John 18:28-40
Jesus on Trial
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
Mark 14:60-62
Jesus Tells Us He is the Son of the Blessed One
60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"
62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Acts 3:11-16
We Killed the Author of Life
11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
When thinking about Jesus, I believe many of us go through our own personal trial about Truth...And that trial is, do we believe who Jesus is and did He speak the Truth...Is Jesus really the Son of Man, the Son of the Blessed One and right now sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One?...Do you believe He is?...
When Jesus was on trial, it was the Grand Trial of Truth...Truth was on trial...The judge of Jesus actually ask the right question...His question was "What is Truth?"...And believing in Truth has a cost, different costs...And because believing in Truth has a cost, it has consequences for you...And as we read about Pilate, it seemed he was looking for alternatives rather than seeking the Truth...Could a Roman leader believe in Jesus?...How would that affect him, his position, and his future?...His alternatives seemed to be few...So he washed his hands of the seemingly tough situation he was in, and turned over the prisoner named Barabbas...Pilate's decision had little to do with Truth and the truth...
Jesus' judge, Pilate ask Him, if He is the King of the Jews...And Jesus asks Pilate a question right back, if that is his idea and what he believes, or did someone else give him that idea...Pilate gives an odd answer, which also is in the form of a question?...“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied...Pilate goes on to say that your own people and chief priests have handed You over to me...And seems to ask Jesus another question in frustration, "What is it You have done?”...Pilate doesn't have an answer for Jesus...In Pilate asking Jesus, "Am I a Jew?" is an interesting question...I think many of us and many cultures think that by believing in something you can lose a part of yourself, or at least a part of your heritage or culture...And by being both a Roman and Roman soldier did Pilate stand to lose a part of Rome and being a Roman, if he believes and admits that a Jew and Jewish Man is the Absolute Truth and is who He says He is?...This is part of the cost one takes when they believe in the Truth...Heritage, culture, job, and our past play a role in how and what we believe in and how and what we perceive as the Truth...If Pilate were to admit that Jesus was Truth and the Messiah, what would his Roman countrymen think?...Would he be able to keep his job?...So as you read the accounts of the Trial of Truth, one actually gets a feeling (or at least I do) that the judge, Pilate is a little, if not a lot on trial himself...And like Pilate, admitting that Jesus is the Messiah, is this great challenge for many...
And back to the question that Pilate ask Jesus, "What is it You have done?”...His trial was not an arbitrary trial...He was on trial for teaching about God, and helping and healing others, and telling people He was the Son of God, and all the while doing miracles to support all of His claims...Him being on trial came out of what He taught and what He said about His personal relationship to God...His allegiance was not with the Sanhedrin or the Pharisees or the teachers of the law, and this affected His trial very much...His allegiance was not with Pilate and the Roman government, and that may have had a small impact on His trial...His allegiance is totally and completely with God...How this impacted the trial, is so interesting, because He Is Who Is -God in the flesh...We tried and killed the Author of Life...Jesus did not conform to this world...No, He conformed to the Will of God...
The Absolute Truth of Life was right in front of Pilate...And Pilate, the judge, was judging the Master Judge...Pilate had choices to make, when confronted with the Truth so very close to him, and so do we...Pilate could listen to the Sanhedrin and the rioting crowd, or he could decide and believe on his own what Truth...But the Truth cannot be rationalized down into something it is not...Admitting that Jesus is God in the flesh affects friendships, relationships, and possibly many other things...Often this cost is how other people view us -when we openly admit that Jesus is the Son of God...That maybe one of our biggest costs...How people look at us after we regularly start following Jesus...If you regularly today start talking about Jesus, you maybe perceived different than you were before when you were not talking about Him...
Personally admitting to others that Jesus is not the Son of God, does nothing to Him...It does not diminish who He is, or what the Truth is...However, that admission might diminish you in someone else's eyes...The Truth remains the truth regardless of what one admits or believes...Truth rose up and overcame this world...