of all of God's elect children were in the cup that he held. And the cup that he was drinking,
the cup but on Calvary's tree, he would drink dry. Why was he silent? He was guilty of the commission
of those sins. And I know this religious world
sees that as blasphemous, but let's just go and look again
at some of what God says about what was happening at this time.
And we'll see in this, we'll see in this the reason for his
silence, and we'll see in this the reason for his answer. Turn
with me to Psalm chapter 40. And I'll read while you're turning
there. I'll read from verse seven. Then
said I, lo, I come. In the volume, the book, it is
written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. Listen to what he speaks of himself.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo,
I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest. I have
not hid Thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared Thy
faithfulness and Thy salvation. I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness. I have not concealed Thy grace.
and thy truth from the great congregation. Why is it a great
congregation? Because they're his congregation.
Why is wherever God raises up a church to declare his name,
why are they all called the great congregation? Not great in themselves,
they're great because of who is there, they're great because
of who gathers them. And then he says in verse 11,
withhold not Thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord, let
thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me. And
this is what was happening in the preservation of the Lord
Jesus Christ as he bore the sins of his people on the way to Calvary.
Listen to what he says in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 12. Innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Innumerable evils have surrounded
me. Why was he silent? Listen to
what the Word of God says. My iniquities have taken hold
upon me. Why was he silent? So that I
am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs
of mine head, therefore my heart faileth me. That's what happened
to him in Gethsemane's garden. Great drops of blood poured on
a cold night from the broken heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he goes on to say, let them
be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy
it. Let them be driven backwards and put to shame that wish me
evil. That's what happened in the garden. Let them be desolate
for a ward of their shame and that say unto me, ah-ha, ah-ha. That's what they said on the
cross. It's a rejoicing over an enemy's misfortune, is what
they were crying. And yet, he opened not his mouth,
he opened not his mouth because he wouldn't vindicate himself,
he must go to the cross. He opened not his mouth because
he is the perfect Winston of God. He opened not his mouth
because he was guilty as he bore those sins in his own body on
the tree. He owns them, we've just read
it. He says they are my sins. While you're in Psalms, turn
back in Psalms to chapter 18. I just love this verse. It's
such a glorious description of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says
in verse 23 of Psalm 18, I was also upright before him. Who was upright before God? There's
none righteous. No, not one. There's one that's
righteous. There's one that's upright before him. And I kept
myself from mine iniquity. Now his iniquities, such is the
glory of his union with his bride. Turn with me in Psalm to Psalm
69. I just want us to understand
why he was silent. According to the Word of God,
he was guilty. He was made to be guilty of the
transgression of all of the sins of all of his people. And that's
why in holiness and justice, God Almighty poured out his wrath,
he took the sword of his justice and plunged it into the heart
of his son. Psalm 69 verse five. Oh God,
thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee. I could go on and on and on. The Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all. Why was he silent? He wouldn't vindicate himself,
he must go to the cross. He is the perfect wisdom of God. He is the perfect fulfilment
of all the scriptures. And all of the scriptures and
all of creation centres on this one event that we're reading
about in John chapter 19. This one event. All of human
history is coalesced into one. All of the reason for this universe
existing initially. Here's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. The reason for this universe
still existing is that some, some of those lambs are still
here. I don't know where they are.
All I know is that they will hear the shepherd's voice and
they'll come when the shepherd calls. and all of the sins were in the
cup. He was silent. He was silent
because he was bearing those sins. He wouldn't defend himself. But the good confession, if you
turn with me back to John chapter 19, the good confession as declared
by 1 Timothy chapter 6 that Christ gave before Pilate, and here's
the last part of that good confession. Pilate said to him, saith unto
him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? What a
proud boast of man that is. What a pathetic boast of man.
He in a temporal sense had power and he'd exercised that power
and seen Rome exercise that power so many times that you can excuse
him from a human point of view for saying that. But I love the
answer. This is the good confession of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Why did he speak? Jesus answered,
Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were
given thee from above. You don't have any power. Here is Pilate, a mere man, boasting
to Christ, the Son of God, that he has power over Christ's life
and death. The Lord was silent in vindicating
and excusing himself. But when the glory of his Father
is maligned, he must speak to be perfectly faithful. He was
perfectly faithful in his silence and he's perfectly faithful in
his confession. He has to go to the cross as
one who lived in perfect faithfulness and perfect righteousness. And
he must vindicate his father, and particularly he must vindicate
his father when it comes to the great and glorious transaction
of what happened at the cross. Pilate speaks. as a representative
of Rome, but he speaks as a representative of all of this religious world
that says, we have some power over the Lord Jesus Christ. I
have power to make his work effective for me. Isn't that what's being
said? Am I being faithful to what's
being said around us? power is in my hands salvation
is ultimately in my hand God has done all that he can do and
now it's up to you and he'll save you if if you can add whatever you like There's an evil meeting going
on in Rome at the moment, isn't it? Every morning they get up
and they commit a blasphemy against God Almighty, don't they, by
taking that despicable mass, which is saying that the power
of God is in the hands of men. And we can distribute that power
as we see fit. The Lord Jesus Christ says, you
can have no power against me. You have no power against me,
except it be given thee from above. You have no power. In this transaction of the cross
between my father and I on the cross of Calvary, according to
the glorious dictates and recorded words of the Lord Jesus, the
Holy Spirit, you have no power. You have no power. That's why
he said to Pilate earlier, my kingdom's not of this world.
If my kingdom was of this world, my servants would fight that
I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now my kingdom
is not from hence. He says, to this end was I born,
and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear
witness to the truth. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
come to try. He didn't come to make an attempt. He didn't come to make something
possible. He didn't come to create a place
for an offering. He came as he promised. He says,
I came to save my people from their sins. And where were their
sins? Where were all the sins of all
of God's people? He bore them in his own body
on the tree. The Lord has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. And therefore, when it comes
to the transaction of the cross, when it comes to God revealing
God to God and to this world, according to the word of God
on the cross of Calvary, he must stand and he must confess a good
confession. He will not, our Lord Jesus Christ,
will not allow for man, any man, to deny what was happening to
him at that time in that great transaction between him and his
father. Men will do as God allows them
to do under the strong delusion he gives them. But the Lord Jesus
Christ is not gonna have his people believing those lies. He came to do He must answer. He must answer. Just in closing, I want us to
remember that I just love the story of Abraham. Abraham's given
the most remarkable promises. God's children are given the
most remarkable promises in the Scriptures. We give him the most
glorious descriptions of who God is. He says, fear not Abram,
I'm thy shield and thy exceeding great war, Genesis 15. And Abram
says, I don't have any children, I don't have any descendants,
you haven't given them any of them to me. And Abram's taken outside and
he says, you look up at the stars in the sky. There's a multitude
that no man can number. Please don't think that the victory
of the Lord Jesus Christ is a small victory. It's a number that no
man can number. Abraham, the father of the faithful,
looked up and he just believed God. He believed what God had
said and it was credited to him for righteousness. And then he
asked a question for which he could have been seriously rebuked
by God. He says, how do I know? How do
I know? And God says, you bring to me
what I require. You bring the emblems and the
pictures and the types of the sacrifice. And you cut those
animals in half. And Abraham, the father of the
faithful, had two things he had to do. One was to keep the wild birds
from the sacrifice. Why? because only a perfect and complete
sacrifice will satisfy God. The other thing that Abraham
had to do was fall asleep while God enacted those emblems of
the covenant, the eternal covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. How precious, how precious is the answer of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm going to the cross of Calvary
under the power of God. I'm going to be sustained on
the cross of Calvary by the power of God almighty. What extraordinary
power was required for him to bear the sins? Just think of
the sins that you and I are committing now and we've committed this
last day. The sins of unbelief, the sins of wickedness, the sins
of looking to this world and thinking that things are out
of control, that God has been... The sins that just are what we
are. And God laid them on his son.
What power was involved in laying them on his son? What remarkable
power was shown in punishing them on his son and sustaining
the son until the son could cry out and God the Father could
cry out, it is finished. It is finished. Why did the Lord
answer? It's all about the cross and
what happened on the cross of Calvary. It's all about His answer. His not answering is all about
Him going to the cross. His answering is all about what
He's doing on the cross of Calvary and why He must have that testimony
laid out before all humanity as He goes out and takes up His
cross and walks up that hill to Calvary, bearing the sins
of all of His people in His own body on the tree. to the extent where the holy
justice of God says they do not exist. That's the transaction
that we must speak about. That was his good confession.
May it be our good confession and may we be led of the Lord. to confess as the Lord Jesus
Christ did. He's all my salvation. It's all
been done. It's all been done. Rock of ages,
cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. May the Lord add his blessing
to his words. Let's have a break. Thank you.