Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00025A
|
00:20 Hello, friends, and welcome back
00:21 to this program "Books of the Book." 00:23 My name is Deyvy Rodriguez and I'm so happy 00:26 that you have decided to take this time 00:28 and join us in this Bible study. 00:30 And we are studying the Gospel of John 00:32 and we're almost finished with the gospel 00:34 but we are still in Chapter 18 and we are with Dr. Jon Paulien, 00:39 he is the Dean of the School of Religion 00:42 in Loma Linda University, in Loma Linda, California. 00:45 And I've certainly been blessed. 00:46 So if you have a Bible and you want to be blessed 00:48 also with this Bible study, 00:51 grab your Bible and join us again. 00:53 We are in Chapters 18 and possibly 00:57 some of the Chapter 19, right Dr. Paulien? 01:01 Yeah. Now, we are in the trial 01:03 of Jesus before Pilate 01:06 and we want to learn more of the setting 01:09 for those who have not seen the previous chapters, 01:12 the previous programs rather. 01:13 Tell us where are we and what's-- 01:17 where are we picking up in this chapter? 01:19 Okay, before I do it, let me just mention 01:21 to the viewing audience that we are almost rushing through 01:26 the Gospel of John because it's such a big and rich gospel 01:30 and we can only touch on some highlights 01:32 and so we will be posting the scripts on my website 01:37 which is www.thebattleofarmageddon.com 01:45 and there you should be able to find scripts 01:47 to each of these programs 01:48 and this would be program number 25. 01:52 So anyway coming back to your question. 01:55 Pilate first of all in the Gospel of John 01:58 we have seen Jesus and His disciples in the upper room 02:01 and then they go to the garden and then Jesus' trial 02:05 before Annas, the Jewish leadership that takes place. 02:10 Caiaphas, now he is at the Roman court 02:12 and as it makes clear in Chapter 18, 02:16 the Jews have to do that because 02:18 they don't have the power of killing anybody. 02:22 They don't have the power of execution. 02:24 They can judge in a lot of areas and the Romans 02:27 generally allowed the Jews 02:29 to judge religious matters, you see. 02:32 But, when it came to execution, 02:36 if they wanted to execute someone, 02:38 the Romans had to review the decision, 02:40 somewhat like a higher court, Supreme Court if you will. 02:44 So we are to place now the Jews are submitting their petition 02:49 to Pilate and what they have decided 02:52 to do is to go with the civil charge. 02:55 They're saying, you know, 02:56 Jesus is really a rival to Caesar. 02:59 He calls Himself a king and He wants to take over 03:04 and drive the Romans out. 03:05 In a sense they were accusing Jesus of the very thing 03:08 that they thought Messiah would do in the end. 03:12 So they are going to try to get the Romans to execute Jesus 03:15 because He is a threat to Caesar. 03:17 So that's the strategy that they are going 03:19 in with when they come to Pilate. 03:22 Now, Pilate is in the gospel I think very, very prominently 03:28 because, in the Gospel of John, 03:29 the characters tend to be representative figures, 03:33 the Samaritan woman and Martha represented 03:37 the second generation who had full 03:40 genuine connected faith in Jesus. 03:44 And Nicodemus and Pilate represent 03:46 people that kind of believe. 03:49 They come to see the Jesus as special 03:52 and yet they don't act on that belief. 03:54 It's a partial, it's an inadequate kind of a faith. 03:57 In Nicodemus' case at least at the beginning. 04:00 So, Pilate is a representative of Rome and how Rome 04:05 would look at these things but he also represents 04:08 that kind of a glimmering of faith 04:10 that in the end doesn't bear fruit. 04:14 Now politically Pilate is in trouble right now. 04:17 This was not good timing for Pilate. 04:21 He became governor about five years 04:23 before this and from records of history 04:26 we realized that he got in trouble 04:28 almost from the beginning. 04:30 I sense Pilate was probably one of those secular people. 04:35 He was only interested in this life. 04:37 He was interested in the power of Rome, 04:39 his place in it and so on. 04:41 Religion was of no interest to him 04:44 and you can see that in the story of John as well. 04:48 So, Pilate in a sense represents the perspective of people 04:53 who don't have a biblical background, 04:55 don't have a Jewish background who simply come out things 04:59 from the perspective of this life. 05:02 When he became governor among the things 05:05 he did was to build an aqueduct for Jerusalem 05:08 to bring a lot more water in for the temple. 05:12 He thought that was a good thing. 05:14 He thought that Jews would approve 05:16 but how did he pay for it? 05:18 He paid for it by raiding the temple treasury 05:21 and that created a rebellion. 05:24 In other occasion, he brought soldiers 05:28 into the temple grounds who had standards 05:30 on them all the other governors had said, 05:33 you know that those standards off, they are like idols. 05:36 You, know they are representing Roman gods, 05:38 take those off when you go into Jerusalem, 05:40 because it will make the people upset. 05:41 Pilate says no, that's the way we march anywhere else, 05:44 we are going to march in this way 05:46 and so he repeatedly offended the Jews 05:51 and it got so bad that it got even to Rome 05:56 and the emperor basically had said Pilate, 05:59 you either get control of the situation 06:01 there or you are done. 06:03 So, Pilate is in a very vulnerable place. 06:06 One thing he cannot afford to do to is to offend the priest. 06:12 So even if he wanted to release Jesus 06:14 and it's clear in John story that he does, 06:17 Even if he wants to release Jesus, 06:19 he need to figure out how to do it in a way 06:22 that doesn't undermine his ruler ship there because the emperor 06:26 is about done with him. 06:28 He is about ready to go in another direction. 06:32 So, Pilate is someone who wants to do the right thing legally, 06:38 that's his mission here. 06:40 But he is not interested in doing 06:42 the right thing spiritually or religiously. 06:46 He is going to do the right thing, the law says it, 06:48 I'm gonna obey the law etcetera. 06:51 But when religion comes into play, 06:52 he is not interested, so that's sort of the background here. 06:56 And take a look at verses 33-38 07:00 and we see how Pilate speaks to Jesus in that regard. 07:04 When Pilate entered the praetorium called again, 07:08 called Jesus, and said to him, 07:09 "Are you the King of the Jews?" 07:11 Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking 07:13 for yourself about this, or did others 07:15 tell you this concerning Me?" 07:17 Let's stop there just for a moment. 07:19 You see, Pilate is doing the judge thing. 07:25 When the Jews come to him, 07:26 he says what charges you bring in against this man? 07:29 That's you know, what are the charges? 07:32 It's a simple legal question. 07:34 So when Jesus comes to him, 07:36 he says again the legal question. 07:39 You've been accused of begin king of the Jews, are you? 07:42 Are the charges true? 07:45 That's the legal question. 07:46 Jesus turns the tables on him. 07:49 Notice what He says, "Is that your idea 07:53 or did others talk to you about me." 07:58 So, Jesus is trying to witness, 08:02 He is turning this into a spiritual opportunity 08:05 once again like at the foot washing, 08:08 He's got all these things to look forward 08:10 to that are miserable. 08:11 I mean the next day is going to be hard, 08:14 you see, or the next few hours actually at this point. 08:17 Instead of thinking of Himself, He is thinking of Pilate 08:21 as a human being that He wants to save, 08:23 that He wants to spend eternity with. 08:26 And so He says to him now, am I the king of the Jews 08:29 depending on how you are asking 08:31 that question determines how I'll I answer. 08:34 If that's a spiritual question. 08:36 Are you really the one that God sent to save the world. 08:39 I'll answer you that way. 08:41 If you are asking just you know in a political sense, 08:44 then I'll answer differently. 08:46 So, Jesus gives Pilate an opportunity to go spiritual 08:52 and we see what Pilate does with that in the next verse. 08:55 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? 08:58 Your own nation and the chief priests 09:01 have delivered you to me what have you done?" 09:04 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world 09:07 if my kingdom was one of this world, 09:09 my servants would fight, 09:11 so that I should not be delivered to the Jews 09:13 but now my kingdom is not from here." 09:16 Okay, look at this, this is a very believable dynamic. 09:20 You know, I mean it's something 09:21 I think we can we can get into right away. 09:23 Pilate is saying look, come on, 09:25 let's cut with the rest of the stuff. 09:28 I asked you a question. 09:30 Are you the king of the Jews? 09:32 How does Jesus answer? 09:34 Yes or no?. 09:36 It's not a yes or no question for Jesus. 09:39 Remembers Join is always working at both of those levels too. 09:42 So, Jesus is saying, I'm a king 09:46 but not the kind of king you are thinking of. 09:50 I really don't fit in your jurisdiction, 09:53 So He is basically saying to Pilate. 09:54 No, the kind of king I'm is not relevant 09:58 to what you are concerned about. 10:00 And so notice the Peter role in here. 10:03 He says, if I were a king my servants 10:07 would fight to keep me from being arrested. 10:11 Peter was actually undermining Jesus' argument at this point. 10:15 He is telling Pilate, look I'm not the threat to Caesar. 10:19 If I were a threat to Caesar, 10:22 then my servants would have started a war, 10:25 they didn't do that. 10:27 See, Peter didn't understand Jesus, 10:30 Peter didn't get the character of God and what God 10:34 was trying to show through this cross. 10:36 He was just getting the idea. 10:37 We want to get a Messiah in place, 10:39 we can conquer Rome. 10:41 Notice then going on what does Jesus say. 10:46 Pilate therefore said to Him, 10:48 "Are You a king then?" 10:50 Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. 10:53 For this cause I was born, and for this cause 10:55 I have come into the world, 10:57 that I should bear witness to the truth. 11:00 Everyone who hears, Everyone 11:02 who is of the truth hears My voice." 11:06 So, Pilate is still the legal guy. 11:08 He is not listening to all the spiritual stuff 11:11 he is saying answer my question. 11:13 Are you a king? 11:16 And Jesus is clear. 11:17 He is not a king in the sense 11:19 of a revolutionary threat to the Rome. 11:21 He is a king in another sense. 11:24 He is the king of truth. 11:26 He is the king of the truth about God 11:30 and how does Pilate respond? 11:33 What is truth? 11:35 And then he goes out. 11:37 Did Jesus convince Pilate that he wasn't a threat to Rome? 11:41 Yes, He did because what does Pilate say. 11:44 What is truth, he went out again to the Jews 11:47 and said I find no basis for a charge against Him. 11:53 So the priests were trying to operate on the charge 11:58 that Jesus is a threat to Rome. 12:01 Pilate is clear, Jesus is no threat. 12:04 That's a ridiculous charge. 12:06 Now, it seems that Pilate is in a difficult position 12:09 because he is not trying to displease the high priest 12:13 and at the same time as you said, 12:15 he wants to do things legally and it just remind-- 12:19 And you said that Jesus is taking this opportunity 12:22 for spiritual message there. 12:24 Reminds me of Paul with before I think it was king Agrippa 12:28 and he took that opportunity to testify him 12:31 and the king said are you persuading 12:32 me to become a Christian, you know. 12:36 And in this case Pilate, you know, that is his question, 12:41 you know, there is that spiritual battle now, 12:44 he has to make that decision and accept that he is a king. 12:49 See, he is in trouble with Rome, 12:51 and he is in trouble with the Jews 12:53 and he wants to do the right thing legally. 12:56 He recognizes that Jesus is innocent 12:58 of any political charge and because He is innocent 13:02 of any political charge, He should be released, 13:06 that the right thing to do and Pilate 13:08 wants to do the right thing. 13:10 But at the same time, he needs to release Jesus 13:14 in a way that the Jews can accept or he may lose his job. 13:19 And the problem is that the only way is death, 13:23 that's what the Jews want. 13:24 That's what they want so Pilate really wants to release Jesus 13:28 but he has to do it in a way that the Jews can accept. 13:31 So one thing he tries is the Barabbas experiment 13:35 and hoping that may be the crowd would choose Jesus 13:38 and then he can be done with the whole situation. 13:41 When that doesn't work, then he says well let me have 13:45 Jesus flocked and then bring him out and may be that will excite 13:48 the sympathies of the crowd and then may be they can 13:52 let me release Jesus, Well that doesn't work either 13:56 and so it is clear that things are going to have to take 14:00 a different turn than what both the Jews and Pilate 14:04 brought to this and will get 14:06 to that different turn after the break. |
Revised 2014-12-17