November 25, 2018
To read full passage click: John 18:37 …“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.’” vs. 37
Pilate was having a hard time figuring Jesus out, and Jesus isn’t making it easy for him. It was being said that Jesus was a king, and since appearances can be deceiving, Pilate checks it out. Of course, Jesus gives an ambiguous answer–no simple “yes” or “no” here. The exchange is telling, and shows the impossibility of fitting Jesus into our human categories. He is a king, but not like any sovereignty the world has ever known. His kingship is a matter of substance and has little to do with royal categories. There’s no crown or scepter, no palace or fawning courtiers. In him we find truth incarnate. His words reveal the essence and the purpose of life. His subjects are those who pay attention to what he says and whose deeds reflect his desires. His message is neither complicated nor obscure and can be summed up in a single commandment: that we love one another in the same way as he has loved us. Where such love is present, Christ the King is glorified and we experience the joys of the Kingdom of God. Pilate never did figure it all out–but we have no excuse!
Thought for the Day: In what way is Christ my King?
0 Comments