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John 18:35
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33 aThen Pilate entered the1 Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”  
34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”
35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”
36 aJesus answered, b“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”  
37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, athat I should bear bwitness to the truth. Everyone who cis of the truth dhears My voice.”  
38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, a“I find no fault in Him at all.  

Taking the Place of Barabbas

39 a“But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”  
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
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What Does John 18:35 Mean?



John 18:35-37

Christ gives two clear distinctions about Himself in these verses. First, He says that He was not really a part of the Jewish nation, and further, not really of this world. Second, He says that if His Kingdom were of this world, His servants would fight for Him. The implication is that because they are not of this world, they do not go to war because His Kingdom is not presently established on earth.

This presents us with a vivid example of "us and them." The basis of this is that a Christian's loyalty is elsewhere. A true Christian sides with the spirit, while the merely professing Christian sides with the world, claiming to know God and to worship God, but denying Him by his works.

God has given us a clear command to come out of this world (II Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 18:4), and He clarifies it with examples such as this. In Philippians 3:20, He says through the apostle Paul that our citizenship is in heaven, and anyone familiar with the Bible ought to understand the legal ramifications of that. Not only that, we understand that His Kingdom is here only in spirit; it is not fully established as part of the earthly systems. The suggestion in verse 37 is that when it is fully established, if it were challenged, Christ's servants, true Christians, would go to war on its behalf, because our loyalties, our orientation, that which the true Christian sides with, are always with God's Kingdom. We will always rally to the things of the spirit.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian and the World (Part Two)

Related Topics: Ambassadors of God's Kingdom | Christian and the World | Christian's Loyalty is Elsewhere | Citizenship in Heaven | Come Out | Come Out of Babylon | Come Out Of the World | Kingdom is Here only in Spirit | Us and Them


 
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