John 18, that's further back in the Gospels than
normal for a Christmas Eve service. I promise
you I will explain what that's about. But this
is a very important text for us to consider tonight.
And so John 18, 33 through 38, and it reads like
this. entered his headquarters again and called
Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the
Jews? And Jesus answered, do you say this of
your own accord or did others say it to you about
me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation
and the chief priests have delivered you over
to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my
kingdom is not of this world. my kingdom were
of this world my servants would have been fighting
that I might not be delivered over to the Jews
but my kingdom is not from the world then Pilate
said to him so you are a king and Jesus answered
you say that I am a king for this purpose I was
born and for this purpose I have come into the
world to bear witness to the truth everyone who
is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said
to him, what is truth? Let us pray. Mighty God,
the shepherds of old were full of your praise
saying that all they had heard and seen was mirrored
by what they had been told. Move among us now
by your spirit that we too might hear and experience
the wonder and the joy of the living word as
we seek to welcome the written word deep down
into our hearts. This we ask in Christ's name.
Amen. Having read this text from John 18, you
might be thinking that perhaps I've lost track
of time. Perhaps I'm preaching a Good Friday
sermon, but I can assure you I know the season
that we are in. The reason for this text is because
it clearly states why Jesus was born. Tonight
we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we also
celebrate the why. We celebrate why Jesus was
born. And that's what I want us to understand
tonight. Jesus was born to bear witness to the
truth. This is one of the clearest statements
Spoken by Jesus on his own incarnation you might
remember some of the other statements that Jesus
makes about his coming about his birth Purpose
statements if you will Matthew 517 where Jesus
says Do not think that I've come to abolish the
law or the prophets. I've come not to abolish
But to fulfill them that's a purpose statement
from Jesus another one John 12 46. He says I
have come into the world as light so that whoever
believes in me may not remain in darkness. Another
purpose statement. But this statement by Jesus
stands out because it specifically speaks to
his birth, not so in the others. And so we might
be wondering, well, why does Jesus mention his
birth? And what is Jesus really telling Pilate?
Well, if you've tracked with me in that reading,
It reads almost like a courtroom drama, right?
And perhaps it's strange to think of the birth
of Jesus that we think of him tonight, but we're
reading a text where he's accused of something.
But isn't that the way it went with Jesus from
the moment of his incarnation? He was pursued.
The world was out to get him. John, chapter one,
11 says his own people did not receive him. You
remember the wise men. They get to Jerusalem.
And they ask Herod, where is he who has been
born King of the Jews? Herod wants to destroy
Jesus, going so far as to have all of the male
children in the area under the age of two to
be killed. And so before Jesus can even walk,
he's on the run, metaphorically speaking. Jesus
was born to die. In the birth of Jesus, The fear
that Herod has over Jesus, it mirrors this episode
where Jesus is before Pilate. Because front and
center in both of those episodes, Pilate and
Herod, what's at stake is the question, are you
the king of the Jews? It's such an important
question that it's actually recorded in all four
gospels, somebody asking Jesus, are you the king
of the Jews? And so Pilate asks this here, and
he really wants to get to the bottom of it. Are
you the king of the Jews? But Jesus counters,
as you can see from our text, he counters with
his own question. He puts Pilate on the defensive.
Pilate, though, he's very different from Herod,
because as you can see, Pilate says, hey, I'm
not a Jew. They're not my people. And so he gets
to another question, and Pilate asks Jesus, What
have you done?" He's like, let's get to the bottom
of this. Pilate, it almost seems like some impatience
on the part of Pontius Pilate is saying, I've
got better things to do, Jesus. Let's get on
with it. I also think that Pilate in this passage,
he asks Jesus these questions with skepticism.
Are you the king of the Jews? There's no way
you could be king of the Jews. Look at yourself.
I like how one commentator puts it who says,
it was no wonder Pilate reacted this way. Jesus
was in peasant dress, stained with the bloody
sweat from Gethsemane. His features already swollen,
but despite appearances, Jesus was still king.
Jesus is a king. But Pilate feels here as he
begins to question Jesus, he's starting to feel
like, you know what? Jesus doesn't pose much
of a threat to me, and Jesus doesn't pose much
of a threat to Caesar. In his current state,
perhaps Pilate's thinking, Jesus doesn't pose
much of a threat to anybody. But friends, we
who know Jesus know that Jesus is the King of
kings, and Jesus is the Lord of lords, and all
people will bow to the kingship of Jesus. Isaiah.
predicts this in chapter nine six and seven listen
to these words for to us a child is born to us
a son is given and the government shall be upon
his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful
counselor mighty god everlasting father prince
of peace of the increase of his government and
of peace there will be no end the throne of David
and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold
it with justice and with righteousness from this
time forth and forevermore the zeal of the Lord
of hosts will do this and so Isaiah predicts
the kingship of Jesus a Reign that will last
forever indeed Gabriel tells Mary this in Luke
chapter 1 31 through 33 Gabriel says, and behold
you will conceive in your womb and bear a son
and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be
great and will be called the son of the Most
High and the Lord God will give to him the throne
of his father David and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there
will be no end. And so Jesus is the true King.
not just of the Jews, but Jesus is king of the
whole world. Perhaps you remember the words from
We Three Kings, verse two says, born a king on
Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown him
again, king forever, ceasing never, over us all
to reign. But Pontius Pilate doesn't know that,
Carol. Pontius Pilate doesn't know the scriptures.
All Pontius Pilate hears is, oh, you are not
a threat to me and you are not a threat to Caesar.
And he wipes his brow. You can see if you kept
reading from our text in verse 38, he says, I
find no guilt in him. Pilate's not threatened
by Jesus whatsoever, but Pilate's not truly considering
the words of Jesus. And I don't think he really
pays attention to this purpose statement in verse
Look there. For this purpose, I was born. And
for this purpose, I have come into the world
to bear witness to the truth. Jesus here is saying,
you don't get the truth by just being really
smart, by your intelligence. And you don't get
the truth by the position that you were appointed
to be in. like Pilate. No, you get the truth
from a person. You get the truth from divine
special revelation. And the revelation is this.
The truth of scripture is this, that this is
all about Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation,
all of it's about Jesus. Because you might remember
Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Jesus is walking
with two disciples after his resurrection. They
can't see him. They don't know it's Jesus. And
Luke 24 says this, beginning with Moses and all
the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself. This
is why Jesus says, everyone who is of the truth
listens to my voice. Believers, we belong to
the truth. And when we give attention to the
Bible, we listen to the very voice of God. The
truth is here and the truth is Christ. For you
remember in the book of John, Jesus is called
the word and Jesus calls himself the truth. The
truth of the matter is Jesus. And I believe that
there's a connection between how Jesus handles
these questions from Pilate and how Jesus is
a king. Think about it. Pilot asked Jesus about
being king and Jesus responds about bearing witness
to the truth You wonder if pilot was frustrated
like speak clearly with me But Jesus is Jesus
is saying he was born to establish a new kind
of kingdom Because Jesus isn't just the king
of the Jews Jesus is the king of kings and lord
of lords and he bears witness to the truth because
he is the truth Pontius Pilate doesn't realize
this, but he is staring truth right in the face.
And when I think about it, I think that Pilate
represents a very Western modern mindset. Pilate
seems to write Jesus off as being a religious
fanatic. Pilate doesn't consider the truth because
it doesn't affect him a whole lot. People act
like that today, don't they? Is there something
concerning me right now? No? Okay, good. Let's
move on with our lives. Jesus was born 2 ,000
years ago. What does that have to do with me?
My eternity, it rests in the balance. Well, that's
great, but what's for lunch? Human beings by
nature are self -centered and apathetic to what
really matters. But friends, what really matters
is Jesus. I know that's the Sunday School answer,
but it's completely true. How can we be apathetic
to the virgin birth of the Messiah, of God in
the flesh? Do you realize how astounding this
is that Jesus came, took on flesh, and dwelt
among us, that God walked on the earth? This
is the most astounding news of all time, and
so we must receive it as such. We need to set
our minds on Christ. Let me read you a couple
of scriptures that can help us center our minds
on Christ. 1 John chapter 2, 15 through 17. It
says, Do not love the world or the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. For all that is
in the world, the desires of the flesh and the
desires of the eyes and the pride of life is
not from the Father, but it's from the world.
And the world is passing away along with its
desires. But whoever does the will of God abides
forever. Or how about this one from Colossians
chapter three, one through three. If then you
have been raised with Christ, seek the things
that are above. where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God. Set your mind on things that
are above, not on things that are on earth, for
you have died and your life is hidden with Christ
in God. Friends, the Christmas season tonight
is an opportunity to see Christ afresh, to understand
what Christ really did for us. It's an opportunity
to look to Christ, who though he was a king,
He was born into the miseries of this life. He
suffered all the way to the cross to rescue us
from what we deserve. Jesus's incarnation and
his death are radically opposite from what we
would expect from a king, because Jesus gives
us radically the opposite of what we deserve.
You might remember the words of Mark chapter
10, 45, where we read that Jesus gave his life
as a ransom for many. Jesus was born to give
up his life for you God gives us eternal life
in Christ instead of eternal death But it's all
contingent upon faith. You might remember these
words from John 5 truly truly I say to you Whoever
hears my words and believes him who sent me has
eternal life He does not come at a judgment,
but is passed from death to life Friends, Pilate
asked this question at the end of our text. He
asks, what is truth? But he doesn't stick around
for the answer, does he? Tonight, do you know
the truth? Do you know the truth that Jesus came
to save you from your sins? I would ask, I would
urge you to consider Christ tonight. But... Let's
say you're a believer and you've believed for
a long time. Maybe you're even a member of this
church. How does this apply to you? What's the
application? How do I live this out? Consider
some of the characters of the Christmas story.
Consider the shepherds. Luke chapter 2 tells
us that the shepherds told everybody about what
they had seen and they praised God that night.
Consider the wise men. Why did the wise men travel
from so far away? They traveled for the purpose
of worship. What about Mary and Joseph? We read
in the scriptures that Mary treasured up all
of these things in her heart. And so tonight,
treasure these things, share these things, and
worship God. Now you might say, well, it was
easier for the shepherds, and it was easier for
the wise men, and it was easier for Mary and
Joseph. They had the revelation of the angels,
and they had the star guiding them. So you say,
God was giving them instruction. Well, friends,
you have the same instruction, and you have the
special revelation, because it's contained in
here. This bears witness to the truth and John
chapter 1 says Jesus is this Jesus is the word
and so tonight Let us be people of truth Let
us worship God for the truth of Jesus Christ
and let us be as those shepherds Telling everybody
about the truth Let's pray