It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Pilate Questions Jesus, a Reflection on John 18:33-37

Pilate's questions: Are you the King of the Jews? What have you done that has caused you to be arrested? 

Pilate's job is to protect his government and he wants to know if this man Jesus is a threat to peace and stability.

Jesus responds that he is not the kind of king that Pilate has been trained to watch out for. He doesn't have an army, for example.

Pilate asks again: Are you a king? Jesus responds "That's what you say," then adds some remarks that I think would have been unintelligible to Pilate:
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.
And, isn't it hard to understand how truth can prevail without having an army? without being a threat to powerful people? How can we defend ourselves against truth, anyway?

After all, Jesus didn't say that his followers were going to withdraw from the world. He said that it wasn't the world that gave him his authority.

1 comment:

John, an unlikely pastor said...

Thanks for getting straight into the text.
it's something to imaging the moment. Pilate was in a strange position for a man of power and action standing with a humiliated would be king. He usually viewed Judea as a place to control and yet somehow he was out of control in this situation where he thought he had control.
His wife had a bad dream the night before. He had likely just wished he could find a way forward to dismiss this man and move one. And here came the truth and a kingdom in his midst that he could never contain.
Jesus from the start of his ministry was bringing God's Kingdom close to us (mark 1:15). Maybe that's the part of the mystery that made Pilate so uncomfortable
pax. John