John 18:33-38

³³Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked Him, "Are You the king of the Jews?" ³⁴"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about Me?" ³⁵"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was Your people and Your chief priests who handed You over to me. What is it You have done?" ³⁶Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place." ³⁷"You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me." ³⁸"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against Him."

Pilate takes the matter seriously and asks Jesus privately if He is the King of the Jews. Perhaps he heard rumors from the crowds; perhaps he took this cue from what the religious leaders had told him. But he thinks it’s silly, and desiring to acquit Jesus, he is sure that Jesus will deny guilt in the matter. But Jesus, knowing the Father’s will, provokes Pilate by questioning him in return. Angered, Pilate essentially tells Jesus that He can escape this madness by answering the simple question, “What have You done?” And Jesus responds by explaining His innocence in light of His spiritual, or heavenly, kingdom. In other words, Pilate has no jurisdiction in the matter of spiritual truth. This perks Pilate’s interest; now he thinks he’s dealing with a madman – someone who proclaims to be king of an imaginary kingdom. So he plays along, exclaiming that Jesus is a king.

Jesus also implies in this dialogue that earthly kingdoms are to be defended by fighting. What do you think? Certainly, Christians are never to engage in physical combat in defending the Kingdom of God. We saw that example with Jesus’ response to Peter after he cut off the ear of one of the soldiers as Jesus was arrested. Calvin said, “The blood of martyrs strengthens the Kingdom of God more than the aid of arms.”

Jesus responds by declaring that Pilate is correct to understand that He is a king. And then Jesus adds that He speaks the truth. In fact, Jesus can do nothing but speak the truth. He is the truth. Jesus proclaims that everyone on the side of truth listens to Him. And Pilate asks the famous question, “What is truth?” Some suggest that Pilate is genuinely curious, but more likely, he is offended that a Man put on trial by the Jews would dare to proclaim that everything He says is the truth. Pilate refuses to engage any further, as he might be inclined to change his mind about the verdict. Thus, Pilate cuts short the conversation and returns to the Jewish leadership to declare Jesus not guilty. There is no crime against Him. Calvin adds here, on a side note, “The principal articles of theology are: the curse pronounced on the human race, the corruption of nature, the mortification of the flesh, the renewal of the life, the reconciliation effected by free grace through the only sacrifice, the imputation of righteousness, by means of which a sinner is accepted by God, and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. These, being paradoxes, are disdainfully rejected by the ordinary understanding of men. Few, therefore, make progress in the school of God, because we scarcely find one person in ten who attends to the first and elementary instructions.”

Having questioned Jesus, Pilate, despite some confusion on the truth, finds no fault in Him and certainly no cause for death. Jesus is no threat to Rome’s earthly kingdom, at this time – in fact, He is the one that gave to Caesar, and by extension to Pilate, political authority in the first place, as we will read later (John 19:11). Jesus is indeed a king – the King – but His present ministry is to testify to the truth, and His kingdom, although powerfully at work in changing the hearts and lives of men, is not a kingdom with a political presence in this world. And Pilate, although apparently blinded to the truth, at least recognizes that there is no cause for Jesus to be punished, as He has been delivered up merely because of the envy of the Jewish leaders (Matthew 27:18).

So once again, Jesus is clearly determined to be faultless, and is condemned for no wrong of His own, but rather, according to the justice of God, for our wrongs which were upon Him. How ironic it is to note, in passing, that the Jews who were carrying out the most evil action in all of history attempted to do it in such a way as not to be defiled. How deceptive is false religion! Men who are deeply wicked may soothe their consciences with the meaningless and impotent observances of an outward form of religion; but when they deny its true power, and pour forth from their evil hearts only wickedness and shame, their religion is shown to be worthless indeed (2 Timothy 3:5). How many of us can love the world more than Jesus in every way, throughout every day of our lives, and think that we will be accepted before God because of such outwardly religious actions as regular church attendance, or a childhood profession of faith which never grew up into a vibrant love for Christ? If we are so blind, then how are we any different from these foolish priests?