Sermon by Mike Stutso, Deacon In Training, based on John 18:33-37
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Ruler, dictator, commander and chief, emperor, monarch, Caesar, czar, Kaiser, governor, King of the Jews, King of Kings, our Lord and Savior. So today is Christ the King Sunday also known as The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a festival that was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. It is a Magnification of the Feast of the Ascension to honor Jesus as lord over all creation.
I can see how today’s Gospel fits right into this feast day and I hope that after I speak you too will see the correlation. To better understand today’s reading, one should go before and after the text as I did to see the story in a bigger and better light.
If we go back just a few verses, we see that Jesus has been taken by the soldiers and police to the Annas and Caiaphas the high priest for questioning. After that they took him to the headquarters of Pontius Pilate which was the Praetorium his official residence located on the west side of Jerusalem. The high priest and those helping him would not enter the headquarters as to avoid ritual defilement and that way they could eat the Passover.
So, Pilate went out to them and asks, what did he do? And what did they say, “If this man was not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you”. Pilate then says: “Then you take him and judge him according to your laws”.
Now here is where things get real interesting, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death”! SAY WHAT! Let me wrap my head around this, we can’t come into your building because of Passover, but here is Jesus, we need you to crucify him because our laws won’t allow this.
Now what is the word I’m thinking about, oh I know, HYPOCRITE, and why? Because in the Torah are the 10 Commandments and number six says “Thou shalt not kill”. Wow there’s some loving Christians for ya. They just wanted Pilate to do their dirty work so they wouldn’t have the blood of Jesus on their hands. Well guess what, history has not been kind to anyone involved in the death of Jesus.
What I did was to look at all of this with open-mindedness and love, so I could see this was prophesy, this is why Jesus was born for this very moment in history. I almost feel sorry for them.
I feel for Judas, how do you think he felt when Jesus whispered to him, Judas must you betray me with a kiss. Or Peter who denied Jesus three times. That could be called betrayal, how about the Apostles laying low, is that an act of betrayal? The Pharisees and Jews betrayed him, even Pilate betrayed him as a human being who should have protected him.
But I don’t have to defend them because verse 32 does that for me, “This was to fulfill what Jesus said when he indicated what kind of death he was to die”. In other words, all involved in the crucifixion of our master were fulfilling prophecy, they didn’t have much of an input in the matter.
So, Pilate is getting ready to jump right into a religious dispute, this is something he doesn’t have the whole story on and obviously does not want to be involved in. You know he probably hates that he is not in Rome, and he has to govern a bunch of Jews that he does not seem to like. But he has to go back in, so he asks “Are you the King of the Jews?
Man, he jumps into it with both feet and obviously Pilate does not comprehend who Jesus is. Pilate is thinking of an earthly kingdom of this cosmos not a heavenly kingdom. Pilate at this point is stuck between a rock and a hard spot, is Jesus a threat to Rome? Because this man does not look or act like a king even the Jews did not accept him or see him like a king David, they were expecting a giant gladiator that would save them from Roman control.
At this time in history, Rome was worried about any person or group that could cause Rome any trouble or disruption. So, if Jesus is who they say he is, and Pilate does not put him to death then it just might be Pilate’s head on a silver platter. But if Jesus is not a threat, then death is not warranted. Also, the fact there is all those Jews outside wanting blood. Now Jesus did what he is good at, by saying “Do you ask this on your own or did others tell you about me?”
This answer made me think of a couple of things. First, something Fr. Chris told us was that it is said that in the New Testament Jesus was asked 305 questions of which he only answered three of them. I thought to myself here we go with one of those questions. Then another thought was, OH! Jesus just turned the table now, he is asking the questions. Or just maybe Jesus is really saying that he understands politics, we all know politics, it wasn’t much different back then than it is now of days. It’s not always if ever about what the people want but what those in charge want, based on control and greed, not the desire or needs of the ordinary people. By the way, in my humble opinion, this control applies equally across both sides of the aisle, they only care about power.
Jesus knew what happened outside; those loving individuals were trash talking him and calling for his death. Or is he saying, you really don’t have the authority you think you have. Now Pilate answers: “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and chief priest have handed you over to me”. Here I believe Pilate is showing his dislike and disrespect for all Jewish people. Even then he was willing to give the Jews a little of what they want because he wanted them to see him as an ally. Also confirming to Jesus, that he is the Roman governor and yes they turned him over to him.
But it really shows that Pilate still doesn’t understand who Jesus really is when he asks him “What have you done?” Jesus finally tries to make Pilate understand by confirming, in a way only Jesus can, that is by not answering directly (again) by saying, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
So now Jesus has confirmed he is a king, a heavenly king and that he is divine. A kingdom not of this cosmos/earth, his kingdom is beyond Pilate’s comprehension maybe he is thinking his kingdom is from down the road a spell. He is not seeing that Jesus is not a threat to him, Rome or anyone of this cosmos. But if he was his followers would be tearing that place apart to protect him.
Pilate shows he is not getting it or is he just trying again to trap Jesus when he says “So you are a king?” Jesus eludes a direct answer but gives him an acceptable one by saying. “You say I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”. Jesus is truly stating that he is divine and that he has the final authority over all of God’s creation. Let’s face it, Jesus is not really a victim, he is fulfilling the Father’s desires, and this was the reason he was born fully human.
This made me think of something, Fr. Chris said this week and my interpretation of this statement. That it is not really Pilate vs. Jesus but control vs. faith and for me kingdom vs. kingdom. That control is an earthly kingdom, and that greatness is viewed by that control, who is the biggest bully on the block and telling everyone else what to do.
Jesus’ kingdom is not a cosmos kingdom, no castles, no walls, no throne, no need for armies or politics. It’s a heavenly kingdom for all who believe, it’s not based on denomination, skin color, gender, where we live, or social status. It’s based on love and that love is the truth, Jesus is the truth and this should motivate us to follow the truth and then to share this truth with all peoples.
AMEN