Are You King of the Jews? From the bunker Day 25

From the Bunker -  Stations of the Cross

Station 5 – Jesus is judged by Pilate 

Station 6 — Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns

Matthew 27:2-14; Mark 15:1-5; Luke 23:1-5; John 18:1-38

To understand the events surrounding Jesus and Pilate you need to know a little more about Pilate. Pilate was the Governor of the region of Palestine. He was Rome’s representative and his word was law. He was ambitious, cruel, and superstitious. He would use the most extreme measures to keep the Jews under control. He had lost favor with Caesar, who was looking for any excuse to rid himself of the precocious Governor. That is why Pilate had to keep a lid on any would be rebel Messiah that might come along. There had been some before; the worst being the Maccabean revolt. It was a black eye for Rome and Pilate was determined not to let it happen again. Anyone caught for sedition would be crucified. 

Pilate and his wife were superstitious, and after one troubling dream she warned the Governor not to have any dealings with Jesus. That is why Pilate washed his hands of Jesus and sent him to King Herod. But before he sent him away, Pilate interviewed Jesus to find out if there was any merit to the charges of sedition. There is only one question of merit that the gospel writers found fit to place in the scriptures, “are you the King of the Jews?”

Here are Jesus’ response in each of the gospels to the question “Are you king of the Jews?”

Matthew 27:11 — “You have said so.” 

Mark 15:2 — “You have said so.”

Luke 23:3 — “You have said so.”

John 18: 33-38 – “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.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.”

Three things I want to point out. First, our kingdom is not of this world. Christians are not about nation building. Rome, England, and the United States were never God’s gift to the world. However, living in the U.S. does give us the responsibility to be a part of our government, but don’t be mistaken, it will never be the Kingdom of God.

Secondly, our battle isn’t with the world or the world governments. It is the responsibility of nations to keep one another in check. It is also true that God ordains the rise and fall of nations, but never for the purpose of establishing one as God’s Kingdom on earth. Jesus never calls us to promote or fight for earthly kingdoms. He calls us to be ambassadors of peace, first with God and then with other people.

Thirdly, Jesus came for one reason only, to redeem mankind, so that He could build a kingdom of people who will worship Him with a pure heart. As followers of Jesus this helps us to narrow down what God calls us to do. If His purpose was to proclaim the good news, so we, too, should be standard bearers for Jesus. We know that we belong to Jesus because we hear his call and we chose to follow. This is the truth that Pilate avoided in his conversation, that Jesus is the truth, brings truth, declares truth, offers truth, and will correct everything with truth when he returns. 

Station six is the humiliation of Jesus when the soldiers mocked, beat, and adorned him with a purple robe and crown of thorns. We may not experience persecution to this extent,  but we might. Many of you have made your stand for Christ on my Facebook page, as an example of your love for Jesus. Thank you for joining with me, and keep it up. Over the next month ask God to allow someone to come across your path so that you can share with them the good news of the Kingdom of heaven. Write down your God sightings and opportunities. When we finally get back together we can share with one another the good work that God has been doing during this time of crisis. I’m just saying…

From the Bunker Day 25