Christ's Kingdom

John 18:33–37 ESV

33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

On this final Sunday of the liturgical year, we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. This is one of the that last liturgical days to be celebrated by the church. It was not until 1925 when Pope Pius XI declared it a liturgical day. In the mid-twentieth century, Protestant churches began to celebrate it. According to Evan Rohrs-Dodge of Firebrand magazine, “Written in the aftermath of World War I, the establishment of this feast day was Pope Pius XI’s response to increasing secularization and global instability; it was to serve as a perpetual reminder of the need for submission to the true King and Lord, Jesus Christ, and our citizenship in his kingdom. This feast day was also to remind the church that peace is ultimately and only found in obedience to Christ within the realm of his reign. From the opening statement of Quas primas: “as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.” On this feast day, the church sounds a resounding “no!” to any individual, state, or nation that would claim ultimate authority and allegiance and raises a loud “yes!” to the reign of Christ the King.”

What is interesting in our culture is that calling this day, Christ the King Sunday, has fallen out of fashion. Instead, most liturgical resources will call today Reign of Christ Sunday because to call Christ king seems to be colonialist. Even the concept of kingdom has been changed in many ways. The language used to describe Christ’s kingdom has been changed to words like “kin-dom” or “kind-dom.” Even the official UM Discipleship resources for today use these phrases. The result is a different Jesus from what we encounter through the scripture and the history of the church. As Rohrs-Dodge puts it, “The pre-existent Word who became flesh, the “image of the invisible God” who himself created “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” is reduced to being just another one of the kin (albeit a special one) in God’s family.”

As we turn our attention to our passage from John 18, we encounter others who are just as confused about the nature of Christ’s kingdom and who he is as King of kings and Lord of lords. Pilate and the Jewish leaders believe Jesus to be a rebel who deserves death because he is trying to plan an insurrection to displace the Romans and the Jews. Their misunderstanding of who Christ is leads to his death, which is part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom over all the earth. So, today, we are going to go through our passage to learn what Christ’s kingdom is and how we are to live in it today and for eternity.

1. Christ’s kingdom challenges the kingdoms of this world. (vs. 33-34)

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

The opening scene of our passage finds Jesus in Pilate’s headquarters in Jerusalem. This was not Pilate’s normal headquarters. That was reserved for the seaside town of Caesarea along the Mediterranean. Pilate and other Roman officials would occasion Jerusalem a few times a year especially during festivals because of the influx of people into the city. This was a way for them to show their power and try to quell any uprising.

When Pilate is called upon by the Jewish leadership to do something with Jesus, it is because they had no authority to kill Jesus. This was only by way of the Roman government. They also did not want to become ritually unclean before the celebration of the Passover. John in particular seems to paint Pilate as a sympathetic character that really only goes with what the Jewish leadership want him to do. This is not the case. Pilate was a ruthless tyrant who was hungry for power and fame. He was called to account on at least two occasions by the Roman imperial authority because of his cruelty and unsavory behavior. So, the words of Pilate in this scene should come across as cynical and cruel rather than reasonable and sincere.

The question that Pilate asks Jesus is one that is comes directly from the Jewish leadership, “Are you the king of the Jews?” It is a question that is loaded with landmines for Jesus. If he answers that he is, it would mean that he is a menace to the Roman Empire and deserves death. If he answers that he is not, it would push the crowd into a frenzy and may result in riots or chaos. Instead, Jesus turns the question back on Pilate, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did other say it to you about me?” In other words, are you just looking for information and confirmation or is this something that you are truly seeking an answer to?

The question from Pilate is the central theme throughout the passion narrative. How is Jesus the King of the Jews? There is this claim over and over again in his triumphal entry all the way to this moment. What Pilate sees and the Jewish leaders is a possible challenge to the authorities of this world. Their focus is on Jesus’ kingdom being one that will be set up in Jerusalem. Pilate is aware of the talk and speculation from the Jewish leaders. If word got out that there was someone in Jerusalem that was trying to challenge the authority of the mighty Roman Empire, that would mean it would behoove Pilate to remedy the problem as soon as possible. The claim of Jesus being the king of the Jews is one that is to depict Jesus as a rebel and counter-king.

In Isaiah 9:6-7, we are given notice by the prophet that one will indeed come to set up his kingdom, “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

When Jesus came into Jerusalem, there were some in the Jewish leadership who believed that Jesus was going to make the claim that this passage was speaking of him. Unfortunately, this scared them rather than bring them to glorifying God. Not only was Jesus a threat to the Roman power. He was also a threat to the power of the religious elites in Jerusalem. The people were following him. He was raising people from the dead. He had healed countless people throughout his ministry. His teachings were wiser and greater than what the scribes and Pharisees offered. All of these things placed Jesus as a supreme threat to them. His kingdom was in contrast to the power structure they had supplied for themselves. It was an everlasting kingdom that would uphold justice and righteousness. This thought scared those in power.

2. Christ’s kingdom is spiritual but affects the physical. (vs. 35-36)

Daniel 7:14 ESV

14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7:27 ESV

27 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’

Pilate is aware that the term “king of the Jews” as little meaning for him as a Roman, but he does know that it has extreme implications for the Jewish leadership. If Jesus is a king, that means that their power means nothing. They are no longer the ones that are able to pull the strings of power and receive the benefits of being in a cozy relationship with the Romans. For Pilate and the Jews, the term is one that means a physical kingdom that would replace Rome and establish a Jewish state. Jesus’ claims would be detrimental to their way of life. They have seen his followers who have been coming into Jerusalem. The leaders have heard Jesus’ teaching in the temple complex and his repudiation of the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees in front of crowds of people who see him as something more than a teacher but the Messiah. Their minds like so many of his followers has this kingdom of God that Jesus has been speaking about being something that was going to reform and remake the power structures around them. It would cause great upheaval for them. Jesus was not the kind of Messiah that they were looking for. They believed the Messiah would come from one of the families of power in Jerusalem not a rural town in Galilee. Even Jesus’ claim of messiahship doesn’t fit the proper narrative, but they see he does have a way with people, and they have witnessed him raising Lazarus from the dead.

Jesus’ response to Pilate tells us the nature of Christ’s kingdom. His kingdom is not of this world. It is a spiritual kingdom not a physical one, at least not yet. That is why the imagery that we find in Daniel 7 so important in our understanding of what Jesus means about his kingdom. In the context of Daniel 7, there is a vision of four different beasts. Each one more disturbing than the next. They describe the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman empires. That final beast that refers to Rome is extremely powerful but will be destroyed as well. Within all of this we have the vision of the throne room of God where the Ancient of Days, the Father, hands over the kingdom to the Son of Man, Jesus. In this kingdom, all peoples, nations, and languages will serve him. His kingdom will have dominion over all things and will never end and not be destroyed. This is extremely important for us to understand particularly in today’s world. We have this understanding that somehow all that is taking place in our world is out of the control of God. We may even think that the world belongs to Satan. This is simply not true. The world does not belong to Satan. It is under the dominion of Christ. Daniel goes a step further after describing in more detail what the fourth beast looks like and its characteristics. He says that this kingdom will be given to the saints of God, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

This is where we understand that Christ’s kingdom is one that is spiritual but will eventually be one that is physical. When Jesus ascends to heaven, he is seated at the right hand of God. Daniel 7:13-14 give us a vision of what it looked like when this happened. With the work of Christ completed on the cross and redemption accessible to all the nations through him, he sat down at the right hand of the Father where he rules and reigns over his kingdom which is all of creation. At some point in the future, Christ will return in his fullness and glory. At that time, all of the world will call him Lord according to Philippians 2:10-11. Until then, Christ is still ruling and reigning over all things. As he reigns over all things, we are called upon to submit to his rule and not our own, which is the purpose of Christ the King Sunday. It is a reminder for us that this world is not ours. Governments and powers are not the ultimate authority. All that we see and do not see is under that Lordship of Christ alone. We are not rulers of this world. Satan is not ruler of this world. Christ is. No other. The kingdom is his. Pilate and the Jewish leaders could not consider this because of their spiritual blindness and inability to see the truth of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

3. Christ’s kingdom witnesses to the truth of the gospel. (vs. 37-38)

1 John 3:18–19 ESV

18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;

Pilate’s response to Jesus is to affirm that he is a king. Again, Pilate is unaware of what Jesus is meaning. Jesus’ response to Pilate tells us that Jesus’ kingdom consists in the fact that he came to witness to the truth. In Jesus the truth presents itself to the world in incarnate form, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” It goes further. Whoever is of the truth belongs to the kingdom of truth; the one to whom God has granted new life and being born again. 1 John 3:18-19 says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;” If Pilate and the Jewish leadership belonged to this kingdom, then he would understand Jesus. That is why Pilate asks the question, “What is truth?”

I think the question that must be answered goes deeper than Pilate’s, “How is Jesus the truth?” This is a philosophical and theological question that is at the heart of the Christian religion. Do we believe the claims that Jesus made about himself and how the scripture reveals those claims to us? If we do believe them, we understand that Jesus is not just a man or a prophet but God incarnate, the Second Person of the Trinity. This truth is the cornerstone of all we believe. If Jesus is less than this, there is no salvation found in and through him. There is no authority in his words. They are just his interpretation as a revered rabbi. However, if what he says and does is reflective of God himself in every way, we must take seriously all that he says and does. It means that the revelations throughout the Old Testament that are given to the prophets and recorded for us is Jesus speaking before he is incarnate. Jesus understood that the Law was something that must be taken seriously. We cannot take away from God’s revealed word based on how we feel about it. These words are what God has intended for us to know as his people. The truth of Jesus’ witness is a fulfillment of God’s Law and its requirements. It is only through believing and trusting in the truth of Jesus Christ alone that we can have salvation and find eternal life.

In our world, the concept of truth is one that has been determined to be relative. That is, truth is something that can only be learned through one’s experiences. That is why you can have a truth and I can have a truth because truth is based upon the ways in which we have experienced life. This kind of relativism is dangerous in the church because when we look to Jesus we see objective truth not truth that is based on experience. Truth itself is only found in Jesus not my experience with Jesus. This is one of the primary reasons why we have such chaos within the United Methodist Church today. When Albert Outler first coined the Wesleyan Quadrilateral at the first General Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1972, different sides of the theological spectrum ran with the four points in different ways. Our current Book of Discipline reads this way under our Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task, “Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed in reason.” In understand the truth of Jesus Christ, we begin with scripture as our primary source for understanding all that is necessary for our salvation. Scripture is the prism through which we look at the other points of the Quadrilateral. However, early on in the UMC, there were those who looked to personal experience as the primary way to understand truth and the prism through which all other points of the Quadrilateral were to be understood. This is the root of what we are facing in the coming months as a denomination. There are portions of our church who have decided that personal experience is more important that the revealed word of God and therefore can remove or edit certain portions of scripture based on one’s personal feelings. This is not of God. We are not to remove or take away from God’s word. Jesus fulfilled the Law. But we are called to continue to obey the moral law of God in our treatment of others and our worship of God.

As we conclude, I want us to reflect on what it means for us to be in Christ’s kingdom right now. The one who has created all dominions and powers in this world is the one who is truly above all things. There will be a day when the entire creation will bow at the name of Jesus and confess him as King and Lord. We as his people are tasked to take that message out into the world so that all might come to know him as Savior. We are called to live in a way that shows the world the truth of Christ. God himself has stepped into human history through Christ to bring salvation to all who call upon his name. This means that we are to look to him as our example of how we are to live in the world and bring forth his kingdom. We live in a time when the fullness of the kingdom has not yet come to fruition when Christ will visibly reign on earth. Now, we know that Christ is reigning on his throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. His kingdom is one of sacrifice and proclaiming truth. As Paul says in Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.” Being a part of Christ’s kingdom means that in some way we are already in heaven with Christ. We may not physically be there yet, but we are spiritually. We are in the presence of God. We are with him ruling and reigning as the saints awaiting his coming again. We declare with our lips and with our lives that Christ is our king. There are no other powers above or beside him. Let us go into the world with the confidence of Christ’s kingdom and his truth above all other things.