Author: Jeff Englund

Jesus said, ‘’My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

The test of a threat for a man in Pilate’s position is whether or not the accused is inclined to fight. A man who is inclined to fight whether by physical force or political intrigue is a threat. People so inclined are generally aggressive, prideful, arrogant people. Sometimes they are boastful. Other times they might be deceitful, guarded, evasive. Jesus was none of these things. He did not meet the test of being a threat to Pilate or anyone else.

Pilate’s first question to Jesus after he had summoned him into the palace was, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus responded by asking his own questions. He was unimpressed by the fact that Pilate was standing in judgment over him. They exchange a few more words, and then Pilate asks, “What is it you have done?”

In response, Jesus answers the first question and says, ‘’My kingdom is not of this world.”

That is an interesting response, but certainly not a threat. But what does he mean? Pilate must have at least understood that Jesus meant he had no ambitions of power here on earth. Going back to the Test, there is still the question of Jesus’ disciples. Do they agree with their master on this point?

Jesus answers Pilate’s unspoken question saying that if his kingdom were of this world, his servants would, “fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.” In a sense, Jesus invites Pilate to look closely at him. Is he struggling? Is he resisting? Is he making threats? No. None of that. Jesus and Pilate might be conversing over tea out on the veranda for all the concern Jesus shows over his future.

In this short exchange, Jesus answers Pilate’s question, passes the test, and opens the door to a kingdom not of this world.

Application: If we choose to model our lives after Jesus, we choose to focus on the same kingdom he was focused on. The things of this world do not matter because His kingdom is not of this world.

Food for Thought: If you were to stand before Pilate would he consider you a threat? Why or why not?

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Continue reading “The Test – John 18: 36”

”Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, ”or did others talk to you about me?”
”Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. ”Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

Yesterday in “Threat” we posed the question: Where did Pilate hear that Jesus claimed to be king of the Jews? Today Jesus responds in a rather uncharacteristic way. Jesus asks Pilate where he got the idea about him being king of the Jews. If we assume that Jesus already knows the answer to his question, then his question seems intended to get Pilate (and us) to think.

Instead of answering Jesus, Pilate comes back at Jesus with another question. His response is, in effect, an affirmation of the differences between him and Jesus. Finally, he gets down to a practical question, but one that he should not have had to ask.

”What is it you have done?”

It is like both of them are caught in a kind of nightmare. Jesus, arrested for simply being who he is. Pilate is the judge and jury in a trial where no one will tell him what the person on trial has done wrong.

Somehow, in this whirling cauldron of political intrigue, Jesus is the bad guy. Pilate has been led to believe that the Jews are accusing Jesus of political insurrection. The problem is that Jesus doesn’t look the part. He has done nothing to threaten the Romans even though the Jewish leaders feel threatened.

What is it, Jesus, that you have done?

Is Pilate is expecting Jesus to explain what all the fuss is about? Even under Roman law, it was the responsibility of the accuser to explain their accusations. The Jews have not even done that.

Application: In this passage, we see the dramatic difference between the world’s approach to a problem and God’s approach. Jesus offers Pilate a chance to reconsider his implied accusation. Pilate offers Jesus the affirmation that he is hated by his own people. Then Pilate offers Jesus a chance to provide evidence against himself. When the world rejects you, think of Jesus’ calm assurance in his relationship with God.

Food for Thought: If Pilate had answered Jesus’ question what would have changed in this story?

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Continue reading “Nightmare – John 18: 34-35”

”But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

When Pilate told the Jewish leaders to take Jesus away and “judge him by your own law,” they whined in response, “but we have no right to execute anyone.”

Execute??

That word had to get Pilate’s attention. Something was going on and it was something he didn’t understand. Why were these people so agitated? Who was this man who they had brought to him? Why this talk about executing someone?

The Romans of Jesus’ day were not primitive savages. They were actually quite advanced in the application of the law and reason. The measure of a society is not its technology, rather it is the moral quality of its people. While Romans could be brutal (we see this in the eventual execution of Jesus) they could also be concerned with the application of justice.

Perhaps Pilate’s first instinct was to avoid dealing with someone else’s problem. Maybe to him, the Jews were a kind of a pain in the neck. Regardless, when the Jews mention execution, two things happen. The first is that they get Pilate’s attention. The second is that they foretell the fulfillment of the prophecy about the death that Jesus would suffer

Application: God has ways of getting our attention. Whether it is a beautiful summer’s day or a rear-end collision in the middle of a busy intersection, God is there. He wants you to pay attention to Him. Not because he needs your attention, but because when we pay attention to God everything falls into place.

Food for Thought: As a Christian, how do you prepare for a situation like the one that Pilate found himself in?

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Continue reading “Situations – John 18: 31b-32”

Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

Pilate might be a lot of things but one of them isn’t stupid. He smells something fishy as soon as the Jewish leaders open their mouths. His response is quick and business-like.

If they had brought him someone who had murdered people, or had stolen from the Romans, or was a known threat to the Romans, he might have been interested. Instead, they brought him a simple carpenter from Galilee. He looked a bit beat up but he didn’t look scary.

Pilate had been around enough to be able to tell who was trouble and who was not just by looking at them. Jesus was mildly interesting to him because he just stood there. He didn’t look scared nor did he look belligerent. He simply stood there. Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders were agitated. They were jumping up and down shaking their fists in the air and pointing at Jesus. They were madder than the proverbial wet hen. Though he couldn’t make out most of the words they were saying, he could see that they were so mad that they were spitting as they angrily spoke over each other.

It was an amazing contrast! The man who was tied up standing calming in the middle of the crowd. The crowd, acting like they should be tied up. Pilate knew right away that he didn’t want any of this situation to get on him.

”Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

Application: For those who know Jesus personally we can take some encouragement from him. In the middle of seemingly hopeless situations, we can look to Jesus, the calm in the middle of the storm. Knowing what he did for us, helps us put what we go through into perspective. Eternal perspective.

Food for Thought: At this point in the story, Pilate could probably see that the Jewish leaders were agitated about something. It was early in the morning. I doubt Pilate had even had his coffee yet, or the Roman version of coffee. He wanted nothing to do with this situation, but God had other plans. How do you respond when God pulls you into his plans and it is not going a direction you want it to go?

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Continue reading “Contrast – John 18: 31”

So Pilate came out to them and asked, ‘’What charges are you bringing against this man?”
‘’If he were not a criminal,” they replied, ‘’we would not have handed him over to you.”

The phrase “non sequitur” is Latin and means “it does not follow.” If a parent tells their son to clean up his room and he responds, “It is dark outside!” That is an example of a non sequitur. There is no relationship between the first statement and the one that follows it.

On the surface, the response given to Pilate seems related to his question. After all, criminals are criminals because they have been charged with a crime and found to be guilty. In this case, everything is mixed up. The Jewish leaders are asking Pilate to judge a man that they have already judged. In effect, they are not so much asking Pilate to pass judgment as they are asking (demanding, really…) him to rubber-stamp the judgment they have already rendered. And so their answer to him comes across as a non sequitur.

Pilate: What are the charges against this man (so that I know what kind of judgment I need to make).

Jews: Charges smarges. All you need to know is that he is a criminal because we say so.

The Jews want Jesus dead. If they were in charge of their own country as in the days of old, they would simply kill Jesus as they did to the prophets who came before him. But times have changed, if they kill Jesus, they are the guilty of breaking Roman law and subject to punishment. So the only option open to them is to have the Romans kill Jesus for them.

These opening lines of the conversation between Pilate and the Jews set the stage for what is to come. Pilate is trying to be reasonable. The Jews want nothing to do with reason. They know that they have no rational argument with which to convict him under Roman law. Blinded by their resentment towards Jesus they resort to pure political force. As their opening statement to Pilate suggests, whatever else happens, logic and reason will have nothing to do with it.

Personal Application: We live in a world where the kind of non sequitur we see in this story happens all the time. Political forces seek to manipulate people with fear instead of reason. It is so prevalent these days that it is sometimes difficult to know what or who to believe. Thank God for God! When we need to find our bearings in life, we can always turn to Him. Scripture says, ‘’The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)

Food for Thought: When you are confronted by something that doesn’t make sense, how do you respond? What would you advise others to do? What would you have suggested Pilate do?

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Continue reading “Non Sequitur (II) – John 18: 29”

Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

John’s gospel account is moving very quickly now. John spent a great many words describing the last evening Jesus spent with his disciples. He describes the evening in enough detail that we feel we were there. Now that the evening is over and Jesus has been taken captive, John is in a hurry. In a few short sentences, we move from the Mount of Olives to the house of Annas. Then we watch as Peter denies Jesus and Jesus is taken to Caiaphas. From Caiaphas’ house, Jesus is taken to the palace of the Roman governor.

All this is in very near to the Temple. The Mount of Olives is less than half a mile away. The homes of the high priests would not have been far off. Even the governor’s palace would be fairly close by. The evening has been spent eating, washing feet, talking and in prayer. Jesus prays for his disciples and we know from other gospel accounts that he later prayed in the garden for a long time. When Judas finally finds him, the night is mostly gone.

In the last hours of the night, Jesus walks to the house of Annas for a short interview. Then he is led on foot to Caiaphas. Little was probably said. The chief priests are not interested in dialogue at this point. From the house of Caiaphas, the entourage makes its way to the governor’s palace by walking. By now dawn has claimed the sky and the torches are no longer needed to see. The governor is called. The Jews cannot come into the palace because of their religion’s rules so the governor gets dressed and comes out to meet them.

All this time Jesus is allowing himself to be led around like a circus animal. The Author of All Creation has the power to Un-Create as well. One word from him and all his problems are history. Yet it is history that tells us he did not use that power. Instead, he applied godly humility and perfect self-control. Knowing what was going to happen in excruciating detail did not deter him. The time had arrived. Jesus was ready.

Food for Thought: In Jesus’ day walking occupied a great deal of time. While walking a person had time to think, or talk, or simply ponder the moment. How do you spend your time these days and does it allow you time for thinking, talking, and pondering God’s will in the moment?

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Continue reading “Walking – John 18: 28”

Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, ”You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”
He denied it, saying, ”I am not.”
One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, ”Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Once again John’s story turns back to Peter. Part of what makes this story special is that Peter is apparently by himself. (We don’t know who or where the other disciple who let him in is.) Peter, driven by the cold has put himself at risk of discovery by drawing close to the fire where others are gathered.

His appearance must have been noteworthy. His anxiety over the Lord being bound and called in before the high priest would be written all over his face. When he opens he announces that he is Galilean much the same way as someone from the Deep South cannot hide their southern drawl. He is desperately concerned for Jesus and at the same time deathly afraid of discovery.

He would not have been known to any of the people there, most of whom were likely familiar with each other. They, too, would be on edge. They were also aware that something of unusual importance was going on. Who was this stranger standing with them in the courtyard?

Perhaps they looked at each other in the firelight. Their eyes would point briefly to Peter and then they would stare intensely with the obvious question on their face: Who is that guy? The expression in response would be a blank look and a shrug of the shoulders: “I don’t know. Don’t you?”

Finally, someone turns to Peter. “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

Continue reading “Escape – John 18: 24-27”

When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. ”Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
”If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, ”testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”

“Why did you strike me?” is a question for our times. The news I read these days is full of reports about people who have lost the ability to dialog and are resorting to physical violence. Spitting on people, hitting them, yelling at them is rationalized by discounting the personhood of the Other. When we define someone else’s speech as hate, it is easy to equate fighting that person with fighting hate itself. The only problem is that the hate is often limited to the person hurting the other. So hate becomes the excuse to hate.

Similarly, the Pharisees and chief priests have defined what Jesus says as “hate speech.” They didn’t call it that, of course, but the effect was the same as it is today. Since what Jesus taught undermined their power and authority, what Jesus said must be bad. If what he said is bad then hurting Jesus himself is just an extension of punishing the bad things they claimed he said. In their minds, hating Jesus was good.

The irony of this juxtaposition of man’s hate against God’s love is almost beyond parody. How do you read this story and not wonder how the chief priests could be so blind?! Yet the sad fact is that they were, and so are we. This blindness is endemic with humans. Jesus taught about this as recorded in Matthew 7: 1-5:

Continue reading “Why Did You Strike Me? – John 18: 22-23”

”I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. ”I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

It is late at night. Jesus is in the home of Annas the high priest. In terms of the kind of homes we see today this house would be a McMansion. It is cold outside but inside the light from the oil lamps keep the inside of the stone building warm.

Jesus has been without sleep for a day and a night. His day yesterday was wrapped up in the celebration of the Passover. “Celebration” is probably not the appropriate word here. This particular Passover was more like a funeral. Jesus keeps talking about going away, and the sorrows to come. Judas leaves under a cloud of mystery with hints from Jesus about betrayal. During the night Jesus prays for his disciples and teaches them many things.

Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays alone. Then Judas arrives with the soldiers, and Jesus is taken captive. His whole life and ministry have been leading up to this moment and like a fighter who has trained all his life for one big fight, Jesus is ready. He allows himself to be taken captive while at the same time protecting his disciples from being harassed.

Peter follows. Outside in the courtyard, he waits, torn between fantasies of rescuing Jesus and the fear of being outed as a disciple of Jesus.

Inside, in the pre-dawn hours of the night, Annas interrogates Jesus. Finally Jesus answers.

Continue reading “Light From God – John 18: 20-21”