142. Monday after Third Sunday in Lent.
Lord Jesus, grant that we may hear thy voice. Amen.
John 18, 33-38. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? and when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
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Jesus is not the king of the Jews in the sense in which Pilate puts the question to him. Had he made use of his omnipotence in order to wield the sceptre of an earthly king, he would not now have been standing before the governor, accused and derided by the chief rulers of his people. The Jews would, in that case, have done homage to him; for then he would have been such a Messiah as they desired. — We, also, have much of this same spirit. It is easy enough to complain of the blending together of the church and the temporal power as being a church-state or a state-church; but it is more difficult to renounce one’s own appetite for rule, and to live in the truth that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world. We wish to begin reigning with Christ here on earth. To be trodden under foot; to be despised and slandered, and endure it in silence; to walk with him the way that leads through suffering and death; this we find difficult; difficult to understand, and difficult to practice. Our king shall help us.
As he confessed before the council that he is the Son of God, so he confesses before Pilate that he is king. He knows very well what will be the result of this declaration; that he will be mocked with dreadful blasphemy, that he will be outraged, and crowned with thorns; but he goes straight onward against all the daggers of death, and steps not aside by the breadth of a hair from his kingly course. He also knows that the heart of Pilate is as a lump of fat; yet with tireless patience he continues to pour the water of his grace upon it, to exercise his royal right to extend mercy, and to preach his truth unto salvation. At the very time when he is being condemned and suffers death for the whole world, he labors with the individual unhappy soul which is before him. — Pilate asks of him what he has done. Yes; what is the kingly office of Jesus? If Pilate had been in earnest when he inquired after the truth, he would himself have been made able to give the answer which you and I have learned from blessed experience: Jesus has vanquished the devil and destroyed death; he has founded a kingdom of salvation, in which he gives to the souls righteousness, peace and joy through his Holy Spirit; he has brought me out of the darkness, regenerated me, given me power to trample sin under foot, given me an heritage in heaven; he comforts and heals me every day, and gives me patience, and sustains me, and never for a moment loses me out of his keeping. Pilate might have answered further: Christ defends his church, leads his people, guides them through the wilderness; and soon he shall give them for their tribulations everlasting glory. His kingdom endures forever, and his throne does not totter; it is built on the eternal rock of truth. “Every one that is of the truth heareth his voice.” It was merely a piece of impertinent pretense on the part of Pilate when he asked: “What is truth?” and therefore he remained a stranger to the kingly office of Christ. Hear it ye, then, who thirst after light and salvation; let it be heard round about in all the earth: Here is truth and victory and eternal life, here and in none other place; nowhere out of the kingdom of Christ is anything but darkness and death. Whom will ye follow and obey, Jesus or Pilate? What shall rule over you, truth or falsehood? Do not wait; make your choice now. For the sake of your soul’s salvation, take up the cross, and give your heart to Jesus.
Precious Savior, speak thy word of truth to us, and draw our hearts to thee in true repentance and living faith. Thine will we be; and thee will we serve. Give us this salvation, and accept our poor thanks for thy ineffable grace. Amen.
Jesus, thy boundless love to me
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
Unite my thankful heart to thee,
And reign without a rival there.
Thine wholly, thine alone I am;
Be thou alone my constant flame.