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John 18:28-40 – The Kingdom

Notice the irony of the Jews behaviour. They are delivering up the Son of God, the Messiah promised for thousands of years, to be killed, and they are worried about being unclean for the Passover. What a classic illustration of their hypocrisy. Concerned only with external appearances, they have missed the whole point. Are there people like this today? Of course there are. Plenty of men and women put on an external show of being Christians. They think because they go through the forms of Christianity, things like church attendance or giving money, they’re ok, but they have no heart relationship with Jesus Christ and daily reject Him by their actions, words, thoughts, and feelings. If this describes you, if you think you’re ok because you go through the motions of being a Christian, you need to realise you are no better than these Jews.

Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. What does this mean? Lots of people have twisted these words to suit themselves, so it’s important we really understand what’s being said here. Jesus wants Pilate to understand the true nature of His kingdom – He wants to correct any false impression Pilate might have got from the Jews. He tells Pilate that He did not come to set up a kingdom that would interfere with the Roman Government. He rules over men’s hearts, and the weapons His subjects use are spiritual. A kingdom that doesn’t need money or armies to support it, is one the Roman Emperors don’t need to be afraid of. But Jesus is not teaching that the kings of this world should have nothing to do with Him and should ignore Him and His Word. Kings are as much required to obey Jesus Christ and serve Him as anybody else. In fact for a king or a country to think that they can ignore God and His Word and prosper is as foolish as an individual thinking that.

Questions

  1. How are the Jews being hypocritical?
  2. What is Jesus teaching about His Kingdom?

Prayer Points

  1. Pray that our rulers would obey Christ.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.