His Example John 18:19-24
I say almost every week, Jesus teaches us through his words and also by the actions of his life. Here in these verses, we can learn from both, Jesus words and Jesus actions.
Verse 19, “Meanwhile the high priest questioned Jesus…” Can you see the irony here, the Jewish high priest is questioning the validity of mankind’s high priest. The Jewish high priest is questioning and doubting the only high priest who can stand before the Almighty Father.
“Meanwhile the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.” I find it interesting that the priest asked about the disciples and Jesus’ teaching. I think his questions were probably along the lines of, “How can these men follow you?” “Do your followers really believe what you say is the truth?” “What do those parables have to do with God?” It doesn’t say the priest asked about Jesus, his mission, his relationship with God, because he already made his mind up about Jesus. I also believe the priest was using his questions to prove his mistaken point of view.
It’s been my experience that if someone is open to the truth about Jesus, they ask about him; “Can you tell me what Jesus meant when he said____, Can you tell me how Jesus changed your life.” Those who I met that already made their decision about Jesus not being who he says he is, tend to ask questions that either try to prove themselves right, or questions designed to prove me wrong. “You honestly believe Jesus rose from the dead, you really believe in heaven and hell, you seriously think God created man, how can you ignore evolution?”
I believe Jesus rose from the dead because there are over five hundred witnesses. I believe in heaven and hell because all actions have consequences, and heaven and hell are the consequences of a life for or against God. I believe in evolution. Did you know coyotes were originally found only west of the Mississippi River, that Lewis and Clark first described them on their Journey of Discovery? It was as men forded the Mississippi that they moved east, and it was due to the colder environment that the coyotes grew bigger and huskier. Now there is the original coyote species and a subspecies of eastern coyote. Evolution is real, and it’s caused by an organism’s adaptation to new or changing environments.
Now, do I believe God created all life? Absolutely. The almost infinite number of chemicals, chemical reactions, interdependent organ systems needed for life are essentially mathematically impossible to develop on their own. I like when people tell me that a chimpanzee and man are more than 98% genetically the same, this proves evolution. I say it proves God. Why would all life develop almost exactly the same, evolution says this doesn’t make sense. What makes sense is God created one life system that works from the artic circle to the desert, from the forest to the savanna, from the top of the mountains to the bottom of the ocean. God created one life system that works from a worm to a bird, from a fish to a man. To me, only an omnipotent God could create such a system.
Verse 20, “I have always spoken openly to the world…I have always taught in the synagogues or at the Temple…” When questioned Jesus says in essence, “Look at my life.”
“Do you believe, are you a Christian?” How should we answer that question? “Yes, I believe.” “OK, prove it.” We should all be able to say, “If you want proof, look at my life.”
Do I say I believe, is my life a demonstration of that belief? Do I say I love my neighbors, does my life demonstrate a love and concern for my fellow man? Do I say I follow the cross, do my actions show the same unselfish love Jesus did when he went to the cross? “Oh, ok, but I remember when you did this or said that” As devoted Christians we must be able to say, “You’re right, I’m not perfect, but if you look at my life you will see a steady trajectory toward Christ and his examples.”
Verse 21 “Why question me?” When questioned, Jesus doesn’t go into a long diatribe of everything he did for the past three years. When questioned, Jesus doesn’t get defensive and try to explain himself and his work. When questioned, Jesus doesn’t stand there and try to prove himself, or try to make himself look high and mighty. Our example seen in Jesus’ reaction is; we don’t have to prove ourselves sincere to others, we need only prove our sincerity to God.
Verse 21 again, “Why question me? Ask those who heard me.” We don’t need to defend our faith to others. But like Jesus said to ask others about him and his truth, the works and attitudes of our lives are what testifies to our truth and our faith.
Verse 22, “When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face.” This slap is a grave mistreatment of Jesus, he did nothing to deserve it. Here in this slap is a shadow of the inhumane treatment at the cross he will endure at the hands of men in just about twenty-four hours.
But also, through this example, we see how men will mistreat us for confessing our faith. We can, and probably will be criticized and ridiculed by others. Jesus, by refusing to back down in the face of disbelief and questioning; Jesus, by his willingness to endure violence for his unwavering commitment to his mission; Jesus, by his readiness to suffer verbal abuse and painful humiliation in his pursuit of aiding others, gives us those examples we can look to when we are faced with offences for our faith.
Jesus gives us an example of Christian behavior, an example of what we should strive for. The words and actions of Jesus in this passage gives us one of the best demonstrations that as his followers, Christian patience involves enduring injury, and enduring it with no thought nor action of revenge. We are to endure physical injury, verbal abuse, ridicule and questions as to our motivations and faith. We are to endure it in order to overcome evil with good.
Jesus tells us this same message in Matthew 5:39, “I tell you, do not resist an evil person.” I admit this can be confusing, at first it seems to say to just allow evil to happen, but this is one of those times the translation gets us mixed up. Jesus is not telling his followers not to resist evil, that would be absurd. The Greek word here is “antistenai;” anti, meaning against, and “histemi” which as a noun means violent rebellion or sharp dissent. So a better translation of Matthew 5:39 would be, “Do not retaliate against violence with violence.” Jesus tells us to distinguish between the behavior, the evil act, and the person committing the act. In this way we are neither passive nor violent. We do not give consent nor cooperation to evil. By doing this we secure our dignity and begin to change the power equation by recognizing the humanity of the evil doer. By doing this we secure our nobleness by not acting in kind to violence. Paul tells us this way; Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”
May Christ’s words uplift our spirits.
May Christ’s example’s lead our lives.
God Bless
Amen