Monday, May 13 - John 18. (From intern Ryan Anderson)

Monday May 13th- John 18

The Glorious Surrender

“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’” (Jn 18:36).

 

We live in a complex and complicated world with a lot of different organizations, groups, subcultures, etc. How would you describe your affiliations in this world? How many of these would you be willing to stand up and fight for? Your family?Your church? Your God?

 

Once again, we see the account of Jesus’ arrest and the beginnings of his trial before Pilate. Jesus is bound as a common criminal and brought before the Roman governor for questioning. Pilate has a simple question: Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus’ response was equally simple: I am a king, but not in the sense you are thinking.

 

Jesus is the King of the Universe and ruler of the heavenly kingdom. He has shown power over nature, sickness, sin, death, and the devil. He has shown that angels bow at His feet and attend to His needs. He is the God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving.

 

Yet, here He stands as a common criminal, displaying none of those traits. Any good king would fight to maintain his kingdom, right? That’s exactly what He is doing. Jesus, the strongest of the strong, is becoming the weakest of the weak, in order that His subjects, the weakest of the weak, may become strong. Jesus is standing before Pilate fighting for His subjects, by dying the death of a common criminal, and taking on the sin of the world.

 

Thus, it is in the glorious surrender of our God that He gains the greatest victory ever achieved. And He gives us the victory, thatwe too may share in the celebration of Heaven. May our God bring us to that other place, for the sake of Jesus.