When I read this message, it’s perhaps another one that seems to be “most needed for today.” Because it affects the whole world in a way we need to hear.
Jesus has just finished praying. Judas has betrayed him. And now they have come to arrest him.
The first thing they do is drag him off to the high priest, Annas. Jesus is questioned about what he taught. He said he taught openly, why not ask those who heard him?
They slapped him in the face for saying this.
Then they took him to Caiphas, the active high priest for that year.
In the meantime, Peter and another disciple, likely John, are in the courtyard. It’s freezing cold. It’s the middle of the night. And they are warming themselves at the fire.
Several times now the people ask Peter if he was one of the disciples of Jesus. It was a scary moment. So Peter denies he knew Jesus. Several times.
After the Jews took Jesus to Caiaphas, the high priest, Caiaphas then decides he must be executed. So they drag him to Pilate as Pilate is the Roman authority who are their occupiers. Only the Romans have the power to pronounce the death penalty.
Then Jesus comes before Pilate. This is where we see Jesus say something that should shake the earth. Let’s look at it.
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 Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Jesus is the King. His kingdom is not of this world.
There it is. Right there, plain and simple. Let’s say it again.
Jesus is the King. His kingdom is not of this world.
If his kingdom were of this world, Jesus said his disciples would have taken up arms and fought Jesus out of arrest. In other words, if people believe that if the kingdom was of this world, then the disciples would have acted differently.
The Romans were the occupiers. They were oppressive. Injustice abounded. Yet Jesus did not come to make a political statement. Nor did he fight and protest and try to overthrow the corrupt kingdom.
What he did was set in motion that was much more profound. He addressed the kingdom of the heart.
What does that have to do for today? I’ll tell you in one word. And you will have a reaction, good or bad.
Trump.
I’ve been a lot of places in the last year. And everywhere I go, even among Christians, it is almost the only people want to talk about. Whether they love him or despise him, exalt him as a hero or say he is responsible for all the world’s problem, he is the central focus of conversation.
What I don’t hear?
Jesus is the King. His kingdom is not of this world.
During Jesus’ time, things were bad. During the apostles’ time, things were bad. During the first several centuries, things were bad.
But you know what? We don’t see the centrality of a political figure making people so passionate about a politician.
Shouldn’t Christians be participants in politics? Yes. But not in the way that is happening currently.
Politics are dividing churches and famlies and more.
Before we go too much farther, a lot of the issues aren’t just “political.” Marriage is not political. Gender identity is not political. The life of babies is not political. They are moral and theological issues worth engaging. But also,
Jesus is the King. His kingdom is not of this world.
People are more zealous about their love or hate for Trump than they are about Jesus. People are more engaged in pushing political narratives than they are the kingdom of God.
Jesus is the King. His kingdom is not of this world.
If a person believes that their King is the one of this world, and that the kingdom of this world is of highest importance, they will separate from others who disagree. They will consider taking up arms to fight for the right or the left if it comes to that.
But Trump is God’s chosen man!
But Trump is a Nazi destroying the world!
Jesus is the King. His kingdom is not of this world.
What is the central talk of our conversation? What do our verbal energies lie? Which kingdom are we fighting for?
It’s not what you say you believe that will speak the loudest. It’s what you do, what you talk about, who your friends are and who they are not.
Jesus is the King. His kingdom is not of this world.
John 18
When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”[a]
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.
Peter’s First Denial
15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”
18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.
The High Priest Questions Jesus
19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Peter’s Second and Third Denials
25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.
Jesus Before Pilate
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
33 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. “Your own people and chief priests 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 Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.