The Gospel of John

The Civil Trial I

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels and Sermons

Lesson: 63- 70

Genre:

Track: 061

Dictation Name: RR197AH64

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His temple. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen thy heart. Wait I say, on the Lord. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God we come into Thy presence again, mindful that our times are in Thy hands. WE thank Thee that the government is not upon our shoulders but upon Thine. That we have but to do Thy word, Thy will, Thy purpose, to obey Thee with all our heart, mind and being and to commit all our tomorrows into Thine omnipotent hands. Do Thou undertake for us, bless us, use us, protect us and prosper us. This we ask in Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is John 18:28-40. John 18:28-40 and our subject: The Civil Trial, part one. The Civil Trial, part one.

“Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.

29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?

30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.

31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:

32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.

33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?

34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?

35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?

36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.”

Night trials were illegal in Jewish law because all proceedings of the court had to be open and public. The illegal trial before Annas was during the night. Mark 15:1 tells us that the trial before the high priest Caiaphas was very early in the morning, since 6 a.m. would have qualified as day time. This trial was brief and John tells us that at an early hour Jesus was led to the Roman hall of justice which was also the legal residence for the Roman governor. The [unknown] commonly opened early so the presence of the religious leaders would be no surprise to Pilate. The early hour would prevent public awareness of what was happening until it was too late. We are told by John that the religious leaders refused to enter the [unknown] lest they be defiled and thereby be unable to take part in the Passover meal. Gentile houses were regarded as unclean because it was believed that they routinely practiced abortions and threw the dead child down the drain. So there was no lack of prejudice and false tales about the Romans, they did practice abortion but they didn’t throw the aborted children down the drain. But this would have meant if it were true a week’s uncleanness for any Jew that entered. Also the [unknown] would not have been cleansed of leaven which according to Exodus 12:15 was required before the Passover. Pilate was familiar with Jewish law. Roman governors could not afford to violate local custom without very serious cause so Pilate therefore went out to them, he did not require them to come into the court.

Pilate is not introduced to us, John wrote obviously while Jerusalem was still standing so that the city and its rulers were familiar with all who chose to know. Jerusalem fell in the war of 66-70 A.D. John gives you very particular and precise points of indication throughout so if you were to walk around Jerusalem you would know this is where such and such a thing happened. So he was obviously writing before Jerusalem fell. Now, proper procedure required that Pilate ask what are the charges, which he did, verse twenty nine. But again the religious leaders had a problem. What charges could they file? They chose to replace the truth with indignation. If he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him up unto thee. With this Pilate who no doubt knew much about the case knew that he was in trouble. They wanted a conviction, an execution. They didn’t care about the reasons. They did not want a fair trial. While they later accused Jesus of blasphemy this was not an offense against Roman law because it was a Jewish form of offense. Later on Jesus was charged first of seditious agitation, second forbidding the payment of taxes to Caesar and third assuming the title King of the Jews. We see this in Luke. For the present the charge of blasphemy was irrelevant. So Pilate tried to dismiss them saying take ye him and judge him according to your law. To this they answered it is not lawful for us to put any man to death.

John reminds us again of these things, that things are moving in terms of Jesus’ prediction. Well at this point Pilate reentered the judgment hall and had Jesus brought in to question him in private. At one point Matthew 27:19 tells us Pilate’s wife sent word to him saying ‘have thou nothing to do with that just man for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him’. But political considerations were more important to Pilate than either justice or his wife. He knew full well that if he went against their will they would agitate for his removal at Rome. And Rome wanted peace in Jerusalem and Judea because it was too important in terms of trade routes and in terms of doing battle with enemies to the east. Pilate now asked Jesus since the charge had been made that he claimed to be king ‘art thou the king of the Jews?’ This charge was made because it was needed to gain conviction in a Roman court. It was on the part of the religious leaders an indirect admission that this was the Messiah. In Jewish court such a charge would open the issue religiously to the evidences of His messiah-ship. In Roman court however the charge was political because it was a counter claim to Caesar’s sovereign claim. So it was easier to make this charge in a Roman court to bring it up in the ecclesiastical court. Jesus answered ‘sayest thou this thing of thyself or did others tell it of me.’ A Roman governor would have spies reporting to him on all aspects of the life of a restless and a rebellious nation.

We know from a hint here and there and an actual statement that there were such spies listening to our Lord. Pilate would be well informed of Jesus’ life and teaching but Pilate refused to admit what he knew. He was supposed to be in charge and Jesus had taken the initiative and was questioning him, so Pilate answered:

“Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?”

Pilate was saying you must have done something to be so charged by your own people. In effect Pilate was saying how can you be right and all your nation and its leaders be wrong? Numbers counted with Rome and with Pilate, not truth. Jesus then answered Pilate:

“My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

This is a statement commonly misinterpreted. Those who want an excuse to say that they have no responsibility to this present world, no responsibility to the problems of society or of politics or community use this to say our religion is purely spiritual. But our Lord does not deny that His kingdom is over the world, only that its origin and authority is not of or from this world. The origin is God. Anytime you hear anyone using this verse to say we shouldn’t get involved in things that are not spiritual put them down for a fraud. They are missing scripture and perverting the whole point of this text.

Our Lord is saying my way of waging war is not physical nor military because its power is not of this world, had it been so my men would have fought to prevent my arrest. Pilate recognized that Jesus was declaring Himself a king and Pilate needed, however reluctant he was, a useable charge. He therefore asked ‘art thou king then?’ Jesus answered ‘Thou sayest that I am a king’¸ or you were right. I was born to my kingship when I came into this world. I was born to bear witness unto the truth, everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice, I am here because there is truth despite man’s rejection of it. In James 1:18 we read:

“No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”

First Peter 1:22 speaks of the way of truth. Paul in Second Thessalonian 2:12 speaks of the necessity for truth and so on and on throughout the New Testament Christ is the truth. But in the world of Roman relativism and cynicism reference to truth struck Pilate as irrelevant. Here was a man facing death talking about truth, so Pilate in irritation said ‘what is truth’. He was annoyed that Jesus had no better defense. In this world his attitude was ‘what use is truth.’ It’s power that counts, it’s influence, it’s connection. Having said that Pilate went out to tell the religious leaders I find in him no fault at all. Then Pilate called attention to the custom of releasing a prisoner at the Passover. Should he release Jesus the King of the Jews? According to Matthew 27:17 Pilate gave them a choice, Jesus or Barabbas a revolutionist and a robber, a murderer. The crowd shouted not this man but Barabbas. Luke 23:19 tells us that Barabbas was guilty of sedition and murder. Mark 15 says that the murder was committed in the resurrection, in the course of revolution.

The religious leaders acted horror stricken at Jesus’ supposed sedition, their charge against Him was that He was against Caesar and setting Himself as a rival to the Roman emperor and yet they chose a murderous revolutionary over Jesus. Clearly this showed Pilate that it was not anti-Roman sedition on Jesus’ part that offended them. It was something else, His religious status and His insistence on the truth and His relationship to it. Fallen men hate the truth, most of all truth incarnate. And the men on the street all around us, in Washington D.C. and everywhere, are like these men who called for Christ’s crucifixion, fallen men and they hate the truth as much as those who called for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Fallen man does not change, only those whom our Lord changes are changed. Let us pray.

Our Father we thank Thee that Thou hast called us to be the people of Thy kingdom and of Thy truth. Give us grace so to walk day by day that in all things we are mindful of our calling, mindful of Thy purpose in our redemption. Grant that we serve as witnesses to Christ, that we be always mindful that His power is not of this world even as His kingship is not of this world and His power and His kingship override all things that are of men. Use us oh Lord and bless us and prosper us. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Question unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] Could you repeat that?

[Question unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] It was the religious leaders, the people who are associated with the temple guards and so on. That was the whole point of the early morning hour for the trial. They wanted it before the city was up and about and knew what was going on. They wanted the penalty and the execution to proceed before anyone knew of it. So the conviction came very early in the day, very early, not long after sun up.

[Question unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] Yes, yes. Very definitely so. Any other questions and comments? Yes?

[Question unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] Yes. Their sin was greater because it was a sin with the full knowledge of the truth and the presence of the truth. They knew what Jesus was and they did not want Him.

This is why we need to recognize that unless a society is Christian and its courts are Christian there will be no justice. What justice there was will be a relic that will quickly erode and today its almost an accident when the courts give justice. Yes?

[Question unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] What?

[Question unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] Oh yes, yes. We have a situation today in which lawlessness is increasing on the streets, within families, within schools, within churches, within legislators and courts of law and they keep appropriating money to try and understand why society is falling apart. They really don’t want to know. Any further questions or comments? If not let us conclude with prayer.

Our Lord and our God make us ever mindful that the fallen world which crucified Christ is all around us. That it has no use for us, that it seeks again to destroy our Lord and His kingdom. We thank Thee our Father that these men are impotent, that in spite of all they have done century after century Thy saving power and truth are manifested all over the world and Thy kingdom grows day by day. How great Thou art and we thank Thee. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.