Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / For This Purpose I Was Born (John 18:33-38)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Transcript

For This Purpose I Was Born (John 18:33-38)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

• 0:00
  John 18, that's further back in the Gospels than
• 0:05
  normal for a Christmas Eve service. I promise
• 0:08
  you I will explain what that's about. But this
• 0:13
  is a very important text for us to consider tonight.
• 0:18
  And so John 18, 33 through 38, and it reads like
• 0:24
  this. entered his headquarters again and called
• 0:32
  Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the
• 0:36
  Jews? And Jesus answered, do you say this of
• 0:40
  your own accord or did others say it to you about
• 0:44
  me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation
• 0:49
  and the chief priests have delivered you over
• 0:51
  to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my
• 0:55
  kingdom is not of this world. my kingdom were
• 0:59
  of this world my servants would have been fighting
• 1:01
  that I might not be delivered over to the Jews
• 1:04
  but my kingdom is not from the world then Pilate
• 1:09
  said to him so you are a king and Jesus answered
• 1:13
  you say that I am a king for this purpose I was
• 1:17
  born and for this purpose I have come into the
• 1:21
  world to bear witness to the truth everyone who
• 1:24
  is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said
• 1:28
  to him, what is truth? Let us pray. Mighty God,
• 1:38
  the shepherds of old were full of your praise
• 1:41
  saying that all they had heard and seen was mirrored
• 1:45
  by what they had been told. Move among us now
• 1:48
  by your spirit that we too might hear and experience
• 1:51
  the wonder and the joy of the living word as
• 1:54
  we seek to welcome the written word deep down
• 1:58
  into our hearts. This we ask in Christ's name.
• 2:02
  Amen. Having read this text from John 18, you
• 2:09
  might be thinking that perhaps I've lost track
• 2:12
  of time. Perhaps I'm preaching a Good Friday
• 2:16
  sermon, but I can assure you I know the season
• 2:20
  that we are in. The reason for this text is because
• 2:25
  it clearly states why Jesus was born. Tonight
• 2:30
  we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we also
• 2:34
  celebrate the why. We celebrate why Jesus was
• 2:38
  born. And that's what I want us to understand
• 2:41
  tonight. Jesus was born to bear witness to the
• 2:46
  truth. This is one of the clearest statements
• 2:49
  Spoken by Jesus on his own incarnation you might
• 2:53
  remember some of the other statements that Jesus
• 2:56
  makes about his coming about his birth Purpose
• 3:01
  statements if you will Matthew 517 where Jesus
• 3:04
  says Do not think that I've come to abolish the
• 3:08
  law or the prophets. I've come not to abolish
• 3:11
  But to fulfill them that's a purpose statement
• 3:14
  from Jesus another one John 12 46. He says I
• 3:18
  have come into the world as light so that whoever
• 3:22
  believes in me may not remain in darkness. Another
• 3:26
  purpose statement. But this statement by Jesus
• 3:29
  stands out because it specifically speaks to
• 3:32
  his birth, not so in the others. And so we might
• 3:36
  be wondering, well, why does Jesus mention his
• 3:38
  birth? And what is Jesus really telling Pilate?
• 3:43
  Well, if you've tracked with me in that reading,
• 3:46
  It reads almost like a courtroom drama, right?
• 3:50
  And perhaps it's strange to think of the birth
• 3:52
  of Jesus that we think of him tonight, but we're
• 3:56
  reading a text where he's accused of something.
• 3:58
  But isn't that the way it went with Jesus from
• 4:01
  the moment of his incarnation? He was pursued.
• 4:04
  The world was out to get him. John, chapter one,
• 4:07
  11 says his own people did not receive him. You
• 4:11
  remember the wise men. They get to Jerusalem.
• 4:16
  And they ask Herod, where is he who has been
• 4:19
  born King of the Jews? Herod wants to destroy
• 4:23
  Jesus, going so far as to have all of the male
• 4:26
  children in the area under the age of two to
• 4:29
  be killed. And so before Jesus can even walk,
• 4:34
  he's on the run, metaphorically speaking. Jesus
• 4:38
  was born to die. In the birth of Jesus, The fear
• 4:45
  that Herod has over Jesus, it mirrors this episode
• 4:49
  where Jesus is before Pilate. Because front and
• 4:54
  center in both of those episodes, Pilate and
• 4:57
  Herod, what's at stake is the question, are you
• 5:02
  the king of the Jews? It's such an important
• 5:05
  question that it's actually recorded in all four
• 5:08
  gospels, somebody asking Jesus, are you the king
• 5:12
  of the Jews? And so Pilate asks this here, and
• 5:17
  he really wants to get to the bottom of it. Are
• 5:19
  you the king of the Jews? But Jesus counters,
• 5:22
  as you can see from our text, he counters with
• 5:24
  his own question. He puts Pilate on the defensive.
• 5:30
  Pilate, though, he's very different from Herod,
• 5:33
  because as you can see, Pilate says, hey, I'm
• 5:35
  not a Jew. They're not my people. And so he gets
• 5:40
  to another question, and Pilate asks Jesus, What
• 5:44
  have you done?" He's like, let's get to the bottom
• 5:47
  of this. Pilate, it almost seems like some impatience
• 5:51
  on the part of Pontius Pilate is saying, I've
• 5:54
  got better things to do, Jesus. Let's get on
• 5:57
  with it. I also think that Pilate in this passage,
• 6:01
  he asks Jesus these questions with skepticism.
• 6:06
  Are you the king of the Jews? There's no way
• 6:09
  you could be king of the Jews. Look at yourself.
• 6:12
  I like how one commentator puts it who says,
• 6:14
  it was no wonder Pilate reacted this way. Jesus
• 6:18
  was in peasant dress, stained with the bloody
• 6:21
  sweat from Gethsemane. His features already swollen,
• 6:25
  but despite appearances, Jesus was still king.
• 6:31
  Jesus is a king. But Pilate feels here as he
• 6:35
  begins to question Jesus, he's starting to feel
• 6:38
  like, you know what? Jesus doesn't pose much
• 6:40
  of a threat to me, and Jesus doesn't pose much
• 6:44
  of a threat to Caesar. In his current state,
• 6:46
  perhaps Pilate's thinking, Jesus doesn't pose
• 6:49
  much of a threat to anybody. But friends, we
• 6:53
  who know Jesus know that Jesus is the King of
• 6:58
  kings, and Jesus is the Lord of lords, and all
• 7:03
  people will bow to the kingship of Jesus. Isaiah.
• 7:07
  predicts this in chapter nine six and seven listen
• 7:10
  to these words for to us a child is born to us
• 7:15
  a son is given and the government shall be upon
• 7:19
  his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful
• 7:22
  counselor mighty god everlasting father prince
• 7:27
  of peace of the increase of his government and
• 7:31
  of peace there will be no end the throne of David
• 7:34
  and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold
• 7:37
  it with justice and with righteousness from this
• 7:40
  time forth and forevermore the zeal of the Lord
• 7:43
  of hosts will do this and so Isaiah predicts
• 7:47
  the kingship of Jesus a Reign that will last
• 7:52
  forever indeed Gabriel tells Mary this in Luke
• 7:56
  chapter 1 31 through 33 Gabriel says, and behold
• 8:02
  you will conceive in your womb and bear a son
• 8:05
  and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be
• 8:08
  great and will be called the son of the Most
• 8:11
  High and the Lord God will give to him the throne
• 8:14
  of his father David and he will reign over the
• 8:17
  house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there
• 8:21
  will be no end. And so Jesus is the true King.
• 8:27
  not just of the Jews, but Jesus is king of the
• 8:31
  whole world. Perhaps you remember the words from
• 8:35
  We Three Kings, verse two says, born a king on
• 8:39
  Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown him
• 8:43
  again, king forever, ceasing never, over us all
• 8:48
  to reign. But Pontius Pilate doesn't know that,
• 8:53
  Carol. Pontius Pilate doesn't know the scriptures.
• 8:56
  All Pontius Pilate hears is, oh, you are not
• 8:59
  a threat to me and you are not a threat to Caesar.
• 9:02
  And he wipes his brow. You can see if you kept
• 9:07
  reading from our text in verse 38, he says, I
• 9:10
  find no guilt in him. Pilate's not threatened
• 9:13
  by Jesus whatsoever, but Pilate's not truly considering
• 9:18
  the words of Jesus. And I don't think he really
• 9:22
  pays attention to this purpose statement in verse
• 9:26
  Look there. For this purpose, I was born. And
• 9:34
  for this purpose, I have come into the world
• 9:37
  to bear witness to the truth. Jesus here is saying,
• 9:43
  you don't get the truth by just being really
• 9:47
  smart, by your intelligence. And you don't get
• 9:50
  the truth by the position that you were appointed
• 9:54
  to be in. like Pilate. No, you get the truth
• 9:58
  from a person. You get the truth from divine
• 10:02
  special revelation. And the revelation is this.
• 10:05
  The truth of scripture is this, that this is
• 10:09
  all about Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation,
• 10:15
  all of it's about Jesus. Because you might remember
• 10:17
  Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Jesus is walking
• 10:21
  with two disciples after his resurrection. They
• 10:25
  can't see him. They don't know it's Jesus. And
• 10:28
  Luke 24 says this, beginning with Moses and all
• 10:32
  the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the
• 10:36
  scriptures the things concerning himself. This
• 10:40
  is why Jesus says, everyone who is of the truth
• 10:44
  listens to my voice. Believers, we belong to
• 10:48
  the truth. And when we give attention to the
• 10:51
  Bible, we listen to the very voice of God. The
• 10:55
  truth is here and the truth is Christ. For you
• 10:59
  remember in the book of John, Jesus is called
• 11:01
  the word and Jesus calls himself the truth. The
• 11:06
  truth of the matter is Jesus. And I believe that
• 11:11
  there's a connection between how Jesus handles
• 11:14
  these questions from Pilate and how Jesus is
• 11:17
  a king. Think about it. Pilot asked Jesus about
• 11:20
  being king and Jesus responds about bearing witness
• 11:23
  to the truth You wonder if pilot was frustrated
• 11:27
  like speak clearly with me But Jesus is Jesus
• 11:31
  is saying he was born to establish a new kind
• 11:35
  of kingdom Because Jesus isn't just the king
• 11:38
  of the Jews Jesus is the king of kings and lord
• 11:42
  of lords and he bears witness to the truth because
• 11:45
  he is the truth Pontius Pilate doesn't realize
• 11:49
  this, but he is staring truth right in the face.
• 11:56
  And when I think about it, I think that Pilate
• 11:58
  represents a very Western modern mindset. Pilate
• 12:04
  seems to write Jesus off as being a religious
• 12:07
  fanatic. Pilate doesn't consider the truth because
• 12:11
  it doesn't affect him a whole lot. People act
• 12:14
  like that today, don't they? Is there something
• 12:17
  concerning me right now? No? Okay, good. Let's
• 12:20
  move on with our lives. Jesus was born 2 ,000
• 12:24
  years ago. What does that have to do with me?
• 12:28
  My eternity, it rests in the balance. Well, that's
• 12:30
  great, but what's for lunch? Human beings by
• 12:36
  nature are self -centered and apathetic to what
• 12:40
  really matters. But friends, what really matters
• 12:44
  is Jesus. I know that's the Sunday School answer,
• 12:47
  but it's completely true. How can we be apathetic
• 12:51
  to the virgin birth of the Messiah, of God in
• 12:56
  the flesh? Do you realize how astounding this
• 12:59
  is that Jesus came, took on flesh, and dwelt
• 13:03
  among us, that God walked on the earth? This
• 13:07
  is the most astounding news of all time, and
• 13:12
  so we must receive it as such. We need to set
• 13:14
  our minds on Christ. Let me read you a couple
• 13:17
  of scriptures that can help us center our minds
• 13:20
  on Christ. 1 John chapter 2, 15 through 17. It
• 13:28
  says, Do not love the world or the things in
• 13:33
  the world. If anyone loves the world, the love
• 13:36
  of the Father is not in him. For all that is
• 13:40
  in the world, the desires of the flesh and the
• 13:42
  desires of the eyes and the pride of life is
• 13:45
  not from the Father, but it's from the world.
• 13:49
  And the world is passing away along with its
• 13:52
  desires. But whoever does the will of God abides
• 13:56
  forever. Or how about this one from Colossians
• 13:59
  chapter three, one through three. If then you
• 14:04
  have been raised with Christ, seek the things
• 14:07
  that are above. where Christ is seated at the
• 14:11
  right hand of God. Set your mind on things that
• 14:14
  are above, not on things that are on earth, for
• 14:18
  you have died and your life is hidden with Christ
• 14:21
  in God. Friends, the Christmas season tonight
• 14:27
  is an opportunity to see Christ afresh, to understand
• 14:32
  what Christ really did for us. It's an opportunity
• 14:35
  to look to Christ, who though he was a king,
• 14:38
  He was born into the miseries of this life. He
• 14:41
  suffered all the way to the cross to rescue us
• 14:44
  from what we deserve. Jesus's incarnation and
• 14:48
  his death are radically opposite from what we
• 14:51
  would expect from a king, because Jesus gives
• 14:54
  us radically the opposite of what we deserve.
• 14:58
  You might remember the words of Mark chapter
• 14:59
  10, 45, where we read that Jesus gave his life
• 15:03
  as a ransom for many. Jesus was born to give
• 15:07
  up his life for you God gives us eternal life
• 15:13
  in Christ instead of eternal death But it's all
• 15:18
  contingent upon faith. You might remember these
• 15:21
  words from John 5 truly truly I say to you Whoever
• 15:26
  hears my words and believes him who sent me has
• 15:30
  eternal life He does not come at a judgment,
• 15:34
  but is passed from death to life Friends, Pilate
• 15:43
  asked this question at the end of our text. He
• 15:46
  asks, what is truth? But he doesn't stick around
• 15:50
  for the answer, does he? Tonight, do you know
• 15:54
  the truth? Do you know the truth that Jesus came
• 15:58
  to save you from your sins? I would ask, I would
• 16:03
  urge you to consider Christ tonight. But... Let's
• 16:08
  say you're a believer and you've believed for
• 16:10
  a long time. Maybe you're even a member of this
• 16:12
  church. How does this apply to you? What's the
• 16:15
  application? How do I live this out? Consider
• 16:19
  some of the characters of the Christmas story.
• 16:22
  Consider the shepherds. Luke chapter 2 tells
• 16:26
  us that the shepherds told everybody about what
• 16:29
  they had seen and they praised God that night.
• 16:34
  Consider the wise men. Why did the wise men travel
• 16:37
  from so far away? They traveled for the purpose
• 16:42
  of worship. What about Mary and Joseph? We read
• 16:46
  in the scriptures that Mary treasured up all
• 16:48
  of these things in her heart. And so tonight,
• 16:54
  treasure these things, share these things, and
• 16:58
  worship God. Now you might say, well, it was
• 17:02
  easier for the shepherds, and it was easier for
• 17:05
  the wise men, and it was easier for Mary and
• 17:08
  Joseph. They had the revelation of the angels,
• 17:12
  and they had the star guiding them. So you say,
• 17:16
  God was giving them instruction. Well, friends,
• 17:19
  you have the same instruction, and you have the
• 17:23
  special revelation, because it's contained in
• 17:28
  here. This bears witness to the truth and John
• 17:33
  chapter 1 says Jesus is this Jesus is the word
• 17:38
  and so tonight Let us be people of truth Let
• 17:44
  us worship God for the truth of Jesus Christ
• 17:47
  and let us be as those shepherds Telling everybody
• 17:52
  about the truth Let's pray