Passing Judgement Based On a Lie

(John 18:31-38, 19:12-16)

The Importance of Truth

Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth (John 18:37)

Those on the side of truth listen to Jesus (John 18:37)

We are called to worship God in Spirit and truth (John 4:23)

Jesus used the phrase “I tell you the truth” 76 times in the four Gospels.

Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. – no one comes unto the father but by me.” (John
14:6)

God desires that we seek truth and deal honestly (Jer. 5:1)

The world rejects the truth for what is convenient (2 Tim. 4:3-4)

To the world, truth is relative/flexible and not absolute (John 18:38)

J. P. Moreland, in his book Apologetic Reasoning and the Christian Mind, tells of an
experience that illustrates the importance of truth: “One afternoon I was sharing the gospel in
a student’s dorm room at the University of Vermont. The student began to espouse ethical
relativism: ‘Whatever is true for you is true for you and whatever is true for me is true for me.
. . . But no one should force his or her views on other people since everything is relative.’”
Moreland says, “I knew that if I allowed him to get away with ethical relativism, there could
be for him no such thing as real, objective sin measured against the objective moral command
of God, and thus no need of a Savior. I thanked the student for his time and began to leave his
room. On the way out, I picked up his small stereo and started out the door with it. ‘Hey, what
are you doing?’ he shouted. . . . ‘I am leaving your room with your stereo.’ ‘You can’t do that,’
he gushed.” But Moreland said, “I happen to think it is permissible to steal stereos if it will
help a person’s religious devotions, and I myself could use a stereo to listen to Christian music
in my morning devotions. Now I would never try to force you to accept my moral beliefs in
this regard because, as you said, everything is relative and we shouldn’t force our ideas on
others. But surely you aren’t going to force on me your belief that it is wrong to steal your
stereo, are you?” Moreland looked at him and continued: “You know what I think? I think that
you espouse relativism in areas of your life where it’s convenient , say in sexual morality, or
in areas about which you do not care, but when it comes to someone stealing your stereo or
criticizing your own moral hobbyhorses, I suspect that you become a moral absolutist pretty
quickly, don’t you?” The story has a happy ending, for Moreland says, “Believe it or not, the
student honestly saw the inconsistency of his behavior and, a few weeks later, I was able to
lead him to Jesus Christ.”
The Judgement Against Jesus

The indictment against Jesus was changed from blasphemy to sedition in order to find a venue and
political climate more favorable to the desired result, death by crucifixion. (Compare the venue
selection in the D.C. Sniper case)

Pilot was under political pressure in that a complaint to Rome, combined with his contentious record,
could cause him to be found in disfavor with Rome.

About six months before this, Pilate again attempted to decorate his Jerusalem residence with
golden shields. Unlike at the first, this time they did not bear pagan images but they did bear
inscriptions which promoted Caesar-worship. King Herod Agrippa and the Jewish authorities
formally protested this act directly to Caesar Tiberius. Tiberius, wishing to maintain the
submission of the Jews to Roman authority, sent a blistering letter of rebuke to Pontius Pilate
ordering him to remove the shields to Caesarea AND to up-hold all the religious and political
customs of his Jewish subjects. The message was clear - For his own survival, Pilate must not
unnecessarily offend the Jewish ruling authorities and the people. Rome would be monitoring
Pilate’s conduct closely. His rule would be under a magnifying glass.

About six years after the crucifixion of Jesus, a man who claimed to be a prophet led a large
multitude of Samaritans out to Mount Gerazim where he promised to find some relics from
the Ark of the Covenant. Thinking that the gathering was the beginning of an anti-Roman up-
rising, Pilate attacked the group with his cavalry and killed many. He was called to Rome to
explain his extreme course of action to Caesar Caligula. He was stripped of his rank and, in
disgrace, exiled to Gaul where he committed suicide in AD 37.

Christ Jesus makes it quite clear that the washing of hands did not absolve Pilate of his guilt in this
matter. John 19:11, "he who delivered Me up to you has [not the only but] the greater sin." Pilate was
still guilty of sin. What was his sin? Condemning one whom he believed to be an innocent man. (see
also Rom. 13:3-4, Eph. 5:11,13; James 4:17)

Pilate states that he had the authority to execute justice - to free or to condemn. He admits that the
final decision is his. But Jesus instructs him that whatever authority Pilate possesses is a delegated
authority - an authority given him by God above. And Pilate could do nothing to Jesus unless it was
allowed by God above.

The three truths contained here are:

(1) that those who have judicial power on earth have it because God gave it to them,
(2) those given such power ought to exercise it according to God’s standards of justice, and
(3) those with judicial power on earth cannot exercise their powers further than what God’s
providence permits.

Where should judges look for the truth? Painting at Supreme Court building in Switzerland points the sword
of justice to the word of God.