This morning we continue a sub-section of John concerning the trials of Jesus. There were six of Jesus' trials, three Jewish and three Roman! Both Jewish and Roman legal philosophy were renowned. In fact, Roman jurisprudence has become foundational to Western civilization and its jurisprudence. However, when these two systems came together in the case of Jesus Christ, the result was one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in the history of mankind! Kangaroo court continues this week as we consider Jesus’ second and third Jewish trials and also Peter’s second and third denials!

This morning, Alex Musser fills in and speaks on a story in Acts 17, the Unknown God.

This morning we start a sub-section of John concerning Jesus’ legal trials. There were six of them, three Jewish and three Roman! Both Jewish and Roman legal philosophy were renowned. In fact, Roman jurisprudence has become foundational to Western civilization and its jurisprudence. However, when these two systems came together in the case of Jesus Christ, the result was one of the most infamous miscarriage of justice in the history of mankind! Kangaroo court is now in session!

We are jumping ahead now to chapter 18 and chapters 18-21 form the portion of John known as THE PASSION OF CHRIST. This section includes Jesus' trials and death (chapters 18 & 19), and His resurrection and appearances (chapters 20 & 21).This morning we are going to consider the details of the betrayal by Judas that Jesus has been predicting for some time. Remember, it was in the Upper Room, during the Passover Meal, that Jesus first mentioned that His betrayer would be one of the twelve.

Jesus has just finished His object lesson of foot washing with an exhortation to put these truths of servant-leadership into practice. Immediately following His exhortation, Jesus then calls out the “elephant in the room” (verses 18-19) – someone in the room would betray Him and He was telling them ahead of time to give them one more reason to believe that Jesus is who He says is. He is the Great I AM! (verse 19) In our passage this morning, Jesus is not only going to further identify who the betrayer is, but we are going to see Jesus mention a second betrayal.

Last week, we saw Jesus begin His private ministry to His disciples in the upper room with a foot washing object lesson. Because of Peter’s responses, Jesus was able to teach them two main lessons: (1) Biblical leadership requires service, and (2) Effective service requires fellowship with the Lord. At some point, for each of us, biblical teaching is designed to be implemented, not just observed.

Last week, we saw the conclusion in John’s gospel of Jesus’ public ministry, and he now turns to Jesus’ private ministry to His disciples in the upper room at the last supper. John is the only gospel writer who records the details we have in chapters 13-17. This morning, we are going to see what a Servant-Leader looks like, and what someone looks like when their default motivation is "love for others."

What we have from Jesus this morning is His final public teaching in the Book of John. To begin, we see Pharisees who believed Jesus message but did not confess Him. Then Jesus concludes in one final teaching which is really a restatement and summary of all that He has said up to this point. Verses 44-50 are a quick synopsis of Jesus' teaching in John. This is His final shot, His parting words to persuade the public one last time.

Jesus had just said something shocking to His audience. He said that He would be lifted up in death, and earlier He had said that His hour had come and that the “Son of Man” would be glorified. And, now the crowd is confused! How can the Son of Man be glorified and live forever if the Son of Man is going to be lifted up in death?! This lack of nuanced understanding of the Old Testament prophecies causes the crowd to reject Jesus, in spite of all the clear proof that He was indeed the Messiah.

All of the talk about death before life, NOT loving one's life, and being a servant put Jesus into a troubled state of mind. It stirred up deep emotional turmoil, and this moment in time provides a great example from Jesus and also leads to another incredible message. Jesus is the perfect balance of being in fellowship with the Father, but also being real about His feelings and His emotions. Our emotions may want deliverance from difficulties, but Jesus shows that deference to God's will and plan are to be preferred to deliverance.