Born To Be King Series

Title: Born to be King

Text: John 18:33-40

Now if you remember from last time, Jesus is on trial before Pontius Pilate. The Chief Priests and Pharisees have had a sham of a trial, and they accused Jesus of blasphemy… They want Him dead, but they don’t want to be the ones to kill Him because they’re afraid of the mobs that might come against them if they did. So, their plan is to get Rome to kill Him, and so, they’ve brought Him before Pilate to get Jesus tried for treason, which is punishable by death.

We’re in John 18 this morning, but before we turn to our text, I also want to read to you from Luke 23:2, so that we can get a more full picture of what is going on here.

Ok… So, the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate, they basically came in and presented Jesus and were like, “This guy needs to be put to death!” But Pilate wasn’t just going to rubber stamp their execution… And so they actually did bring charges against Jesus. They say “He’s ‘misleading the nation.” In other words, He’s saying false things in order to manipulate and spark revolution. “He’s refusing to pay taxes to Caesar”, meaning He’s not paying allegiance to Caesar and Rome. And He’s claiming to be a King – a sovereign outside of the rule and jurisdiction of Rome.

So now let’s go to John 18:33-40 (READ).

Again, I don’t know that I’ll get through all of this today, but Lord willing, there’s always next Sunday.

Verse 33 begins by telling us that Pilate went inside again, He called Jesus forward, and asked Jesus plainly, “Are you the King of the Jews?” This is when the custody of Jesus has been transferred from the temple guards to the Romans. He’s now in the hands of the Empire.

So now they’re inside the Praetorium. Pilate is seated upon the judgment seat. And he asks Him, “Are You the king of the Jews?”

Now understand, he’s asking Jesus this in the political sense. And when we read text… we don’t get the nuances that were used in person. Pilate could have asked this in a very somber tone, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Or he could have asked it jokingly, amused, or in disbelief that the chief priests were even trying to pull something like this off, “Are you the king of Jews? (LOL).”

Which is actually how I think we should read this based on the Greek grammar here. But here’s the thing right… Pilate was told that this man standing before him, was some kind of revolutionary leader. Some kind of rebel who was plotting a revolt against Rome. Now that he sees Him before the judgment seat, Pilate can’t believe that the Jews are trying this. What did this guy do to make them so angry at Him? He sure didn’t dress like a king. The callouses on His hands were more like what you’d find on a carpenter. He was of no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him (that’s Isaiah 53:2 BTW).

So Pilate asks the question and Jesus says, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about Me?”

Now I want you to understand what’s taking place here. Perry Mason and Matlock don’t have anything on Jesus. Jesus has answered Pilate’s question with a question. And it’s a question to get Pilate to either align with the charges that the Jews have brought against Him, or disassociate himself from them. And that’s what Pilate does. He says, “Am I a Jew? Your OWN nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me.”

In other words, Pilate was saying, “Listen, I’m not stupid enough to believe these charges. I’m not the one who brought you here for trial. It was your own people. So you must’ve done something to really rile them up… what have You done?” Do you see that in verse 35? Pilate has abandoned the Jewish charges and is asking Jesus what He’s done to make them so angry at Him.

Now Jesus answers. And He stays on that train of thought about being a king… Because… technically, He is a king – The King of kings! And Lord of lords! But he explains it to Pontius Pilate.

He says, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

Now church – that’s been the whole problem all along hasn’t it. That’s why so many walked away from Jesus during His earthly ministry. That’s why Judas ultimately decided to betray Him. And I think we could even argue that’s why Peter denied Him three times. Because they wanted a king whose kingdom was of this world. It’s also why the Jews missed Him as the Messiah…