Did Pilate Understand the Truth about Jesus?

Tom: We’re continuing with the gospel. We’re in the Gospel of John:18:36Jesus 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 to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
See All.... But first, Dave, why do we go to the Gospel of John? What’s there for us?

Dave: Well, it’s the Bible, number one.

Tom: Good start.

Dave: It has the words of Jesus. It has our redemption, what He did, who He is. But I know what you’re driving at, Tom. We often tell people, start in the Gospel of John. It’s probably the clearest picture of salvation that we have in the Gospels. It doesn’t give us all of the history, it doesn’t give us all of the parables, which you’d have in the other gospels, but it gets right to the point. He is the living Word.

Tom: Right, he tells Nicodemus in it, “Ye must be born again.” That’s critical. That is the gospel. So we’re in John:18:36-38 [36] 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 to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. [37] Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, 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. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. [38] Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
See All..., “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world [of course, He’s speaking to Pilate here]: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king, then? Jesus answered, 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. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”

There are more than a few things for us to take to heart in these passages, Dave.

Dave: Well, Jesus first of all, says His kingdom is not of this world. And if His kingdom were of this world, His servants would fight. Now that doesn’t mean that Jesus would ever have a kingdom of this world, or that He would advocate His servants fighting. He’s pointing out the contrast.

If He were an earthly king, then he would act like other earthly kings, and the only way you can do it is you’ve got to beat the competition. But there’s something else involved here. His kingdom, in fact, is an eternal kingdom. Some people think that the Millennial kingdom is what He’s talking about. But in fact, that’s not the kingdom. We know that the Millennium is not the ultimate kingdom because even Nebuchadnezzar knew that. He said, “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.” Well the Millennium ends in a thousand years.

Isaiah said, “Of his kingdom and peace there will be no end.” Not only does the Millennium end, it ends in war.

Jesus said, “Except a man be born again [we had that in the third chapter, and you just referred to it], except a man be born again, he cannot even see, much less enter the kingdom of God.” But there will be people who haven’t been born-again who will be in the Millennial kingdom. We know that, because when Satan is released, he deceives them, and they come against Jerusalem to destroy Christ.

And then Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “Behold, I show you a mystery. We won’t all die, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye. The dead in Christ shall rise first. We will be changed.” Because He says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So if flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, then the Millennial reign of Christ can’t be the kingdom of God. Because there will be flesh and blood people there.

So what is the Millennium? Tom, we’ve probably mentioned it before. It doesn’t hurt to mention it again. I think the Millennium will be the final proof of the incorrigible evil in the human heart. So even though Christ is here in his resurrected, glorified body, bodily present, ruling and reigning, makes the whole world behave, the rest of us believers are in our resurrected, transformed bodies, ruling with Him—it doesn’t change the human heart. We’ve often used the illustration: You remember communism says, “Well, communism will create a new world. We’ll give everybody a new house, and a new suit of clothes,” and so forth.

Jesus says, “So? You still have the same rascals living in those houses and in those clothes. I will put a new man in every house and in every suit of clothes who will give himself and his heart to me and will trust in me as his Savior.”

So, Christ came and was not of this world. But, Tom, you would know, and we’re not just trying to thump on the Catholic Church, but, in fact, the popes fought with armies and navies to build a vast kingdom. It was worldwide. It took in the entire known world of its time—a kingdom of wealth and power—and yet they claim to be the vicars of Christ; the representatives of Christ.

So obviously, just on the basis of this verse alone, they were not true representatives of Christ. Nor was their church.

Tom: Dave, I used to be in that kingdom. But now, as a believer in Christ, born-again, am I in the kingdom of God?

Dave: Well, the Scripture says, “You’re in the world, but not of it.” Yes, you are in the kingdom of God, because the King makes the kingdom. Without the King, there’s no kingdom. And the King has come to reign in your heart, to live in your heart. So…

Tom: And there will be no end, that’s an everlasting kingdom—it’s without end.

Dave: Exactly. Now there’re some people who think, “Well, now, now, the kingdom—now that’s something in the future,” and they say, “That’s the Millennium. Now don’t be preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Well, the Gospel of the Kingdom was in fact the only gospel—well, I’ll have some arguments from people out there—maybe we’ll get some letters from them, but anyway, the Gospel of the Kingdom was really the only gospel that Jesus preached, that the disciples preached. It’s very clear from the gospels that they preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus went everywhere declaring the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is at hand. So, in Matthew 28, when He said to His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” what could He have been talking about but the very gospel they had been proclaiming.

Now, what does that mean? It means that Christ must come to rule and reign in my heart. It means that if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creation, old things have passed away, all things have become new. Christ—we read it in Colossians, or quoted it from Colossians: “When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him.”

So, there’s a transformation in a Christian when he is born again of the Spirit of God, sealed by the Spirit of God, and Christ comes to live inside of him, we’re in the kingdom, and the kingdom is in us! You can’t away from it.

But this is the eternal kingdom, a new heavens and a new earth that God is going to create.

Tom: Dave, we only have about a minute left, but Jesus is saying He is a king. “Art thou a king, then,” verse 37. Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king.” And He was a King, and He is a King. He had, from a temporal standpoint, he had all of the “papers,” as it were—the bloodline, all of it was there. And to say “Yes” to Pilate.

Dave: Exactly. And He is a King. But then He goes on, and He says, “But you’re not going to know that, and you’re not going to be in my kingdom unless you accept the truth.” So He says, “For this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”

That’s something to ponder for next week.

Tom: Right. One final note: you read the Scriptures, and sometimes you’re surprised at the verses you read, because somehow you never saw what it said before. But I know I’ve been through two or three verses in the last five or six months that said that God is King.

What about that?

Dave: Yes, and that’s why Jesus is God. And all through the Old Testament, Yahweh, Jehovah, says. “There is no Savior but me.” Therefore, if Jesus is the Savior, He must be God.

Tom: Amen.