Are You the King of the Jews?

Lesson #307

The Jews were not backing down and wanted a death sentence from Pilate against Jesus. “So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”” (John 18:33 ESV). At this point this is a private investigation because the Jews would not enter the headquarters of Pilate because of causing ceremonial pollution for them. Pilate called Jesus to him and asks if he considered himself to be the King of the Jews. Pilate knew the charges the Jews had against Jesus because he granted permission for the Roman cohort to go and arrest him. The Jews made up the claim that Jesus wanted to be a secular king over Israel, a charge the Jews knew to be false, but this is the best they could do, hoping that Pilate would believe their false charge and sentence him. However, Pilate wanted to ask Jesus plainly about it to see how he would respond.

“Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”” (John 18:34 ESV). The issue is regarding the meaning of “king” and over which kingdom. From our study, the Jewish people wanted Jesus as king of an earthly kingdom like David was, but Jesus has been trying to get them to see that he was talking about a future kingdom of born again believers. If Jesus was looking forward to establishing an earthly kingdom, then Pilate would have reason to sentence him.

“Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?”” (John 18:35 ESV). Asking the question, “Am I a Jew?” implies that Pilate is not and as a result he is not likely to be influenced by Jewish prejudices. Since charges against Jesus have come from his own nation, from his own countrymen and from the highest authority among his people, they are worthy of deepest attention. The question, “What have you done?” is an attempt to get Jesus to evaluate why he has been charges. Pilate wants to know what Jesus thinks he might have done to so upset the Jews.

The response Jesus gives will be looked at in out next lesson.

Prayer

Father, I carefully watch the statistics of readers by country, looking for any anomalies that might warrant special prayer. Several months ago strong readership in a country of persecution abruptly stopped. I learned it was related to a new law passed against Christians there. Recently those counts returned very strong for several weeks and then abruptly disappeared again. It is my prayer that those who were reading in that country were not identified and taken into custody. I understand this as I came close to being picked up when I served in Asia. I feel a oneness with my readers and pray for their protection.