Not of this world
Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36
From the text, Jesus declared during His trial when He was before Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. He was accused that He was forming a band of people that will overthrow Caesar. This is why after Jesus was taken captive His followers were also pursued by the Romans so they could be charged with treason. This is inspite of Jesus’ clear message that His purpose of coming is to establish His rule in the lives of those who will place their trust in God. “For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). It seemed that Christians anywhere they go will always be accused of promoting a life that is not widely accepted by society. This will continue to happen as long as people will reject the message of the gospel. Jesus told Pilate that if His reign is of this world, His disciples will do anything they can just to keep Him from taken captive. Yet it is a sight to behold to see how Christians in the first century responded to the attacks. They responded by praying, loving, and showing mercy to those that persecuted them. In the midst of resistance, they continued to preach the gospel, God’s message of hope and love. This resulted to people responding to God and their lives made an impact to the world. Rome does not exist anymore, while Christianity continued to flourish. Christianity is having the reign of Christ in one’s life. When He is the Lord of your life, you will reign with Him for eternity. No matter what you go through in life while here on this world, you will prevail in the end because of your faith in God. “This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:11-12).
Blessings.
