My kingdom is not of this realm.

John 18:25-19:22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.”²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” ²⁷ Peter then denied It again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

²⁸ Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. ²⁹ Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?” ³⁰ They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.” ³¹ So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,”³² to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.

³³ Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”³⁷ Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”³⁸ Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him. ³⁹ But you have a custom that I release someone ^[f]for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?”⁴⁰ So they cried out again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.

19 Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; ³ and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. ⁴ Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” ⁵ Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” ⁶ So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

⁸ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” ¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” ¹² As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king ^[l]opposes Caesar.”

¹³ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the ^[o]sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” ¹⁵ So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate *said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

¹⁶ So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

¹⁷ They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. ¹⁹ Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ²⁰ Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

In today’s text it says:  Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.”   Romans 13:1-5 says:  Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.   It seems as though we are nearing a time when we as believers will truly need to struggle with whether we remain in subjection to the government that is in opposition to God. Paul says we should be in subjection for conscience sake, recognizing that authority is established by God. What do we do though when compliance to the law of the land is defiance to the law of God? Before we even look for the answer to that question, we should consider the exhortation of Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.   Before we consider whether or not we should submit to authorities who oppose God, we should pray that they instead would come to the knowledge of the truth; that they would be saved. That is God’s desire and it is the best possible way for us to lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

In Psalm 56:10-11 the psalmist says:  In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?   Again in Psalm 118:6 he says:  The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?   In today’s text, Jesus says:  “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”    We need to recognize and be confident that we too are first and foremost residents of the heavenly kingdom. Like the psalmist we need to know that man has no power or authority beyond this earthly realm. If we, like Jesus, are part of His kingdom, then first and foremost we should fight in the heavenly realm. We may indeed have to decide at some point whether we submit to ungodly authority, when and if it contradicts and opposes the commandments of God. In Luke 12:11-12 Jesus says:  “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”  If we are submitted fully to the Holy Spirit, He will guide us concerning how we are to submit to ungodly human authority.

Today’s text ends saying:  Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek.  So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”   In the end, Pilate heard from the authority above all authority. The Jews could not change the truth that was revealed to Pilate. In the same way, people today may try to exert their authority over us, but they cannot change the truth, Jesus is the King of Kings.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; thank You that because I am a resident of the heavenly kingdom, I need not worry what can man do to me. May I always be fully submitted to You. May I always seek first Your kingdom. May I pray for earthly authorities, that they would come to know the truth. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.    Amen.