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Bob Davis: Alas for you lawyers and Pharisees, hypocrites, as you be sure that the Kingdom of Heaven awaits you. You will not venture half so far. Other men who might enter the gates, you keep from passing through, and you drag them down with you. You snakes, you vipers' brood, you cannot escape being devil's food. I send you prophets and I send you preachers, sages, and rages and ages of teachers, and nothing can mar your mood. You blind fools.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply His word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. Jesus stands trial as our study of John continues in chapter 18, verse 28. Here is Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: Jesus has been standing before the real high priest. Annas is the real high priest, but remember the Romans didn't like him to have all that authority, so they would put a different guy on that high priest throne. So now Annas' son-in-law, Caiaphas, is on the throne. But they take him to Annas because they all realize he is the high priest, and it didn't go that very pretty there.

Peter, in the meantime, denies Jesus three times exactly what Jesus said he would do. Jesus warned him. And he warned all of his disciples. You remember, there in the garden in Matthew 26, verses 40 and 41, Jesus had been praying. He came back to his disciples and he found them asleep. Peter, James, and John. The other disciples were back here, but Peter, James, and John came a little closer. Then Jesus went on a little further and prayed.

When he is going through his trial with Caiaphas—this is review for you, by the way—he says, "You're breaking the laws. I have broken no laws. You're the ones breaking the law." The Jewish law, the word of God, requires a minimum of at least two witnesses. They have none. The law, God's word, required that no trial is to begin at night or end at night. They started in the middle of the night. Now they're finished in the middle of the night, remember?

In fact, God's word says a trial is not to begin—the law says a trial may not begin and end on the very same day. It is too rash. It is done too quickly. You have to spread it out. You can't start it and finish it the same day. God's word says you cannot strike a prisoner who has not yet been proven guilty. And remember, that soldier slapped Jesus. They are doing everything against the law.

John chapter 18, now let's take up in verse 28. "And then they led Jesus from Caiaphas, and then from Caiaphas unto the great hall of judgment." So they are taking him to Pilate now. "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." You see, that is what a hypocrite is.

This so-called religious trial that they were a part of with Annas and then Caiaphas, his son-in-law, was a religious trial. The religious leaders take Jesus to the Roman government to be tried. Why? Because they wanted Jesus to be put to death, and the death penalty was not allowed to be given out by the Jews unless it was by stoning.

They could stone guilty parties to death. But if you really wanted them to suffer through crucifixion, well, that had to be Roman adjudication. So you can see these guys really want Jesus dead, but they want him dead in the most violent, ugly way—torture. They want to see Jesus put to death. It must only be done by Rome's power alone.

Now, they had eaten the Passover supper that night. Remember Jesus with his disciples? But you see, the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, when the Passover is done, which is the day that's coming up now, what starts right away after sundown is the feast of unleavened bread. So what it feels like to the Jewish people, they call it the Passover, but it includes both. So you have the Passover, that one night and day, and then you have a seven-day feast of unleavened bread.

So they want to eat—they had their Passover feast—but they want to continue on in the Passover. So they would not, according to the law, if they went two steps over the threshold of that Gentile hall, that praetorium there, they were unclean ceremonially, and they could not participate in the annual service at the Jewish congregation. Get it? They don't want to break the law so they could eat and go to church, but they broke every law. I mean, we have got a list of laws they broke.

That is why in Matthew chapter 23, well, you find it other places, but Matthew chapter 23, the almost whole chapter is saying, "Alas for you lawyers and Pharisees, hypocrites, that you be." And isn't that what they are doing? They broke the law in four or five places just having him there at night, etc., and so forth. False witnesses, no witnesses at first, then false witnesses. They broke the law, I mean, they shredded the law. But now they don't want to break the law so they can celebrate the feast and go to church. How much more hypocritical can we be than that?

Look at verse 29. Because they couldn't come into the hall, they don't want to be defiled. They have torn the law to shreds, but they don't want to be defiled, so they won't actually set two feet into the Hall of Praetorium, the judgment hall. So Pilate goes out to them. Now, that is pretty condescending. I mean, he has to—if we want to get this taken care of, I am going to go out. They can't come in, they're too holy. I have to go out there, right?

So that doesn't make Pilate happy. He hates them, and they hate him, and everybody's happy with that. But we have to deal with one another. So Pilate goes out to them and he says, "What accusation bring ye against this man?" What are the charges? What am I doing with this guy? Why are you bringing him to me? You can take care of this yourself. What's the deal? Pontius Pilate was governor from 26 to 36 AD. He got himself in a little jam and he got called back to Rome and got the left foot of fellowship there.

Normally, though, the governor lives in Caesarea. If you have ever been to Israel, what a beautiful spot. You are sitting right at the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean is still blue and so beautiful, and Caesarea is a beautiful place. That is where the governor's mansion and palace was, normally. But during the main Jewish feast days, because it got kind of rowdy, it got sometimes—you know, they get sort of hot under the collar and they have a few extra glasses of wine, and you know how that goes.

So he would be in Jerusalem for the Jewish feast in case there were riots or some sort of uprising, which did happen with those Jews. They get hot under the collar and then they would start thinking they're going to overthrow Rome again. They were waiting in the courtyard. Pilate asks them, "What are the charges against this man? What are they?" If you put all four Gospels together, here is what we have. They say, "Number one: he led the nation astray." How? There are no witnesses. No, they're just saying that's the way we find him, he led the nation astray.

Number two: he opposed paying taxes. He doesn't want to pay taxes to Caesar. That's bound to get Pilate's go. And then the third, he claimed to be the Jewish Messiah and—wait a minute, wait for it—here is the biggy: the king. All right, now that's a problem with Pilate, right? Pilate is the governor and way back in Rome, Caesar is the king of the world. So they're thinking, well, he says he's Messiah the King. So you got three kind of fake charges here. None of them are legitimate. None of them are anything. And plus, you're going to notice Pilate doesn't care about any of them. That's not my problem if he thinks he's your king, whatever.

All this is just to get rid of Jesus. All of it. They are fulfilling the will of God and they don't care about God. If you're watching the world today, if you have read any of your Bible and you're watching what's going on around the planet, they're doing exactly what the Bible says people will be doing at this time in the end times. They're doing it, and they think they're coming up with these ideas themselves. And they are, but God knows the beginning from the end. You and I know the beginning from the end if we will spend time in the word of God. You know what's coming. You already know what's coming. You know what will be because God says, "I will tell my friends," and he calls us friends. Read through the Gospels and see. Once we belong to Him, we're His body, yes, we're His bride, yes, we are His friends.

Let me read 29 again. "Pilate then went out to them and said, 'What accusation bring ye against this man?' They answered and said unto him, 'If he were not a malefactor, if he were not a terrible criminal, we would not have delivered him up to you.'" That is a rude answer. In other words, "Hey, we know what we're doing. He's guilty. Just trust us on this." Then Pilate said to them, "You take him." Or in King James, "Take ye him and judge him according to your law." The Jews, therefore, said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke, signifying what death he should die.

Could they stone someone to death? Yes, the Romans allowed them to do that. If they did their—went according to their own law properly, they could stone someone to death. Well then, what are they saying? They're saying we want him crucified. That's torture. That's not just dying. That's dying a slow, ugly, horrible death, and that's what they want for Jesus. Why? Because he was so nice and he healed people and he loved people and he fed them and he blessed them. Remember, that's why they hated him.

The hatred between the Jews and the Romans is clearly seen right here. Look at the lack of respect as they answer Pilate. "If he weren't a violent criminal, we wouldn't have brought him here to you. Duh." I added that. "We've already tried the case. We found him guilty. All we want you to do is pronounce the sentence and crucify him. That's all we're looking for. We're not asking much." Pilate says, "Why do you bring him to me? Go ahead and sentence him according to your own law." And the Jews show their true colors. Let me say it this way, "We don't have the authority to crucify him, but you do, and we want him dead."

And then John gives a little bit of explanation here for us. The Jews used stoning in case of capital punishment. They did, remember? They were going to stone that lady taken in the very act of adultery. They were going to stone her to death. It would have been perfectly legal and fine with Rome. The Romans used crucifixion as their capital punishment. So by their refusal to carry out the death penalty, to let Rome do it or to ask Rome to do it, the Jews unknowingly and unwillingly, not even thinking about it, fulfilled the prophecies concerning the suffering and death of Messiah.

Matthew 20, verses 18 and 19, Jesus tells his disciples: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. We're headed to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to be beaten and to crucify him, and the third day he shall rise again." He told them he was going to be crucified. And the Jewish leaders want him crucified. They didn't know he said that. That's just what they want because it would be terrible and it would be painful and it would be miserable.

Psalm 22 prophesied the same thing, crucifixion, way before crucifixion was ever invented. Psalm 22, verse 16: "For dogs have surrounded me. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet." That's how Messiah is going to die. God said he would. Did he make the people do it that way? No, they wanted to do it that way. That was the worst punishment he could get from them.

So look at verse 33. "Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall," it's called Praetorium, "and he called Jesus and said to him, 'Art thou the King of the Jews? Are you the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered, 'Sayest thou this thing of thyself or did others tell it to you about me?'" I like it. Pilate had stayed into the judgment hall, it's called the Hall of Praetorium, to examine the prisoner himself. "I just want to talk to this guy. He hates the Jews, the Jews hate him. He doesn't care one way or the other about this man standing in front of him, this Jesus."

He just says, "Talk to this guy a minute and see what's what. Are you the King of the Jews? They said that's one of his crimes." Jesus' response is not what you might think. It sounds awfully rude, but it's really—it is pretty respectful language Jesus is using. Jesus is very respectful to Pilate. Not afraid of him. If you read all the Gospels, he's not afraid of Pilate at all. When Pilate says, "I've got the authority to put you to death," Jesus calmly says, "You would have no authority unless my Father gave it to you. So I am fine with that."

"So, are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus' response is not impolite, nor is it a challenging. Jesus simply says, "Is that what you are concerned about? What they told you? Are you concerned about that or are you asking because they said it?" In other words, "Are you concerned that I am a political threat to Rome?" That's how calm he is.

And look at verse 35. Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. Well, what have you done?" In other words, "What is going on here?" Jesus answered. Now he answers his question. "My kingdom is not of this world. See, if my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from here." That's kind of a cool answer.

Pilate sarcastically, when Jesus says, "Are you concerned, am I a political threat to you or is that the charge that they gave you?" And Pilate answered sarcastically, "I am not a Jew." Let me say it in American, "I don't care about you, I don't care about the Jewish people. They brought you to me, I didn't come looking for you," in other words. "Your leaders brought you and this is the charge against you, and you know, in other words, that's not a crime, that's just the charge against you. There is no crime been committed, there is no charge."

Jesus answers Pilate's question. Yes. In other words, "I'm a king." He answered it pretty simply. "My kingdom is not of this world. Yeah, I am a king. If you want the answer to that, yes, sir, I am a king. My kingdom is not of this world. It's the Kingdom of Heaven, everybody. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting. They wouldn't have just walked in and arrested me and taken me away."

Pilate, in verse 37, he says, "Then you are a king then." That's the literal language. King James, "Art thou a king then?" In other words, "Okay, so you are a king." Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. To this end I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice."

You see, Pilate has already decided right here that he wants nothing to do with this whole mess. And I think he might have been hoping that Jesus would say, "I'm not a king. No, I'm just a guy." I think that's what he was hoping Jesus would say. If this guy says, "No, I am not a king," he's going to come out and say, "I am letting this guy go. You guys are crazy," right? He was hoping that, but it didn't happen that way. Frustrated, Pilate asks him, "Okay, then, so you are a king." And basically, Jesus' answer is, "Yes, sir. You have rightly said it. I am a king."

"He was born" shows what? His humanity. He was born of a virgin, miraculously born. And they put him—he was born in a barn, in a little stable, and they put him in an animal feeding trough. The pretty word is a manger. Humbly came to this earth, miraculously. He "was born" shows his humanity, but he also "came into the world." That shows he came from somewhere. Well, I came into the world, I came from nowhere. God created me. When you came in, but Jesus came from Heaven. He came into the world. It shows his deity. The fact that Jesus came into the world means that he existed before his birth at Bethlehem. I didn't exist before mine. You didn't exist before yours. Jesus did. The only begotten Son of God, miraculously born.

And Pilate will say what to that whole thing? Pilate saith unto him, "What is truth?" I think it's hard to say. The language—I was checking with some of the scholars because I'm thinking the language can go either way. Is he mocking, or is he seriously asking? In other words, "Does anybody know what truth really is?" He could have been mocking. We can't tell. He could have been seriously wanting to know, really, what is truth? Today, that is kind of a joke because everybody says now, "That's your truth. Well, that's your truth. My truth is the moon is made of green cheese." Right? But your truth is it's probably made of snakes and snails and puppy dog tails. I don't know what your moon's made of. You didn't grow up at my house. It's okay. What is truth? There is no way to know.

If he is being silly or if he's seriously asking, for centuries, Romans and the Greek philosophers discussed, debated, and argued over this very question, and they have come to no settled conclusions. What is truth? And Jesus will explain it to us. "I am the truth." The way, the truth, and the life. Not, "I'll show you the way," "I am the way." Not, "I'll tell you the truth," "I am the truth." Not, "I'll show you life," "I am the life." Do you want life eternally? Then you must receive Jesus Christ. He is the life. No life without him. Eternal separation from God for all eternity. People say, "I don't believe it." Well, I don't believe there is a China. And just because I don't believe it, do you think there's still a China? Yeah. And just because you may not believe that Jesus Christ is Lord doesn't mean he's not, because we aren't the total of everything. We're learning and growing day by day.

Well, verse 38, I will read it again. Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, the Jewish leaders, and he said to them, "I find in him no fault at all." He is not guilty of anything. Jesus died on the cross and you understand there was never a crime he died for. When they finally put the sign over him, all it said is "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." There was no crime listed. Rome killed him because Pilate felt he had no other choice or there was going to be an uprising if he didn't. Jesus never sinned. He died for mine. He's on the cross because I belong there. He died for yours. He's on the cross—he didn't do anything. There were no crimes that he's charged of. And that's what Pilate said, "He's completely innocent. I find him not just not guilty. No crime at all. Completely innocent."

"But you have a custom that I should release to you one at the Passover. One prisoner. Will you, therefore, that I release to you the King of the Jews?" Now, he's kind of mocking because Jesus said in there in the Hall of Praetorium, "I am a king, but my kingdom is not of this world," right? "Will you, therefore, that I release to you the King of the Jews?" Now, there are other Jews there, not just the Jewish leaders. Then they cried out all again. And the Jewish leaders started it. I've read all four Gospels and put them together. Jewish leaders started it. They say, "No, not this man. Barabbas." Now, Barabbas was a robber, a thief, a murderer. He wasn't a nice person, necessarily.

And Pilate has made up his mind. He wants to let Jesus go free. He doesn't like the Jews. He doesn't care about Jesus one way or the other, but he could see that they're use—this is some kind of Jewish thing. Some kind of problem here that is weird, and "I don't even want to be a part of this." And to his surprise, they cried out for Barabbas instead. A violent prisoner, a murderer, an insurrectionist, and a vicious robber.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is a radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM. You can download today's message in its entirety at NorthCountryChapel.com/studies. That's NorthCountryChapel.com/studies.

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