Jesus Trying to Help Those in the Process of Murdering Him
At my Bible study tonight we read this section from John 18:
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
When I was younger the part I put in bold had always confused me. Why didn’t Jesus just give him a straight answer?
But tonight one of the guys in our group suggested that Jesus was trying to get through to Pilate. I agreed with him. Jesus is challenging Pilate to decide for himself: Is Jesus the King of the Jews? Later on, when Pilate delivers Jesus to the crowds, he calls him (without irony) the King of the Jews.
