Last Sunday of Pentecost (Christ the King):

The Cross Held Our King

22 November 2009


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Scripture reading: 2 Samuel 23:1-7.

Sermon text: John 18:33-37.


By this time, He hadn’t slept in over 24 hours. He had endured a sham of a show trial overnight in the high priest’s home, a trial that separated Him from His closest followers.  His accusers and their jury had predetermined the outcome; they wanted Him to die, and they would say or do anything necessary to see it done. He may walked through the courtyard just as the leader of His disciples denied ever knowing Him, using language I wouldn’t dare use in a sermon (or anywhere else, for that matter).


Now, He stood before the Roman procurator of Judea. Pilate came to Judea in A.D. 26 to rule over one of the most unruly people in the Roman Empire, an unthankful task unsuited to his temperament or his particular skills. Pilate’s vocabulary lacked words such as “tact” and “diplomacy.” His aggressiveness worked well in his military career, but Pilate definitely lacked the skills or personality to rule with the finesse necessary to control a province on the brink of rebellion. To make matters worse, Pilate already found himself on thin ice with Rome for his overreaction to events in Samaria and Judea. Pilate knew that his position in Judea ended with one more complaint to the emperor.


Circumstances couldn’t look worse for Jesus. The scheming of the Jewish hierarchy combined with the tenuous standing of Pilate to insure Jesus would never receive a fair hearing. Events seem to have spiraled out of control after Jesus’ arrest; the Teacher who had ridden triumphantly into Jerusalem, cleaned house in the Temple, and then patiently taught the people, now found His life relied on the capricious whim of a procurator determined to keep the peace and his job even if it meant condemning an innocent man.


At this low point, Jesus demonstrated the true nature of His authority. Most people questioned by Pilate would have cowered in fear and answered saying anything that would secure their release. Jesus answered Pilate’s question with one of His own, and thus set the stage for the greatest encounter Rome would experience with divinity. This encounter would end with a supposed Roman victory. Any Roman victory would evaporate with Jesus’ resurrection 3 days later. Today, on the last Sunday of Pentecost, we celebrate the Sunday of Christ the King. Jesus’ supposed defeat by Pilate on the 14th of Nisan, A.D. 33, instead completed the chain of events that would lead to Jesus’ greatest victory, His victory over sin and death with His resurrection.


Most likely, Pilate had thought he would finish this week without trouble. According to the histories, Pilate didn’t spend time in Jerusalem unless required by his duties. The Romans ruled Judea from Caesarea, the port city rebuilt by Herod the Great. Herod built a deep sea port, Roman temples and baths, a hippodrome for athletic competition, and a theater. The Romans preferred Caesarea over Jerusalem, with its Jewish Temple, crowded streets, and Jewish legalities restricting their normal lifestyle.


Pilate would have found himself with no choice but to spend Passover in Jerusalem. If the Jews ever started trouble, they started it during their annual festivals when Jerusalem’s population swelled from its normal 80,000 to over 250,000 with the arrival of Jews from throughout the world. The Romans usually moved troops from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where they stayed in the Fortress Antonia next to the Temple. Pilate and the Romans always hoped nothing would happen during the week to extend their stay.


For Pilate, this week looked like a good Passover. He had made it Friday without any major incidents. Pilate would have heard about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and His actions in the Temple, but he would have expected the Jews to handle any problems there. The Romans could not enter the Temple itself, so they relied on the Jewish Temple police to handle anything requiring force in the Temple.


Unfortunately for Pilate, Friday came. The Gospels all record that the chief priests brought Jesus to Pilate’s residence, formerly Herod’s palace, early in the morning. Pilate would have found himself facing the worst case of his life possibly before breakfast.


St. John recorded that the priests refused to enter the palace; doing so would have rendered them unclean on their holiest day of the year. Pilate had to go outside to meet Jesus’ accusers. Pilate asked them priests, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” Notice their answer: “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” Talk about evading the question!


Pilate wanted nothing to do with the situation: “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” Now, Pilate felt his peaceful week crash in pieces. He knew the Jews couldn’t let this week pass without causing trouble. This situation defined trouble.


Pilate didn’t know the half of it.


The Jewish priests refused to enter the palace, but they sent Jesus into the palace with no hesitation. Pilate reentered the palace to find a battered man standing awaiting interrogation.


Pilate asked one question: “Are you the King of the Jews?” No Jew in his right mind would answer, “Yes” to this question. An affirmative answer would result in an instant conviction for treason followed by an immediate crucifixion.


Jesus answered the question with one of His own: “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” With His response, Jesus placed Himself on the same level with Pilate. The interrogator found himself answering the question of the interrogated.


If Pilate’s response to Jesus sounds sarcastic, it probably was. “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” If Jesus intended to reign over the Jews, it appeared clear to Pilate His intended subjects had rejected His rule. Rather than fight the Romans to establish Jesus’ kingdom, the Jews had turned Him over to the Romans for execution.


At this point, Jesus asserted the true nature of His kingdom. “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.” Jesus pointed out several truths in His statement.


First, Jesus had never claimed His kingdom would begin in this world, with His entry into Jerusalem. Jesus answered affirmatively when the Jews demanded to know His identity as their Messiah; He never claimed His desire to establish His rule.


Jesus’ answer also told Pilate He never intended to fight the Romans and therefore stood innocent in Roman law. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.” Notice that Jesus considered the “Jews,” referring to the Jewish authorities, as His true adversaries. Had Jesus intended to establish His kingdom, His disciples would have fought the Jewish authorities, not the Romans.


Jesus then reaffirmed the nature of His kingdom: “My kingdom is not from the world.” This statement would have puzzled Pilate. Like most Romans, Pilate considered his Roman citizenship a matter of pride. Rome ruled the Mediterranean, even referring to the Sea as “Mare Nostrum,” or “Our Sea.” Pilate could not fathom a kingdom greater than Rome. Rome had expanded from a small village to the mightiest empire on the planet, an empire that still influences the world through Western Civilization. How could Jesus claim an otherworldly kingdom?


Jesus had no intention of establishing a worldly kingdom to contest Rome’s power. Jesus came to establish a kingdom that would outlast earthly kingdoms; He would establish an everlasting kingdom, a kingdom that would encompass all creation, not merely the area around a minor sea on one planet. Jesus’ kingdom would rule over every Roman, Jew, Egyptian, and Greek; it would also claim citizens from every tribe, nation, and language.


So Pilate’s question, “So you are a king?” really missed the point. Pilate could not, on that Friday, understand the scope of Jesus’ reign. Jesus’ answer confirmed Pilate’s misunderstanding. “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.” Jesus could not establish an everlasting kingdom until He defeated the enemy of death. Death inevitably ended every kingdom in history. Octavian, better known as Caesar Augustus, had established the Roman Empire in 27 B.C., but his death in A.D. 14 ended more than his life; it ended his right to rule. Jesus’ death did not end His rule; in a large sense, it set the stage for Jesus’ rule. No death, no resurrection. When Jesus defeated death, He defeated the only enemy that could end His rule. Jesus’ resurrection served as the victory that established His reign.


Pilate obviously missed another point as well. Notice how Pilate answered Jesus’ last statement about listening to His voice: “What is truth?” Jesus said that those “of the truth” would listen to Him. Pilate attempted to relativize the statement with his question, “What is truth?” After the Passover meal the previous night, Jesus had told His disciples where to find the truth: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Pilate’s question implied the wrong answer; truth isn’t a “what,” truth is a “who.” Jesus is the answer.


I learned something fascinating while studying for this sermon. In Latin, Pilate’s question reads, “quid est veritas.” Someone pointed out that an anagram of these letters, in Latin, reads, “est vir qui adest” — “It is the man who stands before you.” Pilate didn’t realize that Truth stood before him in the person of Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son of the living God.


What about us today? What does Jesus’ rule mean to us?


First, I believe Jesus’ rule takes us back to David’s words in the Scripture reading today. David preceded his descendant, Jesus, by roughly 1,000 years. God had promised David that one of his descendants would rule over creation. David prophesied numerous times that his Descendant would establish an everlasting kingdom. Jesus fulfilled these prophecies with His by defeating sin and death. Jesus faced the enemy that had ended every human kingdom and left it groveling in hell. Although death still lays claim to the bodies of Jesus’ subjects, its hold is temporary. We will rise again, with resurrected bodies that will never again face sickness or death. David’s eternal Descendant will rule over immortals.


We also find that, in the greatest crisis He would face in this life, Jesus remained in control. Pilate thought he controlled the situation. Jesus’ reaction to Pilate demonstrated that even as He faced death, Jesus controlled every word, every question and response. If Jesus can face death with this control, He can also help us when we confess Him as Lord and allow Him to rule in our lives. Jesus took an unjust death and transformed it into victory for fallen humanity. Jesus can — and does — work every situation in our lives to our benefit.


We also see that Jesus understood He had a purpose in life. “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” When we confess Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection, we also find a purpose in our lives. As we surrender ourselves to Jesus, He begins working in us to mold everything we are into fulfilling His purpose in our lives. We find that, regardless of our occupation or station in life, we have a new purpose: To tell others the gospel of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and King.

We must tell others of the truth: Sin puts us in rebellion against God. Those who confess Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection, receive a new life, an eternal life in full relationship with God, our Creator.


Jesus’ trial looked like the triumph of the world’s mightiest authorities. Our life in the Church, the Body of Christ, serves to proclaim Jesus’ victory over sin and death. The Roman Empire Pilate knew ended centuries ago. Jesus’ kingdom will last for all eternity.