John 18:36

John 18:36 says, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered unto the Jews: but now My kingdom is not of hence.  Jesus did not directly answer Pilates question but told him the kingdom He was King of was not of this world.  If Jesus was establishing an earthly kingdom, He would have His followers fighting the Jews.  We today spend a lot of time fighting the world, but is that what Jesus really wants us to do?  Just as His kingdom was not of this world, neither is ours.  Where do we draw the line between witnessing to and battling the world?  I am not sure exactly where the line should be drawn, but I am sure that God would never say, "Kill them all, and let Me sort it out."  Verse thirty-seven adds, Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a king then?  Jesus answered him, Thou sayest that I am a king.  To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice.  Jesus came for one purpose, and that was to redeem mankind.  He was not here to establish an army and a worldly kingdom, but to call the lost people of the world to Him, even those that professed to be following the Father already.  It is not enough to say we follow Christ without recognizing the truth of Christ.  If we are of the truth, that is, His followers, then we recognize His voice.  We should be attuned enough to God through the Holy Spirit to recognize what He is saying to us.  Christ's kingdom in this world is in the hearts of His followers.  It is not in a geographic location but is worldwide.  His followers are not characterized by any dividing factor, but by the uniting factor of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.  Sometimes, I believe that we live as though this world is the most important thing to us.  We spend a majority of our time and resources on earthly things when we are called on to lay up treasures in heaven.  Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world, and He wasn't fighting to claim it.  He laid down His life for the world.  What are we as His followers expected to do?

John 18:34

John 18:34 says, Jesus answered Him, Sayest these things of thyself, or did others tell it to the of Me?  Jesus wanted to know why Pilate was asking the question.  Jesus had done nothing to imply that He was attempting to overthrow the government, as the question to Him implied.  Jesus wanted to know if others had brought these charges if Pilate had considered their motives.  We may be accused of many things as followers of Christ, and many times they are based on lies or rumors that have no basis in facts.  Verse thirty-five adds, Pilate said, Am I a Jew?  Thine own nation and chief priests hath delivered Thee unto me.  What hast Thou done?  Pilate did not want to be identified as a Jew, and certainly not as a follower of Jesus.  There are people today who may not really understand what Christianity teaches, but they would be very offended to be identified as a Christian.  Pilate then tells Jesus His own people brought Him to Pilate.  That was a sad estate for God's people to be in.  They were so caught up in religion that they did not recognize the Messiah.  We today need to be careful that we do not become the same.  We need to ensure that we know what God really teaches, and not what we want Him to teach.  We cannot wrap our own beliefs in Christianity and claim that is God's will.  We need to study God's word under the leadership of the Holy Spirit to make sure we do know what His word says.  We sometimes let tradition be more important than what the Bible, God's word, actually teaches.  For example, we have Christmas plays based on three wise men, but there is no mention of three wise men in the Bible.  Some even go so far as to name them, but again, there certainly are no names given.  Though numbering the wise men at three does not change the Gospel, when we become so caught up in the tradition that we will not admit that the Bible doesn't say this, then it is a problem.  We need to make sure that what we teach about God is what His word teaches.

John 18:31

John 18:31 says, Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye Him, and judge Him accordingly to your Law.  The Jews therefore said unto him, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death."  Pilate, the governmental ruler, put the fate of Jesus back in the hands of the religious leaders.  Whether he did this to mock their power under Roman rule or to mock their law that they could put a person to death without real proof of the charges is unclear.  Either way, they could not accomplish what they wanted, the death of Jesus, without the help of the government.  They had gotten away from God once again and were under the control of another powerful government.  As followers of Christ, we need to be careful about looking to the government to solve disputes among believers.  If we are indeed subjects of the God of the universe, we should be able to resolve our own problems among ourselves.  Verse thirty-two adds, That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He spake, signifying what death He should die.  When anyone, even religious leaders, is in conflict with the word of God, God's word will prove to be true. Verse thirty-three continues, Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto Him, Art Thou the king of the Jews?  If Pilate really thought Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews, it shows how little respect he had for them.  Here was a lowly man, bound by His own people, brought before Pilate for the express purpose of having Him put to death.  That is not much of a king in the eyes of the world, but Jesus came not only to be King of the Jews, but King of the whole world.  Though Pilate may have seen Jesus as defeated already, Jesus was really about to start His reign as redeemer.  The powers of the world today may mock the power of Christians, but we are living under the reign of Christ.  His kingdom started at the cross.  We as His followers are part of that kingdom, and we serve the most powerful, eternal King.  There really is never a reason to live in doubt and fear.  We know the outcome, and we are victorious through Christ.

John 18:28

John 18:28 says, Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgement hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover.  They took Jesus to the Roman officials to be tried.  They could not legally put Him to death, since He had done nothing to warrant a death penalty.  They also knew the Roman method of execution, which was crucifixion, which they probably thought would discredit Jesus.  They went early, possibly two or three in the morning.  They were in a hurry, but they didn't go in for fear of touching a Gentile and defiling themselves.  They were bringing Jesus to be tried and put to death on false charges but were afraid touching someone considered unclean would prevent them from worshipping God.  We today need to make sure we don't allow rituals to get in the way of our relationship to God.  We cannot separate life into the secular and the spiritual.  If something is wrong, as followers of Christ, it is wrong.  There are not two realms where we can say that something is wrong in one but okay in the other.  We also need to make sure that we don't allow worship services to keep us from reaching out to the lost.  Verse twenty-nine adds, Then Pilate went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man. Pilate saw Jesus as only another man, not the Son of Man.  He also needed to know what Jesus was accused of, especially since He was brought in so early.  Pilate was following Roman law.  There had to be charges stated, if not written.  Verse thirty continues, They answered and said unto him, If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up unto you.  They really didn't have any charges, but they pronounced Jesus guilty already.  We should not be surprised if we are condemned falsely today.  We, as followers of Christ, at are often said to believe things that are not true.  For example, if we stand against sin, we are accused of hating the sinner. When there are no accurate charges, they are made up.  We can only stand firm in the truth.

John 18:25

John 18:25 says, And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.  They said therefore unto him, Are not thou also one of His disciples?  He denied it and said, I am not.  Peter had moved away from the door of the palace where Jesus was taken to the fire to warm himself.  Peter may have been disappointed that Jesus wasn't fighting back.  He was ready to fight but not to ready to lay down his life for Jesus without trying to destroy those he saw as enemies.  We as followers of Christ may be ready to destroy His enemies physically, but we are called to love them.  This has not changed since Christ died on the cross.  Peter again denied being one of Jesus' disciples.  If we are confronted with a dangerous situation because we are followers of Christ, how will we react. Too often we deny, or at best just don't profess, being His followers if the situation just makes us uncomfortable.  Like Peter, we may look to our physical needs and deny our relationship to Christ.  Verse twenty-six adds, One of the servants of the high priest, being His kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the Garden with Him?  Peter had confronted the man with a sword and physically harmed him, but now he was confronted only with words.  We may stand the test during times of a threat, but if we are acting on our own power instead of God's, we may falter at the least of threat.  Sometimes it is easier to make what we see as a heroic stand than it is to follow in service to God daily.  Then verse twenty-seven adds, Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crew. Peter had made a declaration of undying devotion to Jesus, but he was basing it on his own strength, still not understanding Who Jesus was.  If we make claims about our faith in God, it must be based on His strength and not our own.  Jesus told Peter he would deny him, and he did.  Unless we are fully committed to following Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, we too are in danger of denying Him, either by words or actions.

John 18:22

John 18:22 says, And when He had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand saying, Answereth thou the high priest so?  Jesus had told them the truth, and they were angry.  There was no law that said a person could not answer the high priest truthfully.  Jesus did not threaten him or even berate him.  Also, evidently the high priest had taken on a role of power instead of service.  If religious leaders today take on a role where they are worshipped as much or more than God, then there is a problem.  Verse twenty-three adds, Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou Me?  Jesus was telling the man if He spoke evil, then he should address the evil, but there was no reason to hit Him.  This was true not only because Jesus had not said anything evil about the high priest, but also because He had only truthfully answered the question asked Him.  When people do not want to hear the truth, they often lash out and sometimes become violent.  We, as followers of Christ, need to simply make sure that we speak the truth and never lash out at others in anger.  Jesus did not retaliate when He was struck.  He simply asked why the man felt he had the right to do what he did.  The truth sometimes angers people, and they strike out at the one speaking it.  They may even physically attack the person presenting the truth.  As followers of Christ, that doesn't give us the right to strike back.  We simply need to continue to proclaim the truth.  If people don't want to hear it, we can do nothing about that.  Verse twenty-four continues, Now Annas had sent Him bound unto Caiaphas.  Even when Jesus was bound, the religious leaders still saw Him as a threat.  Of course, He was only bound because He chose to be.  When the world thinks it has bound up God, it needs to look more closely at what is really happening.  The world will never bind God.  We as His followers need to live in the power of that truth.

John 18:19

John 18:19 says, The high priest the asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His doctrine.  It would seem that the high priest would know the things if he was accusing Jesus of speaking against Judaism.  The fact is many today speak out against Christianity without any knowledge of what Christ taught.  Verse twenty adds, And Jesus answered him, I spake openly in the world; I ever taught openly in the synagogue, and the temple, where the Jews always resort; and in secret I have said nothing.  Jesus was basically telling the high priest that if he wanted to know what Jesus was teaching, he simply had to come and listen. If people today want to know what Christianity teaches, the simply need to come and listen.  Jesus went to where the religious leaders should have been, the synagogue and the temple, to preach. The high priest should have been very familiar with what Jesus taught, but having arrested Jesus, he was still looking for something to charge Him with.  People of the world today attempt to discredit Christians without anything to charge them with.  They, like the religious leaders in Jesus' day have to make up things to try to discredit Christians.  Verse twenty-one adds, Jesus continues, Why asketh thou Me?  Ask them which heard Me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.  After telling the religious leaders they should have personally known what He was teaching, He then told them to ask those that heard Him.  They did not have to just take His word for it, though that should have been enough.  If people today want to know what Jesus taught, if they have not encountered Him personally, they should be able to ask Christians what He teaches. They may not come to the church, but they should encounter Christians out in the world.  We must tell them and show them through our lives what Jesus really taught.  We cannot divide life into religious and secular.  The world may attempt to do this, but for the Christian it is impossible.  The teachings of Christ apply to every aspect of life.