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Welcome to day 5 in daily drive time devotions of our look at John chapter 18.
Today we're going to look at verses 28 to 40, Jesus standing before Pilate. This
week we've looked at Jesus standing before the Roman army, the religious
leaders, His own disciple Peter, and here at the end of the chapter He stands
before Pilate.

I'd like to read for you all of these verses together, 28 to 40, and as I read
this account, I want to encourage you to listen especially to Pilate's questions
to Jesus. They reveal a lot about his heart. Here's what happened.

"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.

And so Pilate came out to them and asked, 'What charges are you bringing against
this man? ' If he were not a criminal, they replied, 'We would not have handed
him over to you. ' Pilate said, 'Take him yourselves and judge him by your own
law.

' 'But we have no right to execute anyone,' the Jews objected. This happened so
that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die
would be fulfilled. Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus, and
asked Him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?

Is that your own idea? ' Jesus asked. 'Or did others talk to you about me?

' '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? ' 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. ' '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 reason I came into this world
to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. ' 'What is
truth?

' Pilate asked. And with this, he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find
no basis for a charge against him. 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? ' They shouted back, 'Not him.
Give us Barabbas.

' And now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. Here's this exchange between
Jesus and Pilate. And Pilate's questions to Jesus are more, they're more a
confession than a cross examination.

Did you notice the questions? First, he asked, 'Are you the king of the Jews? '
In so doing, he confesses his knowledge.

They hadn't told him anything about what Jesus was saying about himself. And the
first thing that Pilate asks that he zeroes in on is, 'Are you the king? Do you
think you're a king?

' Now later in the story, it's going to seem like Pilate tries to wash his hands
of the whole thing and say he didn't know anything about Jesus. It's all someone
else's responsibility. But it's not.

He confesses his knowledge in this story. Pilate then asks, 'Do you think I'm a
Jew? ' In so doing, he confesses his prejudice.

You see, in verse 34, Jesus had said to his question, 'Are you the king of the
Jews? Is that your idea? ' And Pilate had said back derisively, 'Do you think
I'm a Jew?

' You can hear the scorn in his words. History tells us that Roman governors
generally hated the Jewish people that they served. And he was caught up in this
hatred for his life for the people that he was supposed to be serving.

He was caught up in prejudice. The third question that Pilate asks of Jesus in
these verses is, 'What is it you've done? ' And in so doing, he confesses his
weakness.

He should know what Jesus has done. He should be able to bring it before him and
ask him about it. He has people to serve him.

He's a powerful man. But even though he's the Roman governor, in these verses,
he seems to be a very weak man. Now, John doesn't tell us, as some of the other
Gospels do, about Pilate's wife.

Pilate's wife who came to him and told him, 'I had a dream,' don't have anything
to do with Jesus. He should have listened to his wife, but he didn't. He didn't
know what was going on.

You get this sense that he's this man caught up in the greatest event in human
history. And he has no clue as to what's happening. And then Pilate asks one
final question.

And it's the one that's the best remembered. He asks the question of Jesus,
'What is truth? ' And as he asks that question, he confesses his cynicism.

It seems, even at this last moment, that Jesus is trying to witness to Pilate in
this circumstance, telling him the truth about who he is. 'For this reason I was
born and I came to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens
to me.

' It's almost as if Jesus is saying, 'Pilate, are you on the side of truth? '
But instead of saying, 'I'm on the side of truth,' Pilate confesses his
cynicism. What is truth?

He was a cynical man with a cynical heart. What is truth? He's standing face to
face with the truth, the way, the truth, and the life.

And he couldn't see it. He couldn't recognize it. You see, in the end, 'What is
truth?

' isn't even the right question. Who is truth? That's the question.

Truth is not a philosophy. It's a person. Who is truth?

That's the life-changing question. Truth is in a person. You can become so
cynical, like Pilate, that even though you're face to face with truth, it can be
as bright as the brightest day, but you don't see it because of your own
cynicism.

If Pilate had just listened, he would have heard what he needed to hear. You
see, Pilate needed to discover a different kind of king. Pilate was caught up in
the governance of the Roman Empire, a Caesar who was supposed to be king, but
he'd seen what Caesar really was.

He was on the inside, and he was cynical. If Pilate had only listened this day,
he would have discovered that Jesus was a different kind of king, the kind of
king that he needed, the kind of king that a man who had grown cynical with the
emptiness of the politics of selfishness needed to change his life. Jesus says,
"My kingdom is not of this world.

" That's what Pilate needed. Jesus says, "I am a king who came to tell the
truth. " That's what Pilate needed.

And when Jesus said, "I am a king," that was Pilate's crucial moment of life. He
could have turned in that moment from his cynicism to the truth. He did not, and
as far as we know, he never did.

We talk about cynicism. You may have been living with a cynical heart for a long
time. It's a terrible place to live.

Or you may be cynical about some thing, just one little place, one little
person. It's a terrible place to live. I hope you hear the compassion of Jesus.

He cares. He wants to show you the truth that can change your life. Show me the
truth that can change my life.

That I don't have to live that kind of way. Yes, there are ugly things in this
world. Yes, there are selfish people in this world.

Yes, the powers of this world are not going to give us what we need, but that
doesn't need to cause us to live in cynicism. Instead, that should cause us to
look to the truth. You see, there's a verdict in all of this.

As Pilate talks with Jesus, Pilate, this representative of the Roman Empire, the
representative of the Roman king, as he talks to Jesus, he finds some things
about where power really is. Jesus reveals who he really is when he says, "The
verdict is, I am the king of kings. " Jesus is the Lord of lords.

"The Caesar whom Pilate served, Jesus is the king of that Caesar. And whenever
you and I have made king or lord or ruler in our lives, Jesus is the king of
that, too. Oftentimes, we don't make some Caesar king, some human person king.

What we make king is some opinion in our lives, some selfishness in our lives,
some habit in our lives. It becomes what rules, what controls our lives. Jesus
is the king of kings.

He can rule over that, too. If I'll drop my cynicism, if I'll trust in his
truth. We've talked all this week about contrasts.

The contrast between who Jesus is and the judgment of those around him. We've
seen a Roman army that's supposed to be in power, but in contrast to them, Jesus
shows himself to be Lord. We've seen a Jewish court that's supposed to be an
example of squeaky, clean righteousness, but in contrast to that, Jesus shows
himself to be the Holy One.

We've seen Peter, who said he'd never falter, but failed. And in contrast to
that, Jesus shows his faithfulness to him, even though he falls. And today,
we've looked at Pilate, who's supposed to represent the king, but Jesus is the
king.

We live with these contrasts in our lives every day. The contrast between what
the world says is important, what the world says is powerful, what the world
says is going to last, and what God says is important and powerful and going to
last. And in every case, even leading up to his death, even as they arrested him
and bound him, Jesus shows himself to be the one who's in control, the one who's
in power, the one that we need.

As you look to him today, I encourage you in prayer, in our time of prayer, to
recognize him for who he truly is. Just say, "Jesus Christ, I recognize you're
the Lord of Lords. The other things that seem to be the most important, they're
not.

You are where all of history is headed. I recognize that you are the Holy One.
And all who want to show themselves to be better and greater than others, we
don't measure ourselves by ourselves.

We measure ourselves by you. And by that measurement, we all stand wanting. We
all stand in need of your forgiveness.

We all stand equal at the cross. Jesus Christ, I recognize you today as the one
who is faithful even when I fall. If only I'll turn to you.

And Jesus, I recognize you today as the King of Kings. You're the Lord over all
Lords, the King over all Kings. There's nothing more powerful than you.

Forgive me for letting something else control my life. Help me to recognize you
as the King in my life. Jesus, I ask you for the faith to live the reality of
who you are today in the decisions that I make, in the way that I act, in the
words that I use.

I pray, Jesus, that your power, your person would infect my heart in such a way
that it would impact the way that I live today. And I ask this, Jesus, in your
name. Amen.

Join us next week. We turn the page and look at John chapter 19. We're going to
look at the greatest gift that's ever been given.