My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm. (John 18:36)
These, of course, are the words of Jesus as He stood before the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. Pilate, finding no legal grounds on which to condemn Jesus, tries several times to wiggle his way out of enacting capital punishment before finally giving in to the frenzied Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish religious establishment who demanded His death. Jesus makes clear that it was the religious leaders -not Pilate- who bore the greater culpability in seeing their own Messiah put to death. The civil government was a tool in the hand of a backslidden religious establishment. Continue reading