Disdain for the Empire
The text for this week is John 18:33-37. This is a short snippet of Jesus interacting with Pontius Pilate. It sees Pilate questioning Jesus as to the claims He is making. Specifically, Pilate wants to know if Jesus considers Himself a king. This is obviously very important to Pilate, as it would be to any Roman potentate. Rome was, by ancient standards, tolerant toward other beliefs, if you paid homage to the emperor. Even at that they allowed the Jews to avoid this blasphemy, if they said prayers on behalf of the emperor. Most importantly though, no one ever could claim to possess any authority greater than that of Rome. This was especially true in Palestine, which had a long history of discontent toward foreign occupation that stretched back at least several hundred years.
Into this milieu Jesus steps in, trying to be patient with Pilate. It is obvious from the text that Jesus lacks respect for this clerk. When Pilate asks if Jesus is a king, Jesus responds by saying “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’” (Verse 34). He is like, I know you’re too ignorant to have figured this out on your own. Pilate then grows irritated and points out that he is not a Jew, so how would he know. Right. As if Pilate was not tuned into Jewish affairs as a part of governing…the Jews. The casual disrespect Jesus shows to this clown is not just amazing, it is truly uplifting.
I’m Not From Around Here
As He is questioned further Jesus tells Pilate that His “kingdom is not from this world”. If it were He points out there would be a fight on Pilate’s hands. This then provokes Pilate to determine that Jesus is in fact claiming kingship. This Jesus confirms. “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (Verse 37). There we have it in a nutshell. Jesus is standing before an earthly representative of the greatest power in this world and claiming that He is in fact a king, a king of another world, sent here to testify to the truth.
The Radicality of the Truth
The thing we should glean from this exchange is twofold. First, Jesus is clearly telling all of us who He is and why He is here. Take it in. God sent His Son to become human and live among us, so that we would know the truth. This truth is that God loves us beyond measure. So much so that He chose to live among us and be one of us. God chose to experience all that we experience, to have a more intimate relationship than anyone could possibly imagine occurring between Creator and created. Our role is to take in this testimony of Jesus to this truth and recognize and worship Him as the only King that matters in this universe.
The second thing we should take in from this is the nature of the earthly sacrifice that Jesus makes. In saying what He said to Pilate Jesus had to know that He was signing His own death warrant. Further, He had to know that it would not be an easy death, as the Romans liked to make examples of threats to their power. Yet, Jesus stands and delivers anyway. This points to the magnitude of what God has done through His Son. It also points us to the ultimate standard of what it means to live a fully human life, a life of pure sacrifice for others driven by pure love.
Our response to all of this is laid out by Jesus in this text as well. Verse 37 states clearly “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”. This just means that we trust in God’s good and gracious word. That is, we believe in Jesus, then obey like Him as best we can.
Praise Be to God
