Live to Love Scripture Encouragement John 18.35-36

John 18:35-36 “Pilate answered, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?’ 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.’" Basically, Pilate seems frustrated with Jesus—and the Jews. Remember, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with him. If we could look into his heart, we might find him looking for a reason not to condemn Jesus. Pilate’s remarks essentially confirm this. He was saying, “I’m not a Jew, so this has nothing to do with me. I didn’t start this.” His question, “What have you done? What have you done to threaten your people and their leaders that makes you a threat to Rome?” Jesus’ answer removes the false claim that Jesus was killed because He spoke truth to power. Jesus’ answer should have brought a sigh of relief to Pilate. Jesus is a king, but not a king of the earthly realm. Certainly this was as puzzling to Pilate as Jesus’ words were to Nicodemus when He told him about being born again. It is clear from the text that Pilate is still in the kingdom of darkness. Perhaps this gives us a small insight into Peter’s attack on Malchus. At that point in time, Peter did think Jesus’ kingdom was of this world. Perhaps he fought so Jesus wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But this verse makes it clear that we who follow Jesus have been transferred out of the kingdom of this world into another kingdom, the kingdom of God. The apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians that God “rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). In Him, our beloved king, we have eternal life. Love is the manifested evidence that we are in Jesus’ kingdom. In a sense, love is our kingdom ID. John wrote in his first epistle in 3:14 that those who love have passed from death to life. May we display everyday that we are not of this worldly kingdom, but servants of Christ our king. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com