John 18:33-37

March 17 – John 18:33-37
Jesus is not just a king, he is THE King. This is made very obvious in the Gospels. From the Magi seeking the King of the Jews, to John the Baptist proclaiming “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” to the question and response given in today’s reading.

Now what does it mean that Jesus is THE King? The Jews thought that the Messiah was going to overthrow the Romans and set-up an earthly Kingdom. They are thinking of it in terms of how Israel was under David. The Messiah was supposed to be David’s son and sit on his throne forever. Many Christians today still think that when Jesus comes back, that his kingdom will be set up like how we live in the world now. But Jesus gives a very clear answer to those thoughts: “My kingdom is not of this world.”

This world and all its earthly kingdoms are passing away. The whole point of Jesus becoming flesh was to usher in HIS kingdom. He does this by overthrowing the powers of sin and death by dying on the cross. That’s why he is in the position he is in and why the disciples are not fighting to save him from being delivered to the Jews. It is through his death that we are able to come into his kingdom. In our Baptisms we were baptized into his death so that we could be called children of God. We are already part of his kingdom. We get a glimpse of it everytime we gather for worship. We will see it fully on the last day when the heavens and earth are made new.