1 Timothy 6:13a -- Making the good confession--part 0 (intro)

To catch up on our adventure through 1 Timothy, click here and read from the bottom post up.

1 Timothy 6:13a (NIV) :

"In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession."

In order to understand this verse, we need to look and see how Christ Jesus made a "good confession" while "testifying before Pontius Pilate."

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all give a terse summary of the interaction between Jesus and Pilate. But John gives us the extended version in John 18:33-38 and 19:9-11.

John 18:33-38 (NIV):

"Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?'

"[34] 'Is that your own idea,' Jesus asked, 'or did others talk to you about me?'

"[35] 'Am I a Jew?' Pilate replied. 'It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?'

"[36] Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.'

"[37] 'You are a king, then!' said Pilate.

"Jesus answered, 'You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'

"[38] 'What is truth?' Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find no basis for a charge against him.'"

John 19:9-11 (NIV):

"And he went back inside the palace. 'Where do you come from?' he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. [10] 'Do you refuse to speak to me?' Pilate said. 'Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?'

"[11] Jesus answered, 'You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.'"

I pull at least four themes from here that show how Jesus made the good confession before Pilate, and, therefore, shows us in the 21st century how to make a good confession to a watching world. We'll look at these four themes over the next four 1 Timothy posts.