Is Christ the King? - John 18: 33 - 37

(Bible quotes are from the NRSV, unless otherwise noted)

My literal translation of the passage:
³³ Then  Pilate entered into the headquarters again and he called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
³⁴    Jesus replied, “Are you saying these things from yourself, or from what others said about me?”

³⁵ Pilate replied, “What am I? A Jew?  Your people and the high priests have given you over to me; what did you do?”
³⁶   Jesus replied, “ My kingdom is not from this world; if my kingdom was from this world, my attendants would be fighting in order that the Jews would not arrest me; but now my kingdom is not from here.”
³⁷    Therefore Pilate said to him, “So are you a king?”  Jesus replied, “You are saying that I am a king.  I myself had been born into this thing and into this thing I came into the world, in order that I might bear witness to the truth;  everyone who being in the truth has given heed to my voice.

v.33

Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judaea, had tried to talk the Jews into taking Jesus away and dealing with him themselves, but they had refused.  Pilate must have been in a quandary as to what on earth he was supposed to do with this man.  As far as he could understand, the man had not broken any Roman law, but the Jews seemed to want him executed.  Pilate decided to interview Jesus and see what he could find out.

If Jesus would admit to claiming to be a ruler of the Jews, that would have given Pilate a reason to arrest him, because it would mean that Jesus had been trying to set himself up in opposition to the Roman Emperor. Pilate asked him straight out.  He must have thought that this Jewish 'country hick' from Galilee would either be stupid enough, frightened enough or fanatical enough to admit to any claims he might have been making.

v.34

Jesus, like any skilled lawyer, answered the question with a question.

But Jesus was not just playing word games with Pilate.  Nor was he trying to get himself out of trouble.  We know from his prayer in John 17 that he had accepted this path towards death as an act of obedience to the Father. He had a purpose, which he was not going to wriggle his way out of.  So, why did he answer Pilate's question with another question?

Perhaps Jesus wanted Pilate to begin to think a bit more deeply.  Perhaps he wanted to see where Pilate stood in his motive for interviewing Jesus.  Jesus wanted Pilate to consider whether he was just trying to find a solution to an annoying problem, or whether he really wanted to know who Jesus was and what he stood for?  Even in this situation which was so personally dangerous for Jesus, he could still be concerned for the people he dealt with and I think he was genuinely concerned for Pilate.  I do not think Jesus' question was flippant.

v.35

Pilate took offense at a suggestion that he might be taking notice of what the Jews said and thought.  He reminded Jesus of where he was and why he was there.  He gave Jesus a chance to defend himself.  Perhaps he was reminding Jesus that he, Pilate, represented Roman law, not Jewish law and he was giving Jesus a chance to deny any crime against Roman law and therefore to make it possible for Pilate to free him.

v.36

Again Jesus gave Pilate a chance to question more deeply.  He spoke about a kingdom not of earth - a spiritual kingdom.  If Pilate had been wondering about spiritual matters, he might have seized on this to ask more questions.  Jesus proved his point by suggesting that if he were a king of any part of the earth, he'd have followers fighting to free him.  If he were really rebelling against Roman rule, his followers would surely have been causing more trouble, which they obviously had not been doing.  If Jesus had been a king on earth, where was his army? He wanted Pilate to think it through.

Christians call Jesus 'Lord and King', but he is not the kind of ruler that we find in government of earthly nations who often seem to be in the job for their own prestige and glory.  Jesus showed himself to be a servant, not to have servants.  He does not ask anyone to do only what he says, but to follow and do what he did.  He always 'put his money where his mouth was'; what he said, he did.  Jesus is truly a 'King' worth following.

v.37

Pilate did not have a clue as to what Jesus was talking about.  He thought in terms of his job, his Emperor and the daily problems of government. He latched onto Jesus' mention of 'my kingdom' and accused him, "So you do claim to be a king!"  Now, he thought, he had something to accuse this difficult prisoner.  Now he had an excuse to do something which might appease the Jews.

Jesus' words went right over Pilate's head.  He had no idea what Jesus was talking about. Pilate was not really listening to Jesus, so he could not know the truth. I wonder if Jesus was saddened by Pilate's inability to hear what he was wanting to tell him.  He simply commented, "Well, if that's the way you see it, you could say I'm a king, but I'm not the kind of king you mean."  Jesus came to bring the truth about the coming of God's kingdom on earth and those who really listened to what Jesus had to say could experience the coming of that kingdom in being restored to health or to a livable life as a result of their faith in him.  Those who did not listen properly to what he said missed out.  And that included Pilate.

It is the same today: those who listen to the message of Jesus and believe in him can experience, through faith, a different quality of living.