Let me read for you several verses
of Scripture this morning out of the book of John, beginning
in chapter 18. Let's begin reading in verse
33 of John 18. Then Pilate entered into the
judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto Him, Art
Thou King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, sayest thou
this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate
answered, am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief
priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? 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
thence. 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. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is
truth? And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews, and saith 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 you therefore
I release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all
again, saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was
a robber. Then Pilate, therefore, took
Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown
of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple
robe and said, hail, king of the Jews. And they smote him
with their hands. Pilate, therefore, went forth
again and saith unto them, behold, I bring him forth to you, that
you may know that I find no fault in him.' Then came Jesus forth
wearing the crown of thorns and a purple robe. And Pilate saith
unto them, Behold the man. When the chief priests therefore
and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him,
crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take
ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered
him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because
he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the judgment
hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest
thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? Jesus
answered, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except
it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that delivered
me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate
sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying,
If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever
maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." Now, as we go through and study
the trial of Christ and we look at these various sects that are
gathered together against Him at His trial, I need to be reminded
and I need to remind you that what these men manifested toward
the Lord is what those same men manifest toward the Lord today.
The same thing. All that hated Him then hate
Him now. And time and education and governmental
change and geography has no effect on the natural man. None whatsoever. And as they reacted to His person
and His claims and His message then, Still, they react the same
to His person and His message now in His offices. Now, they
don't have His person to judge or mock or torture anymore. He
sits at the right hand of God. But they still have Christ to
contend with as He is set forth in the Gospel by the church of
the living God. He is still set forth in His
person and his offices, and that's the things that they despised
and hated about. You remember last week I told
you that he asked them, he said, for which of the good things
that I've done do you stone me? And they said, we stone thee
not for a good work, but because you said what he said. And what
he said was that he was God. He was the Son of God. He was
the Messiah. He was their salvation. So how
they react then is how they react now. And what they were angry
about then, they're still angry about. Now as best I can see,
the one issue for which he was despised the most, this is his
trial. You have here represented all
men. You have the common man, the
working class man, the blue collar worker, he's there. You have
the Gentile. kings and governments of this
world represented and you have religion represented. And they all proposed these questions
to him. They all brought these issues
forth for him to be judged for. And as near as I can tell, studying
this trial, the one thing they despised about him the most was
his lordship. This is what they made the point
of. And this is what Pilate questioned him. Now, he tells Pilate, Pilate
comes in and says, art thou king of the Jews? And he said, who
told you that? How do you know that? You're
not a Jew. You're not a religious man. You're
a governor of this province. And we're under your authority.
Who told you that? Who told you to ask me this?
Is this something you come up on your own or somebody put you
up to this? who brought these charges. So
I know by this answer that it was the people who pushed the
issue of his kingship to Pilate. And they used it in an evil way,
saying that he proposed some kind of a threat to Pilate. But
nevertheless, whatever the reason, the Jesus of Nazareth was king of the Jews. They put
it on his cross. And the Jews said, no, don't
put that on there. Well, that was their issue. Why
not put it on there? Pilate saw through that what
they did. He saw, he knew what they were
doing was wrong. He knew that the issues before
him were religious issues and not civil issues. But because
of their intimidation toward him and because of the threat
of losing his office, he went ahead and let them have their
way. But when they did, he wrote on there in three different languages,
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. And they said, no, don't
put that on there. Put on there he said. I said,
no, what I put on there, I put on there. He's king of the Jews. It's one issue. Now, knowing
that Jesus died on the cross, I don't know anybody that don't
know that. There's no excuse for not knowing
that unless you were born in deepest, darkest Africa somewhere.
There's no excuse for any man not to know that Jesus of Nazareth
died on a cross and was judged by a Roman authority named Pilate,
the governor of that province. And that he was put there as
a matter of the intimidation of the Jewish hierarchy. There's
no reason for any man not to know that. It's a matter of natural
history. Not only is it a matter of record
in the Word of God, but if you read Roman history, just read
the things that the Romans wrote about him, you'll find the same
thing. If you read the writings of the Jewish historians, you'll
find the same thing. He died on the cross. He died
there because they pushed these issues upon this Roman government.
Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, we'll leave this Messiah ship
out of it for now, but Jesus of Nazareth was the most prominent
figure of his age. It's important that you understand
that. Nobody on this earth, not Caesar, not anybody had more
recognition than Jesus of Nazareth. He was the most controversial
figure of his age. Not the Roman rule, not who ruled
the world, but this man, even Herod sought to see him do some
kind of a miracle. He just couldn't believe that
this man could call forth the dead and cleanse the lepers.
But there's too many witnesses not to believe it. Why bring this out? Why this
point? Because his death in his trial
was as public as any trial could be. There were thousands gathered. This was the feast days. This
was the day of the Passover. There were thousands. Every Jew,
every Jew was there. And the place was just filled
with people. It was the most public and open
trial of any man recorded anywhere on this earth. And all the details
are recorded. Now, whether you want to take
historians at their word or whatever, I'm satisfied with the testimony
of God concerning those trials. But there's lots of little details
that they add to it, not really significant details, but they
help you to understand what this trial was all about. His trial and his crucifixion,
if I can use a modern term, was the headline. This was the headline. Just like I woke up this morning
and turned the computer on and the first thing that popped up
there on the little news blog was all these deaths, the total
of the deaths over in Afghanistan. Well, this was the headline of
the whole corner of the globe where he was. And I don't see
how any man could doubt or dispute that Jesus of Nazareth died on
a Roman cross by the judgment of Pilate and by the insistence
of the hierarchy of Israel. You can find these facts anywhere. But to know these facts have
no saving efficacy to them whatsoever. None whatsoever. That's not going to cause any
change in you whatsoever to know those facts. Nothing whatsoever. The saving efficacy connected
with the death of Jesus of Nazareth has to do with who he was. Has
to do with who died on that cross. Not that somebody died, but who
died. If I tell you Jesus died on the
cross, that doesn't tell you anything until I tell you who
Jesus was. Jesus is the Christ. This is the Christ dying on the
cross. You see what I'm saying? It's who died on this cross.
By whose authority was he put to death? If this is the Christ,
then this is God come into the flesh. Who has the authority
to put God to death? Who has the wisdom and the righteousness
and the holiness to judge the Son of God? By whose authority
is He dying on this cross? I need to know and consider those
things. Why must He die? Why can't He accomplish salvation
without dying on the cross? Why does He have to die? He's
God. He can do anything, can't He?
Then why must He die? And then I need to consider this. I'm talking about the saving
efficacy of the death of Christ. Paul said he was determined not
to know anything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
he said that he was forbidden to glory in anything except the
cross. So what's going on? What's going
on? What was accomplished by his
death? Now these were the issues set forth of God in the suffering
and death of Christ, and these are the things which are made
known through the preaching of the gospel. It's not just that
Jesus died on the cross. It's not going to do you any
good whatsoever until you know who He was, why He came, what
He did, and where is He now. Paul defined the gospel he preached
and the gospel by which the Corinthians were called and the gospel by
which they were preserved unto salvation, all together wrapped
up in the declaration of how Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and risen again the
third day according to the Scriptures. We're not left in a vacuum concerning
His suffering and death. He was put to death for our sins. That's what the Scripture says.
And He was put to death as the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer
of Israel. And there's never, I want you
to think about this, there was never a time from the garden
where man fell to this present day, never a time until Christ actually gave up
the ghost on the cross, there was never a time that the promised
Redeemer was not represented as a substitute dying for sins. Not one single time. Not one
single time. From the very first encounter
in the garden, there was an animal slain and its blood sheathed
for the reconciliation of Adam and Eve. And so on all the way
down through Scripture, he was represented as a dying substitute. It says Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures. Now the first and greatest issue
here is the lordship and office of Christ as the mediatorial
king. And I may not get through all
this this morning, but this is what I want you to see. And I
titled the message this way. Let me just read it to you. Is
he a defeated reformer or a victorious king? What do you see on the
cross? Who is this dying on the cross? What is this all about?
This death, this trial, these questions, these people, they're
all gathered together. What's going on? What do you
see? When we talk about these things, what do you hear? What
do you perceive is taking place on this cross? That's what the
gospel's all about. It's the good news of the cross.
Well, what's the good news? What's going on? Is He a defeated
reformer, someone that we need to look at and be inspired? Is
it an offer on God's part that we have to finish up with our
so-called free will? What's going on? What's taking
place on this cross? What do we see when we see the
cross? What's taking place? Well, the issue surrounding the
cross is His Lordship and His office with Christ. as the mediatorial
king. Now when I talk about the mediatorial
king, I'm talking about one who takes the sovereign will of God
and mediates that will to men, accomplishes that will, disperses
the will of God to men. The mediatorial king, to accomplish
this, he must suffer and die on a cross. You see what I'm
saying? So here's the issue. It's his
kingship, not a king, not an earthly king, not that type of
authority, but the mediatory king. He said, if my kingdom
was of this world, he said, then would we fight? Ain't nobody
fighting. Only one who fought was Peter,
and he cut off the servant to the high priest's ear, and Christ
put it back on and healed him. On one occasion, he said to the
Jews who opposed him, he said, do you not know that right now
I could call down how many thousand legions of angels if I needed
them or wanted them? Don't you know that? Without it so much as a word,
with just the will of it, they'd be there in a flash, in an instant. Before you could even perceive
it, they'd be there and standing. He said, my kingdom's not of
this world. your kingdoms of this world. And you don't have
any authority over me at all. That's what I want you to see.
This is not a defeated reformer. He looks like a defeated reformer
because he's standing there in humility. And he's standing there.
He comes out and he says, and I want you to, here's your little
homework. Go home and read Isaiah chapter 50, 51, 52, and 53. Read
those chapters. In those chapters, he sets forth
Christ in His suffering. Now, Christ comes out. Look down
here in chapter 19, verse 5. I want to show you something
here in this verse. Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown
of thorns and a purple rope. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold
the man. Now back up there and look at
that word, Pilate. You see that word in italics?
Anytime you see a word in italics as you're reading through the
Bible, it means it was added by the translators. It's not
in the original. They just add these words to
make it read better. Sometimes it reads better, and
sometimes it takes away the whole meaning of the verse. In this
particular place, I think it does damage to the verse. Now
let me read it to you and lift the word pilot out. Then came
Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,
and saith unto them, Behold the man." Not Pilate saying that,
it's the Lord Himself. He came forth with His face marred
beyond recognition and His back bloodied by the scourge, put
to shame, and Pilate presented Him, hoping to convince the people
that He was no threat to them and no threat to Him. That's
why Pilate saw no guilt in him. But he saw the treachery of the
Jews and so he decided to punish Christ and whip Him and humiliate
Him and bring Him forth and convince Him when He came forth that this
was not their King. This was not a rival to Him and
not a harm to them, hoping that that would be enough for them.
And they turned and looked. But Jesus came forth and held
out His hands and He said, Now you read Isaiah 50 through 53.
Read those chapters and you'll see exactly what he's telling
them. Here's the man. Here's the man exactly as God
said he was going to be presented. Turning his face to the smiters. Wearing on his back the lash.
Standing there in humiliation, not being recognized by them.
Everybody sitting back saying, surely, surely he is smitten
of God and afflicted. Surely this man is condemned
of God. They said, behold the man. You
see what I'm saying? This is the king accomplishing
the will of God. He was one given authority over
all things concerning Israel. God has a kingdom, and it's a
spiritual kingdom. And this kingdom and this welfare
superseded all the rights and claims of ungodly men. You know,
he pictured this when he took Israel into Canaan. Canaan was already occupied,
wasn't it? It's been their home for thousands
of years. was their father's home, their father before them.
A lot of you all have generations that grew up over there in Genoa
and grew up right around here local. What if somebody just
come in here from Russia tomorrow and said, God gave us this land
and took it away from you? Huh? Wouldn't you at least have
the question, who gives them the right to come in here and
take this land away from me? It's mine. It belongs to me.
No, it belongs to God. And it belongs to this mediatorial
king, because God gave it to him before the foundation of
the world. Gave him all things. Read about it over in Colossians
chapter 1 and 2. This mediatorial king, he stands
for all those given him of the Father. He stands to execute
the will of the Father. I came not to do my own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. And that's what he's going
to do. He demonstrated that in Canaan when he gave to his people
and raised up his king and set his king on the throne in Canaan. And they said, it's ours. It's
ours. Art thou a king? He said, to
this end was I born. That's why I came here. Some recognized him as king even
in the manger. They knew he was king and they
brought gifts and laid them down at the manger. They knew who
he was. Simeon knew who he was when he
picked him up. This tiny baby picked him up.
God promised him that before he died he was going to see the
Messiah. And he held him in his hands
and he said, Now let us thy servant depart in peace. I have seen
thy salvation. They saw the King. What do you see? What do you see when you see
the cross? Do you see the King? Do you see Him accomplishing
the will of God? Do you see Him? He's not standing
there because He can't do anything about it and taking the palms
and His face and the spittle running down his cheek and the
blood running out of his back. You think he stands there as
a poor, defeated reformer? I'm telling you he stands there
as the king because he stands there in our room instead. It's
my back that deserved the lashes and my face the spittle and the
smacking of the hand. It's my person to whom those
questions were addressed. But he stood in my room and in
my stead and opened not his mouth. Why? because he took to himself
my guilt. My guilt. And he stood there
in, I suppose, the most manifest glory of his obedience. The crowning
obedience, crowning obedient act of Christ was when he stood
there and opened not his mouth and drank the cup that God gave
him to drink. And you'll discover over in that
book of Isaiah also, they said, He drank this cup that was ours
to drink. And those who wouldn't have Him,
He said, into their hand comes that cup again. And they're going
to drink that cup. Now He drank it on the behalf
of all those that believe. Do you believe? Then you can
rejoice in His death. I can rejoice in His suffering.
because I can see all those things that were my lot being satisfied
before God in His death. You see that? These are the issues
that were brought before Him and this is His answer. Thou
sayest I was a king, to this end was I born. Then why Pilate said, don't you
get it? Don't you understand? that with
a word from me, I can set you free? Or from a word from me,
I can have you nailed to that cross? Don't you get it?" Yeah,
he said, I get it. You didn't have any power over
me at all, except it were given thee from above. And then take
this home with you. What an assurance. Because it
says, as he was in this world, So are we. That's what the Scripture
says. As He was in this world, so are
we. He was victorious King, standing
before that old earthly King, wearing the spittle, suffering,
the blood oozing from His back, and with eyes given by the glory
of God, he could stand before the Father and look over those
things, look over that old king, and look over his enemies, and
look over that crowd that was crying, crucify him, give us
bread. He could look over all of those
things and see the glory of God and the final end of his victory. And they stood there before him
and he said, you had no power over me at all. Isn't that something? You face your greatest trial.
Can you with eyes of faith say the same thing? Because as He
was, so are we in this world. I can say to even the devils
in hell, you have no power over me whatsoever, except it were
given you of my Father. What a comforting thought. And
you know what makes the difference? What you see when you see the
cross. What do you see in this man,
a defeated reformer or a victorious king?