Dear friends in Christ.
In a 1983 Gallup poll Americans were asked "who do you think Jesus is." 70% of those interviewed said Jesus was not just another man. 42% stated Jesus was God among men. 27% felt Jesus was only human but divinely called. 9% stated that Jesus was divine because he embodied the best of humanity. Though I searched for a more recent edition of this poll, I did not find one, and I’m not really surprised. I’m not really surprised, because there is a great deal of confusion about who Jesus Christ is. Some say that Jesus was just a man like Confucius, who lived on the earth many hundreds of years ago, gave great advice and taught people ways to be nice to each other and how to get along. Others say that Jesus was just a regular man, born to his mother, and as he grew, the Christ consciousness, came upon. While that consciousness rested on him like a spirit dwelling inside of him, he was able to do miracles and healings, but when Jesus went to the cross, the Christ consciousness left him before he died. Some believe that Jesus is merely a son of God or one of many sons of God rather than the one and only Son of God. Others believe that Jesus Christ is not really the Son of God, but he is actually the archangel Michael, the defender of his people. But what do we believe? How can we possibly know who Jesus truly is? How can we find out exactly who this person is whom we are worshiping today? Well, we’ll take a look at what the Bible has to tell us. We’ll take a look at our text for this morning, our Gospel lesson from John 18:33-37. John writes:
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 I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:33-37 NIV)
Now, when Jesus spoke these words, he was on trial for his life before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate. He had been arrested by the Jews in the Garden of Gethsemane only hours earlier. He had been dragged before the High Priest Annas, then before Caiaphas, and now he was standing trial before Pilate. The Jews had just accused Jesus of subverting the nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king. Now, as Pilate stood before Jesus, looking at him as a common criminal, Jesus, our King of Glory took charge of this conversation and told Pilate that he truly was a king. But he was not an earthly king, for if he was his servants would have fought to prevent his capture and arrest; if he was an earthly king, Jesus’ servants would have been fighting right now to procure Jesus’ release from the Roman governor. But nothing like that was happening. There were no servants fighting for Jesus’ release, because as Jesus had said, “My kingdom is not of this World…My kingdom is from another place.”
With these powerful words spoken to Pontius Pilate, Jesus is assuring us that he is none other than the King of Glory about whom Daniel wrote in our First Lesson when he said, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:12,14 NIV) He is the one about whom John wrote in our second lesson, "Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth…Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”" (Revelation 1:4,5,7,8, NIV)
As Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate fully understand what Jesus was telling him, but he was intrigued by Jesus’ answer. He was intrigued because by his answer, Jesus showed that he understood the charges being leveled against him, while at the same time he never denied that he was a king, so Pilate continued: “‘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 I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me,’” (John 18:37 NIV).
As our King of Glory who had come into this World, Jesus’ mission was clear! He was the one who had come to proclaim the truth of salvation through faith in him, the Savior of the world. And that is what he did. No matter where he went he spread the message of repentance and forgiveness to all who heard him. Even as he stood before Pilate, Jesus continued testifying to that truth by extending the healing hand of the gospel, which could call Pilate to faith in Jesus the King of Glory. But Pilate refused to listen to what Jesus had to say, and sadly, that’s the way things are going more and more often in our day and age.
Although Jesus, our King, has returned to heaven, he is still proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness to all the nations through the pages of the Scriptures. He has used Pastors all over the world to proclaim that truth through the lessons read in worship and even through the words spoken in sermons. He has used people just like you to proclaim that truth as you have spoken with friends, family, and even complete strangers about Jesus, your King of Glory and the message of his salvation. He has used things like radio and television to broadcast the truth of the gospel into nations where missionaries simply aren’t able to go. He is even using social networking sites like facebook, myspace, and youtube to proclaim the message of salvation in ways that neither we or our parents ever imagined. Take for example that video clip I showed you last week. I discovered it because one of my friends posted it on his facebook page. From that posting I was able to link over and view the video on youtube. While on youtube I found that this particular video clip has been viewed over 12 million times in a three year period. It has been copied and posted on other video sites. Different groups have performed this skit and up loaded their own videos. But the most incredible thing is, I know of five people who have come to faith in Jesus all because they saw that powerful video, understood the truth of the message it was proclaiming, and sought after the truth of salvation from the pages of the Scriptures. How incredible that Jesus, our King of Glory is still proclaiming the truth of salvation to countless people throughout the world in so many different and amazing ways.
But sadly, even though the truth of God’s Word is more accessible today that it has ever been in the past, it seems that more and more people are taking it for granted. It seems that more and more people are acting like Pilate and turning their backs on it. It seems that more and more people are being swayed by any number of the myriad of lies of satan. Take for example Islamic countries. Very often speaking about Christ is punishable by death and celebrating Christmas can put your life in serious jeopardy. Why? Because in Islam the Triune God has been replaced by Allah, Jesus, the Savior has been replaced by Mohammed the prophet, and the Bible has been replaced by the Koran. Much the same thing is true in Israel. Though speaking about Christ may not be punished by death, there are a fare few who will mock you, ridicule you, or even be ready to beat you simply because of the centuries of bad blood between the religious leaders and the Lord. Though Jesus himself was a Jew, he has been reduced to a mere man and the Old Testament, which so clearly proclaimed his coming is thought to be predicting a Messiah who is yet to come.
But what about closer to home? Are there others who have ignored the truth, to which our King of Glory testifies? Quite sadly, yes. There are the Jehovah’s Witnesses who believe that Jehovah is the name of the only true God…and as such, he is worthy of our worship and devotion. Though they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, they also believe that Jesus never claimed equality with God and is thus not a part of the Trinity. There is the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, The Mormons, who hold the Book of Mormon in higher regard than the Bible and believes that Jesus, who is one of many sons of God the Father, was once a man who earned his godhood by so perfectly following his Father’s will. There is the Catholic Church where the teachings of the Pope are so often held in higher regard than the Scriptures, and where Mary and other saints are invoked in prayers as they are asked for protection, forgiveness, and even asked to carry prayers and requests to the Son or even the Father. There is even the Lutheran Church, specifically the ELCA where homosexuality has officially been accepted as God pleasing if couples are joined in and acting in love for one another. There is our own government which is beginning to openly seek to rid this country of any teaching of the truth of Jesus Christ as the King of Glory who gave his life on the cross and rose again from the dead to free us from our sins so that we could live with him forever in eternal life.
But even though there are so many forces out there seeking to sway us, and lead us to put down the truth of our Glorious King so that we might pick up and embrace any number of satan’s lies, it is the Lord Jesus, our King of Glory who speaks to us with his truth. He is the King of Glory about whom John wrote in his great Revelation: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16).
This is the truth which our King testifies to. He testifies that he is the Son of God; that he is our King of Glory; that his is our only Savior. Though there may still be a lot of confusion in this world as to who Jesus really is, we know that he is our one and only Savior. He is our King of glory. He alone hears our prayers, answers our requests and removes our sins forever. This is the truth which Jesus came to the earth to testify to, and this is the truth that he testifies to us in the Bible, that he alone is our King of Glory, who had conquered sin and death, who truly has risen, and who will share with us his heavenly kingdom.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN
