My Kingdom is not of This World
John 18:36-38
We come to this Maundy Thursday in a very troubled world. There are wars in Ukraine, Yemen, South Sudan, and other places. We have suffered lockdowns and other restrictions from a “pandemic.” The global financial situation is perilous, and inflation is rampant. Because this is the world we live in today, we tend to think this is the worst it has ever been. But the world has always been troubled. we live under the distortion of the global media in which we know about conflicts and troubles all around the world rather than just local troubles. We become addicted to listening to the news about these matters and the pundit’s analysis of what is happening. And we are troubled over censorship and are not sure whether the news we hear is the “truth” or propaganda.
We can see these obvious things which disturb the peace, our own peace of mind and the peace of the world. It leads to helplessness and despair? What can we do?
So lets us come back to what Maundy Thursday, forgetting the problems we face in this world for a little while. It is on Maundy Thursday, we remember events which happened nearly 2,000 years ago in far-away Palestine. Why should we take our eyes off our problems to remember something that happened so long ago? This is because these events have forever changed world history. These events did not change God’s history, as he foreknew and ordained these events. But it has forever changed history from the perspective of the world. On Maundy Thursday, we remember the beginning of the final hours of Jesus on earth. We remember the Last Supper,footwashing, the Farewell discourses, the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, the denials of Peter, and the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin and Pilate. On Good Friday, we remember the crucifixion of Jesus, His death and Burial. On Holy Saturday (Sabbath) we remember that Jesus rested from his work of the New Creation even as God rested from His labor of the Creation in Genesis. And of course, we remember on Easter Sunday, that Jesus arose from the dead, on the Day of Firstfruits and showed Himself alive. Surely these events are more significant than the troubles of the world today. However there current problems work out, the remembrance and significance of these events will fade from human history, and new crises will take their place. But the events of these few days in Palestine so long ago have eternal consequence. Let us, therefore, put things into their proper perspective.
As we have seen, there are a lot of events packed into the day we call Maundy Thursday. We cannot cover all of these tonight. So I want to center in to one small passage from John 18:36-38 tonight. turn your Bibles to this passage, and let us read the passage together.
We might want to know that all of these events from the Lord’s Supper on actually happened on the day we call “Good Friday” as the Hebrew day started at sunset. So the Friday was one of the longest days in history. Jesus had instituted the Last Supper as the new Passover. He told the disciples that they would abandon Him and that Peter would deny Him. He settled an argument among the disciples on which was the greatest both in words recorded in Luke as well as in the washing of the disciple’s feet. He gave one final sermon to His disciples. He then walked with them into the Garden of Gethsemane. There He prayed in agony that He might not have to drink the cup of wrath of the Father. the first of much blood Jesus would shed that day was mingled with the sweat. It was there Jesus was arrested and tired at night by the Jews, first before Annas and then before the Sanhedrin. He was condemned, beaten, and bound. Then he was sent to Pilate for trial. So even at the point of the passage we read which occured in the middle of the first examination under Pilate, it had already been very long day. He had had no sleep, and must have been exhausted, humanly speaking. But the day would be even longer and more painful that day until three o’clock in the afternoon when He yielded His Spirit into the care of the Father, at the time of the evening sacrifice. One can only imagine how awful that day was.
When we look at this passage in John, we realize that Jesus affirms that He is a king even before Pilate asks Him. By saying “My kingdom” he affirms His kingship. We don’t know what Pilate knew about Jesus or what the Jews might have said of Him, but as 2 cohorts of the Roman Legion joined the Temple Guards in arresting Jesus in the garden. So, Pilate must have known something. He only came up to Jerusalem when he had to, such as Passover, which was a celebration of Israeli independence from Egypt. The Jews were expecting a Messianic king and believed that he would overthrow the Romans. Pilate had to be on guard for an insurrection by the Jews against Rome. Barabbas was such a charismatic leader who had come to Jerusalem hoping to be that Messiah. He was now in Pilate’s prison awaiting execution. It is probable that the two thieves crucified with Jesus were his accomplices. One would expect the question would be brought up by Pilate. But Jesus preempts the obvious question: “Are you the King of the Jews.” He is indeed a king, but not of this world.
We need to now look into Jesus’ statement that His kingdom is “not of this world.” By moving the word “not” up in the word order of the Greek sentence, this makes the “not” emphatic. Jesus’ kingdom is certainly NOT of this world. The Greek preposition translated “of” here is the Greek “ek”. This has the idea of source. This means that the source of Jesus’ authority does not come from any earthly source. Jesus refused in John 6:15 to be seized and made the King of the Jews. If He did, then the source of His kingdom would have come from those who had made Him king. If one can make someone “king”, then the same can un-make the king. This idea of king would have brought the swift condemnation by Pilate. In the Roman Empire, there were client-kings of Caesar. The source of their “kingship” would be a another worldly leader. Only Tiberius could make someone king. Pilate was married to the granddaughter of Caesar Augustus. Such a mediocre and violent governor like Pilate would have owed his promotion to procurator through his wife. He was wildly unpopular with the Jews. He needed to be careful as the Jews had complained to Caesar about him before. Rome had little patience with those who could not keep the peace in the cities and the provinces.
Pilate was disarmed as well as alarmed by the statement of Jesus. If His kingdom was not of this world, then where was it from? The Roman’s belief in the gods was mediated through Caesar and the city of Rome. If Jesus’ kingdom was from God, then certainly the gods would have come to Caesar first. As far as the Jewish leaders are concerned, if Jesus was from God, no less God the Son, then would not God have spoken to the leaders of the Jews first? The Romans could respect a mediated king. The Jews would fight for a king that they had approved of. Jesus’ disciples at this point would have fought for this kind of king. so there is more to Jesus’ statement about His Kingdom not being of this world than merely a divine claim to being king. It was plain to Pilate that Jesus’ appearance and demeanor as well as His affirmation that His disciples would not fight be earthly means for and earthly kingdom.
The natural man is earthly in his thoughts. When he hears about kings and kingdoms, he defines these words by the earthly kings and kingdoms he sees. If he hears the statement that God is king, then God must be like earthly kings, only greater. He can abuse power to a greater extend than an earthly ruler. He has a bigger army. He is more arbitrary, etc. This is projecting earthly ideas unto God rather than understanding of kings, kingdoms, and servants from the point of view of God. Our understanding is that of fallen sinners, If we are corrupt, then what we make is also corrupt, including kings, kingdoms, and nations. But God is holy. He is all-knowing, all powerful, and everywhere present.
How did Jesus see His Kingdom? He affirmed His authority like any king. But then we look at how Jesus exercised this authority. In John 13, when the disciples were arguing which of them is the greatest, which showed they were still seeking an earthly kingdom and positions of power and influence in this kingdom, Jesus disrobed and clothed himself as a slave and washed the disciples feet. No earthly king would dare wash his subject’s feet. Rather he would demand that they wash his. Jesus shows Himself as a servant king of servants. And then Jesus would submit to earthly authorities and be crucified. Paul says this was utter scandal to the Jews and the most ridiculously foolish of ideas. So, Jesus’ kingdom was not just from above, it was a completely different conception of kings and kingdoms that the world held.
Jesus defines His kingdom as being a Kingdom of truth. He had already told the disciples that evening: “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). He is the means by which others can enter the Father’s Kingdom. Pilate was not there to hear those words, but Jesus tells Pilate that those who hear the truth will follow Him. Most people see Pilate’s response “What is truth” as being a cynical dismissal that truth can even be found. The philosophers could not agree on a unified body of truth. Pilate, in a sense, lived in a Postmodern world. However, it could also be seen as Pilate making an honest inquiry. The fact that such a bloodthirsty governor like Pilate took some risk by offering to release Jesus tells me that Pilate was moved by Jesus. (For more on this, see my sermon “Jesus Tries to Save Pilate.”) He seems to have felt this way even before his wife sent him warning in a dream she had. As Augustus’ granddaughter as we formerly mentioned, her message would be seen as coming from the gods. Pilate was a man under authority and could recognize authority.
Having briefly summarized the momentous events which happened on the first “Maundy Thursday” so long ago, what does it mean for us today on this Maundy Thursday? We are still plagued with war, pestilence, hatred, and a world that hates God for the most part. Let us now explore some of the ramifications.
First of all, Christians confess that Jesus is king, and that all earthly authorities are but client kings of the sovereign God. These earthly kings, presidents, prime ministers, etc. are in rebellion against the authority of God. these authorities substitute God’s idea of kingdom with their own. They do not acknowledge that God will judge them, and us all, one day. So is is Christ and not Caesar who is Lord. Even though they should be listening to the voice of God, they are following the dictates of Satan, whether willingly or unwittingly. But we must realize that Satan is subordinate to the will of God. Even though evil seems so strong today, one day Satan shall bow down before Jesus and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, wittingly and unwillingly. All that Satan means for evil, God will turn into good and His glory.
Secondly, by confessing Jesus as King, we are acknowledging that we are His servants. This means that faith in Jesus calls us to obedience. We have great security and privilege in Christ as His clients. We remember that our sins have been forgiven, and we are promised to be with Him when the fullness of His Kingdom in glory is revealed. But as servants, we also have the responsibility to receive orders from Jesus. these orders we need to follow in the Spirit as well as in outward observance. We need to do what He commands us, and to do it the way He commands us. We are not to substitute our ideas of how to do the work of this Kingdom. This is important because we are soldiers for Jesus as His subjects. We must fight the war, his way.
Thirdly, God’s Kingdom is not of this world in both source and substance. Paul reminds us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal ones. This is because the war we wage is spiritual. Carnal weapons are ineffective in this warfare. The enemies we fight are not earthly leaders but Satan. We do not rise in rebellion against earthly leaders. Rather like Jesus did, even though He is Lord over all earthly authority, submitted Himself to arrest, trial, and crucifixion by earthly authorities, we must submit in an earthly sense to these authorities as well, even if it means our death in this life. We know that the Day of Resurrection awaits us. This should make us consider how we deal with the injuries and injustices we suffer. Should we petition and demonstrate? Should we try to take political power to solve these injustices? Is this what Jesus did?
When Jesus was born, the armies (Hosts) of God proclaimed “Peace on Earth”, not “War on Earth.” If we are His subjects, we must wage peace and not war. Wars, for the most part, increase suffering. Even though intentions of liberating people by force seems like a noble cause worth fighting for. But all too often, the results are worse than the disease. did we really hep the Iraqis by getting rid of Saddam Hussein? Is Libya better off now that Qaddafi is dead? This should caution us against foreign intervention. In addition to this, we really don’t know what is going on.At least we should recognize that our warfare is spiritual.
We are a Kingdom of Servants. Jesus has set the example of service. We wage a spiritual war not to destroy, but to save. What the world needs to hear is the words of the Gospel. Any remedy the world offers is short-lived and comes with many unintended consequences. Whatever might be temporarily gained will soon evolve into the next war. But those who hear and receive the Gospel have an eternal hope. This is the message the whole world needs to hear.
Finally, we should spend less time listening to the news, and instead use this time to read Scripture, pray, and witness. The news is depressing. Paul tells us in Philippians that we should contemplate good things, honorable things, virtuous things. We need not be captive to the things of the world. Let us consider these things as we come to the table for the Lord’s Supper. In Greek, it is known as the Eucharist, which means “thanksgiving.” This first thanksgiving is set in the context of suffering. What wonderful things were accomplished by Christ’s body being broken and His blood shed. Our peace comes from this act of violence perpetrated upon the Lord Jesus.
