1. Faith in Christ Jesus:
2 Timothy 1:12 defines FAITH as knowing the
trustworthy character and motives of Jesus, and
being confident in His limitless promise-keeping
ability, and consequently committing yourself entirely
to His keeping. We are studying the Gospel of John,
answering these questions: 1) What is revealed of
Jesus’ character, motives, and abilities? 2) What is indicated
that you could confidently commit to Jesus’?
THE GENTILE COURT
John 18:28-40
People who trust the Bible are surprised that
critics find a contradiction in verse 28, as Jesus ate
Passover Supper with His disciples the previous
evening. They purposefully overlook the “Chagigah”
festive offerings and three Great Feasts and
ceremonies of the week following the Passover
Supper. Looking for a way to discredit John's record,
they “pass-over” the Sanhedrists' hypocrisy! See
how carefully they followed the rules when it suited
their purposes, and how they abandoned the rules
that prevented their purposes! (check the mirror!)
How clever that the accusers only made Jesus a
political criminal, trying to hide His claims to deity for
which they condemned Him (Luke 22:70-71). They
almost lost their case (John 19:7) when Pilate
uncovered it, and won their case based solely on
politics (John 19:12-13)!
Through all of this, what trustworthy and
commitment-worthy traits and abilities do we see in
Jesus Christ? Jesus did not answer the accusation
(John 18:33-34), but invited Pilate to personal faith!
Jesus answered the “pre-faith” questions of “who”
and “where” and “why” and “what” and gave an
invitation to listen! Can you see all five of those in
John 18:36-37?
WHO? Yes, I am a King! v. 37
WHERE? Kingdom not of this world (v.36). I
came into this world (v.37)
WHY? To bear witness (v.37), clearly referring to
His declarations in Matthew 11:27, Luke 10:22, and John
5:30, which were all public statements.
WHAT? Truth! The Jewish mind saw “truth” as
regarding their religious beliefs, revelations of God
are absolutes. The Gentile mind saw “truth” as
regarding philosophical beliefs, a progressing but
never finished search for absolutes that probably
don't exist!
INVITATION! Jesus offered to Pilate a personal
relationship with Himself (listens to My voice) Who IS
the Truth! He invited Pilate to BELONG to Someone,
not to some religion, nor to some philosophy, nor to
some political party!
The Gentile Court declared Jesus Christ to be
faultless. The legal case is now ended, and
dismissed! What follows in John chapter 19 are no
longer legal processes, but personal! The question
is no longer, “What can be done with Jesus?”, but
rather, “What will YOU do with Jesus?” The choice is
yours!
I HAVE BEEN ASKED...
“How do you find all that in there?”
I have wondered how others do NOT find all that in
there! When you read the Bible, are you going too
fast?
In the morning...
(1) TAKE AN HOUR, MAYBE TWO! Do nothing
else while you are studying God's Word. No
dishes, no T.V., music without words and that
supports meditation may be helpful.
(2) PRAY! Always concentrate your entire
mental focus on seeking God Himself, and
asking HIM to give you understanding of His
Word.
(3) READ the scripture passage you are
studying over several times, slowly, notating
thoughts and questions that “pop” into your
mind while you are reading.
(4) CONTEXT and GRAMMAR and LITERARY
STRUCTURE and WORD DEFFINITIONS
must be applied! Too many sermons have
been built around ignorance of the actual
message of the passage, merely passing on
something someone else said about it that
sounded good!
(5) SCRIPTURE EXPLAINS SCRIPTURE!
Gather other verses and passages from the
Bible that help explain the passage you are
studying. Cross-Reference Bibles and
concordances are good tools to use.
(6) WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN, AND WALK
AWAY!
In the evening...
(1) START OVER! Add to your notes all that
God put into your mind as the day passed.
(2) TELL SOMEONE ELSE WHAT YOU
DISCOVERED! Perhaps you missed
something they have “seen”, or they missed
something God wants yo to give to them!
(3) PRAY and PRAISE! Meditate on God's
Word, and ask for God's enabling grace to

2. follow what you have learned, and worship
Him and praise Him and be in awe of Him.
(4) BE PATIENT! This is also a skill that
requires development. You will get better at it
if you continue to do it.
AN ASSIGNMENT:
Hebrews 2:14-18
Identify every “who” (every person) mentioned.
Connect each person with an action, or ability, or
affect, or a purpose, or consequence as presented in
the passage.
Pay special attention to the main subject (person)
and how that person acted, performed,
accomplished the proposes.
Report what you have learned and how it has
affected you.
Get serious about following Jesus every day!