JESUS’ KINGDOM
John 18:28-40
1) Jesus’ kingdom is one of integrity (28-32). Vs. 28-‘by now it was early morning’. Think of the fact that this had been going on all night. Some of you may have pulled ‘all-nighters’ before. At this point Jesus has already been up for 24 hours and the worst is yet to come. Think about how you might be feeling at this point. The Jews had been conducting this illegal trial all night. They made sure they conducted this trial during a time when most would be home and in bed, none the wiser about what was going on lest someone detect and object to their evil schemes. “The Jews wanted to avoid ceremonial uncleanness”. Ironic-they are conducting an illegal trial yet here they are concerned about being ceremonially unclean. Matt. 23:23-28. The religious leaders represented God. Therefore, in essence they represented the royalty of God’s kingdom. They were poor representatives of that kingdom. They lacked integrity. What about us? Do we compromise in big areas but staunchly hold to “lesser” areas? Are we more concerned about looking clean than actually being clean? Scandalous events involving royalty bring shame to the kingdom. Kingdoms suffer when its subjects are a poor representation of the king. Vs. 30-“If he were not a criminal”. They evaded the question because they knew they wouldn’t have an adequate charge that would be sufficient for Pilate to sentence him. Do we evasive when someone asks us certain things? Do we change the subject? Do we justify, rationalize or minimize? “What charges are you bringing?” The fact is they had nothing. Matt. 26:59 says their plan was to present false evidence so they could put him to death. They had what was in their mind the charge of blasphemy but they knew that wouldn’t matter to Pilate. They were under Roman rule so the ability to enact the death penalty was out of their control. They had to make false accusations of Jesus being a threat to Caesar in order for Pilate to take them seriously and grant them their wish of putting Jesus to death. This shows their lack of integrity. Making false accusations and having bitterness and hatred toward one another are not welcome in the kingdom of Christ. Making false accusations against the king won’t work in the kingdom either. Like the Jews did with Jesus, people today “bring false charges” against God. ‘Why did God allow this to happen to me? When is God going to bless me?” Thus they bring a charge that God is unfair. “Why does God allow all this evil in the world? If God is so ‘loving then why does he send good’ people to hell?” Thus they charge God with being a hypocrite and being cruel. Just like the Jews, we have no basis for bringing charges against God. He is not guilty of any wrongdoing. We just need to realize we have a lack of understanding. We need to say as Pilate did in vs. 38, “I find no basis for a charge against him”. King Jesus’ life was marked by morality and integrity. Those in his kingdom are to be characterized by the same. Jesus’ kingdom is one of integrity.
2) Jesus’ kingdom is a Spiritual one (33-36). “Are you king of the Jews” Luke 23:2 talks about the Jews planting the seed that Jesus was a threat to the establishment. So Pilate is concerned that Jesus may be setting up his own kingdom and starts questioning Jesus. Jesus makes it clear to Pilate that his kingdom is a heavenly one. John 6 says that after the people saw Jesus’ miraculous signs they realized that he was the one they had been waiting for. In vs. 15 it states that they intended to come and force Jesus to become king. The people thought Jesus would be the political Messiah who would bring them out from underneath Roman rule and reestablish the kingdom like it was in the days of David and Solomon. Even Jesus’ own disciples wanted Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom. They didn’t get it. If Jesus wanted to establish an earthly kingdom he could’ve done so by now. If Jesus’ plan was an earthly kingdom he wouldn’t have told Peter to put away his sword. An earthly kingdom conquers by force but a spiritual kingdom conquers by influence and persuasion. The Crusaders took up arms during the Middle Ages to advance the kingdom of God. They didn’t get it. Luke 17:20-21. The kingdom was not something that was going to be seen externally. It was spiritual; it was internal. This by no means it is any less literal. “It is within you”; in the person of the Holy Spirit. This can also be taken as “it is among you” meaning that Jesus was among them and therefore the kingdom of God is found in Jesus. With a spiritual kingdom comes a spiritual war. With a spiritual war comes a spiritual enemy Ephesians 6:12 “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” And we fight this spiritual war with spiritual weapons. 2nd Corinthians 10:3-5. We fight against Satan who sets himself up against Jesus. We are setting out to demolish spiritual strongholds that hold people captive. We fight spiritual battles by putting on the spiritual armor (Eph. 6:10-18). Those of us who are fighting for Jesus’ kingdom are not focused on winning territories; we’re focused on winning souls. How do we advance the kingdom of Jesus? By going to the entire world and preaching the good news. How do we conquer the war on terror? Not by the sword of steel but by the sword of the Spirit. Being a part of Jesus’ kingdom is not something futuristic; it’s already established. Jesus said in Matt. 28:18 “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me”. “Has been given”. It’s already established. Don’t worry; Jesus is in control. “In the mid-17th century, Oliver Cromwell sent his secretary to the continent on some important, state business. One night during his travels he found he was unable to sleep. According to an old custom a servant slept in his room and that evening the servant was sleeping soundly. In the middle of the night the secretary woke the man up to tell the servant that he could not rest because “I am so afraid something will go wrong with the diplomatic mission,” “Master,” said the valet, “may I ask a question or two?” “Of course.” “Did God rule the world before we were born?” “Most assuredly He did.” “And will He rule it after we are dead?” “Certainly He will.” “Then, master, why not let Him rule the present, too?” The servant’s reply stirred the secretary’s faith. He found a deep sense of peace, and in a few minutes both he and the servant were sound asleep.” Jesus’ kingdom is better because it’s more powerful and it’s better because his kingdom will never fade away. Dan. 7:14, “He [Jesus] was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Empires come to an end. Dynasties last for a time and are no more. The kingdom of Christ will last forever.
3) Jesus’ kingdom is one of truth (37-38). Chances are Pilate was being facetious here. Had he been a serious inquirer he wouldn’t have turned and left so quickly. There were various ideas floating around the Roman world as to what the truth was. Had Pilate been wise he would’ve waited for an answer from Jesus. Deep down everybody wants to know the truth. But many aren’t serious enough to be willing to seek it where it is found. Jesus told Pilate that truth was found in him but Pilate dismissed it. Sometimes when people are told the truth is found in Jesus they scoff and turn away. Winston Churchill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.” 2nd Tim. 3:7, “Always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” If we are going to be won over by the truth, it has to be something that goes beneath the surface and changes our hearts, not just our minds. The noted Chinese Christian, Watchmen Nee, had this to say about knowing truth: “The normal Christian life must begin with a very definite ‘knowing,’ which is not just knowing something about the truth nor understanding some important doctrine. It’s not an intellectual knowledge at all, but an opening of the eyes of the heart to see what we have in Christ. So our first step is to seek from God knowledge that comes by revelation - a revelation, that is to say, not of ourselves but of the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the Cross.” Some would argue there is no such thing as an absolute moral truth. The only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain. Truth is relative; truth is in the eye of the beholder. J. P. Moreland, in his book Apologetic Reasoning and the Christian Mind, tells of an experience that illustrates the importance of truth: “One afternoon I was sharing the gospel in a student’s dorm room at the University of Vermont. The student began to espouse ethical relativism: ‘Whatever is true for you is true for you and whatever is true for me is true for me, but no one should force his or her views on other people since everything is relative.’” Moreland says, “I knew that if I allowed him to get away with ethical relativism, there could be for him no such thing as real, objective sin measured against the objective moral command of God, and thus no need of a Savior. I thanked the student for his time and began to leave his room. On the way out, I picked up his small stereo and started out the door with it. ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ he shouted. ‘I am leaving your room with your stereo.’ ‘You can’t do that,’ he gushed.” But Moreland said, “I happen to think it is permissible to steal stereos if it will help a person’s religious devotions, and I myself could use a stereo to listen to Christian music in my morning devotions. Now I would never try to force you to accept my moral beliefs in this regard because, as you said, everything is relative and we shouldn’t force our ideas on others. But surely you aren’t going to force on me your belief that it is wrong to steal your stereo, are you?” Moreland looked at him and continued: “You know what I think? I think that you espouse relativism in areas of your life where it’s convenient , say in sexual morality, or in areas about which you do not care, but when it comes to someone stealing your stereo or criticizing your own moral hobbyhorses, I suspect that you become a moral absolutist pretty quickly, don’t you?” The story has a happy ending, for Moreland says, “Believe it or not, the student honestly saw the inconsistency of his behavior and, a few weeks later, I was able to lead him to Jesus Christ.” 1st John 4:4-6, 5:20. There’s the ideology of the world, what the world accepts as truth and then there’s the real, moral, absolute truth that is found in Christ. Jesus said in John 8:32 that if we held to his teachings we would know the truth and that truth would set us free. When we acknowledge with head and heart that Jesus’ teachings are the absolute truth then we won’t be fooled into believing other teachings that seem plausible. And if we hold firm to and walk according to his truth then we will be set free. We are not only to accept the truth but we must then walk in it; we must live the truth. H.A. Ironside said, “God forbid that we should traffic in unlived truth.” Jesus is the truth and his kingdom is one of truth.
4) Jesus’ kingdom is one of freedom (39-40). Barabbas was a bad dude. Mark 15:7 says that he was a rebel who committed murder in a riot. Matt. 27:16 calls him a ‘notorious prisoner’ which means this wasn’t his first trip to prison. He was a repeat offender. Acts 3:13-14, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.” It was sad that the Jews would rather free the evil one instead of the holy one. What about us? How often do we release the evil and restrain the holy? Barabbas= ‘son of the father’; Jesus= ‘Son of the Father’. Some Greek manuscripts list Barabbas’ first name as Jesus, which would not have been unrealistic since Jesus, the Greek form of Joshua, was a common name. Ironic. The bible doesn’t speak about what happened after Barabbas’ release. One thing we do know-he was given undeserved freedom. He was given another chance. However, Barabbas’ freedom came at a price but not one he was required to pay. In order for him to have this chance, in order for him to be set free and have a new lease on life Jesus had to die. This was the mission of the cross. If you are part of the kingdom then you have been set free. We have been set free from the power and penalty of sin. We have been given a new lease on life; we have been given another chance. Col. 1:13-14, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We have been set free and have received the privilege of being part of the kingdom of Christ. Now we have a responsibility to act like the royalty we are. To bring glory to the king by living lives of service and integrity. To have godly confidence in the power of the king as we fight the good fight of faith. Doing the work of the king in spreading the gospel that we might bring more into this glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is what it’s all about.
