Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "Did You Tell Others about Me?"

Text: John 18:33-37 

So, we find ourselves here on Christ the King Sunday, if we find ourselves here in church at all, in a state of Thanksgiving and a state of exhaustion. In our present state of being, are we ready to hear the story of Jesus coming before Pontius Pilate? Are we ready to contemplate once again the juxtaposition of Jesus going on trial for his life – and our lives, too – and the Christmas season in which we already are enmeshed? This is a real challenge for us – to think about the trial of the "King of the Jews" at a time when we are preparing for the arrival of the birth of the one who would become that king.

In John’s Gospel, the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, death, resurrection, and ascension come together to represent the exaltation and glorification of our Lord. The trial before Pilate is the centerpiece of the story. So, let us look at this trial, perhaps in a way that you never have before.

The action begins in John 18:28 and continues to John 19:16a – a total of 29 verses. Recall the scene. When the Jews took Jesus from his encounter with Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters, it was early in the morning. Because the Jews wanted to avoid ritual defilement and wanted to be able to eat the Passover, Pilate went out to meet them and their prisoner. His first question to them was "What accusation do you bring against this man?" Instead of answering directly with a reason related to some law-breaking done by Jesus, the Jews replied, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." But Pilate was not going to be swayed so easily. He told them to take the man and judge him according to their own law. Again, they offered an indirect response, saying to Pilate, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death" (v. 31). This is such a bizarre response that the author of John’s Gospel felt obliged to insert a parenthetical comment at this point in the text. He remarked that "This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die" (v. 32). This theological comment refers to Jesus’ earlier statements about being "lifted up" (found in 3:14, 8:28, and 12:32). The Greek verb used in these verses not only means "lifted up," but "exalted." In this sense, the Evangelist reminds the reader that Jesus’ death is to be seen not as a tragedy but as an exalting of the Lord.

This brings us to the section of the trial narrative included in this morning’s lectionary – verses 33 to 37.

At this point, Pilate goes back inside his headquarters, summons Jesus, and asks him directly and without preamble, "Are you the King of the Jews?" This is a peculiar question to ask someone upon a first encounter, don’t you agree? Pilate presumably had not seen this man Jesus before, although he might have heard of the so-called "prophet" who had been traveling around the countryside, curing folks of their maladies, feeding thousands of people at a time, and recently had entered Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey, with a great crowd shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord – the King of Israel" (12:13).

Clearly, Jesus’ activities had caused Pilate not only to know who he was, but to realize that Jesus was a power with which the authorities must reckon sooner or later. As Roman procurator in Judea, Pilate could not permit a member of the local ethnic community to go around being greeted like a king. This certainly would stir up the natives, upset their designated leaders, and do no good at all for Pilate’s own political career.

Of course, rather than directly answering Pilate’s question, Jesus asked Pilate one in return, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" (v. 34). In listening to this question, we sense Jesus’ awareness of his situation. He had never dealt with Pilate before this moment, but clearly he understood what was at stake in this encounter with the leading Roman authority in Judea. Pilate was likely to have received word of Jesus’ grand entrance into Jerusalem, whether directly or indirectly. But, don’t you agree, that it was much more likely that Pilate would have been told by his paid informers than by someone who was a "follower" of Jesus.

Rather than answer Jesus question, Pilate replied with a question, a statement, and another question. First, he said, "I am not a Jew, am I?" In the original Greek text, the tone of this question is in the negative; that is, the one asking the question expects a negative reply. In this case, Pilate and Jesus both knew that Pilate was not a Jew, but a Roman. So, the question is rhetorical and intended to separate Pilate from the "others" – the Jews – to whom Jesus presumably had been referring in his prior question.

Second, Pilate reminded Jesus that, "Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me." The meaning here is clear: Jesus is being defined as an outsider even among his own people. He is considered an "outlaw" whose activities must be dealt with by the Roman authorities. Far from protecting Jesus from the Romans, the religious leaders among the Jews are eager to hand him over to the Romans so that the Roman authorities will do what the Jews cannot do – execute this trouble maker who is upsetting the status quo in the land of Judea.

Third, Pilate asks Jesus, "What have you done?" This is less a demand for a confession than a query about what did Jesus do to so upset the Jewish religious leaders that they would turn him over to the Romans. In a sense, in this query we can hear Pilate saying, "What is your purpose? What is your mission? And why is this so upsetting to the chief priests?"

Instead of revealing his purpose or his mission, Jesus answered with a rationale for the situation in which he found himself. He said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Pilate must have thought this to be a cryptic way of saying "Yes, I am a king, but not from around here, so my armies are not available to do battle to release me from the Jews." So, this emphasis on being a king continued to be a central part of the questions going back and forth between Pilate and Jesus.

Pilate tried again, this time with the direct question, "So you are a king?" Do you hear the subtle shift from the earlier question? In his initial query, Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Now, he asks only if Jesus is "a king."

But even this was not enough to get an answer from Jesus. Jesus turned the question around and said to Pilate, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice" (v. 37).

To this answer, Pilate could only reply, "What is truth?" But that is another topic for another sermon. Instead of pursuing truth in the abstract, let us turn our attention to the implications of this encounter between Pilate and Jesus for Christians then and now.

In contemplating this encounter, I am struck by how hard it is to listen to the exchange between Pilate and Jesus as if we didn’t already know the outcome of the story.

Just imagine hearing this Gospel being read aloud in a first-century house church somewhere in Corinth, or Ephesus, or even Rome. Imagine further that you are hearing for the first time the story of Jesus, a man said to have done miracles, said to have been crucified on a cross like a common criminal and then resurrected from the dead before he ascended into heaven. Imagine that you even are considering becoming a follower, a disciple of this Jesus, this person who called the King of Israel and the Son of God.

But you live in a world dominated by Roman authorities and you have seen the persecutions and yes, even the crosses by the side of the road that await those who declare their faith in this Jesus Christ. You are more than a little worried about being seen coming out of this house with others known to be Christians. And yet, Pilate’s final question rings in your head, "What is truth?" Can it be true that this Jesus lived as man and as God? And that, in living in this way, he so upset the authorities that he was captured, interrogated, and then lifted up on a cross – only to be exalted in that terrible death? Where can someone find the faith to believe such a story about such a king?

Now we have come to the heart of the story. Do we, sitting here and listening to John’s Gospel account of the encounter between Pilate and Jesus, come away from this story with more faith or less faith? Can we hear the truth in the voice of Jesus? And are we prepared to "testify to the truth"?

If we answer "no," then there is nothing more to say. But, if we answer "yes," then we must ask how we are to testify to this truth? We can return to the beginning of the dialogue between Pilate and Jesus for our instructions. Remember that Jesus said to Pilate: "Did others tell you about me?" I imagine that all of us here in this sanctuary learned about Jesus when someone else told us the story. It might have been our parents, when we were very young. It might have a Sunday school teacher whose image is still vivid in our minds. And it might even have been an adult friend, the one who invited us to church for the very first time.

And now it is our turn. Look back on these days of Thanksgiving. What better time to tell someone the story of Jesus? Look forward to the coming season of Advent. What better time to tell someone your story of being a follower of Jesus? Look forward to your last day in this world. And reflect on the truth of the story of Jesus, the one whom we call Christ the King. Wouldn’t you like to be able to answer a resounding "yes" to the ultimate question about being a follower of Jesus the Christ: "Did You Tell Others about Me?"

Amen.

Amen.