Sermon Tone Analysis

John 18-19

*What is truth?*

A twelve year old boy was an important witness in a lawsuit.

One lawyer, who was cross-examining him, said, "Your father has been telling you how to testify, hasn’t he?" "Yes," said the boy.

"Now just tell us how your father told you to testify," the lawyer remarked.

"Well," replied the boy, "Father told me the lawyers would try to tangle me in my testimony; but if I would just be careful and tell the truth, I could tell the same thing every time."

Of all places in our world, one place where we need the truth to be told is in the courtroom.

So much is decided in our courtrooms today.

The courtroom decides who is at fault for the death of a loved one.

The courtroom decides who will get custody of the kids.

The courtroom decides how much will be paid in damages that were incurred.

The courtroom decides what will be the penalty for the law that was broken.

And all of these decisions are based on the belief that natural-born liars will tell the truth.

I suppose that is what makes the job of judges and jurors a next to impossible task.

They must decide who is telling the truth and who is lying.

\\ \\

Early in the morning, just hours before His death, Jesus stood in a Roman courtroom before a man named Pilate.

The witnesses for the prosecution brought charges against Jesus, and there was no one to speak in His behalf.

It was only a short time before that Jesus had washed His disciples feet, that He had told them that He was going away, that He and they had gone to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, that He had been betrayed by one of His closest friends, and that all of His other friends had deserted Him.

And now, He stood all alone before Pilate who would be His judge; the one who would hear the charges brought against Him and decide the fate of Jesus.

Pilate had to decide what was truth, and then Pilate had to decide what he was going to do with the truth.

That is something that you and I must do every day.

We have to decide whether or not that e-mail warning us of a computer virus is true, and then we have to decide if it is true that if we fail to forward it to our friends that our hair will fall out.

We have to decide if the warning about our speed being checked by radar is true or not, and then we must decide if we are going to release the pressure on the gas pedal.

We have to decide the truthfulness of more important things too.

We have to decide if it is really true that our sins are an offense to God.

We have to decide if it is true that God really loves us.

We have to decide if it is true that everything we do is going to have consequences for the rest of our lives and into eternity.

\\ In the events that happened in that courtroom, the witnesses shared 7 truths about mankind, our world, and God.

Let’ s examine these truths together.

\\ \\ *1.

It is true that many people are religious but do not know Jesus.

(18:28)*

The actions of the chief priests and Pharisees stated this.

(v.28)

They were more concerned with being able to observe their religious feast than they were interested in doing what was right.

Most people will claim some type of attachment to some type of religion, but religion only gives you rules to live by.

It cannot save you.

Jesus is the only one who can do that.

(Mat 7:21-23 KJV) *Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out demons? and in your name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.*

There is a hypocrisy here with the Pharisees.

They were more interested in an outward show and following rules of religiosity than knowing the truth or understanding and accepting Jesus.

At one time, Paul would have numbered himself among the Pharisees.

There came a point of radical change.

The person who knows Jesus has had a radical change in their life with the result that they live in pursuit of the truth on a daily basis.

Paul said in (Phil 3:8-10 NIV) *What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be fou nd in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, . .

.*

Paul’s goal and ours must not be to look good to everyone on the outside but to get to know Jesus in such a way that we become like Him.

 

*2.

It is true that everything Jesus said would happen did.

(18:32)* \\ Read 29-32 & Matthew 20:17-19  (read)-Jesus predicts His death and resurrection

I have been asked, “How I know that the Bible is true and that the what Jesus said is true?”

I say that had Jesus predicted His death and resurrection only to not have it come true, I could safely throw out everything else that Jesus had to say.

If Jesus had said to the waters, “Peace, be still”, and the storm continued anyway, I wouldn’t have to listen to Him.

If Jesus had said, “Lazarus, come forth!”

only to have Lazarus stay in the grave, nice try, but I wouldn’t have to listen to Him.

If Jesus had said, “Arise, take up thy bed and walk”, and the man’s legs had remained lifeless, I wouldn’t have to listen.

But the fact is that all these things happened just as Jesus said.

Mohammed did not raise from the dead.

Mohammed’s claims were not confirmed with signs and wonders.

So when Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth . .

.”,

I had better pay attention.

When His Word says, “Whatever a man sows . .

.¨,

I had better listen.

When He says, “I’m coming back to get you¨, then I had better make sure that I am prepared.

*3.

It is true that people would rather embrace the darkness of their sin than face a Savior who can forgive their sin.

(18:38-40)*

The people were given a choice - Jesus or Barabbas

What a choice - Jesus gave life, Barabbas had taken life through murder (Luke 23:25).

Jesus was holy God, Barabbas was a sinful man.

Jesus brought comfort and peace, Barabbas brought fear.

But even with the absurdity of the choice, the people still chose Barabbas.

\\ Mankind has a similar choice when they consider holding onto their sin or clinging to Jesus.

(John 3:19-20 NIV) *This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.*

If you are a Christian, you have exposed yourself to the light and sought forgiveness for your sin.

But there are times that we too still choose to hold onto sin rather than release it to Jesus.

We hold onto a grudge because we can’t allow ourselves to forgive that person who hurt us or someone that we love.

We hold onto our anger because of that injustice that was done to us.

We hold onto our favorite TV show even though it is filled with words and images and ideas that are totally offensive to God.

We hold onto our language, and our pornography, and our alcohol because of the short-lived pleasure that they provide.

We hold onto all these things even though they send us down into a deep dark pit that Jesus wants to rescue us from.

Jesus offers us peace, and we say, “No, thank you.

I’d rather have drugs.

Jesus offers us a relationship with Him, and we say, “No, thank you.

I’d rather have sex.”

Jesus offers us eternity, and we say, “No, thank you.

I’d rather have today.”

Jesus offers us truth, and we say, “No thank you.

I’d rather live a lie.”

Jesus offers us forgiveness, and we say, “No, thank you.

I’d rather just enjoy my sin.”

Don’t be too quick to point a finger of accusation at the people in Jesus’ day because they made a stupid decision.

I bet that you and I have made a similar stupid decision sometime this week when we substituted the fake that the world offers for the truth that Jesus offers.

\\ *4.

It is true that Jesus is the King of a distant kingdom (18:33-37)*

The accusation that was brought against Jesus on that day was that He was claiming to be a king.

Since that would have put him in opposition to Caesar, the Roman Emperor, the main thing that Pilate needed to discover was the nature of Jesus’ claim.

Jesus said that the servants of His kingdom responded differently than the servants in most kingdoms.

(vs.