Class Notes: 5/24/2015

Mark 15:11-15; John 18:33-40; Matt 27:24-15; Jesus before Pilate part 2

In our study of Mark we are in Mark 15:11; where the Jewish political religious mob bosses who should know better incite and deceive the mob into demanding that Pilate release Barabbas instead of Jesus.

Last time we saw that Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent so in order to try to swing the choice Jesus' way he set up the options for the release as Barabbas and Jesus in an attempt to have the mob request Jesus but his plan failed because of the mob bosses implacability and the irrationality of the mob.

John 18:33-40; provides us more insight regarding exactly how Pilate arrived at his conclusion that Jesus was innocent was just being railroaded by the Jewish government.

John 18:33; Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"

v 34 Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?"

v 35 Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You up to me; so what have you done?"

John 18:36; Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world's system If My kingdom were from this world's system, and it is not, then My servants would be fighting in order that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not from the source of this world.

Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not one that governor should be concerned about and in addition Jesus indicates that the Romans were not His enemies, the Jews were.

v 37 Pilate, therefore, said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king and I am. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world in order that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

John 18:38; Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in Him."

Pilate's response "what is truth" addresses the only real issue in life and is given the fact that Jesus who represents and personifies Truth is standing right in front of him. John 14:6; is a very poignant question to ask.

it also reveals the extent to which satan and his self absorbed, evil, do-gooder minions have and continue to propagandize everyone with lies and deceit thereby completely obscuring what is actually truth. 2Cor 11:14-15; 2Tim 3:13; Rev 12:9;

Remember truth exists in three spheres, Divine Establishment for the believer and unbeliever, the Gospel for the unbeliever, and Bible Doctrine for believers only because unbelievers have no capacity to comply with the mandates of Bible Doctrine.

John addresses the issue of truth in his epistle of first John so we will take a very brief detour there to find the answer to Pilate's question and we will see that "God's Word is truth." John 17:17; John 1:1; so whatever is in compliance with the absolute standard defined by God's Word is truth and whatever contradicts that standard is a lie.

The problem we face is that we must know the truth in order to be able to detect the lie.

A passage that describes this contrast between the truth and the lie is 1John 1:6; that starts with the protasis of a third class condition that is introduced by the particle "ean", translated "if."

The particle "if" plus the subjunctive mood of the verb indicates the protasis is in the third class condition, the subjunctive mood implies a condition of uncertainty, therefore, maybe you do say or maybe you don't but if you do, then it applies.

The verb is the aorist active subjunctive of " lego ""to say," "to express," "to contend," or "to assert"

The Gnomic aorist tense is used to describe an event that "has taken place" over a long period of time and presently continues to take place."

The active voice refers to believers who are living in the lies and deceit that comprise the darkness of satan's cosmic systems of arrogance and hatred who produce human good and evil under the delusion and influence of satan's cosmic systems.

The subjunctive mood establishes an element of contingency. 1John 1:6; "If we assert ( maybe we will or maybe we won't)

Next comes the conjunction "hoti" that introduces the content of what is alleged under the influence of deception of cosmic propaganda. It is translated "that.

What is asserted begins with the present active indicative of the verb "echo" translated "we have"

The perfective present tense: denotes the continuation of existing results and stresses the continuation of these results into present time. It is also a "contextual perfective" that is used in the introduction of a principle.

No believer has fellowship with God unless he fulfills the divine mandate to confess his sins to God.

The active voice states that believers who function in satan's cosmic systems of arrogance and hatred produce the action under the delusion that they actually think they have fellowship with God and are actually doing good.

The declarative indicative indicates that these believers are actually deluded and deceived.

The delusion is stated next by the direct object of the verb "koinonia" translated "fellowship" that is the prepositional phrase "meta autos " that is translated "with Him."

1John 1:6; we assert that we have continuous fellowship with God (maybe we do, maybe we don't)

This statement is the first half of a compound sentence and it is connected to the second by the conjunction "kai" and is followed by the present active subjunctive of the verb: "peripateo " that means to walk that refers to the manner in which one conducts oneself in life (according to satan's cosmic lies or in accord with God's Word of Truth)

The progressive present tense is used to describe a scene in progress and normally involves continuous action. It describes a tendency toward functioning in the do gooder evil of satan's lies, that John describes to as "darkness."

The active voce indicates that believers in the cosmic systems of arrogance and hatred produce the action by denying they are in actuality enmeshed in a habitual lifestyle practiced by those who have submitted to the desires of the sin nature and the human good and evil that prolonged carnality produces.

The subjunctive mood is the protasis of a third class condition that presents contingency. The contingency is free will, therefore, believers function in the cosmic systems because of personal decisions to disregard God's Word, ignore rebound and reject doctrine.

Where they consistently walk is mentioned next by the prepositional phrase, "en toi skotos " translated "in the darkness"

1John 1:6; If we assert that we have continuous fellowship with God ( maybe we do, maybe we don't ) and continue to make choices in the sphere of satan's cosmic systems...

This completes the protasis and establishes the condition that is addressed in the apodosis that states the consequence of the choice so it is acceptable to insert the Greek word "oun" translated "therefore."

The apodosis begins with the first person plural, present active subjunctive of the verb: "pseudomai" that means "to lie, to deceive, or to deceive oneself"

The challenge in identifying or recognizing a lie is to have a standard with which to compare it because the truth that actually defines the lie. The lie is everything that does not conform to the truth.

Lying cannot only be viewed as the opposite of truth. A lie is an activity or the result of an activity but truth is ever present and is independent of any activity. The issue in truth is God's immutable order that demands perfect righteous and justice.


One's ability to discern that something is a lie depends upon the availability of an absolute standard to compare it with. That absolute standard is the thinking of God who is the ultimate judge that is communicated in His Word.

When we learn God's Word we acquire the thinking of God and we know the truth so we are not only able to recognize the lie but to also avoid falling for the propaganda of the liars and being deceived.

Pilate's problem was that as an unbelieving politician he only had the relative standards of an unbeliever and his standards were always changing based on the way the political wind was blowing at the time.

In the arrogance of his ignorance, Pilate was actually looking right at absolute Truth when he asked the question. "what is truth" but he didn't have any capacity to recognize truth because he was so deceived by the lie.

This is the same situation that we face in this world today. People who once had the truth and have rejected it have become so deceived by the lie that they can no longer recognize truth when they see it. Rom 1:21-22;

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