The King of the Jews

John 18:28-19:16

Key verse 18:37

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.”

In this passage, we learn who Jesus is and what he came into this world to do. May God help us to open our hearts to accept this message. 

Look at verses 28-32:

 28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

 30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

 31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

In the previous passage, we learned that Jesus was arrested by the Jewish religious authorities and put on trial. They wanted to put Jesus to death, but the problem was that they could not execute someone without approval from the Roman government, which ruled over the land. So they brought Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate. 

Interestingly, they were unwilling to enter Pilate’s palace because doing so would make them ceremonially unclean and prevent them from eating the Passover feast. They were trying to sentence an innocent man to death; they were about to execute the Christ, which would make them truly unclean. This shows their ignorance and blindness. 

Pilate asked them, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” Instead of telling Pilate what the charges were, they said, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” They couldn’t bring any formal charges against Jesus because Jesus had not done anything wrong. Pilate could tell that they didn’t have anything substantial to charge Jesus with, so he told them to take care of the matter themselves, but they couldn’t. 

Verse 32 says, “This happened so that the words jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.” 

Look at verses 33-34: 

 33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

Pilate realized that he had to do something, so he called Jesus and questioned him. His first question was, “Are you the king of the Jews.” This was the main charge they had brought against Jesus that might violate Roman law: they said that Jesus claimed to be the king of the Jews. When Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus could have gotten himself out of trouble by saying, “No.” Instead, Jesus answered with his own question: “Is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me?” 

In this situation, Pilate was the judge and Jesus was the accused. He should have been afraid of Pilate and answered his questions. Instead, Jesus asked questions of Pilate. The truth is that Jesus is the Judge. Jesus asked Pilate whether the question was his own or whether others talked to him about Jesus. Jesus questioned the sincerity of Pilate’s question. Jesus understood that Pilate was not personally interested in the matter. 

PIlate answered Jesus: 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

Pilate was clearly upset. He didn’t want to have anything to do with what he was was a disagreement among the Jews. He wanted them to take care of the matter themselves. He didn’t want to be involved. So he finally asks Jesus, “What is it you have done?” Again, however, Jesus doesn’t answer his question. Look at verse 36: 

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 showed that he was not a victim under the power of corrupt authorities. He is indeed a king, but his kingdom is not of this world. The kingdoms of this world rise and fall. Everything is temporary and unstable. But Jesus’ kingdom is the kingdom of heaven. His kingdom is eternal and perfect. There was nothing that anyone could do to him to take away his kingdom from  him or his authority. That’s why Jesus’ servants did not fight to prevent his arrest. His arrest was no threat to his identity as king. Indeed, through his arrest and trial, Jesus was working to expand his kingdom. 

The fact that Jesus did not fight injustice done to him in this world because his kingdom is not of this world gives us a lot to think about. We don’t need to fight to secure our place in this world if we are members of Jesus’ kingdom. There is nothing anyone can do to us to take away our status or enjoyment of being citizens of the kingdom of God. In fact, the injustices we face may even ultimately help us to enjoy the kingdom of God more and bring others into it. 

How did Pilate respond? Look at verse 37:

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

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.”

Pilate certainly did not think Jesus was a king, but he was beginning to think that Jesus thought he was a king. Pilate might have thought that Jesus was out of his mind. Jesus answered him, “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.” 

Jesus did not deny the truth that he was a king, even though this might have helped him to be set free. Instead of denying the truth to save himself, Jesus spoke the truth about who he is. Jesus came into this world to bring us the truth. The truth is that he is the king of kings and lord of lords. Anyone who is seriously interested in the truth will listen to Jesus. 

But Pilate was not interested in the truth. Look at verses 38-39:

38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

Pilate asked, “What is truth?” With this question, he implied that there is no such thing as truth or that truth is unknowable. This may sound like a deeply philosophical question, but I think it is an excuse. Many people are eager to believe that there is no truth so that they can do what they want without accountability. 

Pilate recognized that there was no basis for a charge against Jesus, but instead of releasing Jesus, he left the question open to the people. He said, “do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” Pilate didn’t take responsibility. 

How did the people respond? Look at verse 40: 

40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

The people asked for Barabbas who was a true criminal. 

Look at chapter 19, verses 1-3:

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him in the face.

To satisfy the mob, Pilate had Jesus beaten and bloodied and mocked. 

Look at verses 4-6:

 4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

Pilate brought Jesus out to them and thought they would be satisfied with Jesus’ humiliation and suffering. At the same time, he said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” It seems that Pilate was implying that the people were causing this injustice to be done to an innocent man, even though it was Pilate himself who had ordered these things be done. 

The religious leaders were not satisfied. Look at verses 6-10:
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7 The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

The religious leaders called for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate refused to have Jesus crucified, but then they said that Jesus must die for claiming to be the Son of God. Pilate was more afraid. He asked Jesus, “Where do you come from,” but Jesus didn’t answer. 

Look at verses 11-16:

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

In these verses, we see how Pilate struggled with the truth. He knew Jesus was innocent. He also began to fear that Jesus was not just an ordinary man. At the same time, he feared the wrath of the people; he feared that he might lose his job if things got out of control. Ultimately, he rejected the truth in order to save himself. Here we see a sharp contrast between Jesus who did not save himself but testified to the truth and Pilate who did the opposite.

Through this passage, we see that those who stand on the side of truth listen to Jesus, but those who want to save themselves and their lives in this world more than living by the truth reject Jesus. 

In our daily experience, it is not always easy to stand on the side of truth. Standing on the side of truth, however, is to stand on the side of the kingdom of God. We can do so when we remember that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. There is nothing that this world can do to harm the citizens of the kingdom of God. We should not fear, then, to hold to the truth and to keep Jesus as our king. 

One word: stand on the side of truth

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