Hello, friends, and welcome back
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to this program
"Books of the Book."
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My name is Deyvy
Rodriguez and I'm so happy
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that you have
decided to take this time
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and join us in this Bible study.
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And we are
studying the Gospel of John
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and we're almost
finished with the gospel
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but we are still in Chapter 18
and we are with Dr. Jon Paulien,
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he is the Dean of
the School of Religion
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in Loma Linda University,
in Loma Linda, California.
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And I've certainly been blessed.
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So if you have a Bible
and you want to be blessed
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also with this Bible study,
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grab your Bible
and join us again.
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We are in
Chapters 18 and possibly
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some of the Chapter
19, right Dr. Paulien?
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Yeah. Now, we are in the trial
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of Jesus before Pilate
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and we want to
learn more of the setting
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for those who have not
seen the previous chapters,
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the previous programs rather.
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Tell us where
are we and what's--
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where are we
picking up in this chapter?
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Okay, before I do
it, let me just mention
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to the viewing audience that
we are almost rushing through
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the Gospel of John because
it's such a big and rich gospel
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and we can only
touch on some highlights
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and so we will be posting
the scripts on my website
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which is
www.thebattleofarmageddon.com
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and there you should
be able to find scripts
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to each of these programs
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and this would be
program number 25.
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So anyway coming
back to your question.
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Pilate first of all
in the Gospel of John
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we have seen Jesus and His
disciples in the upper room
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and then they go to the
garden and then Jesus' trial
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before Annas, the Jewish
leadership that takes place.
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Caiaphas, now he
is at the Roman court
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and as it makes
clear in Chapter 18,
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the Jews have to do that because
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they don't have the
power of killing anybody.
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They don't have
the power of execution.
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They can judge in a
lot of areas and the Romans
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generally allowed the Jews
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to judge
religious matters, you see.
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But, when it came to execution,
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if they wanted
to execute someone,
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the Romans had to
review the decision,
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somewhat like a higher court,
Supreme Court if you will.
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So we are to place now the Jews
are submitting their petition
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to Pilate and
what they have decided
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to do is to go
with the civil charge.
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They're saying, you know,
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Jesus is really
a rival to Caesar.
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He calls Himself a king
and He wants to take over
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and drive the Romans out.
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In a sense they were
accusing Jesus of the very thing
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that they thought
Messiah would do in the end.
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So they are going to try to
get the Romans to execute Jesus
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because He is a
threat to Caesar.
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So that's the
strategy that they are going
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in with when
they come to Pilate.
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Now, Pilate is in the gospel
I think very, very prominently
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because, in the Gospel of John,
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the characters tend to
be representative figures,
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the Samaritan woman
and Martha represented
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the second
generation who had full
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genuine
connected faith in Jesus.
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And Nicodemus
and Pilate represent
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people that kind of believe.
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They come to see
the Jesus as special
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and yet they don't
act on that belief.
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It's a partial, it's an
inadequate kind of a faith.
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In Nicodemus' case at
least at the beginning.
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So, Pilate is a representative
of Rome and how Rome
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would look at these
things but he also represents
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that kind of a
glimmering of faith
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that in the end
doesn't bear fruit.
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Now politically Pilate
is in trouble right now.
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This was not good
timing for Pilate.
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He became
governor about five years
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before this and
from records of history
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we realized that
he got in trouble
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almost from the beginning.
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I sense Pilate was probably
one of those secular people.
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He was only
interested in this life.
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He was interested
in the power of Rome,
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his place in it and so on.
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Religion was of
no interest to him
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and you can see that in
the story of John as well.
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So, Pilate in a sense represents
the perspective of people
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who don't have a
biblical background,
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don't have a Jewish background
who simply come out things
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from the
perspective of this life.
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When he became
governor among the things
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he did was to build
an aqueduct for Jerusalem
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to bring a lot more
water in for the temple.
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He thought that
was a good thing.
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He thought that
Jews would approve
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but how did he pay for it?
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He paid for it by
raiding the temple treasury
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and that created a rebellion.
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In other occasion,
he brought soldiers
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into the temple
grounds who had standards
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on them all the
other governors had said,
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you know that those standards
off, they are like idols.
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You, know they are
representing Roman gods,
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take those off when
you go into Jerusalem,
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because it will
make the people upset.
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Pilate says no, that's the
way we march anywhere else,
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we are going to
march in this way
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and so he
repeatedly offended the Jews
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and it got so bad
that it got even to Rome
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and the emperor
basically had said Pilate,
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you either get
control of the situation
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there or you are done.
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So, Pilate is in a
very vulnerable place.
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One thing he cannot afford to
do to is to offend the priest.
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So even if he
wanted to release Jesus
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and it's clear in
John story that he does,
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Even if he wants
to release Jesus,
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he need to figure
out how to do it in a way
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that doesn't undermine his ruler
ship there because the emperor
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is about done with him.
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He is about ready to
go in another direction.
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So, Pilate is someone who wants
to do the right thing legally,
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that's his mission here.
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But he is not
interested in doing
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the right thing
spiritually or religiously.
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He is going to do the
right thing, the law says it,
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I'm gonna obey the law etcetera.
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But when
religion comes into play,
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he is not interested, so that's
sort of the background here.
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And take a look at verses 33-38
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and we see how Pilate
speaks to Jesus in that regard.
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When Pilate entered the
praetorium called again,
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called Jesus, and said to him,
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"Are you the King of the Jews?"
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Jesus answered
him, "Are you speaking
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for yourself about
this, or did others
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tell you this concerning Me?"
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Let's stop there
just for a moment.
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You see, Pilate is
doing the judge thing.
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When the Jews come to him,
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he says what charges you
bring in against this man?
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That's you know,
what are the charges?
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It's a simple legal question.
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So when Jesus comes to him,
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he says again
the legal question.
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You've been accused of
begin king of the Jews, are you?
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Are the charges true?
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That's the legal question.
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Jesus turns the tables on him.
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Notice what He
says, "Is that your idea
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or did others
talk to you about me."
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So, Jesus is trying to witness,
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He is turning this
into a spiritual opportunity
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once again like
at the foot washing,
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He's got all these
things to look forward
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to that are miserable.
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I mean the next day
is going to be hard,
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you see, or the next few
hours actually at this point.
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Instead of thinking of Himself,
He is thinking of Pilate
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as a human being
that He wants to save,
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that He wants to
spend eternity with.
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And so He says to him
now, am I the king of the Jews
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depending on how you are asking
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that question
determines how I'll I answer.
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If that's a spiritual question.
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Are you really the one
that God sent to save the world.
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I'll answer you that way.
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If you are asking just
you know in a political sense,
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then I'll answer differently.
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So, Jesus gives Pilate an
opportunity to go spiritual
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and we see what Pilate does
with that in the next verse.
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Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?
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Your own nation
and the chief priests
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have delivered you to
me what have you done?"
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Jesus answered, "My
kingdom is not of this world
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if my kingdom was
one of this world,
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my servants would fight,
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so that I should not
be delivered to the Jews
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but now my
kingdom is not from here."
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Okay, look at this, this
is a very believable dynamic.
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You know, I mean it's something
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I think we can we
can get into right away.
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Pilate is saying look, come on,
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let's cut with
the rest of the stuff.
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I asked you a question.
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Are you the king of the Jews?
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How does Jesus answer?
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Yes or no?.
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It's not a yes or
no question for Jesus.
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Remembers Join is always working
at both of those levels too.
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So, Jesus is saying, I'm a king
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but not the kind of
king you are thinking of.
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I really don't fit
in your jurisdiction,
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So He is
basically saying to Pilate.
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No, the kind of
king I'm is not relevant
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to what you are concerned about.
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And so notice the
Peter role in here.
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He says, if I
were a king my servants
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would fight to keep
me from being arrested.
00:10:07.96\00:10:11.13
Peter was actually undermining
Jesus' argument at this point.
00:10:11.16\00:10:15.21
He is telling Pilate, look
I'm not the threat to Caesar.
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If I were a threat to Caesar,
00:10:19.60\00:10:22.41
then my servants
would have started a war,
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they didn't do that.
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See, Peter
didn't understand Jesus,
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Peter didn't get the
character of God and what God
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was trying to show
through this cross.
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He was just getting the idea.
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We want to get a
Messiah in place,
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we can conquer Rome.
00:10:39.45\00:10:41.29
Notice then going
on what does Jesus say.
00:10:41.32\00:10:46.78
Pilate therefore said to Him,
00:10:46.81\00:10:48.16
"Are You a king then?"
00:10:48.19\00:10:50.04
Jesus answered, "You say
rightly that I am a king.
00:10:50.07\00:10:53.47
For this cause I was
born, and for this cause
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I have come into the world,
00:10:55.99\00:10:57.79
that I should bear
witness to the truth.
00:10:57.82\00:11:00.32
Everyone who hears, Everyone
00:11:00.35\00:11:02.22
who is of the
truth hears My voice."
00:11:02.25\00:11:06.06
So, Pilate is
still the legal guy.
00:11:06.09\00:11:08.80
He is not listening to
all the spiritual stuff
00:11:08.83\00:11:11.16
he is saying answer my question.
00:11:11.19\00:11:13.90
Are you a king?
00:11:13.93\00:11:16.21
And Jesus is clear.
00:11:16.24\00:11:17.59
He is not a king in the sense
00:11:17.62\00:11:19.56
of a revolutionary
threat to the Rome.
00:11:19.59\00:11:21.55
He is a king in another sense.
00:11:21.58\00:11:24.37
He is the king of truth.
00:11:24.40\00:11:26.43
He is the king of
the truth about God
00:11:26.46\00:11:30.09
and how does Pilate respond?
00:11:30.12\00:11:33.48
What is truth?
00:11:33.51\00:11:35.57
And then he goes out.
00:11:35.60\00:11:37.14
Did Jesus convince Pilate
that he wasn't a threat to Rome?
00:11:37.17\00:11:41.93
Yes, He did because
what does Pilate say.
00:11:41.96\00:11:44.52
What is truth, he
went out again to the Jews
00:11:44.55\00:11:47.47
and said I find no basis
for a charge against Him.
00:11:47.50\00:11:53.41
So the priests were
trying to operate on the charge
00:11:53.44\00:11:58.31
that Jesus is a threat to Rome.
00:11:58.34\00:12:01.11
Pilate is clear,
Jesus is no threat.
00:12:01.14\00:12:04.52
That's a ridiculous charge.
00:12:04.55\00:12:06.15
Now, it seems that Pilate
is in a difficult position
00:12:06.18\00:12:09.06
because he is not trying
to displease the high priest
00:12:09.09\00:12:13.67
and at the same
time as you said,
00:12:13.70\00:12:15.13
he wants to do things
legally and it just remind--
00:12:15.16\00:12:19.26
And you said that Jesus
is taking this opportunity
00:12:19.29\00:12:22.11
for spiritual message there.
00:12:22.14\00:12:24.10
Reminds me of Paul with before
I think it was king Agrippa
00:12:24.13\00:12:28.42
and he took that
opportunity to testify him
00:12:28.45\00:12:31.29
and the king said
are you persuading
00:12:31.32\00:12:32.78
me to become a
Christian, you know.
00:12:32.81\00:12:36.12
And in this case Pilate,
you know, that is his question,
00:12:36.15\00:12:41.56
you know, there is
that spiritual battle now,
00:12:41.59\00:12:44.21
he has to make that decision
and accept that he is a king.
00:12:44.24\00:12:49.13
See, he is in trouble with Rome,
00:12:49.16\00:12:51.12
and he is in
trouble with the Jews
00:12:51.15\00:12:53.39
and he wants to do
the right thing legally.
00:12:53.42\00:12:56.03
He recognizes
that Jesus is innocent
00:12:56.06\00:12:58.85
of any political charge
and because He is innocent
00:12:58.88\00:13:02.75
of any political
charge, He should be released,
00:13:02.78\00:13:06.36
that the right
thing to do and Pilate
00:13:06.39\00:13:08.48
wants to do the right thing.
00:13:08.51\00:13:10.73
But at the same time,
he needs to release Jesus
00:13:10.76\00:13:14.64
in a way that the Jews can
accept or he may lose his job.
00:13:14.67\00:13:19.73
And the problem is
that the only way is death,
00:13:19.76\00:13:23.48
that's what the Jews want.
00:13:23.51\00:13:24.76
That's what they want so Pilate
really wants to release Jesus
00:13:24.79\00:13:28.27
but he has to do it in a
way that the Jews can accept.
00:13:28.30\00:13:31.94
So one thing he tries
is the Barabbas experiment
00:13:31.97\00:13:35.05
and hoping that may be
the crowd would choose Jesus
00:13:35.08\00:13:38.83
and then he can be done
with the whole situation.
00:13:38.86\00:13:41.62
When that doesn't work,
then he says well let me have
00:13:41.65\00:13:45.07
Jesus flocked and then bring him
out and may be that will excite
00:13:45.10\00:13:48.61
the sympathies of the
crowd and then may be they can
00:13:48.64\00:13:52.26
let me release Jesus,
Well that doesn't work either
00:13:52.29\00:13:56.73
and so it is clear that
things are going to have to take
00:13:56.76\00:14:00.78
a different turn than
what both the Jews and Pilate
00:14:00.81\00:14:04.24
brought to this and will get
00:14:04.27\00:14:06.19
to that different
turn after the break.
00:14:06.22\00:14:09.01