by Pastor Marvin R. Knight
John 19:4—“...Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt [fault] in Him.”
Introduction:
One of the great preachers of the First Baptist Church of Dallas was a man by the name of Dr. George Truett. Dr. Truett was one of the most gifted and godly preachers this nation has ever seen. During the last years of his ministry, he was given the opportunity to go on a series of preaching tours all around the world. While in India, he was allowed to speak to a room packed with students at a University there. Before his message, one of the young students stood and said, “It is our custom to ask questions of the speaker after every lecture. We have heard of the religion of America, and we are curious to know how the religion of a Christian nation like the United States allows such drunkenness, sex, and dishonesty among its followers.”
Dr. Truett offered no defense for America, but he instead read the statement by the procurator Pontius Pilate about Jesus — “...Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt [fault] in Him.”
When Pilate looked upon Jesus that day, after questioning Him in the praetorium, his final assessment of our Lord Jesus was that he could find no fault in Him; and ever since that day, millions have examined Him and have come to the same conclusion. But this can be a very sad judgment, because if paired with finding no fault in Jesus is a lack of attraction for Him, you have missed Him altogether .
The reason for this message is not to challenge you to examine Jesus to see if you can uncover any hidden faults. I come to you from the other side of the coin to ask: what do you see when you look at Jesus? What do you see in Him? What do you see with Him?
First, I suggest to you that when you look at Jesus, you will see that He presents an attractiveness for all who have eyes to see.
It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, old or young, black or white, educated or uneducated, wise or unwise. It does not matter whether you are a university professor in Cambridge or the lowest pagan in Africa, a soldier on the battlefield or his anxious mother at home, a mountaineer in his cabin or a cowboy on his horse. Whether you are the magnate of a vast industrial empire or the janitor who sweeps out his office, a child in preschool or a great metaphysical theologian with his degree of education hung on his wall, Christ’s attraction is still the same for those who have eyes to see Him. To all alike, the message of Christ, and the glory of the Son of God, is sweet and attractive.
How is this attractiveness seen, and how is it revealed to a man or woman? It comes by what I am doing with you now -- preaching the good news of the blessed gospel. This is God’s way to make the beauty of Christ known. If a man will deliver that message -- the plain, humble, simple story -- put him anywhere -- in a beautiful cathedral, a town square, or out in a football stadium -- and men will be blessed and their hearts will be warmed like those of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. If Christ is proclaimed in the same way as He is offered to men in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation -- all Scripture testifies of Him -- if men will preach this Jesus, some will listen attentively and intently and see the wonderful attraction of Christ!
Dr. W. A. Criswell once said, “Give me one man, just one, whose faith in Christ controls his mind, and I will right ten thousand wrongs and bless the generations of all mankind!” In other words, one man can make a difference.
There is a wonderful attractiveness and glory in the Lord Jesus Christ! That man who delivers the message may stammer like Moses, his message may be filled with grammatical errors like Moody, he may be small in stature like Wesley, or crippled with disease like Calvin. But if he delivers the message of Christ under the power of the Spirit, this beauty, this glory, this ineffable majesty and attractiveness will be seen as the Spirit owns it and plunges with power the sharp two-edged sword deep into the sinner’s heart!
Some will ask, Why this attractiveness? What makes Jesus different than all others? It is because He is the Christ of God. He is God’s Anointed and Appointed One to be the Savior of His people. He is not only the Christ of God, He is the power of God (1 Cor.1:24). Why this attractiveness? It is because He is Christ, the power of God, and the Word of God to change the human heart.
The effect of Christ upon the heart, and the resulting effect of Christ upon the human family, with its inward motives and its outward expressions, is nothing short of miraculous. The earth has received and known many great and wonderfully gifted men. Statesmen have come and altered the constitution of kingdoms and empires. Military leaders and strategists have come with their armies, up and down, deployed with their legions, and have moved the borders of men. Poets have come and philosophers have taught their works in the words of human wisdom. But after the statesmen have changed the constitutions, and after the military strategists have changed the boundaries of the land, and poets and philosophers have taught their words of highest human wisdom, actually, the human heart and the human life continues on pretty much the same -- unchanged. But this Jesus, whom I first met at the age of 16, whose message I heard preached in the corner bedroom of my home, changed me so that somehow I, along with millions of others, have never been the same again. The message of Christ does something to the human heart. The presence of Christ does something to the human soul.
Even the Apostle Paul found this to be true. Before his conversion, he was an angry Pharisee who breathed out threats against the church; but on his way to Damascus, carrying letters that sanctioned his activities against the people of God, this man met Christ and was never the same again.
This chief persecutor, who once threatened the people of God, was now led into the city, humbled, changed, and found in prayer because he had seen the face of God in Christ Jesus. He was turned. He was changed. He was a new man. He was not the old Saul, but Paul, the Apostle of grace!
The marvelous transforming change that we witness in the life of Paul is the same transforming change that we find in the course of human history with those who meet Christ in the preaching of His gospel.
The preaching of the gospel of Christ so softens the human heart that shortly after our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension, crucifixion was outlawed in all of Rome. The Roman Coliseum fell, slavery was threatened, womanhood was exalted, the home was cherished, and a thousand sweet virtues filled this dark world -- all because of this One called Christ! He is Christ, the power of God to change the human heart. He is Christ, the power of God to convert and to save the human soul. I ask you: what do you find in Jesus when you look at Him? Do you see this attractiveness?
Second, when you look at Jesus, you will not only see an attractiveness, but you will also see an answer to the problems you face with sin and self.
What you don’t find in Him is one who compromises, suggests, compares, or criticizes you. He meets you where you are, and if you come to Him with a repentant heart, at His feet is the place where you can begin again!
If you cannot find any fault in or with Jesus, what can you find in or with Him?
- In Jesus, you can find His purpose for living.
- In Jesus, you can find His pardon for sin.
- In Jesus, you can find His peace for endurance.
- In Jesus, you can find His presence for guidance.
- In Jesus, you can find His power for today.
- With Jesus, you can find a Companion who sticks closer than a brother.
- With Jesus, you can find a Conqueror who slays death and gives life to those who are dead!
- With Jesus, you can find a Prophet to speak God’s Word to you.
- With Jesus, you can find a Priest who takes you faultless into the presence of God.
- With Jesus, you can find a King to rule over you with love and wisdom.
Do you find in Him the God who alone is worthy of worship? Do you find in Him a King whom you gladly serve? Do you find in Him a Resurrected Savior who steps out of the shadows and bids you to come and follow Him, who places His hand on your shoulder and says, “Do not be afraid, I am the resurrection and the Life, he who believes in Me will live even if he dies” (Cf. John 11:25)? Do you find in Him a Deliverer who conquers remaining sin and is mighty to save all who draw near to God through Him (Heb.7:25)? Do you find in Him a Great Physician who rises to stand over your sick soul with the healing remedy in His own hands, who gives relief to the heart that is weighted down with care?
When you look at Jesus, what do you find? What do you see in Him? What do you find in Him?
You can sing about Him and not know Him. You can write about Him and not know Him. You can serve the church and not know Him. You can even preach about Him and not know Him. But you cannot believe in Him and call upon Him and not be saved! “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED’” (Rom.10:13).