A Kingdom Not of This World—Lectionary Reflection for Christ the King Sunday (John 18)

John 18:33-37 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

³³ Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷ Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

                *****************

                The United States recently went to the polls and voted for candidates from school board to President. While some races remain undecided, the nation essentially knows what the future portends. I am a firm believer in democracy. It’s not perfect but it seems to be the best option we have as humans to govern ourselves. That doesn’t mean we take this system for granted. It can easily crumble, and we’ve seen it crumble across the globe. Many today are concerned that we’re witnessing that very thing in the United States. Thus, politically we may need a dose of Reinhold Niebuhr to keep us honest. Niebuhr wrote:

Democratic life requires a spirit of tolerant cooperation between individuals and groups which can be achieved by neither moral cynics, who know no law beyond their own interest, nor by moral idealists, who acknowledge such a law but are unconscious of the corruption which insinuates itself into the statement of it by even the most disinterested idealists. Democracy may be challenged from without by the force of barbarism and the creed of cynicism. But its internal peril lies in the conflict of various schools and classes of idealists, who profess different ideals but exhibit a common conviction that their own ideals are perfect.  [Niebuhr, Reinhold. Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics (Library of America) (pp. 547-548).]

On this Sunday, known as Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday, we’re reminded that Christians are called to give allegiance to God, above all else. That doesn’t mean Christians can impose their faith on others, but it does mean we are called to something that transcends national boundaries.

                The Gospel for this Sunday comes from John 18. Jesus has been arrested and stood before the high priest. From there, he is taken before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. According to John, it’s early in the morning on the Day of Passover. Pilate goes out to meet the Jewish leaders who won’t enter his quarters lest they defile themselves and asks them what they want from him. They ask that Pilate execute Jesus because they are unable to do so themselves (at least that’s John’s take). Of course, we must be very careful how we read this story. Our reading picks up in verse 33 after Pilate returns to his quarters and summons Jesus. Pilate asks Jesus, quite straightforwardly, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Apparently, that was the accusation brought against Jesus.

                Jesus answered Pilate’s question indirectly by asking a question in return. He asks Pilate: “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” The assumption here is that Pilate, to this point, had no idea that Jesus even existed. Jesus wasn’t on his radar. Besides, there were lots of messianic claimants, some of whom had taken up arms against Rome. Pilate might want to know whether this claimant was a threat or not. What he knows, seems to have come from the Jewish leaders, who asked for his execution knowing that the only reason Pilate might act on their request would be if they could prove Jesus posed a threat to Roman authority. Therefore, Pilate asks the question because he wants to know whether this was an intramural debate among Jews or if it had some implications for his governance of the province. He knows what the Jewish leaders had told him, but now he wants to know how Jesus understood himself. So, what have you done to deserve this audience?

                Jesus understood what was at stake, thus, he answered in a way that complicates things. Jesus is willing to reveal something about his own sense of his own sense of identity and purpose. So, when Pilate asks if he is the king of the Jews, which presumes some form of political leadership, he is asking if Jesus is seeking some form of political power without asking for Rome’s permission (as was true for the Herodian kings). If he was seeking that kind of power, then he would be a threat to Rome’s reign over the province of Judea. If that were true, then his execution would be warranted.

So, how did Jesus answer Pilate’s question about Jesus’ kingship? As we see here, Jesus answered Pilate’s question in an interesting fashion. Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom does not belong to this world.” He then clarifies by pointing out that if he headed up an earthly kingdom, like the one Pilate envisioned, his followers would be fighting to keep him from being handed over to Rome. But they weren’t because he reigned over a different kind of realm. Therefore, he didn’t pose a threat to Rome’s rule in Judea, though Rome might disagree.

Now, the question is whether Jesus’ claim that his kingdom could still have political implications even if his followers weren’t taking up arms against Rome. The answer is yes. That is because by giving allegiance to Jesus and his realm, Rome’s authority is diminished. Rome wants the subjects of the empire to give their ultimate allegiance to the empire. But if one gives their ultimate allegiance to God, then Rome doesn’t have control over one’s life. There is freedom to be found there that Rome wouldn’t appreciate. While the Gospel of John doesn’t offer the Lord’s Prayer, that prayer does speak to Jesus’ claim that his kingdom is other than an earthly one. I believe that the Lord’s Prayer serves as our pledge of ultimate allegiance to Christ and his realm (see my book: Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord’s Prayer, Energion Publications). Remember that Jesus instructs his followers to pray that God’s kingdom (realm) would come on earth as in heaven. Therefore, whatever allegiance we give to the nation we live in is secondary to that given to God’s realm. The principles of that realm should guide us in the way we live in the world. To give greater allegiance to a nation or its symbols (flag) or its leaders (President), is idolatry. We live in, you might say, two kingdoms. Both claim our allegiance. But only one can be given ultimate allegiance. Otherwise, we have made an idol of the nation. Scripture makes it clear that God doesn’t abide idols.

                Pilate wants to clarify things. Jesus has claimed that his kingdom is not an earthly one, like that of Rome or David, so Pilate asks Jesus once again, “So, you are a king?” Jesus turns Pilate’s question around and suggests that this is what Pilate claimed. “You say that I’m a king” so I must be a king. But Jesus wasn’t finished. He tells Pilate “For this I was born.” As we ponder this answer, let us remember that John’s Gospel doesn’t have an infancy narrative. It has a prologue that tells the reader that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. That is, his origin is divine, such that he is the Father’s only son (Jn 1:1-14). Thus, as Jürgen Moltmann notes, when Jesus speaks of his kingdom not being of this world, he is speaking of its origin, not its location: “It comes from God.  If it didn’t come from God, it couldn’t heal the sick of this world.  But in and through Jesus it is in the midst of the world, and when Jesus said these words the Kingdom of God in person was standing in front of Rome’s imperial governor, Pontius Pilate”  [Moltmann, Jesus Christ for Today, p. 20].

Jesus continued by telling Pilate that he had come into the world to testify to the truth and that “everyone who belongs to the truth hears my voice” (Jn. 18:37). That’s where the reading ends, which is unfortunate. That’s because it’s not Pilate’s final question. Since Jesus mentions truth, Pilate wants to know: “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:38). While no answer is given, it seems clear that Pilate does not belong to the truth. Living as we do in what many call a “post-truth” world where “alternate facts” run rampant, even Christians, people who claim to follow Jesus embrace these alternate facts and the people who offer them, including the once and future President of the United States. One wonders whether they are hearing the voice of Jesus.

So, when it comes to our response to Jesus’ claim to rule?  Are we willing to give our ultimate allegiance to him, or will give it to earthly kingdoms? Rome doesn’t really care what people call themselves as long as they are willing to place their flag under that of Rome. This is something for us all to consider since many of our churches place the American flag in our sanctuaries. Some churches even fly the national flag high above their churches, placing it above the “Christian flag.” Again, the question is posed to us. Do we give our allegiance to Jesus or the nation/empire?  That leads to a further question when it comes to values—does the church embrace the national values above those of Christ’s realm? These are questions rightfully raised on Reign of Christ Sunday!

        Image Attribution: Ge, N. N. (Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich), 1831-1894. "What is truth?" Christ and Pilate, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55296 [retrieved November 17, 2024]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:What_is_truth.jpg.