CHRIST’S KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD
John 18:33-37 - November 20, 2005 - Last Sunday of End Time / Christ the King
Dear Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
Think a moment – consider your life – what is your greatest challenge? The greatest challenge, whether it is day to day or the future, might be different for each of us. One thing we might not think about is our greatest challenge today that faces the church and believers. The greatest challenge today for we as believers is to live as believers in a world that challenges Christianity. The greatest challenge today is not to live like the rest of this world, but to live with conviction concerning our Christian faith. This is our greatest challenge!
It was a challenge when Jesus was on the earth. It was a challenge for believers from the very beginning of Scriptures all the way through to present day times. We think of Paul and the early church. Paul first challenged those who were Christians. Then Paul himself was challenged as a Christian, to live as a believer. Christian living is a hard challenge for us today because of the fact that we live in a world that appeals to our senses. We put our confidence and trust in those things that we can see, feel and touch. These are tangible things. When Jesus taught about his kingdom, he taught it is something we cannot see with a naked eye. That is our challenge.
Today, we are going to learn more about that challenge. Paul puts the challenge this way: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Now that is quite a challenge, isn’t it? Paul says we look at those things we can’t see. That is the challenge of our Christian life, to fix our eyes on the invisible kingdom of God. On this last Sunday of the church year, we are reminded that Jesus is our King. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus said, what is invisible, "My kingdom is not of this world." We are going to consider that thought—that:
CHRIST’S KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.
We are going to learn again that
I. The kingdom of Jesus is a spiritual kingdom.
II. The kingdom of Jesus comes in all truth.
I. JESUS’ KINGDOM IS SPIRITUAL
These words carry on from Matthew (27:27-31 from today’s Gospel Lesson), even though they are in the Gospel of John. It is the same account that continues in both Gospels. Jesus is in his very last day before he is going to be put on the cross. Jesus is standing before Pilate who wants to know, "Why are you here? What have you done?" The people had handed Jesus over to the Roman government, because the church, because the people of the church, could not put anyone to death. They could bring all kinds of charges, but they could not kill Jesus. Jesus’ punishment was something the Roman government had to determine. They are waiting for Pilate to do just that.
Our text begins "Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, ’Are you the king of the Jews?’" First, Pilate wanted to know how powerful Jesus was. Was Jesus really a king? Is Jesus the one that controlled this angry mob? Or was he just another Jew? Jesus answers Pilate with a question: "’Is that your own idea,’ Jesus asked, ’or did others talk to you about me?’" Jesus wanted Pilate to think about what he was doing. Was he considering this justice, which was really injustice, because of his own authority and power; or was it because a crowd coerced him? The mob mentality was influencing Pilate. Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?" Of course, Jesus knew that Pilate was not a Jew.
Pilate reminds Jesus that he was not making the charges. It was Jesus’ own people. Pilate said to Jesus: "It was your own people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" Pilate didn’t know what Jesus had done. Pilate asked the crowd and the chief priests, "Why are you handing Jesus over to me?" The crowd said, "If he were not criminal, we would not hand him over to you." Pilate asked, "What are the charges?" The crowd answered, "Jesus is guilty because he is a criminal." They had no charges, so Pilate was in the dark. What had Jesus done?
Now Jesus begins to tell Pilate something that he would not understand. Pilate would not comprehend the truth about God’s kingdom. "Jesus said, ’My kingdom is not of this world.’" Pilate was ruling over an earthly kingdom. Pilate was temporarily in charge of the Promised Land. "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.’" Jesus’ kingdom was from somewhere else. If it were so earthly and so important, Jesus servants would fight for him to be saved.
God’s kingdom was from above and still is. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, "Thy kingdom come." We pray for God’s kingdom to return, God’s kingdom of power on the Last Day when Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead, when he will separate the sheep from the goats. We pray that in the Lord’s Prayer. We also pray for God’s kingdom of grace to come. This is praying that the word of God would be spread. God’s kingdom is not something we are going to find in one place or another. His kingdom isn’t going to be located at just one throne or one church building or in the heart of one person. Instead, God’s kingdom is in the hearts of every believer. God’s kingdom is located throughout the world, among every Christian who confesses Christ as Savior and King. Jesus says in Luke: "Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ’The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation" (Luke 17:20). Jesus went on to say that God’s kingdom is in the hearts of believers. We can’t see into the hearts of believers. We can’t see into the hearts of anyone, but God can. He knows how his kingdom is connected in this world from one believer to the next, throughout the world.
Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. That is something the disciples struggled with. It is something that people struggle with today. We see many well-intentioned people who still think that Jesus / God want to control earthly kingdoms for the benefit of believers. This is not necessarily true. God controls the events of mankind. He controls the events of history, but more for his purpose, not our own selfish purposes. God’s kingdom then is concerned with our hearts. We live in a world where people don’t care much about God’s kingdom. People are not challenged to live as if they were servants or believers in God’s kingdom. In Ephesians: "For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:5). If we had just those few words to describe our society, sadly we would have to say that this describes our nation, doesn’t it? Immoral, impure and greedy! This makes us see that many are not fit for the kingdom of God.
Our challenge today is the same for us, not pointing our finger at anyone else. The same challenge is to look beyond those things which would lead us astray and get our hearts right. Rather than being greedy for ourselves or for the things of this world, we fix our eyes on what cannot be seen--God’s kingdom. Rather than being distracted in this life by impurity and immorality that surrounds us, we are to fix our eyes on that which we cannot see--Christ’s kingdom. Christ’s kingdom is spiritual. How are we going to do that? Some have cut themselves off from society to avoid the wickedness of this world. That works. But it does not work to carry out God’s commission to preach his word to the ends of the earth. So, we are challenged with our new man that God has created in us by faith. We are challenged then to faithfully hear God’s word. We are challenged then to realize our faith is important--the faith that God has planted there by his holy word. We are challenged even when the world might attack. The world says, "If you have your health you have everything. If you have possessions you have everything. If you take care of yourself first and walk over everybody else, who cares?" That is the world speaking, but our faith says "No. Love God above all things." Our faith says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." So we struggle at living in this world. We are challenged to fix our eyes on that which we cannot see. We do it this way: "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:10,11). God says to stand firm in your faith and remain faithful.
Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. It is a spiritual kingdom. This is a kingdom which comes in all truth.
II. JESUS’ KINGDOM COMES IN TRUTH
We remember Pilate, as he is standing there alone with Jesus, the Savior of mankind. Pilate wanted to know if Jesus was a king who would threaten his authority. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." Pilate does not know what to make of this. Pilate says, "You are a king, then!" Now, Pilate would have something. Pilate now had a charge in order to condemn Jesus to death. Since Jesus claimed to be a king he was challenging the kingdom of Rome and challenging the authority of Pilate. There was only one authority and ruler--Caesar. There was no room for any other king. But Jesus tried to tell Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." Pilate would never understand that. The disciples struggled and would struggle with that until the day of Pentecost--the spiritual kingdom. The people also had a hard time understanding that. In fact it was the people in their unbelief who brought Jesus before Pilate. They told Pilate, "Take care of Jesus. Condemn him to death."
Jesus goes on to explain: "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.’" We know how Pilate reacted to that. "’What is truth?’ Pilate asked." The truth was that Jesus was born. The truth was that Jesus was willing, even though he was a king, to be sacrificed on the cross. We heard this truth in the Gospel Lesson (Matthew 27:27-31). The soldiers mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they led Him away to be crucified. That is the truth. That is the truth Pilate could not understand and he would never believe, although he was a very integral part in carrying out the truth of God’s salvation.
Our text ends with these words: Jesus said, "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Those who were on the side of truth during this time were very few, weren’t there? Pilate was not on the side of truth. Nor were the church leaders, the scribes and Pharisees. The mob that shouted out, "Crucify him" were not on the side of truth. Judas gave up the truth. This ended up with eleven disciples and some women who knew the truth. This small group did not just look at Jesus as a carpenter’s son; but they him as the Son of David, the Savior of mankind.
That is the same truth that is vital to us today. In our society, to admit that Jesus is the Son of God is a leap of faith. There are not very many who do not want to do that. They look at Jesus as the carpenter’s son. They look at Jesus as a good teacher and maybe as one who had some good influence. But you and I look at Jesus as the very Son of God, the Savior of mankind, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, because that is the truth. That is the truth in and of God’s kingdom. Paul describes it this way: "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst" (1 Timothy 1:15). By grace we know the truth. By this truth we also know that we are the worst of sinners.
Yet, we have the best of kings, don’t we? We have the Savior. Jesus says, "That is why I was born. That is why I came to live, to save sinners from eternal condemnation." Our world is topsy-turvy. Things are not really like they seem to be, are they? There are all kinds of role models in this life. The media holds up for us as examples those who are rich and powerful. Immorality is flaunted. Impurity and greed are boasted about. People and we are then attracted to those things. We can see those things. Our challenge again is to look beyond the things of this life. We are challenged to look to that which is unseen, which is eternal. We realize things are not always as they seem to be. By faith, by grace we are saved. James writes: "Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" (James 2:15). We could have a whole other sermon on how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. The Lord says the examples that we need to look to are the examples of humble, believing and praying Christians. They are not necessarily well to do, they are not necessarily famous in this world, and they are not necessarily very flashy or talented.
But we study God’s word. Because of this study of God’s word we have a love for God and our fellow man which is something to see. Christian love is one of those things which is eternal. The Lord gives us the opportunity and the challenge. He says, "Look for those things that are unseen." How are we going to do that? Jeremiah says: "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty" (Jeremiah 15:16). The Lord calls us his children. We are called Christians after the name of Jesus Christ himself. We are to find joy then in God’s Words and eat them with joy and delight. This is also a very great challenge too, isn’t it? Our sinful nature says, "I don’t have time to read my Bible." The devil says, "You do not need to study God’s Word. You don’t need to come to Bible study." That is the reality of the world in which we live. We are too busy, and God’s word can seem not too important. We have other things to do. The challenge is to put our sinful flesh behind us. The challenge is to look to Christ who is the King and to understand the truth of his kingdom is that we are members of God’s kingdom.
We belong to God’s kingdom of grace here on earth because by grace we know the truth. Someday, each of us will go on to the kingdom of glory in heaven forever. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. It is a spiritual kingdom, but it is a kingdom of truth. Earthly kingdoms come and go. Presidents come and go. World leaders rise and fall. God’s kingdom endures. The truth of God’s kingdom [which we read in the second lesson (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)] says the last enemy to be destroyed is death. God does that for us. At the end of that chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 are the familiar words which say: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:56,57). Our King goes off into battle and defeats death. Our King goes off into battle and defeats the devil. Our King goes off into battle and slays sin, so that you and I are graciously made members of his kingdom. Jesus is our ruling and returning King that we cannot see with the naked eye, but we do see with eyes of faith. Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. May we always keep our eyes fixed on what is unseen, the eternal. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
Sunday radio broadcast @ 9:05am on KQNK 106.7FM or 1530AM + www.kqnk.com
Last Sun. End Time/Christ the King (A): EZEK. 34:11-16,23,24; 1 COR. 15:20-28; MATT. 27:27-31
