Turn with me in your Bibles to John 18:28. We are going to look at our Lord Jesus, and Pilate’s response to Jesus, as He stood before that Roman Governor to be judged.

John 18:28-38 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?

Our Lord Jesus knew that “He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matthew 16:21). Jesus knew He was going to Calvary. He knew His betrayer – Judas Iscariot. He knew the time.

Before Jesus stood before Pilate, He was examined by a crooked, untruthful the Jewish Court called the Sanhedrin (the Seventy). Matthew tells us:

Matthew 26:59-61 the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60 but found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, 61 and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

Jesus was struck when He attempted to speak. False witnesses came in, all given bribe money by a corrupt system. But finally the High Priest accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65-66) when Jesus claimed to be “the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, coming in the clouds of Heaven”. After further abusing Jesus, the Jewish court took Jesus to the Gentile Court of Pilate. Pilate asks:

John 18:29 … What accusation bring ye against this man?

The Jewish Court knew, in their conscience, that the way they handled Jesus was dishonest and ungodly. They do not respond clearly. When truth is twisted, people try to hide what they are doing. They respond:

John 18:30 If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee”.

An honest court would have explained the charges, but evil does not like the light of truth. Pilate was having none of it. “Take ye him, and judge him according to your law” (31). They hid behind Roman Law. “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death” (31). That never stopped them before. Evil uses confusion. Satan loves confusion.

Pilate extensively examined Jesus. Jesus was no threat to the Roman empire. “My kingdom is not of this world” (36). Pilate asked Jesus if He were a king. Jesus refused to assume the title at this point in history. Jesus is indeed “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (1 Timothy 6:15), but His primary role at this time is “to bear witness to the truth”:

John 18:37 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.

Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to “bear witness to the truth”. Those who are of the truth hear Jesus. Those who are of the world ignore Jesus, judge Jesus, mock Jesus. Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (38). Jesus is truth. God’s Word is truth.

The trial of Jesus gives us an insight into the eternal struggle between “Truth” and “truth”. The religious court, which was suppose to support God’s Truth, ignored the truth. Pilate, a career politician, ignored Capital “T” Truth. If you ask people about truth today, they will tell you:

Truth is what you make it.
Truth is based on what you feel.
Truth varies from person to person.

If truth is little “t”, constantly variable, then a young child born biologically male can self identify as female, regardless as to their genetic equipment. If truth is little “t”, constantly variable, then marriage does not have to be male to female, but it can be same sex, or even animal to human, adult to child. If truth is little “t”, then feelings are what matter most. Feelings define facts, not the other way around.

Pilate examined Jesus stringently, and even had Christ beaten. After a thorough examination, Pilate told the waiting Jewish Court:

John 18:38 … I find in {Jesus Christ} no fault at all.

That should have ended the matter. Jesus was acquitted. But the crowd was operating on feelings, not facts. They cried out for Jesus’ death. Reason had no place in the matter. They were feeling hatred and feeling rage, so they demanded His death. Pilate knew why they wanted Jesus dead.

Matthew 27:18 {Pilate} knew that for ENVY they had delivered {Jesus up to die}. (also Mark 15:10)

“Crucify Him!” the crowd yelled! Pilate asked, “Why, what evil hath he done?” (Mark 15:14). The Court cared nothing for Capital “T” Truth. They were being driven by emotions. “Crucify Him!” Pilate tried again. The Romans had scheduled a murderer named Barabbas to be executed. Pilate now gives the crowd a choice.

Matthew 27:17 … Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?

Barabbas was a known murderer. No charges could be found against Jesus. The Capital “T” Truth would have released Jesus. The crowd yelled out. Release Barabbas, destroy Jesus (20). Having Jesus beaten, and mocked by the soldiers, a crown of thorns on His head, Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd.

John 19:4 I find no fault in {Jesus Christ}.

“Behold the Man!” Pilate told the Jewish Court,

John 19:6-7 … Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

And so Jesus was crucified. His crucifixion was necessary and foreordained by God. “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). Jesus Christ came to this earth on a mission to save sinners. “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom God hath sent” (John 6:29). God is calling people into His Family. “This is life eternal, that they might know the ONLY TRUE God, and Jesus Christ, Whom God hath sent” (John 17:3). The crucifixion of Christ was by divine design, accomplished to cover our sins so that we might know God. Jesus told Pilate:

John 19:11 … Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from Above

God allowed the deceptive and corrupt Jewish Court, the False Witnesses, the Politically Correct Pilate, and human “feelings” to accomplish His greater purpose. Praise God that “Jesus Christ came to this earth to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Praise God that:

1 Peter 3:18 … Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God….

Praise God for Jesus! But I also want you to see another thing at work here. When there is no Capital “T” Truth, but truth is little “t”, and feelings have preeminence over facts, then justice is miscarried. When truth is fluid, ever changing, then we put ourselves in the position of Adam in the Garden of Eden. “Hath God really said that?”, the serpent asked. If truth is defined not by facts, but by my feelings, then there is no truth at all.

Jesus Endorsed The Bible As Truth

How did our Lord Jesus define “truth”? Jesus believed the written Word of God to be Capital “T” Truth. In His final prayer for the Church, given just before He went to the Cross to die for us all, Jesus said:

John 17:17 {Father}, Sanctify {or, “set them apart from the world”) them {your believers} through Thy Truth. Thy Word is Truth.

God the Father has a Word for us, and this Word is Capital “T” Truth. Jesus promised us that God would send forth “The Spirit of Truth”, the Holy Spirit of God. He said:

John 16:13 … when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…

The Holy Spirit of God would come and guide Christ’s believers into “all Truth”. Not into feelings, but into what God has said is fact. As Jesus told Pilate:

John 18:37 … Every one that is of the Truth heareth My voice

There is a Capital “T” Truth. It is the Written Word of God, the Holy Bible. Throughout Jesus’ ministry we find the words, “It is written”. When the Wise Men came seeking the Baby Jesus, Herod demanded of the priests and scribes where Christ was to be born. No one came back with, “Well, I feel”. No, they said:

Matthew 2:5 … In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet

a quotation from Micah 5:2. When Jesus was attacked by Satan in the wilderness, our Lord replied to his attacks with:

Matthew 4:4 … It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3)

Matthew 4:7 … IT IS WRITTEN AGAIN, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (quoted from Deuteronomy 6:16)

Matthew 4:10 … IT IS WRITTEN, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve (quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13-14)

When questioned about John the Baptist, Jesus said:

Matthew 11:10 … this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (quoting Malachi 3:1 & Isaiah 40:3)

When Jesus ran the money changers out of the Temple, He declared:

Matthew 21:13 … It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. (quoting Jeremiah 7:11 & Isaiah 56:7).

• As Jesus prepared to go to the Cross, He said: “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him” (Matthew 26:24). Here He referred to the Old Testament texts that spoke of Christ being handed over for our sins (Isaiah 50:6; 53:2-12; Psalm 22:1-31).
• When Jesus was asked about marriage, our Jesus said “Have ye not READ, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4), a reference to Genesis 1:27.

Throughout Jesus’s ministry you read “it is written” or “have you not read?”. Jesus was speaking of our Bible.

“Have ye not READ what David did…” (Matthew 12:3)
“Have you not READ in the Law ..” (Matthew 12:5)
“Have you not READ, out of the mouth …” (Matthew 21:16)
“Did ye never READ in the Scriptures …” (Matthew 21:42)
“Have ye not READ that which was spoken by God ..” (Matthew 22:31)
“Have ye not READ in the Book of Moses ..” (Mark 12:26)
“What is WRITTEN in the Law? How READEST thou?” (Luke 10:26)

It is impossible to read the Gospels, and not see the high standard Jesus held our Bible in. The Bible is God’s Word, written down, and preserved for us, Christ’s Church. Pastor Rick Warren wrote in “The Purpose Driven Life”,

“What we need is a perfect standard that will never lead us in the wrong direction. Only God’s Word meets that need.”

King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote:

Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

When the Apostle Paul wanted to encourage Timothy, and the Church so buffeted on every side by evil, he reminded Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:14-17 … continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The Scripture, our Bible, is theopneustos or literally “God Breathed”. It is the very Word of God. Some people would counter with this. They would say,

“Every major and minor religion believe that their holy writings are God inspired, God breathed. The Muslims view the Quran (often spelled Koran) as the words of God dictated to their Prophet Muhammad by the Archangel Gabriel. The Mormons view the Book of Mormon to be the words of God dictated to their Prophet Joseph Smith by the Angel Moroni. There are other religions, and other so called sacred writings that contradict the Christian Bible. How is the Bible a better religious “Word of God” than all these other religions?”

My answer is very simple. It is Jesus.

Jesus never quoted the Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Ramayana or Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism, or the Sutras of Buddhism. Jesus never appealed to feelings or wants when establishing truth. Jesus appealed to the Holy Bible the Jews received through Moses and the other Prophets.

The early Church Fathers, called “Apostles”, were quick to point out that our unique and true faith was …

Ephesians 2:20 … built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

The Way of Christ was “revealed unto {Christ’s} holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:5). It is God Who “gave us Apostles, and Prophets, and Evangelists, and Pastors, and Teachers”…

Ephesians 4:12 … for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Every Spiritual Gift given by God is tied to the Bible,
the Word of God.

That which Christ refers to and we have written through the Apostles and Prophets is the Bible, the Word of God. The other holy books of the other religions do not prophesy the coming of Christ, nor are they quoted or upheld by Christ. Only the Bible has this as it’s main characteristic. Others say,

“But this Book is so ancient. Surely it is out dated, out of touch with the 21^st Century”.

If this Book was written by the whim of humans, by the creativity of people now long deceased, then this would be true. But the Scripture declares:

2 Peter 1:19-21 … We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Over and over again, Jesus endorsed our Bible, quoted our Bible. The Apostles whom Jesus called all wrote Capital “T” Truth. God’s Word is TRUTH. God’s Bible is TRUTH. As Baptists we believe:

“The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.”

What is Truth? Jesus said it in John 17:17, “God’s Word is Truth”. If the Bible is not valid for today, or if portions of it are invalid for today, then is Jesus Christ in any way a Savior? Jesus extensively quoted the Bible. If the Bible is wrong, then Jesus is wrong. Jesus said the Bible is true, and for me and my house, Jesus is never wrong. Jesus told the Pharisees who doubted Him as Messiah:

John 5:46-47 … had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

The Bible we have is “God Breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), a Truth that endorsed and was endorsed by Jesus. If the Bible is in error, then Jesus is in error – and we have no assurance of salvation. As Pastor Michael J. Kruger noted:

“While a person doesn’t have to believe the Bible is true to be saved, the Bible has to be true for them to be saved.”

It is in the Bible we find the precious promises of God, promises to save the sinner if they but believe in Christ. We read the wonderful message of Scripture:

Romans 10:8-13 The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

How can we know this is Capital “T” Truth? Because Jesus came to endorse the Truth – and He endorsed His Apostles, the Old Testament Writings, the Bible itself. We can rest in God’s Word.

May God touch your hearts with His Word, and bring you to Christ for salvation if you are yet without Him. Amen and Amen! For the glory of God, we pray. Amen!