John 18 - Tuesday 12th November
Today’s chapter is John 18
Tom writes:
We have it laid out here plainly - Jesus is a king. People bow to kings. People serve kings. People honour kings and cheer for kings. People look to kings for protection and they look to kings for provision. People look to kings for identity, for missions, for flags and for callings. Jesus is a king. We should treat him like a king. But Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world and that is a less familiar concept. What could that mean? Jesus’ next line is instructive: his kingdom is from another place; not ‘in’ another place but ‘from’ it. His kingdom is about testimony to truth, not taking of territory. Jesus’ Kingdom is about faithful and fruitful witness to the Life of Heaven - to Lived Truth - that is going to be arriving on That Coming Day. Jesus is bringing a flavour of his kingdom to earth not to claim land but to point to a better land, not to plunder wealth but to use it to show to real wealth, not to build a reputation but to invite others to share in his everlasting honour and glory that will one day consume all the earth. No wonder Pilate was perplexed. He wanted things now. He wanted everything now because Now was his Truth. And so we see that Jesus’ Kingdom is about one thing only in this time - it is about people. Jesus came to raise the dead; to bring true light to enlighten every man, woman and child. He calls us as his subjects to share his passions and his method - as exiles in this age. We are to bow and to serve to testify to the Lived Truth that is coming from another place.
The Christendom Project - with its associated Crusades and Culture Wars - is ill conceived. It acts like the Kingdom (or the Millenium or whatever other word people want to use) can be established now by people by force. But Jesus’ kingdom is not of the world. And it is His Kingdom to establish, not ours. If we are to be good subjects we will follow the ways of our King who is going to Come. Our task right now is to be faithful witnesses to Our Kingdom and His Kingdom. We gain resources to give them away. We give the best we have not to build our reputations but to salvage others. And we worship. Oh boy do we worship. As living worshippers we put on display the Lived Truth of the Kingdom from another place, that others may discover the better life for themselves. Jesus’ understanding of his Kingdom that came from another place led him to the Place of the Skull; it led him to the cross. Where is your understanding of Kingdom leading you today?
Question for reflection
How could your life reflect the beauty and glory of the Kingdom from above?
