Wesley Menke

21 November 2021

Sermon ~ Cristo Rey

Everything about the Gospel reading from John 18 is very symbolic and full of meaning. The words have both a surface level meaning, and a deeper spiritual meaning. What Pilate and some Judean leaders intend for trial and condemnation are flipped into a coronation and evangelization. 

Pilate calls Jesus into the palace. Pilate unwittingly brings Jesus into a palace, a place for royalty and kings. He is vesting Jesus with royal power and place. Pilate asks Jesus earnestly and out of curiosity, “Are you the king of the Jews or Judeans?” It sounds less like an accusation and more like a genuine curiosity. One has to wonder if Pilate has learned about the history of the Jewish people, and the expectation of a Messiah, a king?

Jesus then asks Pilate if he is asking on his own behalf, or because others have told him. What Jesus is doing here, is learning about Pilate, and assessing where he is on his own journey of faith. It’s remarkable that Jesus doesn’t escalate things into a confrontation, but calmly seeks to get to know Pilate, arguably the most powerful man in all the region, not as someone to be feared, but as another human being to minister to. Jesus wants to know if Pilate is just, “doing his job” or if he has a deeper interest or longing to connect with the divine.

Pilate seems to detect the personal nature of Jesus’ question, and no doubt the penetrating gaze of Christ upon his soul, because he deflects the question by pointing to obvious talking points. He says in some words, “Do I look like a Jew to you?” In other words he tries to deny his personal interest or involvement. He tacks to the position of, “I am an outsider simply ruling your bizarre people.” He says that Jesus’ own people, nation, and religious leaders have handed him over to Pilate. By saying this, Pilate is at the same time trying to depersonalize himself, and insinuating that Jesus is being rejected, judged, and ostracized by his own people. He tops it off with, “What have you done?” In other words, what have you done wrong in order to incur this wrath from people you’d think would want to love and care for you? All of this would be enough to make the feelings and reactions of most any person flare, but that’s not what happens to Jesus.

Jesus responds with, “My kingdom is not of this world.” When we read and hear or even see bumper stickers with the phrase, “Not of this World,” our immediate impression is spiritual. Jesus’ kingdom is a spiritual kingdom from heaven and God and therefore not of the physical earthly world. But that is only a fraction of what Jesus is saying. His words are very political and confrontational in nature. You can imagine Jesus maintaining a peaceful calm composure with a docile bowing of his head, but the words that he utters cuts to the heart of Pilate and the entire geo-political reality of the epoch. “My kingdom is not of this world.” Rome and it’s Caesar were the rulers of the entire world. Their power was so absolute, and the