CHRIST AS THE JUDGE IN THE TEACHINGS OF JOHN. PART 1
INTRODUCTION.
How many of you have enjoyed watching T.V. serials or dramas in which there is a courtroom scene? Which ones have you enjoyed the most.
How many of you have been in a court lately? What were you? A spectator? A guilty defendant? An innocent defendant? A witness to an accident? A character witness? A lawyer? A judge?
Today I want to speak about the most important courtroom in all the world, a courtroom scene in which all of us will appear as guilty defendants.
I. THE FATHER HAS GIVEN ALL JUDGMENT TO CHRIST.
In fact, the Father has given everything to Him.
John 3:34-35; John 5:19-23,26-27
(John 3:34 NIV) For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God
gives the Spirit without limit.
(John 3:35 NIV) The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his
hands.
(John 5:19 NIV) Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can
do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because
whatever the Father does the Son also does.
(John 5:20 NIV) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to
your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
(John 5:21 NIV) For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
(John 5:22 NIV) Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all
judgment to the Son,
(John 5:23 NIV) that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
(John 5:26 NIV) For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the
Son to have life in himself.
(John 5:27 NIV) And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son
of Man.
1. Therefore He is to be honored.
a. He is honored by God. John 5:23, 41
(John 5:23 NIV) that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
(John 5:41 NIV) "I do not accept praise from men,
b. He is not necessarily honored by men. John 1: 10-11; 5:41
(John 1:10 NIV) He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him.
(John 1:11 NIV) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive
him.
(John 5:41 NIV) "I do not accept praise from men,
C. The defendants think that they can judge Him, but in reality He judges them.
i. Nathanael. John 1:46-47
(John 1:46 NIV) "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
(John 1:47 NIV) When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is
a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
ii. Nicodemus. John 3:1-3
(John 3:1 NIV) Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member
of the Jewish ruling council.
(John 3:2 NIV) He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a
teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you
are doing if God were not with him."
(John 3:3 NIV) In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see
the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
iii. Jews in Jerusalem. John 5:10-18, 38-47; 8:12-26; 18:19-19:12
(John 5:10 NIV) and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the
Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."
(John 5:11 NIV) But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, ’Pick up
your mat and walk.’"
(John 5:12 NIV) So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it
up and walk?"
(John 5:13 NIV) The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had
slipped away into the crowd that was there.
(John 5:14 NIV) Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you
are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
(John 5:15 NIV) The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had
made him well.
(John 5:16 NIV) So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the
Jews persecuted him.
(John 5:17 NIV) Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this
very day, and I, too, am working."
(John 5:18 NIV) For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not
only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father,
making himself equal with God.
(John 5:38 NIV) nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one
he sent.
(John 5:39 NIV) You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by
them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
(John 5:40 NIV) yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
(John 5:41 NIV) "I do not accept praise from men,
(John 5:42 NIV) but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in
your hearts.
(John 5:43 NIV) I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but
if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
(John 5:44 NIV) How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet
make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God ?
(John 5:45 NIV) "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your
accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.
(John 5:46 NIV) If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about
me.
(John 5:47 NIV) But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going
to believe what I say?"
(John 8:12 NIV) When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light
of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life."
(John 8:13 NIV) The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your
own witness; your testimony is not valid."
(John 8:14 NIV) Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my
testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you
have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
(John 8:15 NIV) You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.
(John 8:16 NIV) But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not
alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
(John 8:17 NIV) In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is
valid.
(John 8:18 NIV) I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the
Father, who sent me."
(John 8:19 NIV) Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know
me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father
also."
(John 8:20 NIV) He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the
place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had
not yet come.
(John 8:21 NIV) Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will
look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."
(John 8:22 NIV) This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he
says, ’Where I go, you cannot come’?"
(John 8:23 NIV) But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are
of this world; I am not of this world.
(John 8:24 NIV) I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not
believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
(John 8:25 NIV) "Who are you?" they asked. "Just what I have been claiming all
along," Jesus replied.
(John 8:26 NIV) "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is
reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."
(John 18:19 NIV) Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his
disciples and his teaching.
(John 18:20 NIV) "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always
taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said
nothing in secret.
(John 18:21 NIV) Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what
I said."
(John 18:22 NIV) When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him
in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.
(John 18:23 NIV) "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to
what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?"
(John 18:24 NIV) Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
(John 18:25 NIV) As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are
not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it, saying, "I am not."
(John 18:26 NIV) One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose
ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn’t I see you with him in the olive
grove?"
(John 18:27 NIV) Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to
crow.
(John 18:28 NIV) Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the
Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness
the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.
(John 18:29 NIV) So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you
bringing against this man?"
(John 18:30 NIV) "If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have
handed him over to you."
(John 18:31 NIV) Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own
law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected.
(John 18:32 NIV) This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating
the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
(John 18:33 NIV) Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and
asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
(John 18:34 NIV) "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to
you about me?"
(John 18:35 NIV) "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your
chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
(John 18:36 NIV) Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my
servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is
from another place."
(John 18:37 NIV) "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are
right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I
came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth
listens to me."
(John 18:38 NIV) "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to
the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.
(John 18:39 NIV) But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at
the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ’the king of the Jews’?"
(John 18:40 NIV) They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now
Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.
(John 19:1 NIV) Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
(John 19:2 NIV) The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on
his head. They clothed him in a purple robe
(John 19:3 NIV) and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the
Jews!" And they struck him in the face.
(John 19:4 NIV) Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am
bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge
against him."
(John 19:5 NIV) When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple
robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"
(John 19:6 NIV) As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they
shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him.
As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."
(John 19:7 NIV) The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he
must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."
(John 19:8 NIV) When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,
(John 19:9 NIV) and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?"
he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.
(John 19:10 NIV) "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don’t you
realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
(John 19:11 NIV) Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were
not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is
guilty of a greater sin."
(John 19:12 NIV) From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews
kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who
claims to be a king opposes Caesar."
iv. Pilate. John 18:28-19:12. See above.
2. Therefore His judgment is true. John 5:30; 8:15-16
(John 5:30 NIV) By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my
judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
(John 8:15 NIV) You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.
(John 8:16 NIV) But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not
alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
II. HE HIMSELF IS A TRUE AND FAITHFUL WITNESS TO THE TRUTH. John 18:37; Rev. 1:5; 3:14
(John 18:37 NIV) "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are
right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I
came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth
listens to me."
(Rev 1:5 NIV) and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn
from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and
has freed us from our sins by his blood,
(Rev 3:14 NIV) "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the
words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
III. HE CAME INTO THE WORLD AT HIS FIRST ADVENT FOR JUDGMENT. John 9:39
(John 9:39 NIV) Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that
the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
Yet, He came not to condemn but to save the world. (John 3:17-18; 12:47) In a real sense man condemns himself by his own sin and disbelief. A judge does not make a man a sinner. He declares him a sinner.
(John 3:17 NIV) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him.
(John 3:18 NIV) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
God’s one and only Son.
(John 12:47 NIV) "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them,
I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
IV. HE HAS MANY WITNESSES TO HIMSELF.
1. John the Baptist. John 1:6-9, 15-36; 3:25-26; 5:33-35
(John 1:6 NIV) There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
(John 1:7 NIV) He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that
through him all men might believe.
(John 1:8 NIV) He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the
light.
(John 1:9 NIV) The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the
world.
(John 1:15 NIV) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was
he of whom I said, ’He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before
me.’"
(John 1:16 NIV) From the fullness of his grace we have all received one
blessing after another.
(John 1:17 NIV) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ.
(John 1:18 NIV) No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at
the Father’s side, has made him known.
(John 1:19 NIV) Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent
priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
(John 1:20 NIV) He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the
Christ."
(John 1:21 NIV) They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I
am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
(John 1:22 NIV) Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back
to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
(John 1:23 NIV) John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the
voice of one calling in the desert, ’Make straight the way for the Lord.’"
(John 1:24 NIV) Now some Pharisees who had been sent
(John 1:25 NIV) questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the
Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
(John 1:26 NIV) "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one
you do not know.
(John 1:27 NIV) He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I
am not worthy to untie."
(John 1:28 NIV) This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
(John 1:29 NIV) The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
(John 1:30 NIV) This is the one I meant when I said, ’A man who comes after me
has surpassed me because he was before me.’
(John 1:31 NIV) I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with
water was that he might be revealed to Israel."
(John 1:32 NIV) Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from
heaven as a dove and remain on him.
(John 1:33 NIV) I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to
baptize with water told me, ’The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and
remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
(John 1:34 NIV) I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."
(John 1:35 NIV) The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.
(John 1:36 NIV) When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
(John 3:25 NIV) An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a
certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.
(John 3:26 NIV) They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was
with you on the other side of the Jordan--the one you testified about--well, he
is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."
(John 5:33 NIV) "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.
(John 5:34 NIV) Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you
may be saved.
(John 5:35 NIV) John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a
time to enjoy his light.
2. Moses in the Law. John 1:45; 5:39-47
(John 1:45 NIV) Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one
Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
(John 5:39 NIV) You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by
them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
(John 5:40 NIV) yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
(John 5:41 NIV) "I do not accept praise from men,
(John 5:42 NIV) but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in
your hearts.
(John 5:43 NIV) I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but
if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
(John 5:44 NIV) How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet
make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God ?
(John 5:45 NIV) "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your
accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.
(John 5:46 NIV) If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about
me.
(John 5:47 NIV) But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going
to believe what I say?"
3. The Prophets. John 1:45; 5:39
(John 1:45 NIV) Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one
Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
(John 5:39 NIV) You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by
them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
4. The Psalms. John 5:39. See above.
5. The Samaritan Woman. John 4:39,44
(John 4:39 NIV) Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because
of the woman’s testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."
(John 4:44 NIV) (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor
in his own country.)
6. He Himself. John 3:11,33-35; 8:13-14. Compare John 5:31-32; 8:13-14
(John 3:11 NIV) I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify
to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
(John 3:33 NIV) The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.
(John 3:34 NIV) For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God
gives the Spirit without limit.
(John 3:35 NIV) The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his
hands.
(John 8:13 NIV) The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your
own witness; your testimony is not valid."
(John 8:14 NIV) Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my
testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you
have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
(John 5:31 NIV) "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid.
(John 5:32 NIV) There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his
testimony about me is valid.
(John 8:13 NIV) The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your
own witness; your testimony is not valid."
(John 8:14 NIV) Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my
testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you
7. The Father. John 5:31-32,37; 8:16-18
(John 5:31 NIV) "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid.
(John 5:32 NIV) There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his
testimony about me is valid.
(John 5:37 NIV) And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.
You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
(John 8:16 NIV) But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not
alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
(John 8:17 NIV) In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is
valid.
(John 8:18 NIV) I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the
Father, who sent me."
8. His works. John 5:36; 10:25
(John 5:36 NIV) "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very
work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies
that the Father has sent me.
(John 10:25 NIV) Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The
miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,
9. People who saw Lazarus raised from the dead. John 12:17
(John 12:17 NIV) Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from
the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.
10. The Holy Spirit. John 15:26
(John 15:26 NIV) "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about
me.
11. His disciples. John 15:27
(John 15:27 NIV) And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the
beginning.
12. The Apostle John. John 19:35; 21:24;
1 John 1:1-4; 1 John 4:14
(John 19:35 NIV) The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is
true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may
believe.
(John 21:24 NIV) This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who
wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
(1 John 1:1 NIV) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which
we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have
touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
(1 John 1:2 NIV) The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we
proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to
us.
(1 John 1:3 NIV) We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you
also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with
his Son, Jesus Christ.
(1 John 1:4 NIV) We write this to make our joy complete.
(1 John 4:14 NIV) And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son
to be the Savior of the world.
