King of Kings
Revelation 1:4b-8 & John 18:33-37
Let us pray,
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings.”
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
The poem Ozymandias written by Percy Bysshe Shelley is about a traveller crossing an ancient desert. He comes across “two vast trunkless legs of stone” rising from the desert sand…nearby…a menacing face rising from desert sand on a pedestal with the inscription…“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.”
Shelley continues “Round the decay…Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare… The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Whether Babylon…Rome…the British Empire…the United States…or Russia…all world empires have their day…they all prove that life is often not what it seems to be…things are…not what they were.
Today’s verses are a snapshot…next week Advent arrives and we dive into Luke…last week it was Mark…the lectionary is a strange creature. Earlier in this chapter in the garden of Gethsemane…Judas betrayed Jesus…an armed crowd came to arrest Him…but Jesus was in control AS HE IS NOW. As dawn broke…Christ was led before Pontius Pilate…who enquired… “What charges are you bringing against this man?” “If He were not a criminal…we wouldn’t have handed Him over to you,” they said (v29-30).
Pilate asked for the accusation…curiously Jesus’ accusers could not produce one…Jesus could have been stoned as Stephen would be a few months later…but Caiaphas the high priest wanted Jesus crucified…wanted him displayed to the people as cursed…didn’t Deuteronomy 21:23 say, “anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse…Caiaphas counted on the Jews saying… “He cannot be the BLESSED ONE…only a cursed impostor.”
It seems he forgot…perhaps he didn’t know… that Jesus had prophesied how he would die back in John 3:14 “the Son of Man must be lifted up.” Jesus was in control…prophecy was being fulfilled…Jesus was not on trial…Pilate and the Sanhedrin were…Jesus Christ was holding court…rendering His judgement making provision for all who would come to Him.
While Pilate…an ambitious opportunist was in way over his head…his CV is interesting… place of origin Seville, Spain…got his promotion by marrying Claudia a granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus… brutal…politically still in nappies (inept)…he continually upset the Jews…Luke tells us that he mingled the blood of certain Galileans with their sacrifices…attacking them as they worshipped (Lk 13:1).
Surely for a man of Pilate’s background judging Jesus’ case just needed a rubberstamp…the Jews want this Galilean dead…why not…straightforward…except for one thing…wouldn’t you know it…his wife has had a dream…slight problem though…he is seated on the judges seat…so she messages him…“Have nothing to do with that innocent man for today I’ve suffered terribly in a dream because of Him” (Matthew 27:19)
Pilate becomes a man…torn between the call of two worlds…the material
and the spiritual. Pilate probably thought “what happened there” as Jesus easily turned the tables on him…he summoned Jesus “Are You the King of the Jews? YOU?” (v33) (all four gospels strongly emphasise this).
No wonder Pilate reacted this way…Jesus…in peasant dress…stained with bloody sweat from Gethsemane…features already swollen…yet despite appearances Jesus was still King! No one…but no one turns the tables on Him… unless He allows it…here He turns the tables on Pilate…is that your own idea…or did others talk to you about Me…the question cut right through Pilate’s proud exterior…Jesus was after his heart…now it was Pilate who was on trial.
Have you found life is not always as it seems…in God’s economy there is often a mighty reversal of appearances…the meek rule…the least are the greatest…the poor are rich…the weak are strong…the unlearned wise…here…the beaten defenceless Christ…was holding court on Pilate…the Roman Empire…the Sanhedrin…and us.
In verse 35 you can tell Pilate is rattled. “Am I a Jew…it was your people…your chief priests…who handed you over to me…what is it you have done?” A smokescreen…but ineffective…Jesus went to the heart of the matter… “My kingdom is from another place” (v36). Jesus proclaimed Himself to be a spiritual King…He doesn’t rule by material force He proved that in Gethsemane when He reproved Peter’s sword and healed Malchus’ ear.
What a quandary Pilate is in…if Jesus had proclaimed himself as an earthly king…it’s an easy decision…execution…then and there… but a spiritual King…politically…Jesus was guilty of nothing…spiritually…what if Claudia was right?
What a contrast…Jesus the spiritual King… Pilate the material king…two completely different approaches to life. One would do anything to receive power… honour…and glory…the other gave up His glory.
One ruled by material manipulation…the other lamented “you are looking for Me not because you saw miraculous signs…but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:67).
One dressed in royal robes…the other had “no beauty or majesty to attract us to him” that’s our Lord of Glory (Isaiah 53:2). Life was not as it seemed…on that crucifixion day Christ was in control…not Pilate. “You are a King then?” (Pilate). “You’re right in saying I am a King…in fact for this reason I was born…for this I came into the world…to testify to the truth…everyone on the side of truth listens to My voice.
Christ…born to establish a new kind of kingdom…“For this I came into the world…this is the truth of My witness… everyone who hears My voice…who realises there is a spiritual kingdom and seeks it…hears My voice.”
CHRIST CALLS A MATERIALISTIC WORLD TO SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
The world needs a spiritual Saviour…but prefers to satisfy its desires (satiate) with an economic Saviour. After Christ fed the 5000 people asked him to give them more bread…just like Moses had given to their ancestors…”it’s not physical bread you need…you will just get hungry again you need living bread leading to eternal life” (He said). “From now on give us this bread”…they responded…what a statement
Jesus makes “I AM the Bread of Life…he who comes to me will never go hungry.” They came to Him in droves…swamped Him… wanted what He had to offer…didn’t they. Actually they didn’t…after that…many people left to look for a Saviour who would give them the things…they wanted…remained slaves to their lust…they were…forsaking life itself. You know for some God is a candy machine… tap pay wave…and if He does not produce On-Q…they kick Him. Christ’s confession revealed supreme truth…Pilate’s unwitting confession revealed …a supreme truth about himself.
“WHAT IS TRUTH” (v38)…sarcastic perhaps…certainly not said in jest…Pilate… probably confused and despairing…a pragmatist…a materialist…hungrily pursuing fantasies of power…celebrity status…doesn’t everyone want a royal coming for dinner? Lost in that moment of his wife’s spiritual premonition…the mystical authority of Christ weighed heavily on him…he didn’t want an answer…he did not wait for one. Pilate is the modern man asking…“what is truth?” As he stood transparent before Christ…as does the whole world. He could see Jesus’ innocence…and did his best to escape responsibility…sending Jesus to Herod when he discovered an out clause… Jesus was Galilean. Pilate forwarded Jesus to Herod…but there Jesus declined to perform any “party tricks” Herod in keeping with his cruel nature dressed Christ in a gorgeous robe…had Him beaten up…and dispatched Him back to Pilate.
WHAT IS TRUTH? Christ is Judge of all…His judgement will fall upon those who invested their lives in this world with its materialism…sensuality…its pragmatism. Christ comes to those who look for a city whose foundation and maker is God. WHAT IS TRUTH? Christ died in place of all those who will respond to Him. The story is told of a church organist in church every Sunday…heard the gospel preached… but had not received Christ…as he lay dying… he was asked would you like to see the Vicar…no he replied…true story…I was that Vicar.
Jesus Christ has reversed the sentence of all believers…has He reversed yours…do you still need to say yes to Him…the One who knocks at the door of your heart?
Let us pray.