In 1986 after Michael Jordan scored 63 points in a playoff game, Larry Bird said “That was God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
So, a grown man wearing a costume made up of colorful shorts and a tank top, on a team named over an animal…a bull.
Ran up and down a wooden court, 94 feet long, and threw a ball into a metal hoop positioned 10 feet off the ground.
Counting free throws, he did this around 40 times, and he sometimes jumped up and threw the ball down into the metal hoop.
For this, he was God incarnate.
I understand it said was tongue in cheek, but it reveals how remarkably easy we are to impress.
Right now, in the halls of power in Washington men and women are anxiously hoping to be picked to some position of influence…others are in despair because their hopes for power are gone now.
Then in four years, many of them will fade into the background…and someone else will take their place.
I am not belittling athletic talent or public service.
There are athletes and public servants who have a good perspective on their lives and use their positions to honor God.
My point is, very often humans are easily impressed by other humans, and are often at the same time, foolishly unimpressed with God.
I say this because if we were properly impressed by God, we could not be so easily impressed by people.
This terrible combination of being over impressed by people, and under impressed by God leads to wasted lives.
Don’t hear me saying you should not respect people or admire human achievements…to fail to do this is just another form of human pride.
We know the difference between proper respect and admiration and improperly being impressed by people.
The pace becomes rapid in John’s last chapters…at first, years took chapters, now chapters take place in a few important days.
These are most important days in human history.
Though many humans believe today is always the most important day in human history.
These actually were.
In John 18, Jesus walked out of the city, across a narrow, normally dry gulch known as the Kidron valley to an olive garden he had visited many times with his disciples.
Far from hiding from what was coming, he went to the one place Judas could easily lead the company of soldiers to find him.
They show up with torches and weapons in hand, ready for trouble, and accompanied by some Jewish officials.
What they find is a calm, confident Jesus.
Verse 4
4 Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. 6 When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.
It would be interesting to know what this looked like, how this happened…when they fell to ground.
Was there some physical shock wave?
Lightning once struck near my father in law’s house and the shock wave cracked the foundation.
Or did they suffer from psycho-somatic shock?
There have been people whose senses are so overcome by an event or even some bad news that they have fallen to the ground.
We don’t know…but we should wonder, because something happened to these folks…and what it was, was tied to their encounter with the power of Jesus.
They came in the power and authority of the Roman government and fell to the ground when Jesus said, “I am he.”
Unlike Mike Jordan (AKA God in disguise) throwing a ball into a hoop in a safe, air-conditioned building with no threat only applause.
Jesus, who was actually God incarnate…showed some of his power here…real power.
More was to come.
Imagine Judas, facing the men he had lived with day and night for three years, imagine facing Jesus.
At any rate, Judas ended up on the ground along with the soldiers…a sign of worse things to come for him.
7 Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 “I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So, if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”
Look at Jesus, with the courage to say…”I’m the one you are looking for, let these men go.”
That’s remarkable to me.
Even if Jesus were a mere man, what a great man.
But of course, he was more than mere man.
10 Then Simon Peter, (who was a mere man) who had a sword (probably a dagger) drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
This and other details demonstrate the attention to historical accuracy in this account.
11 At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Peter’s bravery that would soon turn to cowardice was both useless and it demonstrated he did not understand what Jesus had been telling them about his purpose.
The mob of officials bind Jesus’s hands and then take him first to the Jewish authorities.
First they took him to a guy named Annas.
Annas was a former Jewish high priest who by then no longer held the title but was still the power behind the religious curtain in Jerusalem.
His son in law, Caiaphas, actually held the title of high priest.
12 Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13 First they led him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die for the people.
Meanwhile Peter and another unnamed disciple, surely John, was following them.
John was an acquaintance of the high priest…maybe they played on a high school team together…who knows.
At any rate, John had access, so he vouched for Peter to come into the courtyard with him.
15 Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. 16 But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So, the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.
Now, comes the beginning of Peter’s shame.
17 Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” “I am not,” he said. 18 Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.
The point of this is not to merely to pile shame on Peter but to show how utterly abandoned Jesus was…even by his closest friends.
Notice the historical detail…it was specifically a charcoal fire…as opposed to a wood fire.
John, no doubt could still smell it in his mind as he wrote these words many years later.
You don’t forget the details of a night like this.
Verse 19…the high priest wants information about Jesus’ disciples…probably to know the extent of his following and the potential size of a conspiracy.
He also asks about Jesus’s teaching.
Jesus gives no information about his disciples…still looking to protect them.
As to his teaching he says, that’s no secret…he taught over and over in public.
19 The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered him. “I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews gather, and I haven’t spoken anything in secret. 21 Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I told them. Look, they know what I said.” 22 When he had said these things, one of the officials standing by slapped Jesus, saying, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” 23 “If I have spoken wrongly,” Jesus answered him, “give evidence about the wrong; but if rightly, why do you hit me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Jesus will allow them to crucify him because that is why he came, but he is not going to passively betray the truth.
He said nothing that violated the law in the way he spoke to the High Priest…he was essentially asking for a fair trial…or rather pointing out that this was not going to be one.
Since he is getting nowhere with Jesus, Annas, sends him to the actual high priest…his puppet son in law, Caiaphas.
Meanwhile, back in the courtyard…
- 25
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.
We see part of the reason Peter turned into coward.
He was in an intimidating place where he had never been before…the courtyard of high-ranking officials and now a relative of the guy Peter had injured recognized him in the light of the fire.
Peter is intimidated and overtaken with fear.
It’s not that Peter has been a poser, a coward all along…it is just that human courage by itself can fail us when we need it the most.
Most of us wonder if we will have courage when we need it…rightly so, no one knows.
Peter will be restored, so in his story of failure…we find great hope.
We too can always be restored, no matter how bad our failure.
But in addition, we don’t hope in our courage alone…we hope in God, that we will have courage.
One of my favorite verses of hope in the face of the uncertainties of the future is:
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Phil. 1:20
I hope in Christ, that I will have the courage I need to honor him.
Next Jesus is taken from the Jewish HQ to the local HQ of the mighty Roman Empire.
28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise, they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
The Jewish leaders take Jesus to the local HQ of Pilate, he was the Roman governor of the region.
They won’t go in because it’s Passover and they don’t want to become ceremonially defiled in this Gentle living space.
The irony is terrible in its nature.
They are not afraid to manipulate the laws to get rid of Jesus, who we know is the true Passover lamb…but they are afraid of breaking a ritual Passover law.
This is how messed up human thinking becomes when reality shrinks down to us, our lives, our self-protection, our perspective.
They are in their little bubble of power in the first century…and we don’t have to doubt they were sincere in believing Jesus was a heretic…but they revealed that they were willing to circumvent the law, murder a man for their own ends.
It was all so very important; they were so very important…everything depended on them and their choices.
Sounds like the election…if Trump is not elected the end has come, if Trump is elected the end has come.
When our world shrinks down to either the size of a basketball court or even to the size of an election…we are not going to see our lives or the world itself as they are.
Again, sports are fine…but it is tragic when humans emotionally live and die by the fate of a sports team, when they order their lives around grownups playing a game.
Again, politics are important…because they impact human lives…but it is tragic when humans pin their hopes on elections and not on God.
At any rate the Jews won’t come in, so Pilate has to go out to them.
This sets up the back and forth that will follow.
Pilate goes in, talks to Jesus, later goes out to address the Jews.
Historians have painted a picture of Pilate as a weak man who was blown by political winds.
He hid his weakness behind shows of brutality…he would kill groups of people to assert his power.
Pilate knew what these religious leaders wanted…it takes one to know one, the saying goes.
He was a schemer, and he knew what it looked like when others schemed to use power to their own ends.
They wanted him to order the death of Jesus but didn’t have real charges…Pilate pushed them on this.
29 So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.” 31 Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.” “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared. 32 They said this so that Jesus’s words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.
Verse 32 is key to understanding what is going on here.
All this foolish human scheming and power trips, important people…yet in the end, how it all worked out was according to God’s plans.
If the Jews took him and killed him it would have been by stoning not crucifixion.
Jesus had already said, in John 3, 8, and 12, how he would die…he would be lifted up and draw all men to himself.
This was all a fulfillment of God’s plan through the ages.
So, Pilate goes back into his HQ and has Jesus brought inside.
He is used to being in charge and he is used to people coming into his presence afraid of his power.
He has no idea what is about to happen.
The conversation that follows is amazing.
33 Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”
Jesus is not being evasive; he wants to know how to answer the question.
If Pilate is sincerely asking from his own heart then Jesus could help him understand who he is.
If he is simply repeating what he had heard, then Pilate was so far off track his response would require a different kind of answer.
Notice that Jesus is a bound prisoner in the face of the most powerful person in the country and he has taken over the questioning.
In the other gospels we read that Pilate is amazed by Jesus.
His wife has a troubling dream and wants Pilate to have nothing to do with Jesus.
Pilate knows, like all men like him know…his power is mostly illusion…he is a deeply insecure man.
With Jesus standing there, calm before him…Pilate knew he was in the presence of real power and authority.
35 “I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 “My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
If Jesus was an insurrectionist…like Barabbas he would be released in place of him..he would have ordered his followers to fight not to stand down.
Which is what he did.
He is a king, but not a king of petty human kingdoms.
When he said is that his Kingdom is not of this world.
This doesn’t mean that his kingdom has no effect on the world or that it’s is not involved in it
It’s like he prayed for his followers, that they would in but not of the world.
Listen to how Paul stated this.
For although we live in the flesh (the world), we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ
2 Cor. 10:3-5
Flesh is the description of human power and values in opposition to God…it sometimes translated here, “world”.
We live IN this world, but we do not try to obtain our goals in the way the world does.
This doesn’t mean we don’t vote, run for office, train to play in the NFL, start and run companies…all the things that people do.
It means that we do all this understanding who the real king is and what the real kingdom is about.
So, we do fight, but we fight arguments and proud ideas that are contrary to the true knowledge of God.
We take our own thoughts captive to obey Christ.
We maintain perspective in the face of human power, threats, temptations.
At your middle, or high school, or college campus…you see the true kingdom and you are not to wrongly impressed by the passing and temporary kingdom of the flesh.
What you see in the halls and classrooms…is often illusion.
You must see the King and his Kingdom as you walk those halls…and you can do that.
Years ago, a guy I recognized because I had played against him in HS was standing beside his car in our parking lot.
I had not seen him in many years, but he was easy to spot.
I told him who I was and gave him a ride…as we rode to his mom’s house, he talked non-stop about his HS basketball team that was the top-rated team in the nation in 1977.
They were an impressive team, but this was forty years later….and he was physically broken, and focused entirely on past, HS glory.
Don’t look around your school and think “none of this matters”…that is not the point.
It all matters…every single bit of it.
But it doesn’t matter in the way many of your classmates think it does.
At your workplace, your gym, your family Thanksgiving dinner…you must see what is real and true.
This perspective empowers you to live with courage, confidence, humility, and love.
You see what is real and true…when others look at the same things and see what is only temporary, empty and passing.
When they get offended by silly, stupid stuff…you must not.
What are the weapons of our warfare exactly?
What has Jesus said that they are?
Truth and love.
The Spirit empowers both of these.
Truth specifically, not generically…the truth of the Gospel, the truth of God’s word…not “my truth”…you have no truth, only God does.
Love in action, not merely the pursuit of a feeling…love doesn’t back down from truth in a vain search for unity without truth.
Last week a friend told me that the children she treats for cancer sometimes hate her…though she loves them.
This is the kind of love we are to have…love driven by truth.
37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 “What is truth?” said Pilate.
“Yes, I’m a king” Jesus said. “and I have been born to bring the truth of who God is to the world.”
“Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to my voice.”
It’s clear to Pilate, that Jesus is no threat to Rome, and this is all a set up.
In Jesus’ words, was an invitation to Pilate himself.
There is an invitation to believe and follow Jesus.
Pilate shuts down the conversation with the cynical, “What is truth?”
There are different opinions, but history is unclear about what happened to Pilate, except that he would be fired from his position in a few years.
What else is clear is that he is now long dead.
Such is always the way of human power and human life.
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him. 39 You have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” 40 They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. (A terrorist, insurrectionist)
Barabbas actually was, what they accused Jesus of…an insurrectionist)
Matthew tells us that Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood.”
In those words, and actions…Pilate reveals how a man can play games with his own heart and mind.
He knows they cannot exact capital punishment without his authority.
By saying “This is on you, not me” is a terrible cop out and outright lie.
CONCLUSION:
What would it mean if you were to be properly “impressed” with the Lord Jesus?
What it would mean to relate to the world around you, to people around you based on Jesus alone as the truly impressive one?
What “impressive” mean?
The etymology of the word is from the Latin to “imprint or stamp”
So, someone we find impressive makes an impression, impact us because we find what they do valuable, meaningful, outstanding, unusual.
There is a spectrum…I can be impressed by Jordans ability (which is now long gone by the way) to play a game.
But I am not impressed by him as a person in many of his life choices and the way his character has been shaped.
He played a game well and was well paid for it…that’s it.
Jesus is God…in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Through him all things were made.
There is a scale of being impressed by humans…this human versus that one, this quality versus that fault.
There is a scale that compares humans and God…here’s Jordan, there’s Jesus.
There is no comparison.
Humans occupy on average about two square feet of space in the cosmos, for normally less than a hundred years.
That’s not much, that’s not long.
Humans can be killed by a microscopic germ or just by time…we wear out.
Jesus is the eternal God made flesh…who dwelt among us and who died to save us.
He rose from the dead and thereby we have this hope as an anchor for our souls.
So, what would look like in practice to be impressed with Jesus?
Well, we don’t have to guess, he told us himself…we have been reading it all year.
If we were impressed by him:
- We would obey him, take him at his word.
-We would do what he says to do.
-Believe and be saved
-Submit and follow
- We would love others, like he has loved us.
-We would do what he did in regard to others.
-We would put them first.
I can tell you how to know if you are properly “impressed” with the Lord Jesus or not.
Do you seek to do Jesus has told you to do?
-Do you repent when you fail to do so?
Do you love as Jesus has told you to love?
-Do you repent when you live putting self-first?
I will say it again, don’t try to not be impressed by humans and human abilities.
This is probably more about pride and insecurity on our own part…often it is because we wish we were more impressive.
Don’t make this a negative goal…trying not to do or be something.
We are to seek to be impressed by the Lord Jesus through obedience to his word and love for others.
Love for others, will always keep people in their proper perspective before God.
People who are idolized by those around them are not being loved by those people.
I once had a high-ranking AF officer tell me, after he had retired, how lonely he had been.
He had relational problems; he had personal questions…he was an impressive individual in so many ways and this fact keep others around him from helping him.
Not just their fault, he owned some of it…but his being impressive had kept others at a distance.
He was in fact just a man, like all men are.
Let me finish with verse 36, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
Again, this doesn’t mean his Kingdom doesn’t impact, interface with, change the world.
It means it doesn’t originate from here…the “world” Jesus spoke of was human hubris, values, power, and authority.
It is the world of 94-foot-long gym with a metal hoop that grown mean are tossing a ball into.
That part is fine but it does wrong when that game has become something of great importance, something to idolize, worship, and allow to dominate your thinking.
It is a world where an election so dominates the heart and mind that it brings utter despair or utter joy.
His kingdom is not of that world.
Let’s let John have the final word today, this time from his letter.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:16-17