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Calvary Community Church

Sermon

The King of Truth on Trial

Speaker
David Capoccia
Scripture
John 18:28-40

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are brought face to face with the profound ironies of Jesus’ Roman trial in John 18:28-40. This passage teaches us that while the Jewish leaders, the crowds, and Pilate all act unjustly, they unknowingly fulfill prophecy, confirm Jesus’ identity, and highlight his perfect righteousness. The King of Truth stands on trial before those who cannot recognize truth, and yet his glory shines through every ironic twist.

Key Lessons:

  1. Jesus’ death by crucifixion was no accident — it fulfilled his own prophetic words and was perfectly orchestrated by God, proving Jesus is Lord even over the circumstances of his death.
  2. Jesus is a King, but of a heaven-sent kingdom that expands not through military power but through the testimony of truth, calling all who love truth to hear his voice and believe.
  3. The irony of Pilate asking ‘What is truth?’ while standing before the King of Truth is a warning: we cannot claim to love truth or God while rejecting Jesus Christ.
  4. The exchange of Jesus for Barabbas — the innocent Son of God traded for a guilty ‘son of the father’ — reveals both the wickedness of those who reject Christ and the depth of grace in his substitutionary death.

Application: We are called to stand with Jesus against the world, to hear the voice of the King of Truth, believe in him, repent of our sins, and follow him as disciples — even knowing that those who condemned him will also condemn us.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Where in your own life do you see the pattern of the Jewish leaders — maintaining external religious appearances while ignoring deeper spiritual corruption?
  2. Jesus said that everyone who is ‘of the truth’ hears his voice. What does it look like practically to suppress the truth, and how can you guard against it in your own heart?
  3. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent but ultimately chose self-preservation over justice. In what areas might you be tempted to compromise what you know is right to protect your own comfort or position?

Scripture Focus: John 18:28-40 — Jesus’ Roman trial before Pilate, revealing his identity as the King of Truth whose heavenly kingdom, prophetic fulfillment, and righteous innocence stand in stark contrast to the wickedness surrounding him. Supporting passages include John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32 (Jesus lifted up), Deuteronomy 21:23 (the curse of hanging on a tree), and John 10:27 (my sheep hear my voice).

Outline

Introduction

Let’s pray together.

Dear God, please bless your people by causing them to behold Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, let us see his beauty. Let us believe in him and let us follow him as he is worthy. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Well, as my three-year-old son continues to grow, I feel like I’m getting back in touch with some of the silliness and games from my own childhood.

One of the games I remember playing was opposite day.

I say game, but I’m not sure if opposite day is really a game or just a prank.

Opposite day begins when someone declares it. Afterwards, every statement you say must be the opposite of what you mean to say.

So, for example, instead of saying, “I’m hungry,” you say, “I’m not hungry.” Seems simple enough, but it quickly gets complicated when you discover just how many words can be opposite.

For example, if you want to say it’s hot outside, do you say it’s not hot outside or it’s cold outside or it’s cold inside?

Furthermore, if someone violates the opposite day rules, you can only point it out in opposite or else you will be a violator yourself. So instead of “you broke the rule,” you must say “you kept the rule.”

Actually, I always wondered how a person could even declare opposite day. Because if it truly were opposite day, wouldn’t you have to say it’s not opposite day? But then maybe it really isn’t opposite day and we can just talk normally.

Opposite day is pretty silly. But as we prepare to look at our next passage in the Gospel of John, we could almost believe that it’s opposite day.

Yet, this is clearly no game and anything but silly.

As the Lord undergoes his civic trial by the Romans before his crucifixion, it’s like everyone besides Jesus is saying or doing the opposite of what is true and right.

Indeed, our author, the Apostle John, writes his account in such a way as to show us the many profound ironies in Jesus’ trial. What’s an irony? An irony is when someone says the opposite of what he means or when something happens that is the opposite of what one would normally expect.

By pointing out these ironic trial developments, these opposite of expectation trial developments, John highlights for us the righteous glory of our savior and also the profound wickedness of those who condemned him.

This is so that in our hearts we will not stand with those who condemn Jesus and thus find ourselves condemned, but instead we will believe in Jesus Christ as savior and Lord and be saved.

Please take your Bibles and turn to John 18:28-40 where we see the poignant irony of the king of truth on trial. John 18:28-40 will be our text today. Pew Bible page 1,083.

Background: Jesus’ Hour of Suffering and Glorification

Recall that we are in John’s evangelistic gospel. In John’s book, we are in Jesus’s special hour.

That is, we are in his special time of suffering and glorification culminating in the cross and resurrection.

We already saw Judas’s betrayal and Jesus’s farewell discourse in John 13-17.

Then we saw the beginning of John 18 and Jesus’s arrest in the garden of Gethsemane.

Last time in John 18:13-27, we saw Jesus obey while Peter betrays in Jesus’s Jewish trial.

Both Jesus and Peter enter the dark household of high priest Annas.

After Jesus’s arrest, whereas Peter falters against the darkness and denies his Lord multiple times, Jesus the light stands resolutely against the darkness.

Jesus maintains his innocence against wicked high priest Annas. Jesus refuses to retaliate against Annas and company’s sins against him. Jesus calmly exposes the evil and injustice of Annas’s interrogation.

“Jesus the light stands resolutely against the darkness, maintaining his innocence and calmly exposing the evil of unjust interrogation.”

More or less defeated, high priest Annas must simply send Jesus along to high priest Caiaphas and the gathered Sanhedrin so that they may begin their phase of the Jewish sham trial of Jesus.

Thus Jesus’s special hour of suffering and glorification progresses.

We now come to the next part of that hour: Jesus’s Roman trial by Pilate in John 18:28-19:16.

Overview: Six Ironic Developments in Jesus’ Roman Trial

We heard that passage earlier. What’s our guiding proposition for capturing the author’s original intent in this section?

It’s this. And again, this spans the larger section, not just the portion we’re looking at today. In John 18:28-19:16, John reports six ironic developments in Jesus’ Roman trial so that you will behold Jesus’ glory and believe.

Six ironic developments in Jesus’ Roman trial so that you will behold Jesus’ glory and believe.

“John reports six ironic developments in Jesus’ Roman trial so that you will behold Jesus’ glory and believe.”

Now, we’re only going to cover the first part of Jesus’ Roman trial today, verses 28 to 40. Thus we will cover just the first three ironic developments in the group of six.

Irony #1: The Prophecy-Confirming Arrangement (vv. 28–32)

The first ironic development to notice in Jesus’s Roman trial is in verses 28 to 32. It’s number one: the prophecy confirming arrangement. The first ironic development in Jesus’s Roman trial is a prophecy confirming arrangement.

Let’s see this as we work our way through the text, beginning with just the first part of verse 28. John 18:28.

Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the praetorium, and it was early.

You might read the first part of verse 28 and say, “Wait a minute. Where’s Caiaphas’s trial of Jesus?” Back in verse 24, it says that Annas sent Jesus bound to Caiaphas. But now in verse 28, Jesus is leaving Caiaphas. Where’s the trial?

Well, clearly our author John doesn’t feel the need to tell us about the rest of Jesus’s Jewish trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, as he knows that we already know how it went from the record of the other synoptic gospels, Caiaphas’s council to the Sanhedrin in John 11, and Annas’s first phase of Jesus’s Jewish trial earlier in the chapter. We as readers or listeners can figure out that Jesus is unjustly condemned by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.

This happens sometime between 3 and 6:00 a.m. on Friday of that fateful week. By the way, that is still nighttime and thus illegal according to ancient Jewish law. Trials were not to be held at night to avoid the corruption that usually goes with secrecy.

But the Jewish leaders decide conveniently to forget that rule with Jesus.

Still, the Sanhedrin wants to maintain some form of legitimacy and righteousness.

According to the information we see in the other gospels, the Sanhedrin convenes again at dawn to condemn Jesus one more time. “Hey guys, we fulfilled the legal requirement. There’s the sun. Okay, Jesus condemned. We can move on.”

Then the Jewish leaders do exactly as John reports here. After dawn, they lead Jesus to the praetorium. Now, what’s the praetorium? Well, it’s where the Roman governor stays in Jerusalem during the Passover feast. Remember, the Roman Empire controls the Mediterranean at this time, including Judea.

Normally the Roman prefect or governor of Judea would be situated in northwest Israel in a gentile coastal city called Caesarea Maritima.

However, because there was a greater chance of civil disturbance during Passover—all those Jews getting together, getting really hyped up—the governor would usually come down from Caesarea to Jerusalem with some troops to help maintain order.

The precise location of the praetorium in Jerusalem for this occasion is debated. The traditional location is the Antonia fortress on the northwest side of the temple. But more likely the praetorium was Herod the Great’s old palace in western Jerusalem. Much more comfortable there.

So the Jewish leaders come to the praetorium and they send Jesus inside, but they don’t go inside themselves. And why not? Rest of verse 28.

And they themselves did not enter into the praetorium so that they would not be defiled but might eat the Passover.

The Jewish Leaders’ Ceremonial Hypocrisy

Here we encounter the first of many ironies in this passage. This group of chief priests, Pharisees, and elders of the people apparently have no qualms about conducting a sham trial to murder the righteous son of God.

But they are careful not to become ceremonially unclean by entering a Gentile’s house.

This disconnect is ridiculous.

How do they not sense that? But this is the corruption of man’s heart. This is the deceitfulness of sin.

And this is the deception of false religion where you can take comfort in external cleanness while totally ignoring internal uncleanness.

“False religion lets you take comfort in external cleanness while totally ignoring internal uncleanness.”

Now, what’s this about becoming defiled by entering the praetorium?

Well, this is not a teaching from God’s Old Testament law. This is a Jewish tradition.

The rabbis taught at that time that stepping foot into Gentile residences would make one automatically unclean. And that’s not just because the Gentiles had unclean food lying around or something like that. Rather, it was because the Jews supposed the Gentiles discarded abortions or sometimes buried the dead within their own homes.

Old Testament law says that anyone entering a house with a dead body becomes unclean for seven days.

So the Jewish leaders don’t want to contract this kind of ritual uncleanness. Don’t go into a Gentile zone. They got dead bodies in there.

Verse 28 explains further why the leaders are so careful about this ceremonial defilement. It says, “So they might eat the Passover.” According to Old Testament law, this part is in the Bible, you cannot eat the holy food of God’s festivals while you are ceremonially unclean.

In fact, if you miss the meal of Passover due to some kind of uncleanness, you have to do a makeup Passover the next month. You got to go all the way back to Jerusalem.

These leaders don’t want to look bad by missing out on the Passover or worse doing a makeup Passover, so they don’t enter the praetorium. Don’t want to become ceremonially unclean.

But this detail provokes an important question.

Isn’t the Passover meal already over? I mean, didn’t Jesus and his disciples eat the Passover in their last supper on Thursday evening?

And the Old Testament says that meal can only be eaten Passover evening. It’s not like you can have some in the morning. Nothing is to remain for the morning. So how can these leaders want to eat the Passover the following day?

They don’t want to become unclean so they can eat the Passover on Friday.

There’s a fair amount of debate among Bible interpreters about this issue and by extension about the timing of Jesus’s crucifixion in relation to the Passover.

But the explanation here that makes the most sense is one of two possibilities.

One: the Passover meal that the Jewish leaders have in mind is not the Passover proper but the other festival meals of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Remember, Passover kicks off a week-long holy feast. And the Jews sometimes refer to the whole celebration as the Passover feast. So these leaders may have already celebrated Passover on Thursday, but they are looking forward to eating the rest of the festival meals in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That’s what John is talking about.

The other possibility has to do with there appearing to have been some controversy among Jews in those days regarding the exact timing of Passover.

Depending on how you count the days, Passover could be said to take place on Thursday evening or on Friday evening. Then Jesus and his Galilean disciples celebrate the Passover according to one calendar on Thursday evening while the Jewish leaders look to celebrate the Passover according to a different calendar, a more official calendar on Friday evening.

If this latter explanation is the case, then Jesus’s identification in the New Testament as the Passover sacrifice of Christians becomes more vivid because his crucifixion will actually take place at the same time as Passover lambs are to be slaughtered for a Friday evening Passover meal.

I lean towards the latter explanation, but either of them would be sufficient.

Regardless, the Jewish leaders choose to meet with the Roman governor just outside his residence so they can eat the special meal that’s coming later.

Let’s now read how their conversation goes with the governor in verses 29-31.

John 18:29-31.

Pilate and the Jewish Leaders Posture Against Each Other

Therefore, Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered and said to him, “If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him to you.” So Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.”

Here we finally meet Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea from about AD 26 to 36.

This conversation here with the Jewish leaders may strike you as a little strange, as if the two sides are talking around each other and not being very specific.

The reason for this probably is because of Pilate’s uneasy relationship with the Jewish leaders. You see, Pilate was not a very effective governor. He often tried to assert his authority over the Jews, sometimes in brutal ways, only to be forced later to back down due to the protest of the Jewish leaders.

By this point, probably in AD 30, the Jews have already complained to the Roman emperor about this governor, about Pilate. So Pilate’s governorship is on thin ice.

Rather than a meaningful exchange between these two sides, the conversation in verses 29 to 31 is probably just posturing. Each side is trying to force the other into a humiliated position.

Pilate asks in verse 29 for a formal charge to be presented by the Jews against Jesus. Likely Pilate already knows something about the situation with Jesus. After all, the Jewish leaders requested his troops during the night to help arrest Jesus. So it’s not like he’s coming into this totally blind.

Yet Pilate’s asking for formal charges indicates that he wants to know more about Jesus’s situation and even judge Jesus himself on behalf of Rome. In other words, Pilate is asserting himself as an authoritative governor with the right to give a trial.

The Jewish leaders, meanwhile, are probably annoyed, and they respond, as they do in verse 30, without giving a specific formal charge. They are not looking for Pilate to give Jesus another trial with a potentially contradictory verdict to what they’ve already found. They are just looking for Pilate’s rubber stamp. Just confirm what we’ve already decided. Just trust us.

This guy is bad news. And then go execute him for us in your Roman way. The Jews are resisting giving Pilate what he wants.

But Pilate calls their bluff in the beginning of verse 31 by telling the Jewish leaders basically, “Oh, if the charges aren’t serious enough for you to tell me because you don’t need an execution or anything, well then have a nice day. Judge him yourselves according to your own law.”

He’s going to force them to admit that they do need him and that he has the right to hold his own trial. This they grudgingly do in the rest of verse 31. They admit they do not have authority to carry out capital punishment on their own.

Indeed, this was standard Roman policy for any new province that was added to the empire like Judea was. Rome was always happy to allow a new province to continue to govern itself on Rome’s behalf. It was less work for Rome, kept the people happier. Sure, you want to take care of things, go ahead. But Rome did not allow these local governments to execute without Rome’s permission.

This not only protected Roman interests, but it also was a simple reminder of who had ultimate authority.

“Rome did not allow local governments to execute without Rome’s permission — a simple reminder of who had ultimate authority.”

As we read on in the Bible, we discover that sometimes the Sanhedrin would still execute somebody without Rome’s permission, provided the person was not that important to Rome or not that popular with the people. This is why the Sanhedrin seemingly gets away with killing Stephen in Acts 7.

But Jesus is different. He’s too popular for the Sanhedrin to basically lynch him. Better to have Rome take responsibility and therefore some of the blame if the common people get too upset.

So Pilate gets his new trial and according to the other gospels he gets specific charges from the Jews too. This man stirs up the people. He forbids taxes to Caesar. He calls himself Christ, a king.

These would certainly be charges relevant to Rome and relevant to Rome’s governor.

Jesus’ Death Fulfills His Own Prophecy

Yet, why do events turn out this way?

Is it merely an accident that Jesus is tried in Jerusalem when only Rome could execute anyone?

Is Jesus just unfortunate collateral damage of the power struggle between Pilate and the Jewish leaders?

No, neither. As verse 32 quickly clarifies, to fulfill the word of Jesus which he spoke, signifying by what kind of death he was about to die.

Here we behold another irony.

On the surface, verses 28 to 31 suggest that Jesus is just the victim of bad luck, just the victim of scheming persons.

After all, crucifixion was the most torturous, the most humiliating way a person could die in those days, hanging on a tree, which is what crucifixion is essentially. It’s even a sign of God’s curse, according to Deuteronomy 21:23.

Yet Jesus is no helpless victim. He is perfectly in control and perfectly in step with the Father’s plan.

For why is it that Jesus must be tried and executed by the Roman governor according to John here? It is to fulfill the prophetic word from Jesus himself about how he would die.

And how did Jesus say he would die?

Three times in John, Jesus says he will be lifted up. When I am lifted up, I will draw all peoples to myself. When I am lifted up, you will know that I am he, etc. Jesus foretells this in John 3:14, John 8:28, and John 12:32.

And crucifixion literally does lift someone up. That is crucifixion. A person is nailed and lifted up to hang upon the beams of a tree until suffocated by his own body weight.

This is a Roman way and not a Jewish way to execute a notorious criminal.

What is the Jewish way? Not to lift up but to throw down and to crush with stones.

That’s what the Old Testament prescribes.

So at almost any other time in Jewish history, Jesus would not have been lifted up if he were executed. He would have been executed the Jewish way and not the Roman way.

Yet Jesus foretold his specific mode of death three times before it happens to prove that he is God and he is perfectly accomplishing God’s salvation.

“Jesus foretold his specific mode of death three times before it happens to prove that he is God and is perfectly accomplishing God’s salvation.”

And crucifixion is not some random detail of Jesus’ death to foretell or prophesy.

Rather, death by crucifixion is central to the unexpected glory of Jesus’ hour.

Jesus will die in the most horrible way possible to show the depth of his love and obedience to the Father and consequently the depth of his love to the people that God has given him.

He will willingly and gladly be accounted as cursed of God by hanging on a tree so that he may do away with the curse once and for all for all those who believe in him, even us here today.

“He will willingly be accounted as cursed of God so that he may do away with the curse once and for all for all who believe.”

So this is our first ironic development showing Jesus’ glory through the prophecy-confirming arrangement.

Irony #2: The Truth-Revealing Interrogation (vv. 33–37)

The second ironic development in Jesus’ Roman trial is in verses 33 to 37.

That’s number two: the truth-revealing interrogation.

Like Annas before him, Pilate will interrogate Jesus to discover the truth. But the truth that Pilate discovers will not be the one he expects. Actually, it will be two truths about Jesus’ kingship.

I’ll give them both to you as sub-points for the sermon outline when we come upon them in the text. But first, verse 33.

“Therefore Pilate entered again into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’”

Notice here that Pilate begins his private investigation of Jesus by asking him a question—the question that would be most relevant for Pilate and Rome. Are you the king of the Jews?

Rome, after all, is interested in keeping control of Judea. If what the Jewish leaders outside are saying about Jesus is true, then Jesus could be setting himself up as a rival ruler to overthrow Roman governance.

Political rebellion would definitely be a crime against Rome and would definitely require the death penalty.

However, even in Pilate’s question to Jesus, we can hear Pilate’s doubt regarding this charge. I say we can hear it, but technically you cannot really hear it in the English translation of this verse. But in the original Greek, Pilate’s question in verse 33 uses an emphatic pronoun.

So his question could be more literally translated: “Are you yourself the king of the Jews?” Emphasis on that pronoun. What does that indicate? Well, that indicates contempt.

This is a contemptuous question from Pilate. As if he were saying, “You, the king of the Jews? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Why would Pilate be so incredulous?

Probably just because of how Jesus looks. Isaiah 53 foretold that the Messiah would have no stately form, majesty, or attractiveness. Jesus just looks like your run-of-the-mill Jewish man. He doesn’t look kingly.

Furthermore, the other gospels tell us that in that previous trial by the Jews, the Jews beat Jesus up. They punched him. They slapped him. They spit on him.

So he probably looks disheveled and maybe bruised and maybe bleeding. Jesus surely hardly cuts an impressive figure before Pilate.

So Pilate looks Jesus over and says, “This man is supposed to be the threat to Rome.” Despite Pilate’s initial disbelief, his question is still a dangerous one for Jesus to answer. So how will Jesus respond?

Jesus answers like many people do when asked something tricky: answer the question with a question. Verse 34: “Jesus answered, ‘Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?’”

Now, this is not really a dodge. This is not a deflection. Rather, this is Jesus letting Pilate clarify what Pilate means by his own question.

It’s like Jesus is saying, “Before I answer your question, let me understand where you’re getting your ideas of my kingship from. Is it from your own seeing and hearing me? Or is it from what you’ve merely heard about me from my Jewish accusers? My answer is going to depend on your answer.”

Pilate responds in verse 35: “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. What have you done?”

Notice Pilate’s first response: he dismissively explains why he doesn’t know much about Jesus. “I’m not a Jew, so why should I have cared to learn something about you before?”

Now Pilate articulates what is both confusing and concerning about Jesus’ case. You don’t seem like a very dangerous king of the Jews, considering your own Jewish people and leaders handed you over to me—handed you over to Rome.

But you must have done something to make them hate you so much. So what exactly did you do?

Jesus Is King but of a Heaven-Sent Kingdom

In reply, Jesus explains a first great truth about his kingship. Here’s where we see a sub point 2: Jesus is king but of a heaven-sent kingdom.

Jesus is king but of a heaven-sent kingdom. Verse 36.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm.

Notice how in this reply Jesus affirms himself as king of the Jews, but he clarifies that his is a very different kind of kingship, one that does not truly threaten Rome as the Jews claim or as Pilate wonders.

A key phrase in Jesus’ answer is “of this world,” which can be more literally translated “from this world” or “out of this world.”

What is Jesus saying to Pilate?

That Jesus has a kingdom but of a totally different kind to what is known in the current world. Remember how John uses the term “world.” World does not merely refer to the earth, the planet earth, but to the dwelling place of rebellious mankind.

What kind of kingdoms emerge from the world of sinful mankind?

Sinful kingdoms, imperfect kingdoms, kingdoms fundamentally built on military power, not unlike Rome.

Such kingdoms are born from wars and rebellions and they must beware of the same.

But Jesus’ kingdom is not from this world and therefore has no need for some military insurgency.

Actually, Jesus points out clear evidence of this to Pilate.

“Jesus’ kingdom is not from this world and therefore has no need for some military insurgency.”

It’s like Jesus says, “If I really were looking to establish a political kingdom like the Jews say I am, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be captured by the Jews, not be taken by the Jewish leaders.” But that didn’t happen, did it? In fact, I told those who did want to fight for me to stand down.

What does that tell you? My kingdom is not from here. Nor does it need to be established like the kingdoms that are from here are.

Now you may notice in this answer from Jesus, he is speaking only in the negative. What his kingdom is not? What is Jesus’ kingdom positively speaking? We can fill in some answers from other scriptures. The answers are even available to Pilate if he cares to know.

He just has to ask.

Jesus’ kingdom is not from this world but from heaven and is thus righteous and perfect.

Jesus’ kingdom expands not by military conquest but by the saving gospel of truth.

Jesus’ kingdom will not exercise literal dominion over the earth until Jesus’ second coming.

Jesus’ kingdom is not fundamentally established by his servants fighting for him, but rather in their king dying for them even on the cross to which Pilate himself will sentence Jesus.

“Jesus’ kingdom is not established by his servants fighting for him, but in their king dying for them on the cross.”

Is Pilate intrigued enough by Jesus’ answer to seek out further truth?

Let’s see the first part of verse 37.

Therefore, Pilate said to him, “So, you are a king.” Pilate definitely hears Jesus affirm himself as king, but with the talk of “my kingdom” and all. But does Pilate really understand what Jesus is saying? Does Pilate indeed see that Jesus is an altogether different kind of king, even a heavenly king?

Or is Pilate only interested in securing the sound bite from Jesus? Yes, I am a king. So that Pilate can condemn Jesus as a rebel against Rome.

Jesus Is King but Came First to Testify

Jesus further clarifies the nature of his kingship in his careful reply to Pilate in the rest of verse 37.

Jesus is king but came first to testify.

Rest of verse 37: “Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.’”

Do you notice the odd way Jesus first affirms his kingship to Pilate? Here, a New American Standard 95 translation has somewhat smoothed out Jesus’ words, but Jesus’ reply more literally to Pilate here is, “You yourself say that I am a king.” That’s kind of like Jesus saying, “You said that I’m a king, not me.” By the way, the other gospels record a similar answer from Jesus to Pilate’s question about Jesus’ kingship.

What’s with this cryptic, non-committal reply from Jesus? How does it square with 1 Timothy 6:13, which says that Jesus testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate? This kind of answer makes it look like Jesus is trying to hide the truth from Pilate, not give bold testimony.

I’ve wondered about this question a long time, and Bible interpreters have various opinions. I believe the answer is this: Jesus is not showing hesitancy to affirm the truth. Rather, Jesus is both preventing Pilate from getting the sound bite that could condemn Jesus and clarifying again that Jesus’ kingship is different than what Pilate thinks it is.

After all, notice how Jesus goes on in verse 37 to explain his kingship more. Jesus is not trying to deny or hide the truth. But the truth is wholly unexpected both for Jew and Gentile.

Notice how Jesus says he was born to be king. That’s not wholly unexpected. We might suspect someone with royal lineage would say, “I’m king. I was born to be king.” But then Jesus says he came into the world to be king. That’s a little different. That implies Jesus had existence before being born into this fallen world.

Where is Jesus from again? And then Jesus links his kingship fundamentally to bearing witness of the truth. By this Jesus doesn’t simply mean that he is going to be truthful, but rather he declares the truth, even God’s truth.

In other words, Jesus tells Pilate that though Jesus is a king, Jesus’ kingship is fundamentally about testifying on behalf of God, revealing who God is and what God’s salvation is. For this kind of kingship, not political uprising, Jesus was born and came into the world.

And under this kind of king, anyone who is of the truth may find refuge. Not just Jews, but Gentiles, too. And notice how the last part of verse 37 then is an implicit invitation to all listeners, Pilate included.

The king of the Jews is fundamentally the king of truth.

“The king of the Jews is fundamentally the king of truth — and anyone who truly wants truth will come to him.”

So anyone who truly wants to know the truth, anyone who desires the kind of truth that sets free and saves forever—this person not only should come to Jesus, but if the person really is that way, he will come to Jesus.

After all, Jesus spoke similarly earlier in his gospel. In John 3:21, “He who practices the truth comes to the light.” They just do. In John 8:47, “He who is of God hears the words of God,” the ones that Jesus speaks. And in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

The Invitation of the King of Truth

Friends and brethren, you cannot claim to love truth or love God and not believe in Jesus.

He is the king of truth. The king who came into the world to testify perfectly of God’s truth.

If you don’t hear the truth of Jesus, if you don’t believe the truth of Jesus, if you don’t hear in the sense that you are then moved to obey, then don’t kid yourself. However religious or spiritual you consider yourself, you don’t love the truth.

You don’t love God.

Rather, you love lies and you love yourself more than you love God.

There are all kinds of sound apologetic reasons to believe in Jesus, believe in the Bible, believe in Christianity. But none of these trumps the voice of truth itself. The voice of King Jesus, which is the scriptures.

“No apologetic reason trumps the voice of truth itself — the voice of King Jesus, which is the Scriptures.”

If you call yourself a truth seeker, but you will not believe when you read and when you hear this Bible explained to you, then nothing else will cause you to believe. There’s no clearer access to the truth.

If you can’t hear it, it’s because you don’t want to.

In your case, Romans 1 is fulfilled, which says you suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It’s not really that you can’t hear it. It’s that you reject it. You suppress it. You push it back down because you don’t like the implications for your life.

And if that is the case, you will one day be judged in righteousness by the King of Truth. You cannot ignore him.

But on the other hand, if you do hear the king of truth even this morning, if you are listening by his spirit, then believe and trust in Jesus just like John means for you to do.

Repent of your sins. Give up all that you think and you speak and you do that dishonors God. Lay that aside. Lay aside the kingship of your own life and trust in Jesus. Believe in Jesus as the son of God and the Christ. Take him as your Lord and Savior and God promises. The King of truth promises you will be saved. You have his eternal life immediately upon belief.

Don’t resist the voice of King Jesus.

Hear, believe, follow, and you will have eternal life.

“Repent, believe in Jesus as the Son of God and Christ, and God promises you will be saved — eternal life immediately upon belief.”

This is the beautiful invitation from the King of Truth in the midst of his trial. The trial that will result in his death.

Amazingly, though on trial, the king of truth told Pilate the truth. How even gentile Pilate could know the truth and be saved.

But was Pilate interested?

Verse 38, first part.

Pilate’s Tragic Question: ‘What Is Truth?’

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” This is where Pilate’s conversation with Jesus ends for now.

Pilate’s question is rhetorical. He is not looking for Jesus to supply an answer.

Does Pilate give this reply out of cynicism, out of impatience, out of amusement? We don’t know.

All we can see is the tragic irony. Pilate asks, “What is truth?” as if the answer to that question is unknowable.

Yet Pilate has literally just been talking with the way, the truth, and the life through whom no one comes to the father.

What is truth? He’s right there in front of you. He’s talking to you. He’s inviting you.

Pilate is not interested. Pilate has thoughtlessly dismissed the king of truth’s invitation to know the truth.

“Pilate asks ‘What is truth?’ yet the way, the truth, and the life is standing right in front of him, talking to him, inviting him.”

Consequently, Pilate has showed himself to be one who is not of the truth.

Irony #3: The Justice-Subverting Trade (vv. 38–40)

But Pilate did discover something. He did discover a truth that he was looking for, which makes him ready to give a verdict on Jesus.

We arrive at the third ironic development in Jesus’s Roman trial in our final verses, verses 38 to 40. Here we see number three: the justice subverting trade.

Look at the rest of verse 38.

Pilate’s Verdict: No Guilt Found

And when he, Pilate, had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him.”

What does this mean? Despite the Jews’ various charges against Jesus, Pilate’s own investigation has revealed that Jesus is not guilty and therefore should not be crucified.

Pilate is no god-fearer. He is not fundamentally a righteous judge. Yet even Pilate can see that Jesus is no wannabe king stirring up rebellion against Rome.

To Pilate, Jesus is just a moral teacher with some weird ideas, sure, but basically harmless. This guy is not an evildoer.

The Jewish leaders have only handed Jesus over, Pilate can see, out of envy. He does not deserve to die.

This is a just assessment from Pilate and it is further testimony to the Jews and to us of Jesus’ perfect righteousness. He is the glorious Son of God who never sinned but did everything right.

“Even Pilate’s verdict is testimony to Jesus’ perfect righteousness — he is the glorious Son of God who never sinned.”

So at this point Pilate will simply release Jesus, right? Well, not quite.

We have verse 39 where Pilate continues, “But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you wish then that I release for you the king of the Jews?” What’s going on here?

Well, here John is compressing the narrative regarding what the other gospels tell us about what happens next. I won’t go through all of that.

Basically, though Pilate gives this verdict and despite his best efforts, the Jewish leaders do not accept Pilate’s verdict and they protest vigorously.

Now, Pilate does not want to yield to the Jewish leaders. He hates giving in to them, but he also does not want to condemn an innocent man to death.

He hits upon an idea that could get Jesus released and allow everyone to save face. You guys don’t want to accept him back. Let’s see if we can find a compromise here.

Pilate and the Jews previously had a custom of releasing any one prisoner at Passover. Pilate thinks, why not propose to the Jews to release the criminal Jesus?

In fact, Pilate makes the choice easy because he gives it as one of two people. You can have Jesus or you can have this certain other notorious prisoner. Surely the Jews will choose harmless Jesus over hardened criminal.

And to put icing on the cake, Pilate refers to Jesus before the crowds as the king of the Jews. Now, that title would really annoy the Jewish leaders. He’s not going to get any points with them for using that title.

This title would likely appeal to the rest of the Jews, even the others who have now gathered to join the Jewish leaders outside the Praetorium to see what’s about to happen.

Surely the Jewish common people would not want the one who is their messianic hope executed. Surely the Jews as a whole would never accept the humiliation of their own king being crucified by Rome.

Surely the Jewish people will outvote their leaders, outshout their leaders to have Jesus be the released one. It’s not a bad plan, right?

But this is where the ironies start to pile up.

In making this appeal to the Jews, Pilate accidentally affirms that Jesus really is the Jews’ king. He doesn’t say, “Oh, this one who says he’s the king of the Jews.” He says, “This is the king of the Jews.” Now, Pilate doesn’t actually believe that, but he is speaking truer than he knows.

Indeed, Pilate doesn’t realize it, but he is in fact presenting the Jews with a final choice to accept or reject their true king sent from God. Even to accept or reject the Son of God.

By using this title, Pilate presents this before the Jews. And the choice is a no-brainer.

But what do the Jews decide?

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas Over Jesus

Verse 40, our last verse. So they cried out again, saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.

No doubt. Pilate is stunned by this response as we should be in a sense.

The Jews don’t want harmless, innocent Jesus. They don’t want their king. They want the other guy instead.

You see, Pilate underestimates the Jewish leaders’ craftiness, their absolute hatred for Jesus, and their easily exerted influence on the Jerusalem crowd.

Pilate also knows nothing of the profound spiritual reality at work behind the scenes.

This religious nation of Jews does not really know God, but in fact hates him. And so they cannot help but reject and want to destroy the Son of God when he is presented to them.

The Jews choose for release instead a man named Barabbas.

John doesn’t tell us much about Barabbas beyond the fact that he was a robber. That word though has a more serious sense in the original Greek, one that we may not expect. Instead of something like petty thief, think more like bandit, terrorist, guerrilla fighter.

Indeed, the other gospels tell us that Barabbas was a notorious prisoner who committed murder in some kind of rebellion plot in the city of Jerusalem.

Do you see more irony then?

The Jews asked Pilate to condemn Jesus on false charges for being an evildoer and rebel against Rome while at the same time they asked for an actual evildoer and rebel against Rome to be set free. They asked for this kind of trade.

And even the name Barabbas points to more irony because what does Barabbas mean? It’s Aramaic for “son of the father.”

The Jews choose an evil son of the father over the righteous and divine Son of the Father.

“The Jews choose an evil son of the father over the righteous and divine Son of the Father.”

How wicked is this nation? How unjust is Jesus’ condemnation?

But surely Pilate will not go along with all this, right? He will not accept this proposed trade.

Oh, but I’m afraid he does. Pilate does.

He does this ultimately because he’s more concerned about keeping his own position than doing what’s right.

Jesus quickly becomes a political liability for Pilate. And so he consents to have Jesus killed.

Pilate will try a few more ways to release Jesus as we’ll see next time, but ultimately Pilate also becomes complicit in Israel’s crime of crucifying its own Messiah.

Conclusion: The Righteous King on Trial

More to see next time, but what have we seen today?

In the first part of Jesus’ Roman trial, already the Jewish leaders, the Jewish people, and Pilate, the Roman governor, show themselves to be the wicked ones, while Jesus, though condemned, is actually the righteous one.

While they selfishly posture against one another, they fulfill Jesus’ prophetic word.

While they question him over serious crimes, they show him a gracious declarer of God’s truth.

And while they negotiate his execution, they inadvertently affirm him as Israel’s true Messiah king, even the one who will reign over the whole earth.

And through it all, though Jesus is unjustly treated again and again and again, he remains confident, he remains righteous, and he remains obedient.

The Apostle John shows us all this so that we may believe in Jesus and follow him as true disciples.

So, do you believe in Jesus? And are you willing to follow him as a disciple to the point that you will stand with Jesus against the world?

In the end, it will be the whole world that condemns Jesus. So if you’re going to stand with him, you stand against the world. And as they condemned him, they will condemn you. Are you willing to do that? Because Jesus is the truth and he has eternal life.

“Through it all, though Jesus is unjustly treated again and again, he remains confident, righteous, and obedient.”

Remember that you can trust the King of truth.

Let me take a moment to pray now and then we’ll have our ordination.

Great God, in some ways these events are familiar to us and so we are in danger of not giving them the weight in our minds that they deserve.

Oh God, how could your son be treated this way? How could he be mocked? How could he be treated like some political pawn? How could he be beaten, tortured, and condemned?

This is not right. This is the worst injustice. And the fact that it actually happened shows that we humans are wicked.

Though we today obviously weren’t there at that time, without your rescuing intervention in our hearts, we would agree with those persons’ verdicts.

We would say, “I hate Jesus. Jesus is an inconvenience to me. He’s getting in the way of the things I want and need. Therefore, sure, let’s put him to death.”

God, therefore, how shall we ever escape condemnation? Except that you graciously open our eyes to who Jesus is, and so the very one that we have condemned becomes the one who saves us.

The one who offers himself to take the condemnation that we deserve in our place.

Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you for your glorious salvation through the cross, dying in the place of sinners, taking our debt upon you, and giving us your righteousness so that we can be reconciled to God.

God, if there are any here who do not yet find refuge in the King of Truth, I pray that they would this morning. That they would believe, that they would not look for truth somewhere else, but they’d hear it in the King of Truth, the very testifier of God.

Lord, thank you for this word this morning. Help us to continue to meditate on it and to apply it as your spirit would see fit for us to do in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.

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