John 18:33-36, Not of This World

33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 

Like a game of chess, the Jewish leaders, Pilate, and Jesus are careful about revealing their plans. The Jewish request for the death sentence required Pilate to interrogate Jesus himself. His question to Jesus gives us evidence of what the Jewish leadership must have been talking to Pilate about. Their concern with Jesus was blasphemy, but Pilate would have cared less about that, so they took Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey as his claim to kingship, threatening the governing authorities, both Roman and Jewish. Of course, Jesus did not claim to be king. It was his followers who treated him as such. What the Jewish authorities wanted was for Pilate to see him as an insurrectionist. Pilate already knew one insurrectionist well: Barabbas. When Pilate asks Jesus, “Are YOU [my stress] the King of the Jews?” he is most likely surprised, because Jesus is nothing like Barabbas.

Jesus’ response reveals the source of the accusation being other than from Pilate, and he also shows he is not the least intimidated by the governor. In fact, he seems to want to engage him in personal conversation, showing grace and concern for a man who has brutally repressed the people of God. Pilate’s contemptuous question—“Am I a Jew?”—reveals that he has no real concern for Jesus. He simply wants to know the facts about what Jesus has really done. Surprisingly, Jesus concedes he does indeed have a kingdom but not one that Pilate would understand. If he headed a political and militaristic kingdom like the Romans did, Pilate would surely see it revealed in rebellious actions. Instead, Jesus says, “my kingdom is not from the world.”

John Milne writes, “Jesus’ disassociating the origin of his kingdom from ‘this world’ should not be taken as implying that the kingdom of Christ has no political concerns, or that its righteousness is not to be applied in the political arena. Even a cursory reading of the Sermon on the Mount would eliminate that error. Jesus’ point here is that his authority is not derived from, nor dependent upon political agency.” Jesus has nothing to do with the earthly plays on power, position, and privilege that Pilate and the Jewish leaders are concerned about. His purposes are pure and concern something far more important and longer lasting than theirs.

Lord Jesus, thank you that you stood up to the leaders around you, even giving them the opportunity to repent and turn toward you. Help us to do the same in our day when political structures and actions conflict with your will. Amen.