Back in John chapter 18. John 18. In this chapter, we've
been going through this chapter, and our Lord has been taken by
this band of men that Judas brought. That's how the chapter started.
And brought to be tried and judged And how foolish is man to judge
the judge of the earth? How foolish is man, really, to
judge the judge of the earth? Can you imagine the horror of
every man that Christ stood before? when they, in turn, had to stand
right back before him. It was not long at all. He stood
before all these men and pled. He didn't plead his case. But
right after that, they have to stand now in front of him. Can
you imagine that? But that salvation might be accomplished
and that the scripture might be fulfilled, our Lord allowed
himself to be taken to a man named Annas first. That's where they brought him
first, a man named Annas. And Annas the priest, he couldn't
find any fault in him, nothing at all. So he sent our Lord bound
to a man named Caiaphas. He was the high priest. And while
our Lord was being tried by Caiaphas, that's when Peter denied Him,
just like the Lord said He would. Verse 28 is where we pick up.
It says, Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of
judgment. And it was early, and they themselves
went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled but
that they might eat the Passover. In order to partake of the Passover,
by law, they had to keep themselves from being defiled. But do you
know what? We don't. Isn't that relieving? We don't. God's people do not have that
impossible burden laid on them. Isn't that so restful? And really, it's an impossible
burden. And you know why we don't have to keep ourselves undefiled? The reason is because we are
kept by the power of God. Christ is our spotlessness. I'm not spotless, but He is,
and He's my spotlessness. I am as clean as He is in Him. He is my holiness and He's my
purity and in Him we may freely take of Him. Isn't that wonderful?
So wonderful. Well, the middle of verse 28
says it was early. It was probably about six o'clock
in the morning. And they had been trying our
Lord all night long. And the hall of judgment is also
known as Pilate's house. So Caiaphas now, he sends our
Lord to Pilate because Caiaphas and these other men, they convinced
themselves that our Lord was worthy to die. And I want to
show you how they convinced themselves of that in Matthew 26. Turn with
me over to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, here's the same account,
hymn before Caiaphas, verse 57, it says, they that had laid hold
on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes
and elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off
unto the high priest's palace and went in and sat with the
servants to see the end. Now the chief priest and elders
and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put
him to death, but found none. They tried, they tried, they
tried, they found none. Yea, though many false witnesses
came, they were lying and lying and lying, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses
and said, this fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of
God and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose
and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which
these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And
the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee
by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ,
the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast
said. Nevertheless, I say unto you,
Hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand
of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest
rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of
witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his
blasphemy. What think ye? They answered
and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face
and buffet him, and others smoked him with the palms of their hands,
or the margin says rods in their hands, saying, Prophesy unto
us, thou Christ, who is he that smoked thee? They lied on him,
and they lied on him, and they lied on him all night long. trying to find some reason to
kill him. And someone finally said, he
said that he was able to destroy the temple and rebuild it in
three days. Even though they had no idea
that he was talking about his own body. They had no idea of
that. He said, nobody takes my life
from me, I lay it down. And then three days later, I'm
going to raise it up again. That's what he kept saying. And
even though they had no idea that he was talking about his
own death, his own burial, and his own resurrection, it still
wasn't a lie because he is able to tear down their temple and
rebuild it in three days if that's what he wants to do. He most
certainly is able to do that. We could go back to Genesis 1
and see everything he did in the first three days. He created
light. He created the firmament. He
created dry land and everything on it, trees and grass. He can pile up a couple of stones
if He wants to. In one day, on the fourth day,
one day, that's whenever He made the sun, the moon, the stars,
all of the heavens, all of the galaxies, all of the solar system.
We'll just repeat this morning's message. But Caiaphas asked him, he said,
Are you the Christ? And our Lord said, Thou hast
said. He only spoke the truth. The whole time he only spoke
the truth. But they said, You're lying and
that's blasphemy. Actually, not believing the word
of God himself is blasphemy. And after they lied on him all
night long, they take him over to Pilate. Caiaphas says, you
bind him and send him to Pilate. But they wouldn't dare go into
the judgment hall because they don't want to defile themselves.
They lied on God, and they lied on God, and they lied on God,
and they accused him. But then when they get there,
we're not going to go in because we don't want to defile ourselves.
What hypocrites. That's religion. Hypocrites. Our Lord, I love how in this
word of God you will never hear him use the word hypocrite to
a sinner. Never. I mean, they're all sinners,
but you won't hear him walk up to a drunk and say, you hypocrite.
But he'll go right up to the Pharisees, the leaders of religion,
and he'll say, you hypocrite. Hypocrites. Lie on God, deny
God Himself, but let's uphold the traditions. Can't go in.
Look at what our Lord told them in Matthew 23. Look over a couple
of pages to Matthew 23. Matthew 23 verse 23 says, Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe
of mint, and anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought
ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. You blind guides
which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Isn't that wonderful? Strain at a gnat, swallow a camel. Verse 25, Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make clean the outside
of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse
first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside
of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you're like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's
bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within, You are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. Is it not a great wonder that
the Lord saved any sinner? Really, any sinner. We said this
morning, the mystery of godliness. It is the mystery of godliness.
That's what it is. We all are cut from the same
lump. You know, a true believer of
Christ never develops that holier-than-thou attitude. He knows I was cut
from the same lump. But for the grace of God, there
go I. But for the grace of God. There
is no greater display of the mercy that is in the Lord's heart
than the cross. And that's a weighty statement. And the reason is because that
cross displays what was already in His heart. Who He is. His desire. His will. Mercy. He's a merciful, merciful, God. That song says, Oh, how merciful,
blessed Lord, that was to me. The very ones, you know, we're
coming up, we read it just a moment ago, they all cried again, crucify
him. The very ones who cried, crucify him, he saved 5,000 of
them at Pentecost. Right after that, the very ones. What a God. What a God. God of mercy. Go with me back
to John 18. John 18 verse 28, Then led they
Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment. And it was
early, and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest
they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
Pilate then went out unto them and said, What accusation bring
ye against this man? They answered and said unto him,
If he were not a male factor, we would not have delivered him
up unto thee. Pilate came out and said, What's
he guilty of? What accusation do you have against
him? What proof do you have on this
man? And they just said, if he wasn't
a criminal, we would have never brought him to you in the first
place. That's how they answered him. Verse 31, Then said Pilate
unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The
Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put
any man to death. We don't just want him to be
punished, we want him dead. That's not enough and it's not
lawful for us to put any man to death so we brought him to
you. Verse 32, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which
he spake signifying what death he should die. Now something
absolutely glorious and powerful was shown to me in this and I
love it. I can't wait to tell you this.
We know this but We're going to see some sovereignty here.
Go to chapter 12, John chapter 12. John 12 verse 32, our Lord said,
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me." This he said signifying what death he should die. He chose the means of his own
death. He chose the means. He was proving
to them that he's in sovereign control here. He chose the means
of his own death. Commentators say, I read these
commentaries, and the commentators say that the Romans who ruled
Jerusalem at this time. Rome came in and this is why
they brought him to Pilate. Pilate was a Roman. And the Romans
who ruled Jerusalem at this time, they took the Jews' right away
from them to kill a man, probably to protect themselves, to protect
the Romans. They said the Jews can't kill
anybody. So they took that right away from them. But the Jews
did have a law on putting a man to death. It's in our Old Testament. They had this law on how to put
a man to death. He was to be stoned to death. When the Jews put somebody to
death, they stoned him. The Romans crucified. That's how they killed people.
All right? Had our Lord been sentenced by
the Jews, He would have been stoned to death. But He said,
I must be lifted up. I'm going to be lifted up. I'm
choosing the means of my own death. And in obedience to our
King's command, that's exactly what happened. This is the King
Himself. Look at Matthew chapter 20. I
want you to see His exact words on this. I love this. Matthew 20, look at verse 17. And Jesus going up to Jerusalem
took the twelve disciples apart in the way and said unto them.
Now listen to what he tells them. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem
and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests. That's
Caiaphas. and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles,
that's the Romans, that's Pilate, to mock, and to scourge, and
to crucify him. And the third day he shall rise
again. So let it be written, so let
it be done. The King has spoken. This is
how I'm going to cause it to be. The mighty sovereignty. You know we have sovereign on
our sign. The mighty sovereignty that was
in every detail of this great transaction. Absolute control. Absolute control. Everything
was according to his will, it was according to his way, and
it was according to his time. Every bit of it. Absolute control. Alright, go with me back to John
18. Verse 31, Then said Pilate unto
them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The
Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put
any man to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which
he spake, signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered
into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto
him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest
thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? I love our Lord's answers, the
wisdom of his answers. We could learn how to answer
Pharisees just by listening to our Lord. Our Lord knew the thoughts
of this weak pawn. Pilate said, Are you the king
of the Jews? And our Lord said, Are you starting to see that
for yourself, or did others tell you that about me? Verse 35, Pilate answered, Am
I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief
priest have delivered thou unto me. What hast thou done? What hast thou done? He's asking
our Lord that question from a criminal point of view. Why are you here?
What have you done? But here's the sad truth. Here
is the sad truth that condemns every sinner. That sinner has no idea what
he has done. This morning we looked at great
things he has done. No idea that sinner hasn't been
given eyes to see who this is. You know what a blessing that
is? It sounds to the ear so simple, doesn't it? Verse 36, Jesus answered, 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 hence." May we always
remember that concerning this world. We have here no continuing city.
No matter what the condition of it is up until the last day,
he's going to burn it up. We look for a new city. There's no reason to fight for
this one. I love this country and I love
all these things, but our Lord is in control of everything that's
happening here. And if this was his kingdom,
we would fight, but it's not. It's not. We look for a better
country, the one where he dwells. That's the only one we care about.
Verse 36, Jesus answered, 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 hence. Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou a king then? 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. Every
one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Now our Lord said
something wonderful in that one verse of scripture. He said,
I was born king. That's what he said, I was born.
He said, to this end was I born. Pilate said, are you a king then?
And he said, thou sayest. To this end was I born, and for
this cause right here." He's bound for this cause right here.
came I into the world." For this death right here, this is the
whole reason I came, everything hinges on this right here. What
he's saying is, a sacrifice is about to be made, Pilate. That's
what he's telling him. A sacrifice is about to be made. I'm the
high priest that will offer the sacrifice to God Almighty, the
only one he's going to accept. the only one He will truly accept. He said, ìTo this end was I born,
and for this cause came I into the world,î listen to this, ìthat
I should bear witness unto the truth.î What Heís saying is,
ìI am that prophet.î They asked John, ìAre you that prophet?î
He said, He's telling him, I came to bear witness of the truth. I'm the prophet, I'm the priest,
I'm the king. That's what he told Pilate. Verse
37, he said, Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. And verse 38, Pilate said unto
him, What is truth? What is truth? There are so many
messages in this portion of scripture lying upon. I see title after
title after title. What is truth? This poor man,
poor pilot, poor pilot. He's standing right in front
of you. He asked him, what is truth?
You hear you're hearing it right now, right now. I'm telling you,
if somebody could go to him and say, pilot, today is the day
of salvation. You're hearing it right now.
Truth is not a what, truth is a who. Truth is a who. What is truth? Whatever proceeds
out of his mouth. Whatever comes out of his mouth,
that's truth. Verse 38, Pilate said unto him, What is truth?
And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews,
and said unto them, I find in him no fault at all. I love that finally they had
to admit the truth. I find no fault in him at all. Pilate found no fault in him
just like this poor world. Read the church signs as you
go by. They find no fault in him. They find no fault in Him. Let
me tell you what else Pilate didn't find in Him. He didn't
find any need in Him. I find no fault in Him. He also
found no need in Him. He found no salvation in Him.
He found no satisfaction in Him. He found no hope in Him. He found
no safety in Him. He found no security in Him.
He found no rest in Him. He found no comfort in Him. He
found no peace in Him. Verse 38, Pilate said unto him,
What is truth? And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews and said unto them, I find in
him no fault at all, but you have a custom that I should release
unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release
unto you the king of the Jews? Pilate acknowledged to all of
them that he was the king. But what Pilate did not acknowledge
was that he was Pilate's king. You know that? You want me to
release your king? The king of the Jews? Salvation
is not just acknowledging that he's the king. It's acknowledging
that he's my king. He is my king. Verse 39, But
you have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will you therefore that I release
unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying,
Not this man, but Barabbas." Now let's close this message
with wonderful news. Absolutely wonderful news. The
king was not released. Barabbas was. And we are Barabbas. Do you know how I know that?
Really? You know, we've had a message
on that before. You know how I know that? The
last line says, Now Barabbas was a robber. You know what that
makes him? He was a sinner. So are we. That's what we are. Sinners. Sinners. Christ came for one
reason only. To set the sinner free. That's why he came. He came to
set the sinner free. Hallelujah, what a Savior who
can take a poor lost sinner. And you know the other two that
hung on either side of him, they were railing on him. They weren't
sinners. Until God had mercy on one of
them. And then he became a sinner. And God set him free. You're
going to be in paradise. He came to set every sinner free. He can take a poor lost sinner,
lift him from the miry clay and set him free. I will ever tell
the story, shouting glory, glory, glory, hallelujah, the Lord Jesus
Christ ransomed me. I can only imagine that was Barabbas'
story the rest of his life. I can only imagine that. This
is the greatest news that a convicted sinner could ever hear in his
life. If a person ever becomes convicted, I've thought about
the fact before that I've never been convicted by the law. I've
never spent any time in jail and all that kind of stuff. So
you don't think about it that much. But if a person ever becomes
convicted, if they're ever put behind the bars of bondage, this
will be the greatest news they'll ever hear in their life. Ransom
is coming. A ransom was found. Start spreading
it cell to cell. A ransom has been found. Should
the King of the Jews be released? Not this man. Release the sinner
and then give that cross to the King. Isn't that something? Release
the sinner and then give that cross to the king. What an amazing
truth we have to tell. To God be the glory, great things
he's done. All right, let's stand together.