What if it’s True? – May 17
“Riffraff, street rat”
I don’t buy that
If only they’d look closer
Would they see a poor boy? No, siree
They’d find out
There’s so much more to me
That, of course, is a song from Aladdin , probably my favorite Disney movie. It came out when I was 9, Robin Williams was in his prime. It’s perfect.
Ok, but why, you might ask, am I singing Disney songs this morning? Well, because as I was working on this sermon I found myself thinking a lot about rags to riches stories, of which Aladdin is a great example.
We love rags to riches stories, don’t we?
And every generation has them. Little Orphan Annie, Hamilton… Or, the movie my wife insists is the greatest cinematic achievement of our time, Barbie: Princess and the Pauper.
The basic plot is always the same. Someone emerges from poverty or obscurity or hardship to go on to greatness.
Something about that storyline resonates with us at a deep level. But why?
Well, I think it’s because when we look around at the world we live in, we know at a gut level that things are not the way they are meant to be.
We’ve all been hurt by people who haven’t made an effort to make things right. We’ve all been taken advantage of in one way or another.
Everywhere we look we see the rich exploiting the poor. We see the powerful abusing the powerless. We see orphans and widows and injustice everywhere we look - people being treated like garbage - and something just feels wrong about that. “Riffraff, street rat? I don’t buy that.”
Deep in our guts we all know that we were meant for more. And so we tell stories about things being made right. About the poor becoming rich. About the weak becoming strong. About justice. Rags to riches.
Ah, but then the movie ends. We walk blinking back into the parking lot and we remember in the cold light of day that nothing has really changed.
Today we’re going to talk about this fundamental yearning for justice. Why do we all feel it? What can be done about it? And where might this deep longing be pointing us?
SERIES RECAP
Welcome back to “What if it’s true?”, a sermon series where we are exploring seven core longings that all humans share, such as the yearning for love, the desire for beauty, the ache in our hearts for truth…
Things that are true across every culture, and yet are so often left unfulfilled.
Our hope is to invite you into a conversation. I want to hear: Why do you think things are this way?
And I hope you’re open to hearing from us as well. We could be wrong, but why, as followers of Jesus we believe that these core yearnings are met in him.
As we explore, I invite you to consider this: what if that’s true? Perhaps somewhere in all of this is the answer to what your heart has been yearning for.
Our text for this series is the gospel of John. A book in our Bibles all about the life and ministry of Jesus that makes some pretty provocative claims about the state of our world.
So let’s dive in and see what John has to say about our deep longing for justice. Please turn with me to John 18:19. While you’re turning there, I’ll pray for us.
AN UNJUST WORLD
Before we read, just a bit of context. From the very beginning of John’s gospel we see just how broken things are in our world.
For example, in John’s intro, he describes God himself stepping into our story to make things right. He does this in the person of Jesus Christ. God is here! This should be great news, but instead, according to John,
John 1:10-11
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.
That rejection comes to a head in John 18, as Jesus is put on trial by, of all people, the religious leaders of Israel - God’s chosen people. Jesus is arrested and dragged into the high priest’s house. Let’s read.
John 18:19-24
Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people gather. I have not spoken in secret. Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.” Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.
Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?” Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.
Right out of the gate you can tell this is a sham trial. A kangaroo court. They’re acting like Jesus is some secretive revolutionary, operating from the shadows.
His response is, “Uh, I’ve been teaching openly this whole time. What are you talking about?” So they slap him in the face.
This is injustice in a nutshell, right? Those in power bending the truth to get their way. Using violence against those who can’t or won’t fight back so that they can maintain their power.
It’s a tale as old as time. It’s how every rags to riches story begins. We know in our guts that this isn’t the way things should be, and yet this is so often the way the world operates. Let’s keep reading.
Skip down to verse 28, where Jesus is brought before the true power brokers of their day: the Romans.
John 18:28-31
Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them.
“Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied.
I find two things fascinating about this. First, look at their non-answer in verse 30. Pilate asks, “What are you charging this man with?” And they say, “Well, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!”
Ok… They aren’t interested in justice here. They’re trying to hold onto their power and Jesus is a threat to that. Again, we know in our guts what justice looks like, and this ‘aint it.
So why bring Jesus to the Romans? Well, look at verse 31. Pilate is basically saying, “What is this? Go deal with this yourselves.” And they say, “Yeah, but only the Romans are permitted to execute someone.”
Ah. Now we see the truth. They haven’t just pre-determined that Jesus is guilty. They’ve also already decided his sentence: death! How typical. Death is the ultimate tool of those in power.
Now they just need to figure out how to make it happen legally. You see, Judea was now a Roman province, which meant that capital punishment - the death penalty - could only be carried out by the Romans.
Now, if the world was just, this would be the point where Pilate would shut things down. “I’m not going to execute an innocent man.” But let’s see what happens instead.
John 18:33-40
Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate said, “So you are a king?”
Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?” But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)
We know how the rest of the story goes. Barabbas, an actual murderer and insurrectionist against Rome goes free, while Jesus, who was guilty of no crime - Jewish or Roman - is tortured and executed on a cross.
This is injustice in its purest form. And everybody knows it.
“What is truth?” Pilate asks. Because he doesn’t care about what is right. Just like the high priest Caiaphas, he only cares about power…
So that’s the story. Whether you believe that Jesus was the incarnation of God or just some figure from history, his unjust execution touches something deep within us that I think we all share. An acknowledgment that this is not the way our world was meant to be.
TRUE JUSTICE
Now of course I believe that Jesus is our Creator God walking among us. And as such, I think this story of Jesus’ unjust execution is operating at a much deeper level than it might appear at first glance.
As I always say, I could be wrong, but I believe that what happened on that Roman cross was actually the beginning of our hearts’ yearning for justice being met.
Let me explain. Earlier in the gospel, John describes Jesus like this:
John 1:18
No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
In other words, the Son of God - Jesus Christ - by becoming human, revealed something fundamental about the heart or the character of God.
And what did he reveal? Well, among other things, he revealed that God cares a LOT about justice. God cares deeply for those crushed under the unjust systems of our world. The poor, the marginalized, the weak, the forgotten…
I mean, it’s already all over the Hebrew Bible so it should be obvious, but just read the gospel of John and you see this compassion embodied.
• Jesus heals a man with a disability who has been begging on the streets for 38 years.
• He miraculously feeds a crowd of hungry peasants.
• He offers dignity to a Samaritan woman who had been outcast by her community.
• And he saves the life of a disgraced woman caught in adultery who is about to be executed on the street. He looks her straight in the eyes and offers her life.
And that’s just John. Read the other three gospels and it is a veritable tidal wave of compassion and love for those forgotten by the world. Jesus embodies true justice.
His life reveals a God who sees the forgotten of our world and says, “Riffraff, street rat? I don’t buy that. I know who you really are and you were made for more.”
Jesus embodies justice. But of course, a handful of compassionate acts and few changed lives is just a drop in the bucket. Which is why Jesus didn’t just embody justice; he also accepted the full weight of injustice.
As the incarnation of God, Jesus wasn’t just setting an example. He was also changing the game.
NEW CREATION
Here’s what I mean. As followers of Jesus we believe that his crucifixion was not the end of the story. We believe that three days after his death Christ rose from the grave.
Here’s why that matters for our topic today: Remember how I said that death is the ultimate tool of those in power? Death is the supreme instrument in the hands of the corrupt to stay on top in an unjust world.
Well, as we saw just a moment ago, Jesus willingly allowed those on top - the corrupt religious elite of Israel, the power-hungry Romans - he allowed them to use their ultimate instrument on him.
He accepted death on purpose… And then he rose again.
In other words, he proved through his resurrection that the unjust powers of this world are ultimately powerless. He humiliated them by showing just how toothless Caiaphas and Pilate - and all that they represent - really are.
“You can kill me. Sure. But remember: death is the tool of your kingdom. Life is the tool of mine.”
By rising again Jesus changed the nature of reality. He inaugurated a new world of justice and hope, a New Creation where every single child of God can become exactly who they were created to be.
Jesus’ life demonstrated justice. His resurrection ensured it.
The risen Christ is the king of a kingdom where the last and the lost and the least are the ones with greatest honor, and all who put their trust in him will also rise again. That’s where our true identity lies - not in the rags of injustice but in the riches of a world made new.
Now, it’s true that New Creation is not complete yet. We still await the day when Christ’s kingdom will fully come on earth as it is in heaven.
But how profound is it to think that in a rags to riches world like ours, In His love for us our God willingly went from riches to rags.
As the Apostle Paul once wrote,
Philippians 2:6-8
Though he was God, [Christ] did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
God was not content to let the world wallow in injustice. So he stepped into our story. He showed us his character by offering compassion to the forgotten and healing to the sick.
And then he let this broken world break him so that a new world could be born.
I could be wrong, but I think our shared yearning for justice points directly to him. Jesus embodies true justice. His resurrection began to make our broken world right again.
I’M SENDING YOU
And this is where we come in. Because what are we supposed to be doing in the meantime? As we wait in a still broken world for New Creation to finally come?
Well, I’ll tell you. After his resurrection, John tells us that the risen Christ appears to his disciples and gives them an amazing new mission. Here’s what Jesus says to them:
John 20:21
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
Think about that. “In the same manner that I was sent into the world - in humility, in compassion, in self-giving love - I am sending you.
Jesus embodies true justice and we are his hands and feet. Jesus gave his own life away to lift others up. That’s our responsibility too.
My friends, there is an invitation here that can meet us in one of our heart’s deepest yearnings. To not just dream about our own rags to riches stories, but to start dreaming those stories for others as well.
Imagine if that’s how we all saw the downtrodden of our world. “Riffraff? Street rat? I don’t buy that. The God of justice has come. It’s time for you to taste New Creation.”
We all long for a world made right. Now that Christ lives within us, we get to help him build it.