Welcome to the Defender Bible Study, a weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is ministry of Lifeline Children's Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

It's Monday, 07/28/2025, and I'm coming to you from Birmingham, Alabama. Well, this week, we are continuing our study on the Gospel of John, and specifically are looking at John chapter 19 verses one through 16 as we look at the faultless king and the perfect sacrifice. And so as we look at this passage, we are going to see a faultless king and his perfect sacrifice. But before we look at the passage, we all feel like at different times in life, that the weariness of long and hard days, the effects of a broken and fallen world, and the pain of injustice are just too much to bear. And in John 19, we see Jesus at the very center of this same tension, except at its highest intensity.

This is the weariest of weary long and hard days. This is the ultimate effect of brokenness in the fallen world when we would crucify our Savior, the Son of God. And this is truly the pain of injustice. You see, Jesus is innocent, he's righteous, and yet he's falsely accused, he's mocked, he's beaten, he's ultimately handed over to be crucified. Jesus felt the sting of injustice.

And by reading and studying and ruminating over a passage like John 19, we are reminded that when we are falsely accused, when we are mocked, when we are ultimately treated unjustly, that we have a savior, we have our big brother, we have the savior of the world, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, who went through all of this to its greatest intensity in order that we might have the righteousness of God, in order that we may have his spirit that would enable us to walk through the hardness of life. You see, Jesus, the faultless and perfect King, willingly bore injustice so that we might be redeemed and adopted into his family. In John nineteen:one-sixteen, we witness the final moments of Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate. Though Pilate repeatedly finds no fault in Him, Jesus is still unjustly scorched, mocked by the soldiers, and presented to the people in a crown of thorns and a purple robe. Despite Jesus' clear innocence, the religious leaders in the crowd demand his crucifixion.

Pilate, though conflicted and fearful, ultimately surrenders to political pressure and delivers Jesus over to be crucified. This passage reveals the tension between earthly authority and divine sovereignty. It displays the fullness of Christ's suffering, not only physically, but in rejection and humiliation. And yet every moment unfolds according to God's redemptive plan. Jesus endures injustice in silence.

He asserts His sovereign authority, and He willingly becomes a sacrifice that ultimately secures our redemption and our belonging into God's family. And so it's with that introduction that I invite us to look at John chapter 19, starting in verse one, going through verse 16. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him saying, hail king of the Jews and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, see, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe Pilate and Pilate said, behold the man. And when the chief priest and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, take him yourself and crucify him for I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law, and according to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God.' When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. And beloved, he was not afraid of God.

He was afraid of what the people would do. He didn't trust in God. His Spirit didn't lead him into trusting in Jesus, but led him to bowing to the crowds. So verse nine, he entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer.

So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me. Do you not know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? But Jesus answered, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. From then on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.

Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar. So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the stone pavement in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold your king.

And they cried out away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. What we see in this passage is not defeat, it's redemption.

It's the very foundation of why we do what we do at Lifeline, the gospel of Christ Jesus. But I want us to see four ways that Jesus equips and strengthens us through his suffering for the work of gospel centered ministry and justice. The first, we see that Jesus teaches us to bear injustice. John nineteen:one-two, Pilate took Jesus and flogged him, and then the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. You see Jesus, the sinless savior, endures brutal injustice, even the the height of sarcasm, where they would place a crown of torture and a purple robe on him.

And they didn't do this because there was any fault in Christ. No, they did it in order that he could bear the full weight of our sin. He carried our injustice. He bore our sin. On him is our chastisement.

And this is redemption and acted through enduring suffering, not by trying to escape it. Jesus endured our suffering. He did not try to escape it. Isaiah 50 three:five, But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. John Piper says in his book, The Passion of Jesus Christ, he says, The most horrible display of injustice in the universe, the innocent one treated as a criminal, was also the place where God's love and justice met for our redemption. There Christ became sin, bearing the wrath we deserved so that we could be reconciled to God. As we look to the greatest model in Jesus, we realize that we persevere even amidst injustice. The Holy Spirit will teach us to bear injustice in the world so that we can be the hands and feet of Christ to the vulnerable and take the gospel to the lost.

Women and children many times face unjust treatment, rather through unfair systems, stigma, or abandonment. And in serving them, we step into the space where Christ has already suffered through presence and advocacy so that we can point them to a savior. But the next way that Jesus equips and strengthens us through his suffering for the work of gospel centered mercy and justice is that Jesus shows unwavering trust in the father through his silence. John nineteen:nine-eleven tells us again, he gave Pilate no answer, not even a single charge. Pilate asked, are you this king of the Jews?

And he answered him, you have said so. You see, during the greatest trial, Jesus didn't seek to defend himself. He didn't look to vindication, but instead he trusts in the sovereignty of his father and in the word. We cannot view the silence of Christ as passivity, but instead we must see it as bold confidence and trust in the father's purpose. First Peter two twenty three, when he was reviled, he did not revile in turn.

When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. You see, during his greatest trial, Jesus entrusted himself into the hands of his father. He demonstrates unwavering trust in the father, which enables us to lean on the strong and able hands of our Lord. May we know that when trials come, attacks come, or that we're treated unjustly, that we also can trust in God's sovereignty. You see, beloved, we don't have to try to always win the war with our words.

We don't always have to have the most clever social media posts to defend ourselves. Even when we are are are accused and condemned unjustly, we can sometimes allow the love of Christ and our actions to speak louder than our words, our trust and our faithfulness in one who went before us. C. S. Lewis says in his book, The Problem of Pain, He, Jesus, was not a man crushed by calamity.

He was rejected, betrayed, mocked, and abandoned. Though He had every reason to cry out, He didn't. Not because He was weak, but because he was strong in purpose, confident in the father's plan. You see, when systems or people let us down, we don't have to always defend ourselves or become reactive. When we're advocating for a child and it seems like the system has turned its back.

When we're offering gospel centered care and get misunderstood, we point to Jesus who endured suffering and silence, and we remain committed to the Father's just purpose with steady trust. Jesus also, third, demonstrates that even under the weight of judgment, that God is still sovereign. You see, even under the weight of condemnation and judgment, Jesus knew that God was still sovereign. John 19 verses 11 through 12 says, Pilate entered into his headquarters again and called Jesus and said, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.

You have no authority over me at all unless it has been given you from above. You see, even in trials, Jesus displays kingdom authority, revealing that no human power surpasses the divine authority of the father. We must remember not to fear human power brokers because their power is fleeting, but to fear only one, our eternal king. Acts four verses 27 through 30. It says, for truly in this city, they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan have predestined to take place.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. I love what R. C. Sproul says. He says, God's sovereignty is not a remote doctrine.

No, it's utterly personal. Even over the brutal crucifixion of his own son, God allowed no chaos. Every cruel act was carried out under the watchful eye of the alpha and the Omega who ordained it to redeem his people. You see, beloved, when life seems unpredictable, we can stand firm. Our confidence isn't in systems.

It's in a sovereign king who rules everything, even our messiest and hardest days. We endure in ministry, not because we are promised success, but because our king is good and he will make himself known and he is responsible to transform the lives of those we serve. Every placement, every delay, every difficult meeting is not outside of his sovereignty. And that gives us peace and perseverance to keep going even when outcomes feel uncertain. But that brings us to the fourth way that that Jesus instructs us, and that is that Jesus goes through rejection in order that we can be welcomed and adopted.

John 19, again, Pilate says to them, find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man to you at Passover. And instead of seeing someone else released, Jesus being released, they said, No, crucify Jesus. So they delivered Jesus over to them. Jesus, though declared innocent, is rejected so that we, guilty and undeserving, can be welcomed into God's family through a sacrifice. Paul reminds us in the book of Galatians, Galatians four:four-five, that when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

My friend and pastor David Platt says, at the cross, the rejected son was betrayed, abandoned, and despised. Ultimately, why? To secure adoption for rebels like us. Beloved, we were not saints, we were rebels, and he endured abandonment so that a lost world might find a home in the father's embrace. And this is at the heart of our calling.

We advocate for adoption not as a program, but as a reflection of gospel love, The rejected son of God bringing others into his family. We counsel birth mothers with dignity, knowing Jesus bore their hurt and rejection so that they might be adopted by grace. And at the heart of this passage is a phrase Pilate uttered without knowing its weight in verse five. He says, behold the man. Behold Jesus, bruised, beaten, silent, sovereign, and rejected.

Not because he had to be, but because he chose to be for you, for me, for vulnerable children, for women, and for families. So today, our response is in three points of application. First, beloved, keep advocating for justice. Because Jesus bore injustice to bring redemption, we keep advocating. When you feel weary in the work, remember that Jesus didn't run from injustice.

He bore it for the sake of the world. So keep advocating for justice. But second, keep trusting in God's sovereignty. Because even in chaos, beloved, Christ reigns. When systems seem broken and outcomes unclear, anchor yourself in the truth that Christ rules over every detail.

Keep trusting in God's sovereignty. But then third, keep pointing to the gospel because Jesus was rejected so that others could be welcomed. Whether it's a child longing for a home, a mom unsure of her worth, we get to say with confidence, you are not forgotten. You are pursued by the savior who's rejected in your place. Let us keep pointing to the gospel.

Behold the man, our savior, our model, our king. Now beloved, may we go and serve in his name. Thank you for listening to the Defender Bible Study. Today we are praying for our Families Count ministry, specifically for all of the families and the children and the volunteers and the churches that are participating in Families Count. Let's pray.

Father God, we pray and ask you that you would be with all the families going through the families classes at their churches, at the churches around the country. Would you help them to learn about you and how you created them in your image. Father, may the many negative generation cycles be broken, and would you restore these families. Would you help them to restore their family cycles and for new family cycles to be created, They would honor and praise you that children would be blessed in these homes. Father, we pray for the many church volunteers that step in their families count ministry.

Would you just give them wisdom? Would you give them patience? Would you give them endurance? Would you help use them in mighty ways to grow your kingdom? Help them to answer with love the many difficult questions that may be asked.

Help them to to be filled with grace. And Lord, help them to to be patient and loving and kind as they wrap around these families. And Father, we just ask that you would be with this upcoming church based program continuing education and networking conference that will be hosted in Savannah, Georgia in August. May the conference be filled with your grace and would you be glorified? Would you bring all of these churches together to help them with best practice, to help them know how they could be encouraged and to encourage one another.

And ultimately, you use this conference to further the work of Families Count and all of our church based programs for your hope, for your glory, for your gospel to nations here at home and around the world. It's in your great name that we pray the name of Jesus. Amen.

Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at infolifelinechild dot org.

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Bible Study.