John 18:33-37
Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or do others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingship is not of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world.” Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was 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.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
1) Transition of Christmas
2) Expectations of “The Messiah”
3) This is not my kingdom
4) What are our expectations of the Christ?
5) Looking forward to Christmas (shadow of the cross)
It is already that time of year again and it is hard to believe that it has come so quickly. When I graduated from seminary this last spring my classmates and I joked that even though none of us had jobs… we would be celebrating the start of advent in our new churches in what would seem to be a blink of an eye… and here we are. But before we launch headfirst into the wonderful season of advent… we have this Sunday… right here and right now… to properly prepare for the season.
This Sunday is “Christ the King” Sunday and for very… very good reason. Going into the Christmas season… it is the perfect time for us to remember who Christ really is and what Christ really did so that we can put his birth into proper perspective. It is very right then that our text today comes from John 18. The text comes to us in the midst of Jesus’ trial and soon approaching death. His accusers where people who did not understand who Christ really was and did not understand what Christ was really doing.
It all had to do with expectations. Being so close to Christmas, the example of a child’s expectations for what is underneath the Christmas tree is very appropriate. We all can still probably remember the huge dreams we had and the huge expectations we had for every box that was underneath the tree. Every wrapped box had unlimited potential to be the most amazing toy we have ever laid hands on. And then there was Christmas morning when we opened the presents to find dress clothes. What an amazing let down. Its not that they were bad gifts. Not at all. They were very nice and sometimes very expensive gifts. It is simply our expectations that had gotten in the way of truly enjoying the real gift for what it was.
This is exactly what happened with the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, and the Chief Priests. All throughout scripture, the Messiah was foretold. - Christ was a long expected savior. However… not knowing what was “going to be in the box once it was opened,” the Jews dreamed of a conquering hero who would destroy all of their captors, set them free, and be the strongest military leader they had ever seen. And that is exactly what they began to expect the Messiah to be.
Now… enter Jesus. Think of what his life was like… think about what his time on earth was like: a wanderer, a teacher, a man who insisted on turning the other cheek, a man who uplifted the meek and the mild. His earthly, perhaps more accurately political, power was nill. Now compare this to… our film images of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Imagine expecting Arnold… and getting Jesus. Imagine the terrible let down. It can’t be. It can’t be. And that turned into… IT CAN’T BE. He is NOT our Messiah.
Now… we know differently. We can see the messiah for who he truly was. We can that he WAS a conquering hero, that he WAS a mighty warrior, and that… really when you think about it he WAS the greatest political arbitrator ever to walk the earth. It just so happens that his war was a spiritual war rather than an earthly war with Rome. But the Chief Priests and other leaders of the day could not see it, for all they could see was their let down expectations and a trouble maker standing in front them. Solution… get rid of him… and wait for the true Messiah.
And that is where we enter our text today: Jesus, on trial… being personally questioned in private by Pilate. And Pilate asks a simple question. Verse 33 - “Are you the King of Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or do others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingship is not of this world, (if it were) my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world.”
Here, in this discourse, we have our summary so far. The Jews indeed had huge expectations, and Jesus did not live up to those expectations at all. Pilate even points this out. “Jesus… your own people handed you over… your friend turned you in… your followers have abandoned you…. What kind of earthly king are you?” Jesus even validates the observation… “if I were an earthly king, my followers would never have allowed my capture.”
And it is here that Pilate sees the rub, Jesus does not deny being a king… but simply shows that if he is measured by earthly kings… he is a very poor king at that. So Pilate pushes him… Verse 37 - “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was 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.”
And this is where I want to switch gears, and bring us to the point of looking forward into advent… “For this I was born.” … “For this I was born.” Jesus has always known his purpose. The angel made the proclamation before his birth that he would "... save His people from their sins.” Throughout his life, this was foremost in His mind. He knew that He was born to die. The important issue of Christmas is not so much that Jesus came, but why He came. And it is important for us to fully realize going into Christmas what this purpose was.
Understand there was and is no salvation in His birth. His sinless life in and of itself did not provide any redemptive force. His example, as flawless as it was, could never rescue men from their slavery to sin. Even His teachings, the greatest truths and wisdom ever revealed to man, could not save us from our sins.
Romans 6:23 tells us that there was a price that needed to be paid for our sins as it declares "For the wages of sin is death..." It was only Jesus who could pay that price! Jesus came to earth to do many things. He came to reveal God to mankind. In John 14:9 Jesus said, “...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father...” He came to teach truth - John 14:6 "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life...”, to fulfill the Law, to offer His kingdom, to show us how to live, to bring peace, and to reveal the depth of God’s love. But His ultimate purpose in coming to this earth was that He might die! John the Baptist cried out when he saw Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Here is a side to the Christmas story that the world chooses to ignore. As you think about the tiny hands and feet of the babe in the manger remember they were formed with the intention that one-day nails might be driven through them affixing them to a cross on Golgotha’s hill. That warm and soft little body, wrapped in swaddling clothes, one day would have a spear thrust through its side. That gentle heart that pumped the royal blood of the Son of God would be broken to provide you and me life everlasting. Jesus Christ was born to die. In the shadow of the manager was the cross. You and I cannot truly celebrate Christmas apart from the broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can not know the joys of Christmas with out a personal relationship with the Christ of Calvary.
And so now I give you that little morsel to walk home with today. As we enter advent… question yourself… who do YOU expect Christ to be? What role do you see Jesus really playing in your life? Even though we think ourselves much wiser and much better than the chief priests who got it all wrong… we far too often find ourselves in the same boat as them. Many people even today have strange and distorted expectations and understandings about who Christ is and what he did. Some fancy him the supreme moral teacher whose example we should follow, but nothing more. Some fancy him the “buddy Christ,” someone that if he were alive today would be a fun guy to take out to the clubs with you, a real friend, but nothing more.
Brothers and sisters, what we have is a Messiah who died for us, and was the greatest conquering hero the world could ever imagine. While he might not have kicked Rome out of his homeland… he conquered death and damnation for the entire world, for all who would believe in him. And so… as we begin our journey into advent, I ask that you hold this in your hearts and remember who Christ is, remember what Christ did, and remember WHY Christmas is such an important holiday.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
