33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “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.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “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.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (John 18:33-38 ESV).
In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.
With this in mind, the Apostle John’s narrative of Pontius Pilate’s second encounter with Jesus is important to examine. Therefore, we deviate from Matthew’s Gospel today to exclusively focus on John’s.
When Herod Antipas sent Jesus back to Pilate, he reentered his headquarters and began his second interrogation of the Lord. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Luke 23:1-2 records the three charges the Sanhedrin brought against Jesus and before Pilate. They were (1) He perverts our nation; (2) He forbids us to pay tribute to the emperor; and (3) He says that he himself is Christ, a king. It was this regarding this third charge Pilate was most concerned. However, Pilate was no one’s fool. He knew the real reason for Jesus’ arrest; the Jewish religious leaders envy of the Lord (Matt. 27:18).
“But, of course, the governor simply could not afford to ignore such charges, not with suspicious Tiberius in the saddle at Rome! So, re-entering the residence (that is, going back to the place from which he had come when the soldiers on guard had reported to him the arrival of the Jews and of their prisoner), he now summoned Jesus—ordering his soldiers to take him out of the hands of the Jewish officers and to bring him inside—, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews” (with all the emphasis on the pronoun),” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.
“There may have been a touch of ridicule in this question, ridicule not directed at Jesus but at those who had brought such charges against such a prisoner. It is as if Pilate is saying, as he looks intently upon this prisoner: “Are you the king of the Jews? How utterly ridiculous such a charge!” But at the same time, he asked the question, and it required an answer. However, before it could be answered, it would have to be explained.”
It was not a simple yes or no question by Pilate. Neither would it require a simple yes or no answer by Jesus. At issue was whether Jesus was a political, earthly king or someone greater. Pilate, and Rome, would view an earthly political rival as a threat to their empire, authority and power. If Jesus was not a political king, then what kind of King was He? This is what Pilate wanted to know.
The Lord’s initial response, and the dialogue which followed, reveal two significantly different worldviews. These two worldviews continue today. One’s allegiance to one or the other determines whether an individual is a believer in Jesus Christ, or not.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 