Two Kingdoms

Introduction

The first presidential election that I remember was in 1968. Lyndon Johnson had decided not to run for president after serving his first elected term in office. So the field was wide open. There was a lot of unrest in the United States. The anti-war movement was well entrenched. The Equal Rights Law had been signed into law in 1965. With all the turmoil, candidates clearly represented a broad range of values. Herbert Humphrey eventually became the Democratic Nominee. Many thought that Robert Kennedy might become the nominee although he was trailing in the delegate numbers, but he was assassinated in CA. Richard Nixon was the Republican nominee. He eventually won the election. But there was a third candidate—George Wallace. The governor from Alabama was running as an independent candidate. He actually carried five southern states during the election.

What made this such a memorable contest was what was happening at my elementary school. We had mock elections. Students parroted what parents said at home. Most 10 year olds carry the opinions of their parents. It was the first time that I heard my parents endorse a Republican for office. My mother like a lot of Americans cried openly when John Kennedy was assassinated and wrote one letter of encouragement to Lyndon Johnson. She had voted Democratic all of her adult life. But this time was different. I don’t know what the difference was. I do recall her speaking against George Wallace because of his blatant prejudice. It was in Mrs. Glover’s room that we gave political speeches and voted. I voted for Nixon. I lost in the classroom vote. But what I remember even now were the speeches. Such hatred being spoken. Children who played together on the playground now regarded one another as enemies because of a different political view. It was not a proud moment in 4th grade.

I can remember the discomfort I felt not just in losing a classroom election but in the awkwardness of that week leading up to the election. Such has happened again since. Almost every presidential election has brought comments about one candidate or another. At times there are periods of awkwardness as we try to discern who sees things the way I do and who doesn’t. By its very nature, politics divides. Someone or some party is in power. The other is working to figure out how to regain power. Division is the expected result. But this is not new. Our text today reminds us that political power is jealous. It is territorial. It is designed to control. In opposition to that is the kingdom of God. And in our text, Jesus fully represents God’s kingdom in glorious fashion. This portion of his trial in front of Pilate serves to remind us that God’s kingdom is not of this world and that truth is what we seek. Not power. Not control. Not territory. We find harmony in God’s kingdom not division. Let’s renew our commitment to God’s kingdom.

Roman Trial

Jesus is taken from a Jewish court to the Roman court. Pilate is in Jerusalem for the Passover. This major feast often brought with it anti-Rome sentiment. He is there to remind the Jews that Rome is in control. This isn’t so much an attempt to initiate conflict, but to try to avoid it. Any attempt to raise Jewish political desires are to be met with the power of Rome to quickly quash any resistance. Jesus being taken to Pilate in the early morning is not unusual. The business day started early and ended early so that most of the afternoon could be left free for relaxation. Pilate has no idea who Jesus is. The Jews assure him that he is a threat to Rome. Pilate isn’t sure that their assessment is accurate. The irony of the Jews avoiding defilement should not be lost on us. They have already violated their own laws but they want to engage in their religious celebration so they avoid going into the Gentile dwelling. The end justifies the means.

In a brief conversation between Pilate and Jesus we see two things. First, Pilate’s ignorance about Jesus should be noted. If he has heard about this man, there is nothing that has ever caused him political concern. Jesus being called the king of the Jews doesn’t frighten him. He is confident that as a representative of Caesar, that he has greater power than Jesus. But Pilate’s job is to assess the threat against Rome and to act accordingly. Pilate knows that other insurrections have occurred. He is willing to use the might of Rome to end any attempt to cause problems. “Are you the king of the Jews?” is a question designed to assess threat but it is also probably said with equal disbelief and scorn. “You really think you are a king do you?” may be the intent of the question.

Jesus’ response clearly makes a distinction between earthly values and heavenly ones. Jesus’ agenda is not political. He assures Pilate that he has no army. He poses no threat. But then he turns the table. It isn’t Jesus who is on trial but Pilate. Jesus is a king. He came into this world to be a king. But not a political one. He came to be the king of truth. Now Pilate must decide if he will be a loyal subject to truth and the king of truth that stands before him or if he prefers to be loyal to a kingdom of lies, conflict, division.

Second, Pilate’s answer to Jesus indicates that he had nothing to do with truth. Pilate’s world was of the immediate, short-term, expedient world of politics. Truth had no place in his life. He was jaded. He had heard it all. But given the opportunity to acknowledge that truth existed and that real truth is found in God’s ways, Pilate refuses to submit to the king of truth. He is stuck with his own view and refused to humble himself. He is certain of one thing—Rome’s power cannot be pushed aside by a prisoner from Galilee. Jesus is no threat. But the dilemma deepens.

Choices

Like Pilate we have to decide what we believe about this world and God’s kingdom. It is very difficult not to merge America and God’s kingdom. It is easy to believe that what is good for America is good for God’s kingdom. It is easy to paint God as part of a political party. There are those who believe that it is a believer’s obligation to vote and those who equally believe that one ought not to vote. I am quite certain that there is no perfect political party in our nation and to vote for one or the other becomes a matter of personal conscience. Certainly fault can be found with either party in that it doesn’t support the will of God.

It is difficult to ignore Jesus’s words—my kingdom is not of this world. Because that is true for Jesus and we follow him then that is true for us as followers. Personal preference decides about political leanings, but personal conscience must never be allowed to influence how we treat one another. As followers of Jesus, we are going to treat people the way Jesus did. We are going to be light in a world that is dark. In God’s kingdom we are not democrats or republicans. We are children of light. We are sons and daughters of God. We are light. We are empowered by the Spirit of God to bring love, joy, peace, patience, and gentleness into a world that sees far too little of any of those qualities.

Pilate attempts to release Jesus by giving the Jewish leaders a choice. They can choose between the teacher who unknown to Pilate made the religious leaders uncomfortable or he can release one called Barabbas who is a rebellious instigator of trouble for Rome. The religious leaders can choose the man of peace but who is viewed as a trouble maker for them or they can choose the man of war who is a trouble maker for Rome, the Jewish leaders despised enemy. Do you really think they had any trouble deciding?

Again the irony is lost on the Jewish leaders. Barabbas is not a name. For instance, in Matthew 16:17, Jesus says to Peter “Blessed are you Simon Barjonah.” In the NIV this is translated as “son of Jonah.” This is what the word bar means before the name. Barabbas is a patronymic and it means “son of the Father.” Just as Jesus gave Pilate the choice to submit to the King of Truth and he refused. Pilate gives the Jewish leaders the opportunity to choose the Son of the Father they will follow. And they chose according to this world’s kingdom standards.

At some point we chose to follow the King of truth and every day our lives are intended to reflect that confession made. It is so easy to think short-term. It is so easy to think like this world’s kingdom but we are citizens of heaven. We walk in this kingdom and spend our days waiting for the real kingdom to be revealed. Like Elisha in 2 Kings 6 we pray that the eyes of others will be opened to see the kingdom of God surrounding them when their eyes only see what this world allows. God created this world. He gave permission for politics to exist. His desire was always that his creatures would see him as the true King but just as Israel rejected God so has nation after nation rejected God. But we do not belong to this world’s kingdoms.

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