John 18:36
Jesus answered, “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.”
One more thought on Jesus’ declaration that his kingdom is not of this world. I have often read Jesus’ statement that “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over…” as a statement disavowing his connection to this kingdom. That is, if this conflict were happening in his kingdom, then indeed his followers would fight, but since it was happening in this other kingdom, a kingdom that cannot keep hold of him, his followers do not get involved.
But a colleague recently suggested another way to look at this passage, suggesting that Jesus’ declaration testifies to his rejection of violence as part of God’s kingdom. That is, Jesus is saying that were he of this world – the world of tyrants and emperors and might-makes-right – then he would have followers willing to fight for him. In this world, the ends justify the means, even violent means. But perhaps Jesus is rejecting that philosophy altogether, testifying that God’s kingdom simply cannot be brought about by violence.
This past weekend we marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches. Which brings to mind Martin Luther King Jr.’s statement that “darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. And hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Similarly, he described nonviolence as “a powerful and just weapon that cuts without wounding and ennobles the one who wields it.” King’s logic, you see, is the logic of the kingdom Jesus proclaims.
Pontius Pilate, of course, would have been utterly dumbfounded by such reasoning. All he knows is a world of power through violence. But Jesus invites another way to think of power, and that is the road of power through vulnerability, power through love. It was utterly foreign to Pilate and is often quite foreign to us as well. Which is why Jesus ultimately doesn’t just invite this way of thinking, but rather lives it; or more accurately, dies modeling it that we may see God’s vindication of him and the way of love in the resurrection.
Prayer: Dear God, having shown us the power of love in the death and resurrection of your Son, teach us how to love others that we may walk the way of peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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