Life-spark: Truth is, Jesus is not guilty. I am. (John 18:23-40)
John, had a court scene in mind when he wrote his gospel. The words ‘witness,’ ‘truth’ and ‘testify’ occur over and over in his book. The readers are the jury.
Jesus is quoted as saying “I tell you the truth” thirty times in the book of John. He not only said “I tell you the truth,” He said, “I am the truth.” During the Lord’s arrest, trial and conviction, the One who called Himself “The Truth” is accused of being a deceiver and a liar.
Jesus didn’t say much at His trial, but He did say this: “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?” (John 18:23b, NLT)
As Christ said earlier, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:10, NLT)
Truth is, Satan is a killer. Jesus said to the religious leaders: “You’re from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him.” (John 8:44, MSG)
Truth is, Satan is a liar. The disciples said they’d stick with Jesus. Truth is, they all ran when He was arrested. Peter said he would never deny the Lord. Can you hear the rooster crowing? Truth is, Peter chickened out. Pilate said “What is truth?” Truth is, he condemned an innocent man to save his own neck.
So, my fellow jury member, is it ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty?’ Because if Jesus is telling the truth, if He is innocent, then Pilate, Peter, the other disciples, Judas, the religious leaders, you and I and Satan are all guilty.
Life challenge: Listen to yourself as you say this out loud, “I owed a debt I could not pay. He paid a debt He did not owe.”