John 18:33-34
“So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?’”
Pilate got along as well with the Jews as Democrats do with Republicans. He’s had a tumultuous tenure thus far, enraging the population on several occasions and causing massive protests by his cavalier ways (like bringing the Roman standards into the holy city, for example). So the Jews are leaning on him now. They want Jesus crucified and know that Pilate is concerned with his political survival. Governing in Judea is the equivalent of a military command in the South Pole. More unrest could very well end his career because, quite frankly, there was no where left to go.
Pilate’s question is probably asked with frustration. He knows that he’s in the middle of some kind of theological dispute but is savvy enough to recognize the political danger it poses to him. Christ comes to men in such ways. He comes in ways and times that test our ties to the world.
In asking his question, Pilate is really asking Jesus, “are you a traitor to Rome?” This claim of kingship, trumped up against Him by the Jews, isn’t what it seems on the surface. It’s a charge of sedition. But when our enemies accuse us of things that are untrue we often gain an ample view into their own souls. In accusing Jesus of political motivations – which He clearly had none – the Jewish leaders are pulling back the curtain to their own wretched, ambitious hearts. They are the ones that want kingship at any cost. And Pilate can see this in the way they manipulate the crowds; men of evil always resort to force to “prove” their argument and there is no greater force than the fist of government. This is what Pilate wields: the weight of Roman military power and glory. If the Pharisees could achieve it, they would rush in and crush Pilate for their own political freedom and authority. But they have had Jesus preaching these three years past, with amazing signs and wonders to verify His authority from heaven, and they have hated Him because He has not come as they want Him to come. Jesus offers peace with God. Jesus heralds the Kingdom of God. Jesus offers freedom from sin to all who will humble themselves and repent and turn to Him. The Pharisees want none of this; they want the kingdom of man and that’s exactly the kingdom that Pilate represents.
This is the heart of Jesus’ question to Pilate. He knows what’s in the hearts of men – their petty ambitions for the vanities and quickly vanishing things of the world. But there’s another thing at play here too: Jesus is never intimidated by authority because He is the ultimate authority. He is the living Word. He is the God-man, come in the flesh, broken into time and space for our redemption. And here stands God before the world’s representative. This whole sham trial is the self-same fiasco that plays out today. God offers men salvation and heaven but they must humble themselves, repent, and seek first God’s kingdom. Men don’t want righteousness, though. They want the trinket thrones of life more than truth. They’d have the latest technology, an address in the right zip code, the relevant job and degree, and a status car. Sinners don’t want God’s kingdom because they want their own. This is the truth and it plays out every day in every unsaved heart that mockingly says, “Are you really a king? I think you’re just a figment of weak-minded imaginations, etc.”
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