May 7 - I Find No Fault - John 18:28-40
OVERVIEW OF JOHN 12-21
The overview will be uploaded shortly.
VIDEO LESSON
Listen to the Audio of the Lesson
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Intro - Focus Attention
- Q. Why are there so many legal dramas, mystery novels, and detective shows? Why are they so intriguing?
- Discuss
- It’s the factor of the “who dun it,” piecing together the evidence and coming to a verdict.
- Today we are going to see where Pilate interviewed Jesus, found Him not guilty, then ignored his own conclusion and handed Jesus over to be crucified.
- Context:
- After Jesus’ arrest He was taken to Annas and Caiaphas, the former and current high priest. They held these hearings at night, violating lawful procedures.
- We also see how Peter was waiting in the courtyard to see what would happen. When confronted, he denied Jesus and after the third denial, a rooster crowed reminding him of Jesus’ predictions.
- It was after this that the Jewish leaders took Jesus to Pilate because they knew they didn’t have the authority to execute Him.
Truth - Explore the Text
The Transfer – John 18:28-32
- Q. What were the Jewish leaders saying with their response in John 18:30?
- Give time to respond.
- “Trust us, he’s guilty”
- They kept everything very vague and general.
- Q. Why do you think the Jewish leaders were so reluctant to provide Pilate with concrete charges against Jesus?
- Discuss.
- Their motivation was more theological than legal
- Their witnesses wouldn’t stand up in court (Matt 26:59, Mark 14:55-59).
- Q. How would you describe the Jewish leaders being so careful about their traditions while bringing false accusations against Jesus (Jn 18:28)?
- Give time to answer.
- Hypocritical, inconsistent, rationalizing away their sin, cruel, legalistic, etc.
- The jewish leaders were more concerned with ritual cleanliness than falsely accusing Jesus and demanding His death.
- Q. Read Isa 1:11-17). How do these verses apply to the actions of the Jewish leaders? (cf Micah 6:6-8).
- Discuss.
- The Jewish leaders were falsely accusing Jesus and demanding His death while making sure they could partake in the religious actions to demonstrate their false righteousness.
- If they had read and applied the Old Testament to their actions they would have seen their sin.
- Q. What can we learn from these verses? How should we apply them in our lives?
- Give time to answer.
- We need to evaluate our actions according to Scripture, not the crowd or traditions.
- We must pursue justice and truth just like God.
- The world will bring false accusations against believers.
- No matter the circumstances we know that God is in control.
The Trial – John 18:33-38a
- Q. What questions did Pilate ask Jesus?
- “Are you the king of the Jews?”
- “I’m not a Jew, am I?”
- “What have you done?”
- “You are a king then?”
- “What is truth?”
- Q. What do you think Pilate’s tone was when asking these questions?
- Discuss.
- Skeptical and confused by the accusation of the Jewish leaders. How could this man be royalty. What could Jesus have done for them to want to kill Him?
- Frustrated and contemptuous that he had to deal with these Jewish matters.
- Indifferent and/or dismissive of Jesus’ statements.
- Q. If you had been in Jesus’ situation, how would you have responded? How would you have defended yourself against false charges?
- Give time to answer.
- Frustration, anger, pointing out the inconsistencies, called your lawyer, etc.
- However you would have responded, notice how Jesus had become the interrogator and Pilate was answering questions.
- Q. What stands out to you about Jesus’ statements? How did Jesus’ response to Pilate point to His innocence (Jn 18:34, 36, 37).
- Discuss.
- Jesus got to the heart of the matter, namely that the Jews were trying to manipulate the situation so that Rome would put Him to death (Jn 18:34).
- Not only did the disciples misunderstand Jesus’ purpose but Pilate also missed the point. Yes, Jesus is King and Lord of all, but He didn’t come to reign on an earthly throne. Jesus came to save the lost and reign as Lord in their life.
- Jesus posed no threat to Rome, but His life and words demand a response and Pilate walked away from the truth.
The Trade – John 18:38b-40
- Q. Why do you think Pilate found it difficult to release Jesus when that is what he wanted to do (Jn 18:38b)?
- Give time to answer.
- The Jewish leaders used personal and political attacks to pressure Pilate into submission (cf. Jn 19:12, Lk 23:20-23).
- Q. How would you characterize Pilate’s attempt to release Jesus?
- Discuss.
- During the intertestamental period, the Jews began a practice of releasing a prisoner at Passover. The Romans continued the practice as a gesture of goodwill.
- Pilate was being a politician. While he found no grounds for charging Jesus, he was trying to give the Jewish leaders a way out while still saving face.
- Pilate’s attempt to release Jesus was also cowardly. He had the authority to release Jesus and even said he was innocent. However, Pilate wanted to avoid causing a riot or uproar.
- Q. Why or how do we buckle to pressure instead of doing what we know is right?
- Give time to answer.
- Go with the flow, avoid conflict, lack of certainty or resolve, etc.
- We might not directly participate but we might not stand up against it.
Application - Summarize and Challenge
- Jesus was without guilt and sinless in every way.
- Followers of Jesus should expect false accusations to be made against them.
- Believers can confidently proclaim Jesus is without guilt.
- Some people reject Jesus regardless of the facts.
- Q. What are some ways people commonly misrepresent facts about Jesus?
- Give time to answer.
- Jesus was just a good teacher, not the Son of God. He isn’t the only way to God.
- Jesus said “Judge not,” so stop judging me.
- Jesus never said anything about same-sex marriage, so why are you making such a big deal about it.
- Q. What stands out to you about how Jesus handled the conversation with Pilate? How can we follow His example when encountering questions or objections to the gospel?
- Discuss.
- Jesus asked a question to clarify Pilate’s position. Either he came to his conclusion on his own or someone was feeding him information (Jn 18:34).
- Once Jesus established that Pilate wasn’t concerned with matters of Jewish theology, Jesus was able to correct the misconceptions/misinformation and provide the truth.
- One of my favorite methods is the “Columbo Method” where you ask three simple questions:
- What do you mean by that? (Clarification)
- How did you come to that conclusion? (Consideration)
- Have you ever considered ____? (Correction)
- What this does is it enables you to respond to the question at hand in a way that gets to the heart of the issue without getting off topic or attacking the other person.
LIFEWAY RESOURCES
Quicksource
Lifeway’s Quicksource is a quick and simple tool that dives directly into the biblical text. Furthermore, it provides a simple outline of the lesson with “Talking Points” and discussion questions for each section. This resource is extremely helpful for facilitating a discussion.
Explore The Bible Podcast
Lifeway provides a podcast for teachers as they prepare to teach each lesson. These podcasts are available on the Leaders Helps webpage (look below), Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Leader Helps
Lifeway has a blog where they post Leader Helps for teachers. These range from articles on leading online groups to Extra Ideas for introducing and concluding the lesson with a current news story. You can check it out using the link below
QUOTES / ARTICLES / MEDIA
In Philippians 2:6-11 Paul quoted an early Christian hymn that testified of the work of Christ. The following article was produced by Lifeway and discusses how early believers used songs.