Jesus Before Pilate, Part 2

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today. We are grateful for a chance to worship your great and glorious name. Teach us much that we might follow in your footsteps and live. To your glory. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen. Yesterday I dropped my son off at football camp, and I was Going by one of the buildings, and I read across one of the buildings, it was their entryway into their football complex, and it said To play with passion is inexcusable. And I saw that in big bold letters.

To play without passion is inexcus. And I thought to myself, I wonder who said that. And underneath the quote was the man who said it, but I couldn read. They had my glasses on. So I had to walk really close to see who said that. I thought, it must have been Vince Lombardi. It must have been. I mean, come on. Or somebody of that stature. And I walk up to it, and at the bottom, it said Ludwig von Beethoven. I thought, wow, that is so cool. You got this great pianist, this great composer, this great musician.

And they use the quote from him to put on their athletic complex, to play without passion is ine. And you know what? He's right. To do anything without passion would be inexcus. We should preach with passion. If you don't preach with passion, don't preach. Don't preach. But preach with passion. If you're going to play, play with passion. If you're going to work, work with passion. If you're going to live, live with passion. But passion should be the motivation. That's from the heart and from the inside.

That's why we say it is our passion to pursue him. In the inner part of a man, inner part of a woman, there should be this intrinsic passion that wants to get to know their God. To attend church without passion is inexcus. Inexcus. You should be here because of the heart's passion to get to know your God. That's why Nehemiah was so angry at Israel because they had forsaken the Sabbath. They had decided to do everything on the Sabbath except worship the Lord because their passion had dwindled, and his passion was for his God.

And he wasn't going to allow for people to live lives not passionate for the God they say they serve. And we should be people of passion. And my prayer for you is that you're here today because, in the depths of your heart, you want to see and know the living God. You want to come to grips with the reality of who he is. In our study of Christ in Luke 23, and before that, Luke 22, specifically the trials of Jesus, help us understand. Who He is. That makes us more passionate and more determined to understand our God.

And when we see him before the Sanhedrin, when we see him before Annas and Caiaphas, when we see him before Pilate, when we see him before Herod, we see Our king, we see our maker, we see our creator, we see the Lord of the universe, and we see him in all of his splendor and majesty and glory, even though his face is swollen, and even though His lips are swollen. His eyes are swollen shut. Even though there's spit all over his face, we see the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ our Lord. And with passion, we pursue him.

With passion, we want to know him. With passion, we want to live for him. Passion, we want Him to direct every aspect of our lives because that's the heart of a true believer. We are motivated by the Christ. And we are taking you through each phase of the trials of Jesus. There are two trials, each consisting of three phases. And we've taken you through the Jewish trial, the religious trial, where he went to Annas and then from Annas to Caiaphas. And then they waited a couple of hours till the light came up so they can make everything that they did illegal, legal.

And now they marry him to Pilate, taking the second trial, the political trial, because they need him to be executed.

Because they had been removed, or that opportunity had been removed from them as Jews, and only Rome could execute someone. And they needed Pilate to buy into what they were doing. So they bring him to Pilate because they don't want him to be judged. They want him to be executed. And they bring him to Pilate for that to happen. And so we pick up the narrative in Luke chapter 23, verse number 1, and we understand the first phase of the second trial.

When it says these words, then the whole body of them arose and brought him before Pilate, and they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ the king. And Pilate asked him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, It is as you say. And Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no guilt in this man. But they kept on insisting, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, even as far as this place.

But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction. He sent him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time. Now, you must understand that when reading the Gospels, they each add l to every scenario. So Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all add different aspects to this trial. Luke is a summation of the first ph of the political trial.

And so, to understand everything that's taken place in the conversation with Jesus and Pilate and the Sanhedrin, you have to go to John's Gospel to understand that. But remember, Pilate asked that question in Matthew 27, what shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ? What shall I do with Jesus? The question comes to us: what have you done with Jesus? But Pilate asked the question from this standpoint, what shall I do with Jesus, who is called to Christ, as if he was in charge of what happened with Jesus?

You see, one of the fallacies that the Sanhedrin had, as well as Caiaphas and Annas and Judas and Herod and Pilate, was that somehow what happened to Jesus depended on them. That somehow they held in their hand the destiny of the king of Israel. But they did not. And we will see in the third phase of this trial, this religious trial, when Pilate asks him.

A question and Jesus has an answer. Do you not know that I have authority to k you? And Jesus said, you have no authority unless it's been granted to you from above. But you see, one of the great fallacies that they all had was that they believed they were in charge. And they were not. In fact, all of them were on trial before Jesus. They saw Jesus on trial before them. It was quite the opposite. Every one of them is on trial before Jesus. And the question comes to all of them: what will you do? With Jesus, who is called the Christ.

Because Jesus, throughout these trials, is once again in the midst of all of the grace and mercy that He is. Demonstrating to them his character, his nature. Yes, he is. We saw before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. He is the Son of God. He is the Son of Man. He is the Christ, the Messiah of Israel. He is the great I am. All terms that they themselves would know and understand. But now he's brought before Pilate. And Pilate's going to be able to see Christ in his beautiful splendor in terms that he Can understand in terms that he can grasp, because he too would be without excuse.

They stood before Jesus think that they truly were in charge of the Christ. But they truly were doing everything according to God's Timetable. Judas could not betray Jesus until Jesus dismissed him from the Last Supper. Judas was still under the power of Christ. He could not do anything until Jesus said he could. The Sanhedrin could not kill Jesus. Until he allowed them to arrest him and bring him before them. But everything was on a divine timet. It is now Friday morning. It is early in the morning.

He will die. He will be on the cross that morning. He will die when all the sacrificial lambs die because it's on his timetable. He's in charge of all that's happening. They just don't know it. They don't get it. But he's in charge of everything because he's the sovereign king of the universe. And so he is trying them. All the while they think they are trying him. And so the question comes to them as well as to us. What will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ? Will you believe in him? Will you give your life to Christ?

That's why the Bible said in John chapter 3, verse number 16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. Christ is still in saving mode, He is still saving others, seeking that which is lost. He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten of the Son of God.

Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, Paul says in the book of Romans. Quoting from the Old Testament to help you understand that whosoever shall call upon the Lord, whoever shall seek the Lord, shall be saved. The Bible says over in John chapter 4, verse number 13, these words.

Everyone who drinks this water shall thirst again. Christ talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water. Springing up to eternal life. Listen, you can have water and you can drink the water from this well, but you will thirst again. But if you come to me, the source of living water, you will never thirst again. But you got to come, you got to believe. That I am the eternal one.

Christ would say in John 5, verse number 24, these words: truly, truly I say to you, Excuse me, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life. He who hears my words, he who believes my words, shall pass from judgment, shall not be condemned. But if you hear my words and you do not believe my words, you will be judged by my words. And it goes on to say in verse number. 26 for just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself, and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man.

J is the judge. And he is judging Pilate, Herod, Annas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin. Yet they think they are judging him. But Jesus is in charge. He always has been in charge. So in Luke 23, they bring him to Pilate. They bring him to Pilate because there needs to be an execution. And so they come to him, the who body of them, the Bible says.

Remember. When the sun arose on that Friday, they quickly gathered together and went through the third phase of their trial to condemn Christ.

As soon as they knew that they had something against him, which was in their mind blasphemy, which it wasn't, they were blaspheming the name of God, they were going to take him to Pilate. But the charge of blasphemy meant nothing to Pilate. So they had to come up with something that would convince. That would convince Pilate that Jesus was a revolutionary, that he was an insurrectionist. That he was a rebel, that he was trying to draw the nation away from Rome. And that would cause Pilate to take note.

And Pilate would have to execute him. And so they make the trek from the Judgment Hall to the Praetorium. And so we have to go to John's Gospel to pick up the narrative to understand all that happens. According to this text in Luke 2. So turn to John chapter 18. John chapter 18. They led Jesus, verse 28, therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, which was the place where Pilate himself would stay. And it was early. And they themselves did not enter into the praetorium in order that they might not be defiled by, but might eat the Passover.

Isn't that ironic? How hypocritical they are. They're willing to sacrifice the sinless, spotless Son of Man and not feel any guilt over that or any defilement over that, but they won't enter into the Praetorium, they won't enter into Pilate's house. Because he was a Gentile. It was the Passover. They could not be defiled on the Passover. So they stayed on the outside because they have to keep up the fac. They have to keep up this veneer that says, Hey, look at us, we are spiritual, we are a holy people, and we don't enter the house of Gentiles.

We don't go to where they are because that would defile us, and we refuse to be defiled. All the while they defile themselves over and over and over again. So they come to where Pilate is. Pilate, therefore, went out to them. He had to, because they weren't going to come in. And so, what accusation do you bring against this man? What accusation do you bring against this man? Now, this is interesting. Because Pilate does know about Jesus. How would he not know about Jesus? I mean, he's been in Jerusalem now this whole week.

Usually, he's in Caesarea, Maritima, which is on the sea, there in the Mediterranean. But he's always in Jerusalem at Passover. He has to be. He had to dis or dispatch 600 soldiers earlier that morning. Because they had to come and ask for 600 Roman soldiers to go and arrest Jesus. They had to get Pilate's permission. So Pilate knew that they were going to arrest Jesus. Because he had to dispatch the six hundred soldiers. He would know about what Jesus did on Monday when he came into the city and the scores of people that praised him as their king.

He would know about the temple cleansing. He would know about how it caused so much disruption among the Jewish leadership. He would know about all the people that would gather because the praetorium would be in the location of the temple area. And so he would see all the people gathered around Jesus, knowing what was happening that he was there teaching. So Pilate knew about Jesus. To some degree, he knew about his popularity, but he also knew, according to Matthew 27, that the Jews We were envious of Jesus.

He knew that. The Bible tells us that. They were envious of Jesus because Jesus had the populace. Jesus had the crowd. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand. The Sanhedrin did not. And Jesus had moved the loyalties away from the leaders of Israel to him. And Pilate knew that they were all env. Of Jesus, envious of him. So Pilate goes out to them and asks what accus Do you have against this man? What do you accuse him of? They had no accusation. They couldn't even get two witnesses to agree as to what it is he had done because he was sinless, he was spotless, he was blameless.

They couldn't say, well, he blasphemed the name of our God because that wouldn't go over with Pilate. So they. Come back with a question. They say in verse 30, they answered and said to him, If this man were not an evild, we would not have delivered him up to you. We wouldn't have given him to you if this man wasn't an evil doer. Why do you think we're here, Pilate? We're here because this man is an evild. You got to take our word for it. You got to believe our word. We are the populace. We are the Sanhedrin.

Now remember, this is 70 people showing up at your door at daybreak. It's not seven people or 17 people or 27 people, it's 70 people. And there they are. All of them. Luke tells us the whole body of them showed up. So Pilate goes out to them, and there's 70 men out there. And there's Jesus. Already have been slapped. And punched in the face with swollen eyes, swollen lips, swollen nose, cheek, with spit all over his face. There stands Jesus. What accusation do you have against this man? Accusation?

Come on. Pilate, we wouldn't be here if he wasn't an evild. Come on, you got to take our word for it. But Pilate knew they were envious of Jesus. He knew that. He understood that. So the Bible says in verse number 31, Pilate therefore said to them, Take him yourselves and judge him according to your la.

Now that's a very powerful statement because Pilate gives them permission. Listen carefully. He gives them permission to judge Jesus and to kill him. He gives them that permission. He could do that because he was the governor. He could wield that authority. He was, as we would say, the alpha dog in Israel. Because everybody reported to him. He was in charge. That's why they had to go to him and ask for permission to execute Jesus because they couldn't do it on their own. So Judas gives them, I mean, Pilate gives them permission.

To execute him. You judge him by your laws. Go ahead. Judge him? You kill him. Wow. Listen to what it says. We, the Jews said to him, remember the Jews in John's Gospel always refers to the religious leaders, the Jews, okay? The Jews said to him, We are not permitted to put anyone to death. We're not permitted to do that. We can't do that. Why? Because Roman law says we can't do that. Wow, now they want to obey Roman law. Roman law says we can't do that. But Pilate's already given the permission to do that.

But why wouldn't they accept the permission? Why wouldn't they jump on the opportunity? Pilate gives them permission, take Jesus out, stone him, and be done with him. Why didn't they do it? Because, number one, they were afraid.

They were afraid of the crowd. Because remember, up until this point, the crowd had been behind Jesus. He was the popular one. They were afraid of their reputation, what people would think about them. They also were afraid, to some degree, of Jesus. I mean, after all, when they went to arrest him. He said, I am, and they all fell over backwards. They know of the power of Jesus, they know of his power to raise the dead. They've seen Lazarus, they've seen resurrected people, they know the power of Jesus.

They know of his healing power. They know of the miraculous power of the Son of God. They know that. They've seen it firsthand. They, to some degree, are afraid of Jesus, but that's not why they didn't do it. It's not because they were afraid of the crowd primarily, and it wasn't because they were afraid of Jesus primarily. The Bible tells us why they didn't do it. Look what it says. That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what kind of death he was about to die. Do you know why they didn't take the opportunity when Pilate gave it to them?

Because Jesus was in charge of how he died. That's why. He had already told them what kind of death he was going to die. He was going to be. Cruc based on what the Old Testament prophets said and by what Jesus Himself said in John chapter 3 when he said these words, John 3, verse number 13. It says, Verse 14: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. In other words, there would be a lifting up, not a throwing down. Turn over to John chapter 12.

John chapter 12, Jesus says these words: John chapter 12. In John chapter 12, Jesus helps us understand ex how it is He Himself is going to die. John chapter 12, verse number 3. It says, And if I Be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. But he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die, and which was a crucifixion. How do we know that? Over in Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20. Jesus made it very clear. Matthew chapter 20, verse number 18, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and Crucify him, and on the third day he will rise again.

They could not take him out and stone him because they were subject. To the sovereign control of Almighty God. That's so powerful. Pilate gives the per: judge him by your law. Go ahead, kill him. What do I care? I don't care about Jesus. Kill him. Say, whoa, we got the permission. We can tell everybody we had permission from Pilate. Put it in writing, Pilate. Seal it, give it to us. No, they couldn't. Not because they didn't want to, believe me, they wanted Jesus dead. Mark this down. Jesus, Jesus.

Was not against destroying Rome and bringing Rome down, although it was a pagan government. It wasn't the Roman authorities who wanted Jesus dead. And it wasn't the Jewish people who wanted Jesus dead, it was the religious leaders who wanted him dead. The religious populace, the so-called holy people. They were the ones who want und. They were the ones who swayed the crowd. They were the ones who manipulated Pilate. They were the ones behind everything. Yes, we know that from the human standpoint, that's the way it was.

We know from the divine standpoint that he was delivered up by the predetermined plan and four lines of God the Father, according to Acts chapter 2. So we know that from the divine side. But from the human side, it was the religious establishment that wanted him dead. And P gives them the opportunity. Kill him yourself. You judge him. But they couldn 't because Jesus was still in charge. This proves his deity. It proves that he is the God of Israel. So read on. Back to John chapter 18. It says in John chapter 18, verse number 33: Pilate therefore entered again into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, So this is a private meeting to some degree between Jesus and Pilate.

He says, Are you the king of the Jews? Are you the king of the Jews? The question is, is he? The answer is yes. But Jesus didn't say that. If Jesus says, no, I'm not, okay, he would deny his kingship.

If Jesus says, yes, I am, Pilate could believe that he was trying to lead a revolt against Rome, that he truly is an insurrectionist, and kill him.

So, what does Jesus do? He answers the question with a question. So magnificent. Jesus answered, Are you seeing this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me? Is this your conclusion? Is this what you yourself are saying, that I am the king of the Jews? Or has someone else manipulated you? Has someone else told you that this is who I am? Okay? So remember, in Luke chapter 23, verse number 1, they bring him to Pilate. Between verse 1 and verse 2, all this is taking place. Luke 2, 1 and 2.

Okay? All this is happening during that period. Are you the king of the Jews? Did you say that on your own initiative? Or did someone tell you about me? Am I on some kind of most wanted list in Jerusalem? Is my picture splattered all over the streets? The most wanted man, the man that everybody wants to kill? Am I planted everywhere? How did you find out about me? How do you know this? Did you come up with it on your own? Or did someone tell you? And if you read on, Pilate answered, I am not a Jew.

Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you up to me. What have you done? You see, it wasn't about what Rome wanted to have happen to Jesus. It was about what the religious leaders wanted to have happen to Jesus. I'm not a Jew. How would I know that? He affirms that he's been told this by others. I'm not a Jew. They delivered you to me. What do I care about the situation? So Jesus says.

My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting. That I might not be delivered up to the Jews, but as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. Wow, he says, Look, my kingdom is not of this world, I'm not like you, Pilate. I'm not an elected official. I am the king. People are subject to me. I'm not subject to anyone else. No one puts me in this position. I'm in this position because of who I am. My kingdom is not of this world. If I was of this world, my servants would fight for me.

He came preaching the kingdom of God. He truly is the king of the Jews. When he was born, Before he was born, the angel Gabriel said to Mary that his kingdom will have no end. No end. And the Bible says three times: once in 1 Timothy 6, once in Revelation chapter 17, once in Revel 19, excuse me, that he is king of kings and lord of lords.

That he is the ruler of the world. He is the king over all kings. He is the Lord over all lords. He's just not a king, not just a lord. He is the king of all kings and lord of all l When he returns, he has that on his robe, king of kings and lord of lords. My kingdom is not of this world, Pilate. If it were. My servants would fight. Oh, when he comes back again, his servants will fight. But my kingdom is not of this world. And Pilate therefore said to him, Then you are a king. Right? You are a king, right?

You must be some kind of king. It's almost as if, you know, you're sitting here before me. Your face is bludgeoned. Are you a king? You can't be a king if you're that way. Are you the king of the Jews? Who told you that? Did you come with that on your own or somebody tell you? My kingdom is not of this world. So then you are a king. Aren't you? Mockingly, he mocks Christ. Then I guess you are a king. Maybe in your own mind you're a king. You're a legend in your own mind. You must be a king in your own mind, because you're certainly not a king that That anybody would respect or honor.

So you are a king, Jesus answered. You say correctly that I am a k. For this I have been born. And for this I have come into the world. Folks, what a powerful statement that is. For this I have been born, and for this I came into the world. What do you accuse this man of? speaks of his humanity. Their inability to kill him on their own speaks of his deity. The very fact that he is a king speaks of his royalty. This statement right here speaks of his eternality. He was the child that was born, but he is the son that is given.

When he became flesh, when the word became flesh in John:, he came unto his own, right? In other words, there was a pre to the Christ. He existed before time. It speaks of his eternality. He came into the world, meaning that he came, meaning he existed before the world began. He came into the world. He existed before his birth. So the Bible says very clearly, For this I have been born, speaking of his humanity.

And for this I have come into the world, speaking of his eter. That's why in John chapter 17. Verse number 5, Christ said these words, And now glorify thou me together with thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. See? Speaks of his pre-existent nature. Oh, I was born for this. Oh, by the way, just in case you didn't know, Pilot, I came into the world. For this, I existed before I was actually born, before I became flesh. That says For this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And Pilate said to him, What is truth? What is truth? Pilot says the same thing that people say today: there is no truth. What is truth? But Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Christ said in John 17, verse 17, My word is truth. He embodies grace and truth according to John chapter 1. Everything about Jesus is truth. This speaks of his veracity, that he is completely true through and through. He has the truth on life, he has the truth on death. He has a truth on sin.

He has a truth on righteousness. He has a truth on everything that pertains to anything that matters. Because he embodies truth. You want to know what the truth is? Read the word of truth. Psalm 119, 160 says, That some of thy word is tr. Truth. This is absolute truth. Jesus is absolute truth. He is absolute king. He is absolute Lord. He is absolute God. And everything you want to know about Jesus comes from the one who is truth. For this reason I came. Which was what? To bear witness to all that's true.

In other words, what stands before you, Pilate, is absolute veracity. Truth through and through. And Paul says, What is truth? In a mocking, sneering kind of way. See, we have the truth when it comes to salvation. We know how it is someone gets to heaven. That's why we can say there's only one way to heaven, because the Bible speaks of only one way, it's through Jesus Christ our Lord. We have absolute truth on that. It's not even up for debate. We have the truth on the identity of Christ and who He is: that He is the Son of God, Son of Man, that He is the One who is the Lord of all, the Redeemer of man's soul.

We have the truth in our hands. We don't have to debate the truth. It is the truth. And we stand on that truth. The church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. And Jesus is that truth. He gave us the word of truth. His word is magnified even as his very name. And we hold that truth in high esteem because our God is the truth. We have the truth on marriage. We have to debate marriage. We have the truth on marriage. The Bible tells us what marriage is all about, right? We have the truth on family.

The Bible tells us about that. We have the truth on everything that matters because the Lord God, who is truth, has spoken to that which matters. And everything about that is true. So we stand strong on that truth. Pilate says, What is truth? Go back to Luke 23. Luke 23. They began to accuse him, saying, We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ a king. And they would say that Matthew account would say, they would say it over and over and over again to get Pilate to realize this man is a rebel.

He is refusing to pay taxes. That's not what he said. What did he say? Do we pay the poll tax? Christ said, Whose image is on your coin? Caesar's. Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's. Jesus said, Pay your taxes. Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, but render to God that which is God, meaning that the image of God is imprinted on you. And because it is, you need to give yourself to God. Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's, but give to God that which is his. So he wasn't forbidding to pay taxes.

Quite the contrary, he told everybody: pay your taxes. And so that was the lie. Everything they say is a lie, it's a lie, it's a lie. But everything that happens during this trial, even though it is an unlawful situation, Based on untrue accusations and unmerciful persecution, leading to an unlawful condemnation. Remember, it's an undeniable affirmation to the character and nature of Jesus Christ our Lord. He is God. He is king. He is the ruler of the world. So you go back to Luke 23. And he answered him and said, Or Pilate asked him, verse 3, Are you the king of the Jews?

And he answered and said to him, It is as you say. And Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no guilt in this man. But they kept on insisting, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, even as far as this place. Oh, wait a minute. What did you say, Galilee? Oh, Galilee. Pilate takes a big sigh of relief. He says, when Pilate heard it, he asked whether this man was a Galilean. Because he was. And this was his way out. Because the ruler in Galilee was a man by the name of Herod.

That was his jurisdiction. And so, this is how J gets to Herod because Pilate wants nothing to do with this so-called king of the Jews. So he sends Jesus to Herod. And remember, Herod has been wanting to see Jesus. His entire ministry. And now he's going to get the ch. It 'll be unlike he ever dreamed it would be. But it would condemn Herod and his eternal destiny. Do you understand that Jesus is the king? The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 these words.

I charge you, young Timothy, in the presence of God who gives life to all things and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius. Pil. He takes Timothy back to John 18. He takes Timothy back to Luke 23. Takes Timothy back to Matthew 27. He takes him back. To the confession that Christ made before Pontius Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world. Are you a king? It is as you say. Did someone tell you that? Just come with that on your own. My kingdom is not of this world. If it was, you'd be a dead man.

But it's not. It's in a different realm. But one day, his kingdom will be on this earth. And Timothy, Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6: You keep the commandments without stain and reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Which he will bring about at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings and lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light. Whom no man has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

In other words, Timothy, this Jesus. Who made the good confession before Pontius Pilate? Who said that he came to bear witness to the truth? You keep that truth without stain, without reproach, because he is the king. He is the king of all kings. He is the Lord of all lords. Have you subjected yourself to the King of Israel? The King of the universe? The King is coming soon. The king is going to return because when he ex heaven in Revelation 19. It says that he is called faithful and true. He is the God of truth.

He said he was coming again. And he will. Because he's the God of truth. He bears witness to all that is true. And he is the king. He said he was going to come again. And so it's almost as if God's God's mockery upon man. He is faithful and true. He told you he was coming. How dare you not be ready for his arrival? How dare you live in the way you've lived without anticipating the arrival of the king? He said he was coming. He's going to come again. And when he arrives, it will say, I am faithful.

I am true to my word. I am the God of truth. I am the king of the universe. On his robe, it says, King of kings, Lord of lords. And he's coming to judge man. Judge him. And he will because he is a king. What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ? Pilot every opportunity. Are you a king? You don't look like a king. You certainly don't look like a king. I look more of a king than you do. You certainly must not be a king. And then Jesus tells him, My kingdom's not this world. So you're trying to tell me you are king?

Because Pilate didn't believe that Jesus was the king. And in a few hours, when he brings it before the people, they will say, We have no king but Caesar. They would not subject themselves to Jesus as their king. I wonder if you have. Pray together. Father, we thank you for today, a chance to once again look at the trials of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We anticipate the day you will arrive and everybody will see you as the king. So many don't see you as the king today, but you are. You are exactly who you said you were. And thank you for opening our eyes that we could behold you as our K. And our prayer is that no one would leave today. Without submitting to you as their king, bowing the knee before the king of kings and lord of lords. For you have said, Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that you are the King of the world.

And our prayer is that those present today would be those who bow today in Jesus' name. Amen.