Back to Sermons Index

The King of Truth
John 18: 33 – 38

Spencer C. Lawrence, Church of the Cross, Hoffman Estates, IL, November 26, 2006

Truth can be stranger than fiction. Here are some examples of real state laws that defy explanation. In Alabama it is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle. In California community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from playfully jumping over puddles of water. In Connecticut you can be stopped by the police for riding a bicycle over 65 miles per hour and you are not allowed to walk across a street on your hands. In the state of Florida women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner; a special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing; and men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. In Louisiana biting someone with your natural teeth is "simple assault," while biting someone with your false teeth is "aggravated assault."  And in our own state of Illinois it is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals kept as pets. It is hard to imagine what lawmakers must have been thinking when they passed these laws. Truth can indeed be stranger than fiction.

Pilate had seen a lot of strange things in his life. But nothing was stranger to him than Jesus. John tells us about an interview Jesus had with Pilate. In it Pilate was searching for facts – facts about Jesus’ claim to be a king. He began with almost polite, almost sympathetic questions. The interview ended with a sad, cynical question about the nature of truth. Pilate could deal with Jewish pretenders to the throne, but he didn’t know what to do with this One who claimed to be the king of truth.

Prior to meeting Jesus for the first time Pilate likely had been talking with the religious leaders because he began by asking Jesus about his alleged claim to be a king. The religious leaders had been trying to build a case against Jesus by painting him as a revolutionary who aspired to drive out the Romans and assume the throne in Jerusalem. This would have been of interest to Pilate who had been charged with the responsibility of keeping the residents of Palestine safely under Roman control. Armed with this information and mindful of his responsibility to Rome, Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you really a king?” Jesus’ answer wasn’t very helpful. He asked Pilate, “Did you come up with this question by yourself or did someone else give you the idea to ask it?” If Pilate had come up with the question himself then there might be some hope for him spiritually. If he asked it because the Jewish authorities had told him to ask it, then he was just playing his role as a Roman functionary. Pilate responded by saying in effect, “Are you crazy? Your own nation and chief priests have turned you in. What have you done to deserve such treatment?

On the face of it the whole scene seems a little surreal. Here was Pilate a governor of a small Roman province asking a prisoner if he were a king. What kind of king would he be? What sort of king was held captive? There have been kings like that, of course. Charles II of England lost his head to revolutionaries. As did Louis XIV of France. And here was Jesus accused by the people he was supposed to rule, and held captive by Roman authorities. More than that, he wasn’t doing anything to save himself. In fact, he seemed to be participating in the entire charade. What kind of king was this?

The truth was – and is – that Jesus was a king unlike any king born before or since. He hadn’t been born in a palace. He had not lived in the lap of luxury. He had no one to wait on him. He was a common working man, and he appealed to those same people. Sure, some rich people followed him, but his disciples were just everyday folks. And he was a king who was about the plumb the depths of pain and suffering – and not just physical pain, but also spiritual pain, separation from God for our sakes. This unusual trajectory of his life showed, as Isaiah the prophet noted, that God’s ways are not the same as our ways, nor are God’s thoughts like ours. Just because a king is held captive, just because a king will suffer and die doesn’t mean that he’s not a real king. You see, in Jesus God was dealing with human sin. As counter-intuitive as it may have seemed, it was necessary that Jesus the king be arrested, tried, convicted and executed so the rest of the world could go free. By his actions Jesus was telling the amazing truth that even though he was born a king, he gained his throne through an agonizing death. And that same death yielded forgiveness and salvation for us.

When asked what sort of a king he was Jesus told Pilate that he was indeed a king, but that his kingdom was not of this world. If his kingdom had been for this world then his followers would have taken up arms to keep him from being handed over to the authorities. His kingdom was not of the earth – not from that time or place. Pilate must have been a little relieved because he asked, “So you admit that you are a king?” He had gotten Jesus to confess to something he could actually charge him with if he wanted to. What Pilate didn’t grasp – likely could never have grasped – was that Jesus, while admitting to being a king, was a king of a realm that was far removed from the politics of that day.

What was Jesus saying? Jesus was telling the truth about the nature of reality, about what’s most important. He said the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom and not a political kingdom. Like Pilate, it is easy for us to assume that what you see is what you get. Nothing more. Nothing less. But nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus is saying that the ultimate realities are spiritual and that God our Father expects us to seek the spiritual kingdom more eagerly than we seek the earthly kingdom. As I said last week Jesus came announcing the kingdom of God. By it he meant the rule or reign of God. Jesus’ actions showed what God’s rule was like. He blessed children, welcomed outcasts, fed the hungry, healed the sick, raised the dead and forgave sinners. More than that, Jesus taught his disciples to live in new ways. He told them to avoid trying to gain power over each other. (That was the way the Gentile leaders operated. Still do.)  Instead, they were to serve each other, forgive each other and love each other in the same way he had served and love them. In short, Jesus’ kingdom is not geographic. It’s not tied to any nation, land or people. Jesus’ kingdom is a spiritual kingdom which includes women and men, boys and girls who are allowing God to rule in their lives.

In our world it’s easy to think about the world as a clash of nation states or even cultures. It’s easy to conclude that the decisions that really matter are the decisions that determine our physical and economic safety. And those decisions are important – don’t get me wrong. But they are penultimate – important, but not most important - matters. Jesus was saying that the ultimate – the first order – decisions are those that are made in our hearts. And they have to do with whether or not we’re going to welcome God’s gift in Jesus Christ and whether we’re prepared to commit to live according to Jesus’ way. Jesus the king redefines what’s important. He tells us the truth about what really matters.

In response to Pilate’s apparent delight at Jesus’ admission that he was a king, Jesus said, “You say that I am a king.” In effect, he was saying to Pilate, “What you say is the truth. I am a king.” He added, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” To this Pilate responded with the cynical question, “What is truth?” By this question, Pilate showed that he didn’t belong to the truth.

At one level Jesus’ statement about those who belong to the truth could be a little troublesome because it suggests that only those who already belong to the truth can hear what Jesus is saying. It could be interpreted to mean we have no choice in the matter, that everything is predestined. But I don’t think that is exactly what Jesus is saying here. Instead, Jesus was telling Pilate that if he wanted to know the truth, then he should listen to what he [Jesus] was saying. Jesus, the king of truth, knew what he was talking about. As a king he spoke with authority. Pilate should listen to him and not the Jewish authorities. He should listen to Jesus and not the emperor. But he chose not to.

With these words, Jesus hints at an appropriate response for us. He said that everyone who belongs to the truth listens to his voice. The way we can belong to the truth and continue to belong to the truth is by paying attention to Jesus. Instead of posing unanswerable questions, instead of speculating on hypothetical situations, instead of coming up with all sorts of excuses for not doing what he clearly calls us to do, Jesus invites us listen to what he says and then do it. As we do we will discover that Jesus knows what he is talking about, that he really is the king of truth.

Back to Sermons Index

Church of the Cross
475 Higgins Road
Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60169
 (847)885-1199