“My Kingdom is Not of This World.”
John 18:28-40
October 11, 2009
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me: Like most families, we swap babysitting chores with other members of the family once in a while.
So that means we have nieces and nephews over and we really enjoy that, most of the time.
One of the things that we tell our kids when they’re staying somewhere is that they are to follow the rules of that house.
If they don’t allow you to do something that we allow you to do, you aren’t allowed to do it, and we’ll support their decision.
The only exception to this was if that house allowed them to do something we didn’t allow. Then they still weren’t allowed to do it there.
Anyway, the idea is that when you are there, you are subject to their rules, and if you’re here, you’re subject to ours.
“I don’t care if your mom lets you string spaghetti through your nose, it’s gross and you’re not doing it here!” (I won’t tell you which of my in-laws lets them do that.)
Each “kingdom” has its own sets of rules and such.
We don’t go to a neighbor’s house and tell them how to run their household and raise their kids.
We also don’t allow them to do that for us.
We are in our kingdom, and that’s the way it is.
We: All of us have little personal kingdoms, whether it’s your home, your office, or area of responsibility somewhere.
And if anyone messes with that kingdom, Lord help them, right? Right.
God/You:
Well, in our passage of Scripture today, Jesus discusses His kingdom, and He’s discussing it with someone who just doesn’t seem to care, because he’s got his own little “kingdom” to take care of, and that’s making sure that these unruly Jews don’t get out of hand and get him in trouble with Caesar.
And there are some things we can learn about Jesus’ kingdom that we need to get a grip on and put into our lives if we want to be effective subjects of His kingdom, which is what you are if you claim to be a Christian.
Last week we looked at the exchange that Pilate had with the religious leaders. This week we look at the conversation between Pilate and Jesus.
Like last week, we pick it up as the Jewish leaders are bringing Jesus to Pilate.
It’s interesting here that they won’t go into Pilate’s palace because they didn’t want to defile themselves by going into a Gentile’s home or business room.
If they had, they would have been unclean for seven days, and they would have missed the various meals and such related to the Passover celebration.
Apparently it was okay to condemn and innocent man and still eat the Passover…
John 18:28-40 (pp. 767) –
28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; 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."
Don’t you just love how they skirt the issue?
Kids do this all the time.
“Mom, Julia’s being naughty!”
“What’s she doing?”
“She’s being naughty!”
“How is she being naughty?”
“She’s just being naughty!”
Pilate’s not biting.
31 Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law."
"But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
Crucifixion was the death for non-Roman citizens. Roman citizens were beheaded.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
That could also be translated, “So you are the King of the Jews, are you!”
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. 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 a rebellion.
Five facts about Jesus’ kingdom:
* Jesus’ kingdom does not allow for empty accusations.
Remember the Sanhedrin at the beginning of this passage?
“Jesus is being naughty. Do something about it!”
All too often that same kind of attitude rears its ugly head in the Church around the world.
Accusations start to fly about so-and-so doing this-or-that thing.
> Action point: Make sure your concern over someone is biblical.
Folks, if you’re going to accuse someone of something, at least make sure it’s something real and you can back it up with Scripture instead of just accusing someone of being “naughty” just because you don’t like something that has no basis in Scripture.
Christians are good at saying, “He’s being naughty!” But they can’t point to anything other than their own preferences.
I know of someone right now who is accusing their pastor of things – but they can’t point to one thing from Scripture that the pastor is doing wrong.
And no, it’s not me. I’ve had my share of that, but this time it’s not me!
By the way, do you know what the name “Satan” means? Accuser.
Now do you really think that’s what Jesus wants to have happening in His kingdom on earth or in heaven? I doubt it.
We don’t need accusers. Make sure your concern is actually a biblical one, and then Scripture has a process for you to bring that up. Look it up in Matthew 18.
Here’s the second fact we can learn about Jesus’ kingdom:
* Jesus’ kingdom is for those who are willing to actually seek Him out and learn from Him.
I love what Jesus says in verse 34 after Pilate asks Him if He’s the King of the Jews:
34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"
Pilate didn’t know Jesus from Adam. But his response indicates that he didn’t really care, either.
Folks, I’ve said it over and over again, and I’ll say it until I die: don’t get your information about Jesus from second and third hand sources.
“But Oprah says…”
Get it first hand from the people that were there and actually heard, saw, and experienced Christ personally.
Get in the Scriptures. Get in the gospels. Check out their historicity and find out WHY they can be trusted to accurately describe Jesus.
Don’t take my word for it. How many times have I said that during these past years, even when it isn’t about finding Jesus?
God says that those who seek Him will find Him if they seek with all their hearts.
The kingdom isn’t for those who just think that Jesus is a nice guy or one of many ways to heaven.
It’s for those who earnestly seek to follow Him.
> Action point: Make sure your faith is based on the reality of Scripture, not on the opinions and wishful thinking of others.
Lots of people have an idea of what Jesus should be like, according to their own preferences.
Usually it’s a nice, non-judgmental guy who just lets everybody live their life and wants everybody to be happy.
Unfortunately, Scripture talks about not just the loving Savior who came to seek and save what was lost, but also about the one who actually strengthened the moral code of the Bible, and who says He will judge according to that when He returns.
And that those who are found outside of Him will be condemned to hell.
His words, folks, not mine.
Wishful thinking about Jesus doesn’t cut it. We need to listen to what He actually did and said.
Fact number three:
* Jesus’ kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.
In this conversation with Pilate, Jesus was saying that His kingdom had a different origin and a different character than any Pilate had known.
He came into this world from another realm altogether. It wasn’t an earthly kingdom.
This means His kingdom isn’t built on earthly principles nor built by earthly means.
Politics, war, manipulation, etc, do nothing to advance the Kingdom of Jesus.
That’s not to say we have to stay away from those things. It means that we understand that the tools of men aren’t necessarily the tools of God when it comes to building His kingdom.
> Action point: Make sure you don’t confuse the kingdom of Jesus with the kingdom of men.
Here’s the fourth fact that Jesus gives us about His kingdom:
* Jesus’ Kingdom is the kingdom of truth.
Look back at what Jesus says in verse 37:
…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."
And then what does Pilate say?
“What is truth?”
It’s the question people have asked for thousands of years and will keep asking until Jesus returns.
We don’t know the tone of voice Pilate used when he asked this question.
It might have been cynical, it might have been scornful, impatient, despairing, or any number of ways.
It might have also been a sincere question, showing his own desperate desire to find real truth and meaning, like so many of those around us – like so many of us, maybe.
Next week we’re going to look at that question – what is truth?
Truth is knowable and it impacts our lives and eternal destinies whether we believe in truth or not.
So we’re going to explore that more next week.
Jesus said that everyone on the side of truth listens to Him.
That’s a pretty bold statement, isn’t it?
He’s basically saying that whoever did not listen to Him would not be characterized by truth.
Can you handle that?
I think that He’s also telling Pilate that if he really wanted to know what truth was, he would give Jesus his earnest attention.
> Action point: Make sure you use Jesus’ definition of truth to determine the truthfulness of something rather than man’s definition of truth.
And here’s the fifth truth regarding Jesus’ kingdom that I want to point out from this passage today:
* Jesus’ Kingdom is more concerned with winning people than winning the argument.
Now here’s something about Jesus that I really hope you latch onto:
Jesus was more interested in appealing to Pilate than in defending Himself.
His conversation has nothing to do with trying to get out of what He knew was coming, does it?
This kind of conversation appears throughout the gospel of John, including those conversations with Nicodemus and the woman at the well.
In each of these conversations Jesus’ focus was on reaching the heart of the person He was talking to. He wasn’t just making Himself look good.
He’s talking to Pilate, not to get out of the situation He’s in, but in the hope that Pilate will recognize of truth. (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)
I’ve mentioned before that I used to be great at pressuring people to give their lives to Jesus.
And I used to really try to make sure I could prove that Jesus was true and that the Scriptures were trustworthy and true.
I think everyone needs to know not just what you believe, but also for knowing why you believe it. That’s important.
But the reason isn’t so you can beat the other guy up with your debate skills and knowledge of archeology and stuff.
The idea here is that stuff is back-up for those who need more than just a person telling them to believe in Jesus.
Folks, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the one who does the convincing. Our job is to tell the truth, asking the Spirit to work on that person’s heart and mind in order to believe.
> Action point: Make sure to concentrate on the other person’s heart rather than your “skill” when discussing Christ.
We: Folks, if you claim to be a Christian, you claim to be part of Jesus’ kingdom.
And as a citizen of that kingdom, you represent Him to the world.
Do you accurately reflect and represent Him based on the stuff we looked at today?
If not, then I’m guessing the Spirit is telling you so, and I hope you’re listening. And I hope that with His help you’ll do something about it.
Because whether you believe it or not, or want to or not, you represent Him.
While Secretary of State during the Regan presidency, George Shultz kept a large globe in his office. When newly appointed ambassadors had an interview with him and when ambassadors returning from their posts for their first visit with him were leaving his office, Shultz would test them.
He would say, "You have to go over the globe and prove to me that you can identify your country." They would go over, spin the globe, and put their finger on the country to which sent--unerringly.
When Shultz’s old friend and former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield was appointed ambassador to Japan, even he was put to the test. This time, however, Ambassador Mansfield spun the globe and put his hand on the United States. He said: "That’s my country."
On June 27, 1993, Shultz related this to Brian Lamb on C-Span’s "Booknotes." "I’ve told that story, subsequently, to all the ambassadors going out. ‘Never forget you’re over there in that country, but your country is the United States. You’re there to represent us. Take care of our interests and never forget it…’
We must never forget where our home and our allegiance is – Heaven. (Sermoncentral.com. From Derrick Strickland’s sermon “A Non-Negotiable Faith”)
Folks, you live here on earth. But your citizenship is in a different kingdom. The kingdom of God. You’re here to represent that Kingdom.
I pray you do it well, so others can see Him for who He really is and want Him for their own.
Let’s pray.
