JESUS AND PILATE

Jno. 19:4 ... "Pilate came out again and said to them, 'Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know I find no guilt in Him.'"

      After the High Priest and Jewish Sanhedrin had completed their "trial" of Jesus between midnight and dawn of that fateful Friday morning, they led Him to the court of Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Coming out to them, he asked, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" (Jno. 18:39). Contemptuously, they only replied, "If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you," (v.30). Pilate surely saw at this point that the Jews' case against Jesus involved matters of religion rather than matters of state. Being not in the least interested in their religious scruples, he ordered, "Take Him yourselves and judge Him according to your law," (v.31). When they answered, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death," Pilate realized this case was rather serious and became interested in interrogating Jesus. Knowing that Jews would not follow him into the Judgment Hall, (v.28), Pilate took Jesus there to examine Him privately. Nevertheless, his only concern was whether Jesus posed any threat to Roman government. Being satisfied this was not the case, Pilate gave his verdict to the Jews, "I find no guilt in Him."

      This statement indicates that, within the province of politics and public security, Pilate could determine nothing amiss in Jesus at all. Although the Jewish leaders were loath to admit it, there was likewise no fault in Jesus in the province of religion. Jesus had the highest respect for the Mosaic Law, as witnessed by His declaration in Mt. 5:18, "Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all be accomplished." Jesus was fully dedicated to the application and enforcement of the Mosaic Law until it should have accomplished everything God had designed for it. Furthermore, Jesus had made it explicit that He posed no threat to the Law. He stated publicly in Mt. 5:17, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." The mission of Jesus was to exalt and glorify the Law by conducting it to its ultimate goal, the presentation of the Messiah as the King of kings in an everlasting kingdom. Actually, the Jews differed with Jesus more on the stipulations of their own interpretive apparatus built around the Law than on the content of the Law itself. This great body of interpretation was called the "tradition of the elders," (Mt. 15:2). In one intense confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus told them that by these very traditions they themselves "transgress the commandment of God," (v.3). In other words, while Jesus respected and obeyed the Law absolutely, the Jews were transgressing and abusing it by their own interpretations.

      When the moral character of Jesus' personal life is examined fairly, one has to conclude that no fault can be found there either.  It is significant that in Jesus' "trial" no charge is made against His conduct or the moral fiber of His life. Had such personal blemishes existed, it is certain His enemies, who were viciously devoted to wrecking Him, would have enthusiastically brought them to light. No one could expose indiscretion in Jesus' life and conduct because there was none! This innocence was essential for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for all who sin. In II Cor. 5:21 we read that God made "Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Heb. 4:15-16 likewise emphasizes Jesus' total purity and its significance for us: "We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are,yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

THE VOICE OF TRUTH

Jno. 18:37 ... "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to

the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears My voice."

      After observing the Passover Feast with His disciples in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem, Jesus took them eastward out of the city, crossed the Cedron Brook, and made His way up the slopes of Mt. Olivet to the Garden of Gethsemane in order to pray. But Judas Iscariot, who for thirty pieces of silver sold his allegiance to Jesus to His enemies, knew the spot since Jesus had often gone there with His apostles to pray when He was in Jerusalem. Making himself the most infamous traitor of all time, Judas led the Jewish authorities right to this garden, and they immediately arrested Jesus. They took Him first to the house of Annas, father-in-law to Caiphas, the high priest, in order to interrogate Him and fix charges against Him that would stand up before the Roman governor. Later, they took Him to Caiphas' house to continue this farce of a "trial." It was at this place that Peter denied Jesus the third time, just before the cock crowed, thus fulfilling Jesus' prophecy. As morning broke, the Jews took Jesus to the Judgment Hall of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. For they had determined that this Man of Galilee must die, and only this Roman governor had the legal authority to administer capital punishment.

      The statement of Jesus quoted above was made during His appearance before this pagan official. From secular history we learn that Pilate knew little about the Jewish religion and cared less. In fact, he despised the Jews, especially their rulers, and welcomed every opportunity to act harshly against them. The mere fact that they brought Jesus before him probably made him at once sympathetic toward Jesus. But the only interest he expressed was whether this prisoner constituted a threat to Roman security. His first question was, "Are You the king of the Jews?" Jesus confessed that He was indeed a king, but that His kingdom was spiritual rather than political and that His disciples would not fight. Pilate then saw no problem with Him, and returning Him to the Jews waiting outside, he announced, "I find no guilt in Him." (The Jews had not entered Pilate's house, lest being in a Gentile structure they would "defile" themselves and be unfit to observe the Passover.)

      It was when the governor asked Him if He were king of the Jews that Jesus replied, "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world." God had sent Him to lay the foundation of a kingdom that would be established just fifty days from that very day. It would be an eternal kingdom, the very Kingdom of Heaven, and Jesus was already its King before it began. This kingdom and all that pertains to it -- its government, law, territory and destiny -- were matters of truth beyond human ability to discover. It was Jesus' mission, besides being King, to reveal these great truths to mankind. His work of witnessing to the truth was so vital and unique that He personally equated Himself with it. In Jno. 14:6 He declared that "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." Jesus is the sole access to the truth of God's will for man; and this, in the final analysis, is the only truth with value and meaning. Jesus said, "Every one who is of the truth hears My voice." He meant that those who seek truth will open their ears and their minds to His instruction. There are two dimensions of truth: the truth about the structure and operation of the physical universe, and the truth about the spiritual world. It is pathetic that people seek the former truth and deny the latter, decrying its meaning and value. They spend fortunes to implant worldly truth in their minds, and with contempt turn away from the spiritual truth that will endure forever after worldly truth has become meaningless. The knowledge and understanding of the structure and operation of the physical universe is beneficial only while one lives in the material realm. The truth Jesus reveals will benefit us, not only in this present life, but in the spiritual realm when we have passed beyond the door of death.

JESUS' PRAYER FOR UNITY

Jno. 17:21 ... "That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You did send Me."

      The seventeenth chapter of John contains what may truly be called The Lord's Prayer. The setting was an "upper room" somewhere in Jerusalem on the same night during which Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and put through the mockery of a "trial." Within less than twenty-four hours of the time that He uttered this prayer, Jesus had been crucified and entombed in the crypt of Joseph of Arimathea. We can believe, therefore, that with His mission to earth finished, the thoughts expressed in this prayer were especially important to Jesus. Those who read it carefully will be impressed with the idea that its contents were indeed of critical meaning to our Lord as He concluded the work God had given Him to do, (v.4).

      The essence of Jesus' prayer concerned the completeness of His mission, the preparedness of the apostles to continue His work, and the unity of all who put their faith in His gospel. He emphasized this unity as an extension of the perfect unity that prevails in the Holy Trinity:  "even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us." Absolute harmony prevails among the three Personalities of God in will, in purpose, and in action. It is God's will that the same harmony prevail among those who compose His spiritual family on earth. The gospel is filled with teaching that stresses the necessity of this unity. The length of this essay could be multiplied several times in the effort to survey all those passages. There can be no denial that God demands unity among Christians and accounts it as a great sin when they divide into factions.

      Let us notice, however, another dimension to this unity. At the end of v.21 Jesus declares that the unity of His disciples will be a powerful force to induce the world to "believe that You did send Me." In other words, the ability to bring the masses of the world's people in each generation to accept that Jesus is not just "a great human teacher" but the Son of God descended from heaven is contingent upon the cohesion of His followers. If there is any inducement to cause Christians to squelch their prejudices, personal desires, and vain ambitions in order to achieve and preserve this unity, it should surely be this great objective in our Lord's prayer.

      As one looks over the vast sea of people on earth, only a minority can be found who believe that Jesus is the divine Son of God, that His gospel is the rule for human conduct, and that His kingdom (the church) is the one institution in the world that will continue into eternity. After setting aside the hundred millions of people who are irreligious, the remainder are distributed among the echelons of Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, and myriad animists. Why has not Christianity, with its "power of God unto salvation," (Rom. 1:16), been able in two thousand years to convert the vast majority of mankind so that the other religions are just odd, rare anomalies in the world? Some would answer that it is because the claim that the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation" is nothing more than sanctimonious propaganda. If this is the answer, then Jesus is a liar.  But the miracles He performed before countless witnesses testify that He is true and not a liar, (Jno. 5:36). The true answer, therefore, is the one He points at in the initial text above: those who profess discipleship to Him have divided and subdivided ad absurdum. When people in general look at what goes by the name "Christianity," what they see is a complicated swirl of contradictory doctrines, institutions, and styles of religious expression that compete with insane jealousy. It is little wonder that the world has not been converted to Christ!

FROM WHENCE CAME JESUS?

Jno. 16:28 ... "I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world."

      Who was Jesus Christ? This is one of the most profound questions ever considered by man. In fact, many would rephrase it, changing "was" to "is." The question of who Jesus WAS concerns the identity of the historical Jesus; who was the Man of Nazareth in the 1st Century A.D. who was called Jesus? Posed in the form, 'Who IS Jesus?," concerns His eternal existence and office.  There has been continual controversy for two millennia over both of these questions. Once He Himself posed the question to His apostles, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets," (Mt. 16:13-14). The people, therefore, saw Jesus as extraordinary; yet, they conceded Him a status no higher than that of a mortal man. And since that day, now so long in the past, the conception of people has not changed. It is the opinion of many that Jesus was (not "is"!) a master Teacher who founded one of the major world religions; but He was nevertheless only a mortal man.

      A question closely connected to those just considered is anticipated in Jesus' statement in the initial text above. From whence did Jesus come? This question was also debated during Jesus' life on earth. In Jno. 7:40-43 it is reported that "some of the multitude, when they heard (Jesus') words, were saying, 'This certainly is the Prophet.' Others were saying, 'This is the Christ.' Still others were saying, 'Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?' So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him." Part of the Jews, marveling at the miraculous acts and superior words of Jesus, concluded that He had to be the Prophet foretold by Moses (Dt. 18:15-19) whether He came out of Galilee or not. Other Jews, however, stumbled over the apparent fact that Jesus could not be the Christ since He came from Galilee and since Mic. 5:2 required that He come from Bethlehem in Judea. They perceived another problem in that the Christ had to be of the house and lineage of David, (II Sam. 7:12-16), and seemingly this Jesus of Nazareth did not possess that ancestry.

      When the inspired writers penned the New Testament scriptures, they addressed these questions which made it difficult for the Jews to believe Jesus was the Messiah, or Christ. Matthew (in chp. 2) gave testimony that Jesus had indeed been born in Bethlehem, and in the preceding chapter produced a genealogy linking Jesus to David. Luke (in chp. 3) showed that Jesus also had a second genealogy connecting Him to David, apparently through Mary. Jesus therefore fulfilled all the Old Testament prophetical requirements about where the Christ was to come from. It was necessary that they be met to verify He was the Christ and that His coming had been planned for many centuries.

      The most important matters concerning where Jesus came from, however, were by no means His geographical or genealogical origin. The ultimate answer to the fundamental question is found in Jesus' declaration, "I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world." Except to fulfill prophecy, (certainly an essential matter!), it was irrelevant whether Jesus came from Bethlehem or Beth-horon, or whether He came from the family of David or of Daniel. God could have decreed Beth-horon and Daniel rather than Bethlehem and David, if it had so pleased Him. The matter of ultimate importance is that Jesus came forth from the Father when He entered the world. The power by which Jesus performed His great deeds, and the authority that validated His teaching, were not dependent on Bethlehem being His birthplace or David being His forefather. The requisite power and authority were invested in Him by God when "He came forth from the Father." The real reason people today want to discredit Jesus with some spurious account of a mundane origin is to escape that very power and authority inherent in His words, which define the limitations of beneficial human thought and conduct.

THE VINEYARD PARABLE

Jno. 15:2 ... "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit."

      In the first part of this chapter Jesus is painting a verbal picture of a vine, probably a grapevine, growing in someone's vineyard. From the trunk of the vine radiate out many branches, some full of life and bearing fruit, while others are stunted or dead  and void of fruit. The husbandman regularly comes to each plant and cuts off the stunted and dead branches, which he gathers into a pile outside the vineyard and burns them. He also prunes the luxuriant branches to enhance their ability to grow better and produce more. Those who heard Jesus paint this verbal picture could easily comprehend it, since vineyards were common in Palestine. Many of His disciples at some time in the past had likely worked in vineyards doing just what Jesus portrayed the husbandman doing. The picture is thus quite plain; but, since it is obvious Jesus is teaching a spiritual lesson with this physical model, what is His message?

      First, the vine is a figure for Christ, and the branches are people who are His disciples. This identification is made clear in v.5 where Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches." The idea that the branches represent divisions of the Christian church is a fallacy. Jesus had individual people in mind rather than human organizations when He spoke of branches, because in v.6 He said that "if ANYONE (a person) does not abide in Me, HE is thrown away as a branch." Since Jesus is the vine, and Christians are the branches, the vineyard is the Lord's church, since that is the body in which Christ is united with His disciples. We are told in Eph. 1:22-23 that the Father gave Christ "to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body." The husbandman, who cuts off the barren branches and burns them, and who prunes the productive branches to enable them to bear even more fruit, is God the Father, (see v.1). This, then, is the spiritual reality modeled in the physical image. But what is the practical application in human experience? It is apparent that Jesus had two such applications in mind.

      The first is that spiritual life and productivity come only through fellowship with Christ. Jesus declared in v.4 that "as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me." Lest anyone not understand what it means to "abide in Me," Jesus expands on the concept in v.10, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." To abide in Christ therefore means to keep the commandments He has given us. Also, as a person stores up in his mind the knowledge of Jesus' commandments by diligently studying the New Testament, and then faithfully conducts his life by the guidelines set by these commandments, he is bringing forth the fruit the Lord expects.  One's obedience to the teachings of Christ is the fruit that He intends every branch to produce.

      The second application Jesus makes is that failure to bear fruit for Him will lead to rejection and destruction. In v.6 He declared, "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." When a person becomes a disciple of Christ by being "baptized into Christ," (Gal. 3:27), he becomes a new, tender shoot out of that Holy Vine. That person must then begin to bear fruit as he becomes involved in the activities of spiritual service commanded by Jesus. If this does not happen, or if a Christian stops doing them, the Lord will eventually cut that person off from Him and have no further fellowship with Him. Finally, He will sorrowfully (I Pet. 3:9) destroy that soul in "fire," meaning the eternal fire of hell (Gehenna). And that is the ultimate human tragedy! 

A HEAVENLY PLACE PREPARED

Jno. 14:3 ... "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

      One of the basic tenets of the Christian faith is that there is an afterlife. The New Testament teaches that a human being is not totally physical in nature, but is constituted of both a physical part and a spirit made "in the image of God," (Gen. 1:27), or "in the likeness of God, (Jas. 3:9). At death these two parts separate, as Eccl. 12:7 states: "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." The spirit, or soul, of a person is therefore eternal. Beyond the gate of death there stretches out an endless road of which we now know nothing, other than what God in Sacred Scripture has revealed. Being a spiritual entity in a spiritual context is a condition quite beyond the perception and investigation of human science.

      Because the spiritual state is outside of science and cannot be empirically examined, there are people who either outright deny its reality or, somewhat more conservatively express agnosticism toward it. For them, life is a self-contained package of existential experience. In this view man is supreme and human wisdom the measure of all things. Ethics and morality are based on what appears to maximize good for the greater part of humanity. The physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social, and psychological pleasure that a person derives from interacting with life is considered to be the only reward he will receive from it. Man's only immortality is the legacy, or heritage, he leaves behind to others. For example, George Washington still lives only in the lingering consequences of his deeds and in the records thereof that survive.

      The person who subscribes to this secular, materialistic view of human nature is investing in very risky philosophical capital. Since the empiricist is not able to detect or investigate the spiritual state, he cannot really know if it exists or not. If it does not really exist, then he is none the worse when his life terminates in the material world, which alone he affirmed. But if the spiritual world does exist, as the Bible asserts, then the materialist with great surprise enters into a new domain for which he has made no preparation. If a Christian dies in the faith, and there is no spiritual world beyond the grave to receive his soul, in the annihilation of his consciousness he will never know the difference and will be none the worse for it. But if his faith in the Bible is confirmed in death, and his soul enters a new realm of existence, he will be eligible for divine grace and mercy to participate in its eternal joys. To this writer it is wise to live steadfastly in Christian faith without reservation until the separation of the soul and body in death.

      The New Testament also asserts that in the spiritual world there are separate areas of existence for the faithful Christian and the agnostic or atheist. The text above quotes Jesus revealing the eternal abode of the faithful. In v.2 He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions ... I go to prepare a place for you." The spiritual home of the faithful is a place "prepared" for them. Hence, those who would live in them must make the proper preparation by devoting themselves to Christ with a lifetime of faith, loyalty, and active service. The gospel is our guide for this period of preparation. At the time set by God alone, He will send Christ back to earth to gather from it those who believed and prepared for that unique hour. This faith, moreover, is not blind faith without a substantial foundation. Jesus gave evidence to the truth of His assertions in the miraculous deeds He performed, (Jno. 10:38), which were recorded by reliable witnesses in documents that are at least no less historically reliable than other documents rarely questioned by the world of critical scholarship. Victory at death lies only in faith, (I Jno. 5:4).

The Mark of a True Disciple

Jno. 13:35 ... "By this all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

      One may ask, "What is the most evident characteristic of a Christian?" As you survey a group of people in a community, what feature of their lives identifies them most readily as followers of Jesus? There will, in fact, be many things about their conduct, speech, and attitudes that will reveal their discipleship. Qualities such as courtesy, kindness, charity, gentleness, benevolence, optimism, and moral uprightness will stand out as distinctive. And yet, in Jesus' statement quoted above, there is another distinguishing mark that must precede all the rest. It is the pure, sincere love that Christians are to have without fail for other Christians. The genuine love that bonds one Christian to any other anywhere else in the world is to be the most apparent single characteristic of disciples of Christ.

      This is not to say that Christians love only fellow Christians and that this exclusive intra-faith love is what the Lord values. Our love is comprehensive in the fellowship of saints, but it is not exclusive. Christ teaches us to love all men, for they, too, are made in the similitude of God and are potential disciples of Christ if they can be reached with the gospel. In fact, it is love for those who are spiritually lost in sin that couples with response to the Great Commission to motivate Christians to take the gospel to them to realize that wonderful potential. In an address to some men about to go into the mission field, Henry Drummond brought out this point when he said, "And I beg the little band of would-be missionaries to remember that, though you give your bodies to be burned, and have not love, it profits nothing -- nothing! You can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the love of God upon your own character. That is the universal language."

      Nevertheless, it is the unfeigned love that one Christian has for the other that singles him out to be a Christian. But what are the features of this kind of love that differentiates it from the other shades of meaning of this much abused word in contemporary speech? The answer is best given by considering the inspired analysis of it in I Cor. 13:4-8. First, it is patient. Christians are able to wait on each other so that together they can move successfully along the road of life. Second, it is kind. Christians do nice things willingly for each other to help them along. Third, it is generous, which is the basic idea in "love is not jealous." Christians rejoice in the achievements of their brethren. Fourth, it is humble. "Love does not brag and is not arrogant." Christians think of themselves as servants to one another, not as lords to be served by other brethren. Fifth, it is courteous. "Love does not act unbecomingly." Christians practice good manners toward one another ... and toward everyone else as well! Sixth, it is unselfish. "Love does not seek its own." Christians consider themselves stewards of God with respect to material things and are readily willing to share with brethren who are in need. Seventh, it is self-controlled. "Love is not provoked." Christians have ways, revealed in Holy Scripture, of resolving differences, other than through anger and violence. Eighth, it is guileless. "Love does not take into account a wrong suffered." Christians do not judge another's motives and then color their intentions evil. Even when a disciple commits an "iniquity," the rest do not rejoice; but in a grave "spirit of meekness" work to restore that individual, (Gal. 6:1)). Space fails to exhaust this analysis of love. To be sure, Jesus' disciples fall far short of its standard. But to the extent we build this love into our fellowship, to the same extent we identify ourselves as true disciples.