He Came To Tell Us The Truth Series

He Came To Tell Us The Truth

I Am Jesus – part ten

Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go in themselves because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover feast. 29So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, "What is your charge against this man?" 30"We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!" they retorted. 31"Then take him away and judge him by your own laws," Pilate told them. "Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone," the Jewish leaders replied. 32This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.

33Then Pilate went back inside and called for Jesus to be brought to him. "Are you the King of the Jews?" he asked him. 34Jesus replied, "Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?" 35"Am I a Jew?" Pilate asked. "Your own people and their leading priests brought you here. Why? What have you done?"

36Then Jesus answered, "I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world." 37Pilate replied, "You are a king then?" "You say that I am a king, and you are right," Jesus said. "I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true."

38"What is truth?" Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, "He is not guilty of any crime. – John 18:28-38

TODAY – is the 10th message in our year long message series, “I Am Jesus.” NOW – a year long series about Jesus may seem to some, a little extreme. BUT LISTEN – I am becoming more convinced all of the time that the most important and most practical thing for your life and mine, is for us to know and understand who Jesus Christ REALLY is.

AND - for the last 5 weeks (to help us know Him better) we have been looking at (Jesus, His purpose)… WE’VE – been looking at some of the reasons behind Jesus; leaving BOTH His home and His Father in heaven, emptying himself and putting on human flesh 2,000 years ago.

LAST WEEK – we talked about how Jesus came to open our eyes… HOW – He came to invite us to go to our own Pool of Siloam so that the thing that seems impossible… CAN - happen in our lives. AND – the weeks previous to this we talked about how Jesus Came;

• To Demonstrate God’s Love

• To Seek & Save The Lost

• To Replace Rules w/Relationship

AND – the title for this morning’s message is, “He Came To Tell Us The Truth”

YOU KNOW – when it comes to truth, a lot of people today… ARE – like Pilate… DID – you notice how he responded when Jesus said; “You say that I am a king, and you are right. I was born for that purpose. I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true." Pilate responded; "What is truth?"

NOW – it’s my slightly educated opinion is that Pilate wasn’t really asking Jesus a question. I MEAN – think about it, he didn’t even hang around for an answer. THE – text seems to indicate that right after he said "What is truth?" HE – turned around and walked away.

UNDERSTAND – truth; frustrated, irritated and eluded Pilate… YOU SEE - He was a politician. AND – as far as he was concerned truth was a slippery and pliable thing. Truth was whatever the emperor back in Rome wanted to hear… Truth was whatever he needed to do to keep the Jews quite and peaceful. Truth was whatever people needed to say to him in order to get what they wanted. I MEAN – Pilate knew that the Jews who brought Jesus to him bound & beaten were not interested in truth. SO TRUTH – as far as Pilate was concerned was a luxury that he could not afford.

AGAIN – I think for many people today, truth is just as slippery and as pliable to them as it was to Pilate… THEREFORE – they; bend, stretch, avoid, twist and shape the truth in order to make things work out the best for them in any given situation. AND – not only do a lot of people live that way… BUT – for the most part, such behavior is seen both expected and acceptable.

Just this past Wednesday night Bryan Lackey told me about an interview he heard on the radio where Dan Rather told Bill O’Reiley that someone can lie and still be considered a truthful person… YEAH – I think a lot people today would respond to Jesus just like Pilate, "What is truth?" It is a slippery and pliable thing.