Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
John 18:37
As Jesus stands before Pilate, His crucifixion looms just a few short hours away. And Pilate keeps confronting Jesus about kingdoms and authority. But the problem is that Pilate's limited terms of rule and Jesus' actual purposes are not nearly the same. Pilate is severely handicapped through secular limitation to talking strictly human kingdoms and authority on this earth. Jesus is talking about it in the view of having created all people and hence all kingdoms.
Jesus gets to the root of Pilate's attempt to pin sedition on Him by revealing to Pilate His true purpose: to proclaim God's truth to the world so that those who hear this truth can make the choice to obey Jesus. That puts Jesus as a much higher authority than any king, answering only to the Father to be the judge of His actions.
Since I hear and believe the truth in Jesus, He is thus my King. And I need a King! Oh how I need a ruler over this heart! I will obey what my crucified and risen King asks of me. I will not be distracted by mere earthly games of political authority. Jesus is the Truth, and no earthly ruler can possibly change, inhibit, or destroy that fact.
My King,
Your crown of thorns, bejeweled with Your own blood, was worn for me. The nails through your wrists became Your ruling scepter extended over me. Your cross... Your throne. Your empty tomb... a royal hall. Oh rule over me in truth now, Jesus.
Amen
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