John 18:33-37 (NRSV)
Read John 18:33-37 on biblegateway.com
Verse 33Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Verse 34Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Verse 35Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Verse 36Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Verse 37Pilate 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."
Devotion
Not from this world, Jesus says. "My kingdom is not from this world." What typifies the kingdoms of the world? Fighting. "If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over … " But it's not, and they aren't.
Or are they? We are so deeply implicated in the fighting of this world that we can hardly digest the force of such words. We stand in a long line of "Christian warriors": Constantinian, crusader, knightly, modern infantry. "Sometimes you gotta fight for what you have," the self-confessed Christian talk show guest announces. Likely, few eyebrows were raised.
Those of us who know Jesus as Lord, take notice. He does not ask his followers to fight for him. Rather, he gives himself up for them. In the following chapter of John he is flogged, scorned, rejected and crucified, the one we call Lord. Imagine that.
Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for tracing a new way through our blood-stained world. As your way gave us peace through the giving of yourself, allow us to give ourselves in your way for the peace of our neighbor. Amen.