Why God the Son Came Into The World

We'll be reading our sermon text, which is from John 18, picking up where we left off

last week.

So this week we'll begin reading at verse 25, John 18, 25.

As I read, remember that this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient

word.

It's God's very own word for you and me, his people.

When I'm done reading, I'll say, this is the word of the Lord and we can celebrate.

Thanks be to God.

John 18, starting at verse 25 and to the end of the chapter.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.

So they said to him, you also are not one of his disciples, are you?

He denied it and said, I am not.

One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked,

did I not see you in the garden with him?

Peter again denied it.

And at once the rooster crowed.

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters.

It was early morning.

They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled,

but could eat the Passover.

So Pilate went outside to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man?

They answered him, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.

Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.

The Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.

And this was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Verse 33.

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews?

Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me?

Pilate answered, am I a Jew?

Your own nation and the chiefs, the chief priests have delivered you over to me.

What have you done?

Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.

But my kingdom is not from this world.

Then Pilate said to him, so you are a king.

Jesus answered, you say that I am a king.

For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

Pilate said to him, what is truth?

And after this he said, after he said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him.

But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover.

So do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?

They cried out again, not this man, but Barabbas.

Now, Barabbas was a robber.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Let's pray.

Father, we praise you that though we wither like the grass in this body,

through the word of God, you reveal to us Jesus Christ, the truth, the way, the life of heaven.

We praise you for revealing yourself to us by the person and work of your son, Jesus Christ,

the only mediator between God and man.

We confess our utter dependence on you.

We thank you, Lord, that you have not left your church as orphans, but that you remain with us.

We thank you for how you have sent what you called an even better ministry,

and that's the Holy Spirit, wielding the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.

We pray that your truth in simple, plain language will enlighten our minds,

will put a flame in our hearts, will stir us up, Lord, to follow you more closely.

Lord, we are your people in this life as pilgrims.

We're hungry.

We need our daily bread.

We need Jesus Christ himself.

Please feed us today, Lord.

Sustain your people by the ministry of your word, we ask.

Amen.

Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I want to walk through this passage with you and declare what Christ declared,

and that's why God the Son came into this world.

Why God the Son came into this world.

We read it a bit earlier, Isaiah 53, 6,

how we all, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have each turned to our own way.

That's you, isn't it?

That's my wondering heart.

Now, in this passage, our good shepherd, Jesus declares in verse 37,

it's to this end that I was born, for this cause, that I came into the world.

It's to be the good shepherd of my people.

You have steered away from his green pastures.

You have ventured off into the wild.

You're in the valley of darkness.

There's thorns.

There's those beady eyes of wolves and predators.

There's a vulture circling around you.

That's how you are if God would leave you alone.

But the good shepherd says, for this reason, I was born.

For this reason, I came into the world.

It's to rescue you.

I see in this passage, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

and the way that the Apostle John is arranging this glorious message,

I see five reasons he gives us to meditate on.

And I invite you to ponder these truths with me.

The first reason that God the Son came into this world

was to prove himself most faithful when you and I are most faithless.

Have you been faithless this past week?

Have you lacked the faith that you want in your spirit?

I have.

That's the first reason God the Son came into the world,

to prove that he is most faithful when you and I are most faithless.

You and I are Peter.

Look at verse 25.

Simon Peter stood warming himself at the fire.

This tells us that it was a cold night.

Our Lord Jesus being interrogated by Annas and Caiaphas

in the middle of this cold night was faithful.

Peter was cold, was weak.

Isn't it so common for the enemy, for Satan,

to tempt us most in our weakness?

When we're tired, when we're emotionally drained,

when we're physically weak, we are so susceptible.

Our guard drops too often.

And they said to Peter,

Aren't you also one of his disciples?

You see Satan baiting the hook.

We don't know exactly what Peter was thinking or feeling.

We can infer that he has fear and maybe pride.

Here's the one who he believed would be the Messiah,

the conquering Savior.

Arrested.

Tied up.

Peter denied him a second time.

He said, I am not.

In John 13, 37, Peter had told Jesus

in front of all the other disciples as witnesses,

I will lay down my life for you.

Jesus Christ replied to him,

Will you?

There's the tender patience of our Lord.

Will you?

Jesus said to Peter,

truly, truly, I say to you,

the rooster will not crow

till you have denied me three times.

In verse 26, we read that one of the servants of the high priest,

his kinsman,

whose ear Peter had cut off,

he said,

Did not I see you in the garden with this man?

In verse 27, Peter denied Jesus the third time.

Immediately, the rooster crows.

We read in verse 28,

then it was early.

You see, a whole cold night has passed.

Why does our Lord prophesy that this will happen?

A rooster will crow.

Peter, at least, maybe John and others will take note of that and be reminded.

When does a rooster crow?

A rooster crows while it's still dark,

but it's a signal that the sun will be rising soon.

This was the darkest hour of Peter's life.

And he hears this sound.

And it's a reminder of his weakness

and of Christ's faithfulness.

The rooster signals the break of dawn.

In Peter's darkest hour,

Jesus Christ is most faithful.

Let that comfort you.

Through those moments of your life

when you have felt yourself to be most faithless,

God has sustained you.

That's why you're here on a Sunday morning.

It's because in his covenant of grace,

God's steadfast love endures forever.

That's his promise.

And so the rooster crows,

and soon it was morning.

I'm reminded of Psalm 110.

Remember the covenant of redemption.

The Father makes the promise to the Son,

the reward for his obedience.

And Psalm 110 says,

You, Son, you will rule with majesty.

In the womb of the dawn.

Our Lord is about to show the type of rule

of his kingdom.

And he conquers Satan.

He crushes the serpent's head on the cross.

In the womb of the morning,

he's holding on to that promise of his Father.

It's curious how John,

the same apostle,

begins this whole gospel

in John 1, 5

by declaring,

The light shines in the darkness

and the darkness has not overcome it.

Peter was tempted three times.

Three times.

Exposed for being faithless.

Our Lord Jesus was tempted in the desert

three times.

It's his perfect active obedience

as a substitute for Peter's perfect failures.

You and I are failures.

We are faithless just like Peter.

We need Christ's active obedience.

Because where we are faithless,

Christ has been faithful

to fulfill all righteousness on our behalf.

That's what Paul declares

as an encouragement to Timothy.

2 Timothy 2, 13

When we are faithless,

he remains faithful,

for he cannot deny himself.

Praise God like Peter

for Christ's active obedience

on your behalf.

Jesus declares,

To this end I was born.

For this cause I came into the world.

Because you, Peter,

and each one of you and me,

we all like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned every one of us

to our own way.

But the Father has laid

our faithlessness on Christ

to prove that he is faithful.

Praise be to God.

The second reason I see here

why God the Son

came into the world

was to satisfy God's justice

in his dying.

that you and I may justly live.

Sinners deserve death.

The wages of sin is death.

And God is just.

So how could a just God

remain just

by allowing sinners to live?

There's only one way.

God the Son.

He had to come into the world.

And he had to be the one

that would satisfy God's justice

by dying in your place

and in mine.

That's the only way

that you and I

could justly live.

Look with me at verse 28.

They led Jesus from Caiaphas

into the hall of judgment.

It was early.

They themselves went

not into the judgment hall

lest they should be defiled.

They wanted to eat the Passover.

Well, we know that Jesus

with his disciples

celebrated the Passover

the day before.

So there are two ways

that this can be possible.

Because so many people

migrated to Jerusalem

it was an accepted custom

that you would celebrate

either on Thursday or Friday.

There was also a law

in Deuteronomy

where the Levites

and those of the tribe

of Levi that would be

administering the public Passover

in the temple

they would have a special meal

and a special celebration

on Friday.

And so this is potentially

what that was as well.

But I think what John

the Apostle is highlighting here

is the irony.

The situational irony

in the way he uses the language.

Irony was a literary technique

originally used

in ancient Greek culture.

When they were describing

a tragic life

or a hero

they would use

situational irony.

So an example

that we can relate to

of situational irony

would be like

the fire station

caught on fire.

You know

or the Supreme Court

would not submit themselves

to the rule of law.

Those types of things

would be situational irony.

Now let's notice

in this passage

John mentioned

that they led Jesus

into the hall

of judgment.

They wanted to

unjustly condemn

the only sinless man

in their hall of judgment.

He who is the creator

and judge

of all the world.

In verse 29

we read that

after spending time

with Jesus

Pilate

goes back out

and he asks them

what accusations

do you bring against this man?

See the Jews

are trying to use Pilate

in order to

to condemn

an innocent man.

They're thinking

that they can be

smarter and more clever

than God

with God's own laws.

They're saying

our hands will stay clean

if we can get this

Gentile

this man

from the Roman Empire

to cast the judgment

and sentence Jesus

though he's innocent

to die.

The irony is that

the people of God

were always

intended and called

to take the good news

of God's forgiveness

by grace

to the nations

and here they are

trying to condemn

the nations

putting blood

on the hands of Pilate.

In verse 31

Pilate says

take him

and judge him

according to your own law.

It is not just

for us

to kill

a man

they say.

They're

they're telling

Pilate

we want this man

dead.

We want

capital punishment.

We want him to die

on a Roman cross

and we do not want

to be associated

with the clear injustice

that needs to be done

to that man.

But Pilate

are you going to

are you going to

play ball with us?

You know how powerful

we are here.

Pilate's a puppet

of the Roman Empire.

So here they are

twisting

God's own law

the law of the holy God

the law of Jesus Christ

the whole law

was meant to be

a shadow

of God's work

and a picture

on earth

of his coming kingdom

and yet

they're twisting

that law

to put

the king

on a cross.

In verse 32

John makes it

as clear as can be

all of this

was by God's providence

so that

the word of Jesus

himself would be

fulfilled.

It was signifying

the death

that he should die.

The gospels pick up

on this.

Matthew 20

Matthew 20:19

verse 19

Jesus tells them

the son of man

will be handed over

to the Gentiles

to be mocked

and flogged

and crucified.

And the Jewish law

says that cursed

is any man

who hangs on a tree.

And Jesus

also said

on the third day

the Messiah

the anointed Savior

will rise

again

to life.

John Gill

pointed out

how God's providence

conducted

every detail

and our Lord Jesus

cheerfully submitted

in great love

to his people

to redeem

you

from the curse

by being made

a curse

for you.

I love how

this comes

from Peter

himself

who's

the failure

in this story.

In 2 Peter 2

24

Peter wrote

to the church

Jesus Christ

himself

bore our sins

in his body

on the tree

that we might

die to sin

and live

to righteousness.

By

his wounds

we are healed.

what comforting

words for Peter

to meditate on.

Jesus is declaring

it's to this end

that I was born

it's for this cause

that I came

to the world.

You all like sheep

have gone astray

but it pleased

the Father

to lay on the Son

the guilt

the death

deserving guilt

of sinners

in your place

and mine

so that we

may justly

live.

The third

reason that

God the Son

came into

the world

was to

transfer prisoners

in darkness

into his

heavenly kingdom

of light.

God the Son

came into

this world

to transfer

prisoners

who are in

bondage to

sin and Satan

in darkness

into the

kingdom of heaven

a kingdom

of light.

in verse 33

we see that

Pilate entered

into the judgment

hall again

to address Jesus

and he asks him

are you

the king of the Jews?

So there's

Pilate

standing in

the presence

of the king

of glory

and he's

questioning him

rather than

confessing

the truth.

It's possible

for you and me

to be like

Pilate

we're in

the presence

of the king

of glory

and rather

than bowing

our knees

and our hearts

to him

in worship

we stand

here questioning

him.

Jesus

are you

who you

say you

are?

In verse

34

Jesus said

is this

what you

judged

for yourself

or did

others

determine

it

to you

of me?

Jesus

is being

patient

with Pilate

he's asking

Pilate

to think

for himself

you judge

for yourself

you don't

get to be

a slippery

middle man

the king

of glory

looks you

in the eye

who am I

to you?

Who do you

say I am?

Are you only

going off

of what others

have told you?

Pilate's answer

reveals his heart

in verse

35

Pilate says

am I a

Jew?

Your own

nation

and your

chief

priests

have

delivered

you

to me

what is

it

that you

have

done?

See

Pilate

refused

to bow

his heart

in humility

to Jesus

and by

doing

that

by remaining

proud

and standing

before him

he's missing

out on the

best news

for his

body and his

soul now

and forever

more

it's possible

to be that

close to the

king of glory

and to stand

in pride

against him

missing out

on the most

glorious news

for your

soul

and your

body now

and forever

more

in verse

36

Jesus

declares

he is a

king

Jesus

says

my

kingdom

is not

of this

world

if my

kingdom

were of

this

world

then would

my

servants

not

fight

I

would

not

be

delivered

to the

Jews

my

army

would

stand

with

me

we

would

not

be

having

this

conversation

so

Jesus

says

for

this

reason

you

can

tell

clearly

my

kingdom

is

not

of

this

world

so

now

Jesus

has

owned

the

fact

that

he

is

a

king

he

has

a

kingdom

his

kingdom

is

not

of

this

world

in

another

twist

of

irony

his

passive

surrender

to

the

Jewish

leaders

and

to

Pilate

it

proves

his

kingdom

is

of

another

world

in

Matthew

416

quoting

Isaiah

9

2

we

read

that

Jesus

would

come

to

a

people

dwelling

in

darkness

they

would

see

a

great

light

the

sun

would

be

dawning

in

the

shadow

of

death

that's

why

Jesus

came

to

this

world

is

to

transfer

prisoners

who

are

in

darkness

into

his

heavenly

kingdom

of

light

in

verse

37

Peter

said

to

Jesus

are

you

a

king

then

Jesus

replies

you

said

I

am

a

king

see

it's

possible

to

be

like

Pilate

and

to

be

so

entangled

in

our

own

little

kingdoms

that

we

live

as

if

Christ

were

dethroned

it's

possible

but

we

belong

to

a

spiritual

kingdom

we

belong

to

this

glorious

kingdom

of

heaven

the

kingdom

of

light

one

commentator

pointed

out

that

the

subjects

of

Christ

kingdom

are

not

of

the

world

they

are

chosen

and

called

out

of

it

the

kingdom

itself

does

not

appear

in

worldly

pomp

or

splendor

nor

is

it

supported

by

worldly

force

all

that

is

carnal

sensual

and

worldly

must

be

removed

from

our

conceptions

of

Christ

kingdom

Jesus

declares

this is

why

I

was

born

it's

for

this

reason

that

I

came

into

the

world

because

all

you

have

gone

astray

like

sheep

you've

each

turned

to

your

own

way

but

I

came

as

the

king

of

heaven

to

transfer

you

who

were

prisoners

in

bondage

and

darkness

into

my

heavenly

kingdom

of

light

God

the

fourth

reason

God

the

son

came

into

the

world

was

to

declare

truth

to

you

who

were

once

deceived

by

Satan's

lies

all

of

us

were

deceived

by

Satan's

lies

that's

our

natural

condition

that's

how

we're

born

but

God

the

son

came

into

this

world

to

declare

truth

and

those

who

hear

the

truth

that

he

declares

will

follow

his

voice

in

verse

37

Jesus

says

to

this

end

was

I

born

God

the

son

according

to

his

human

nature

is

reflecting

on

his

own

incarnation

I

was

born

of

a

virgin

conceived

by

the

Holy

Spirit

in

a

very

miraculous

manner

not

inheriting

the curse

of sin

from

Adam's

line

that's

why

God

the

son

was

born

and

it's

for

this

cause

that

I

came

into

the

world

Jesus

says

in

verse

37

his

mission

was

to

bear

witness

unto

the

truth

being

image

bearers

of

God

every

single

person

knows

they

are

living

in

darkness

Romans

1

18

says

that

the

wrath

of

God

is

revealed

from

heaven

against

all

who

by

their

unrighteousness

suppress

the

truth

the

truth

and

faithfulness

of

God

in

his

word

and

promises

all

of

God's

actions

and

revelations

and

all

of

redemptive

history

are

what

Christ

comes

to

most

clearly

reveal

and

accomplish

and

fulfill

Jesus

Christ

himself

came

as

the

truth

he

is

the

true

God

and

the

true

man

the

truth

of

all

the

covenant

transactions

all

the

types

all

the

promises

all

the

prophecies

Jesus

Christ

came

to

declare

and

reveal

to

everyone

who

will

hear

his

voice

and

he

will

not

fail

in

his

mission

notice

what

Jesus

says

at

the

end

of

verse

37

everyone

that

is

of

the

truth

heareth

my

voice

if a

person

does

not

believe

they

are

ignoring

the

truth

they

are

deceiving

themselves

they

are

suppressing

God's

truth

by their

unrighteousness

in

verse 38

Pilate

said to

him

what

is

truth

Pilate

commits

two

sins

at

least

here

he's

suppressing

the

truth

by

his

unbelief

and

he's

also

misusing

the

office

God

appointed

him

to

he's

ruling

with

the

authority

God

put

in

his

hands

but

he's

doing

it

unjustly

and

here

before

him

stands

Jesus

Christ

God

the

Son

the

living

God

the

King

of

the

world

in

verse 38

after

Pilate

said

this

he

went

out

to

the

Jews

he

had

the

opportunity

to

hear

from

God

himself

the

way

the

truth

the

life

what

is

truth

he

wouldn't

even

pause

to

be

taught

he

immediately

went

back

out

to

the

Jews

following

his

heart

holding

on

to

his

little

kingdom

even

though

Pilate

was

such

an

unjust

ruler

who

denied

the

truth

God

used

Pilate

to

confirm

the

perfection

of

Jesus

Christ

as

the

Lamb

of

God

Pilate

declares

in

verse

38

to

the

Jews

the

keepers

of

the

ceremonial

law

I

find

no

fault

in

him

at

all

there

was

no

sin

in

the

nature

of

Jesus

there

was

no

guile

in

his

lips

as

someone

put

it

there

was

no

iniquity

in

his

life

and

the

devil

himself

could

find

nothing

to

accuse

in

Jesus

praise

God

1 Peter

1

19

we read

that

the

redeemed

of

God

were

bought

with

his

precious

blood

that

of

an

unblemished

and

spotless

lamb

that's

who

Jesus

is

unblemished

spotless

there

is no

fault

in

him

at

all

he

came

to

live

for

you

and

for

me

to

this

end

I

was

born

Jesus

says

it's

for

this

mission

that

I

came

to

this

world

I

came

to

declare

the

truth

of

God

to

you

who

were

once

deceived

by

the

lies

of

Satan

if

you

hear

my

voice

of

truth

you

will

follow

me

well

the

fifth

and

final

reason

I

see

in

this

passage

for

why

God

the

son

came

into

the

world

it

was

to

be

the

Passover

lamb

so

that

criminals

like

you

and

me

could

be

called

sons

of

God

Jesus

came

to

be

the

Passover

lamb

so

that

criminals

like

you

and

me

could

be

called

sons

of

God

in

verse

39

Pilate

says

to

the

Jews

you

have

a

custom

that

I

should

release

unto

you

one

criminal

at

Passover

Pilate

was

eager

to

please

the

mob

the

people

they

had

all

the

power

he

was

the

new

guy

trying

to

play

by

their

rules

he

was

negotiating

with

them

he

would

use

their

own

customs

to

try

to

appease

them

so

that

he

could

hold

on

to

his

power

the

Jews

knew

they

could

use

this

leverage

and

get

whatever

they

wanted

out

of

this

man

this

puppet

and

so

Pilate

asked

them

in

verse

39

do

you

choose

therefore

that

I

release

to

you

the

king

of

the

Jews

he

can't

help

getting

a

jab

in

at

them

the

people

cannot

choose

the

right

thing

according

to

their

will

they

are

so

bound

in

sin

they

cannot

choose

their

own

king

in

sin

every

one

of

us

chooses

to

use

whatever

power

we

have

and

unless

God

regenerates

you

and

unbinds

that

fallen

will

you

will

never

choose

God

nor

would

I

if

Jesus

is

your

king

it's

because

God

chose

you

and

the

Jews

use

their

power

here

to

get

rid

of

what

they

considered

their

biggest

threat

everybody's

grabbing

grabbing

what they

can

in

this

life

Barabbas

was a

thief

he

grabbed

what

was

not

his

Pilate

was

grabbing

hold

of

the

little

power

God

gave

him

thinking

that

it

was

his

own

scheming

that

put

him

in

that

spot

and

the

Jews

did

not

want

to

let

go

of

all

the

power

they

held

because

of

their

religion

and

so

in

verse

40

they

cried

again

saying

not

this

man

Pilate

calls

him

the

king

of

the

Jews

they

call

him

this

man

but

Barabbas

now

Barabbas

was

a

robber

it's

no

accident

in

God's

providence

that

the man

that

would

be

released

the

criminal

that

would

be

set

free

was

named

Barabbas

if

you're

familiar

with

Jewish