For This Purpose I Was Born (John 18:33-38)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

John 18, that's further back in the Gospels than

normal for a Christmas Eve service. I promise

you I will explain what that's about. But this

is a very important text for us to consider tonight.

And so John 18, 33 through 38, and it reads like

this. entered his headquarters again and called

Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the

Jews? And 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 chief priests have delivered you over

to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my

kingdom is not of this world. 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 the world then Pilate

said to him so you are a king and 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? Let us pray. Mighty God,

the shepherds of old were full of your praise

saying that all they had heard and seen was mirrored

by what they had been told. Move among us now

by your spirit that we too might hear and experience

the wonder and the joy of the living word as

we seek to welcome the written word deep down

into our hearts. This we ask in Christ's name.

Amen. Having read this text from John 18, you

might be thinking that perhaps I've lost track

of time. Perhaps I'm preaching a Good Friday

sermon, but I can assure you I know the season

that we are in. The reason for this text is because

it clearly states why Jesus was born. Tonight

we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we also

celebrate the why. We celebrate why Jesus was

born. And that's what I want us to understand

tonight. Jesus was born to bear witness to the

truth. This is one of the clearest statements

Spoken by Jesus on his own incarnation you might

remember some of the other statements that Jesus

makes about his coming about his birth Purpose

statements if you will Matthew 517 where Jesus

says Do not think that I've come to abolish the

law or the prophets. I've come not to abolish

But to fulfill them that's a purpose statement

from Jesus another one John 12 46. He says I

have come into the world as light so that whoever

believes in me may not remain in darkness. Another

purpose statement. But this statement by Jesus

stands out because it specifically speaks to

his birth, not so in the others. And so we might

be wondering, well, why does Jesus mention his

birth? And what is Jesus really telling Pilate?

Well, if you've tracked with me in that reading,

It reads almost like a courtroom drama, right?

And perhaps it's strange to think of the birth

of Jesus that we think of him tonight, but we're

reading a text where he's accused of something.

But isn't that the way it went with Jesus from

the moment of his incarnation? He was pursued.

The world was out to get him. John, chapter one,

11 says his own people did not receive him. You

remember the wise men. They get to Jerusalem.

And they ask Herod, where is he who has been

born King of the Jews? Herod wants to destroy

Jesus, going so far as to have all of the male

children in the area under the age of two to

be killed. And so before Jesus can even walk,

he's on the run, metaphorically speaking. Jesus

was born to die. In the birth of Jesus, The fear

that Herod has over Jesus, it mirrors this episode

where Jesus is before Pilate. Because front and

center in both of those episodes, Pilate and

Herod, what's at stake is the question, are you

the king of the Jews? It's such an important

question that it's actually recorded in all four

gospels, somebody asking Jesus, are you the king

of the Jews? And so Pilate asks this here, and

he really wants to get to the bottom of it. Are

you the king of the Jews? But Jesus counters,

as you can see from our text, he counters with

his own question. He puts Pilate on the defensive.

Pilate, though, he's very different from Herod,

because as you can see, Pilate says, hey, I'm

not a Jew. They're not my people. And so he gets

to another question, and Pilate asks Jesus, What

have you done?" He's like, let's get to the bottom

of this. Pilate, it almost seems like some impatience

on the part of Pontius Pilate is saying, I've

got better things to do, Jesus. Let's get on

with it. I also think that Pilate in this passage,

he asks Jesus these questions with skepticism.

Are you the king of the Jews? There's no way

you could be king of the Jews. Look at yourself.

I like how one commentator puts it who says,

it was no wonder Pilate reacted this way. Jesus

was in peasant dress, stained with the bloody

sweat from Gethsemane. His features already swollen,

but despite appearances, Jesus was still king.

Jesus is a king. But Pilate feels here as he

begins to question Jesus, he's starting to feel

like, you know what? Jesus doesn't pose much

of a threat to me, and Jesus doesn't pose much

of a threat to Caesar. In his current state,

perhaps Pilate's thinking, Jesus doesn't pose

much of a threat to anybody. But friends, we

who know Jesus know that Jesus is the King of

kings, and Jesus is the Lord of lords, and all

people will bow to the kingship of Jesus. Isaiah.

predicts this in chapter nine six and seven listen

to these words for to us a child is born to us

a son is given and the government shall be upon

his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful

counselor mighty god everlasting father prince

of peace of the increase of his government and

of peace there will be no end the throne of David

and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold

it with justice and with righteousness from this

time forth and forevermore the zeal of the Lord

of hosts will do this and so Isaiah predicts

the kingship of Jesus a Reign that will last

forever indeed Gabriel tells Mary this in Luke

Luke 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 31 through 33 Gabriel says, and behold

you will conceive in your womb and bear a son

and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be

great and will be called the son of the Most

High and the Lord God will give to him the throne

of his father David and he will reign over the

house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there

will be no end. And so Jesus is the true King.

not just of the Jews, but Jesus is king of the

whole world. Perhaps you remember the words from

We Three Kings, verse two says, born a king on

Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown him

again, king forever, ceasing never, over us all

to reign. But Pontius Pilate doesn't know that,

Carol. Pontius Pilate doesn't know the scriptures.

All Pontius Pilate hears is, oh, you are not

a threat to me and you are not a threat to Caesar.

And he wipes his brow. You can see if you kept

reading from our text in verse 38, he says, I

find no guilt in him. Pilate's not threatened

by Jesus whatsoever, but Pilate's not truly considering

the words of Jesus. And I don't think he really

pays attention to this purpose statement in verse

Look there. For this purpose, I was born. And

for this purpose, I have come into the world

to bear witness to the truth. Jesus here is saying,

you don't get the truth by just being really

smart, by your intelligence. And you don't get

the truth by the position that you were appointed

to be in. like Pilate. No, you get the truth

from a person. You get the truth from divine

special revelation. And the revelation is this.

The truth of scripture is this, that this is

all about Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation,

all of it's about Jesus. Because you might remember

Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Jesus is walking

with two disciples after his resurrection. They

can't see him. They don't know it's Jesus. And

Luke 24 says this, beginning with Moses and all

the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the

scriptures the things concerning himself. This

is why Jesus says, everyone who is of the truth

listens to my voice. Believers, we belong to

the truth. And when we give attention to the

Bible, we listen to the very voice of God. The

truth is here and the truth is Christ. For you

remember in the book of John, Jesus is called

the word and Jesus calls himself the truth. The

truth of the matter is Jesus. And I believe that

there's a connection between how Jesus handles

these questions from Pilate and how Jesus is

a king. Think about it. Pilot asked Jesus about

being king and Jesus responds about bearing witness

to the truth You wonder if pilot was frustrated

like speak clearly with me But Jesus is Jesus

is saying he was born to establish a new kind

of kingdom Because Jesus isn't just the king

of the Jews Jesus is the king of kings and lord

of lords and he bears witness to the truth because

he is the truth Pontius Pilate doesn't realize

this, but he is staring truth right in the face.

And when I think about it, I think that Pilate

represents a very Western modern mindset. Pilate

seems to write Jesus off as being a religious

fanatic. Pilate doesn't consider the truth because

it doesn't affect him a whole lot. People act

like that today, don't they? Is there something

concerning me right now? No? Okay, good. Let's

move on with our lives. Jesus was born 2 ,000

years ago. What does that have to do with me?

My eternity, it rests in the balance. Well, that's

great, but what's for lunch? Human beings by

nature are self -centered and apathetic to what

really matters. But friends, what really matters

is Jesus. I know that's the Sunday School answer,

but it's completely true. How can we be apathetic

to the virgin birth of the Messiah, of God in

the flesh? Do you realize how astounding this

is that Jesus came, took on flesh, and dwelt

among us, that God walked on the earth? This

is the most astounding news of all time, and

so we must receive it as such. We need to set

our minds on Christ. Let me read you a couple

of scriptures that can help us center our minds

on Christ. 1 John chapter 2, 15 through 17. It

1 John 2 · chapter mention

says, Do not love the world or the things in

the world. If anyone loves the world, the love

of the Father is not in him. For all that is

in the world, the desires of the flesh and the

desires of the eyes and the pride of life is

not from the Father, but it's from the world.

And the world is passing away along with its

desires. But whoever does the will of God abides

forever. Or how about this one from Colossians

chapter three, one through three. If then you

have been raised with Christ, seek the things

that are above. where Christ is seated at the

right hand of God. Set your mind on things that

are above, not on things that are on earth, for

you have died and your life is hidden with Christ

in God. Friends, the Christmas season tonight

is an opportunity to see Christ afresh, to understand

what Christ really did for us. It's an opportunity

to look to Christ, who though he was a king,

He was born into the miseries of this life. He

suffered all the way to the cross to rescue us

from what we deserve. Jesus's incarnation and

his death are radically opposite from what we

would expect from a king, because Jesus gives

us radically the opposite of what we deserve.

You might remember the words of Mark chapter

Mark 10 · chapter mention

10, 45, where we read that Jesus gave his life

as a ransom for many. Jesus was born to give

up his life for you God gives us eternal life

in Christ instead of eternal death But it's all

contingent upon faith. You might remember these

words from John 5 truly truly I say to you Whoever

hears my words and believes him who sent me has

eternal life He does not come at a judgment,

but is passed from death to life Friends, Pilate

asked this question at the end of our text. He

asks, what is truth? But he doesn't stick around

for the answer, does he? Tonight, do you know

the truth? Do you know the truth that Jesus came

to save you from your sins? I would ask, I would

urge you to consider Christ tonight. But... Let's

say you're a believer and you've believed for

a long time. Maybe you're even a member of this

church. How does this apply to you? What's the

application? How do I live this out? Consider

some of the characters of the Christmas story.

Consider the shepherds. Luke chapter 2 tells

Luke 2 · chapter mention

us that the shepherds told everybody about what

they had seen and they praised God that night.

Consider the wise men. Why did the wise men travel

from so far away? They traveled for the purpose

of worship. What about Mary and Joseph? We read

in the scriptures that Mary treasured up all

of these things in her heart. And so tonight,

treasure these things, share these things, and

worship God. Now you might say, well, it was

easier for the shepherds, and it was easier for

the wise men, and it was easier for Mary and

Joseph. They had the revelation of the angels,

and they had the star guiding them. So you say,

God was giving them instruction. Well, friends,

you have the same instruction, and you have the

special revelation, because it's contained in

here. This bears witness to the truth and John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 says Jesus is this Jesus is the word

and so tonight Let us be people of truth Let

us worship God for the truth of Jesus Christ

and let us be as those shepherds Telling everybody

about the truth Let's pray