My Kingdom is Not of this World

Today, as has been mentioned multiple times, is Palm Sunday, right? It's the beginning of Holy Week. We celebrate the fact that Jesus came into Jerusalem, and this is a full week for Christ. If you read through the Gospels, it will tell you of all of the work that Christ began and did. A significant majority of the books of the Bible are focused on the work that Christ did during this week. Jesus cleanses the temple. He curses a fig tree. He prophesies. He institutes the Lord's Supper. That would be a Maundy Thursday. On Friday, he has all his court appearances and crucifixion. Saturday, he's in the tomb. And Sunday, which is next week, right, we'll celebrate.

Resurrection Sunday, where we see the Christ risen. Now, throughout Christ's ministry, what we see is that Christ is consistently telling his disciples and those he heals to be silent about him. Throughout the book of John, there's multiple times where he says, you know, the very first miracle he does when he makes the water into wine at the wedding of Cana of Galilee, he tells his mom, my hour has not come. And he does go on ahead and he does perform the miracle. And yet there's a consistent theme where he tells people to be quiet, to not go around declaring who he is. He makes all the demons shut their mouths and not proclaim who he is. And so there's this interesting thing that we see happening in the triumphal entry. In Luke 9 and in Isaiah 50.

Isaiah 50 is the prophecy and Luke 9 is the fulfillment. We hear that Jesus sets his face like flint. And he sets it like flint towards what? Towards Jerusalem. And he begins this inexorable march towards the city. And Christ knows what he's going to go do there. And so he has to be strong, right? He has to set his face like flint because he has a great and mighty and painful work ahead of him. He begins to march unswervingly towards there. And once Jesus reaches the outskirts of Jerusalem, there's this shift because we begin to see the hour has come. And so on a Sunday some 2,000 years ago, Christ comes up to Jerusalem and he sends his disciples to run into Jerusalem. He doesn't enter Jerusalem right away. He sends messengers.

To go and to do what? They grab the donkey. This is what we've just read, right? Grabbing the donkey is hugely significant because in doing so, he's fulfilling prophecy after prophecy of the Messiah who's going to come humble and seated on a donkey. Everything that Jesus is doing has weight and impetus. He's fulfilling a script that God had written millennia ago, actually before the world was even formed. And so as Jesus comes in, all these things that he does is loaded with significance. You can read through the Old Testament prophets and all these different lines that almost seem like an offhand line. Then when you read through the gospels, you have Matthew or Mark or Luke or John saying, and he did this to fulfill what the prophet said. And so it's this amazing thing. And in doing so, what we see is Jesus is making claims openly.

He's saying, I'm the Messiah. He's saying, I'm a king. Because think about it. Who has the right to requisition someone's animal, right? A king. You as an individual do not have the right to just go up and say, your car, I'm going to drive that today, right? But the governor, the authority, right? Jesus as king has the authority to come in and say, your donkey is mine for the day. And so he does. And we see kings in that period would ride into cities on a donkey if they were at peace. It was a non-aggressive act, but it was declaring, I'm king, and we're at peace. We're not at war. When Jesus does this, he's sending a message to all of the Jews. The Jews know the prophecies. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, and he's self-consciously fulfilling all of these prophecies.

The people get it. And we know that they get it. How do we know that they get it? Because as Jesus walks in, what are they doing? They're quoting the Messianic Psalms. The Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord is Psalm 118, which the Jews have always understood as a prophecy concerning the Messiah that he was going to come. And so all of them are putting out their robes and their cloaks and Jesus is coming in. And Jesus doesn't tell them to stop. He encourages it. When the Jewish leaders try to discourage it, he says, if I were to stop it, the rocks would cry out because his hour had come. Jesus doesn't slip away. You know, this is not the first time that people wanted to make Jesus a king. But every other time, he just slips through their hands. He goes away. Not this time. This time, they're praising him. They're worshiping him. They're rolling out the red carpet for him.

They are ready for Jesus to march on to Pilate and overthrow the Roman yoke. Imagine you're there at that moment. It is a powerful moment. Jesus is being more public than ever in his claims for kingship and as being the Messiah. Thousands and thousands of people throng the roads. They're shouting, they're waving, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, glory to God in the highest. And then what? We don't quite see how the march ends, but Jesus actually, he goes through all this, and then he leaves the city again. You're like, what's happening? What's going on? He goes to Bethpage, and then he comes back, and you're like, okay, maybe this time this is going to be it, right? We had this great triumph, this great entry. Maybe this time, this time he'll lead us on to Pilate and to the Romans.

into overthrowing their burdensome yoke. But that's not what he does, is it? When he comes back after going to Bethany, he goes out to Bethany, and what's he do? He makes a whip. And then when he returns, you know where he goes. It's not to clean out the Romans. He goes to clean out the temple. He heads straight to the temple with a whip he personally made. He begins to whip. the money changers and the lenders. He begins to flip tables. He begins to cleanse the temple. No one is allowed to carry merchandise in the temple bed, which is what the prophets had said. My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a robber's den. And what is everyone thinking? They're all astonished. They're like, what is going on? They don't know what to make of this.

You think about what the Gospels have taught us about Jesus' life. Jesus has consistently made the claim that he is the Son of Man, that he's God. He's consciously fulfilled all prophecies. He has allowed men to worship him. Yet, he has never allowed them to make him king, though they have often wanted to. He's not established wealth, power, followers. In fact, constantly his followers are leaving him because he says things like, You must eat my body and drink my blood. People deserted him. But now Jesus seems to have relented. He's allowing the streets to be thronged with people shouting his praises, proclaiming him as the king and the Messiah. He came triumphantly into Jerusalem, but by the end of this week, he's arrested and dies. So what's going on? What are the people missing?

Well, they're missing the fact that Jesus did not come to establish an earthly kingdom in the manner that they had fought. If Jesus' goal was to establish an earthly kingdom that would overthrow the Roman government, he doesn't go about it the way that would make sense to us. And so our text for today is going to be John 18, 28-38. And in this, Jesus opens up. for us a little bit more why we can connect this to why the triumphal entry was triumphant. Because on many levels, it doesn't really make sense from the Jews' perspective. So if you're able, please stand. Let's read God's word. This is the word of the Lord, and it is eternally true. Then they had led from Caiaphas into the praetorium, and it was early. They themselves did not enter into the praetorium.

so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. I just want to make one comment right there. They're so worried about defilement, and yet they're putting to death Christ. What wickedness to be worried about the minutia of the law. Therefore, Pilate went out to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this man? They answered and said to him, If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him to you. So Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves. Judge him according to your law. The Jews said to him, We are not permitted to put anyone to death. To fulfill the word of Jesus which he spoke, signifying by what kind of death he was about to die. Therefore, Pilate entered again into the praetorium, and he summoned Jesus, and he said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me? Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priest delivered you to me. What have you done? And Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,

My kingdom is not of this realm. Therefore Pilate said to him, So you are a king. Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. And everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Pilate said to him, What is truth? When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in him. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. So do you catch the confusion here? Do you understand what's going on? I think we have difficulty understanding what's going on as well. Jesus' explanation is that his kingdom is not from this world. It's not of this world. And in light of that, we can make sense of all these Things that seem to contradict each other. And so my goal for us today is to ponder and to consider the difference between the kingdoms that we see represented here. And to think about what it means when Jesus says that my kingdom is not of this world. Our challenge is to invest and to build up the kingdom of Christ. To not be seeking to build up the kingdoms of this world. Or our own kingdoms.

But there's one kingdom that will last. It's like the boulder in Daniel that comes and knocks the statue apart and grows into a mountain. This is the image of the kingdom of God. How we live today, how we live in this life, determines what eternity will be like for us. We have this small window here. has ramifications for eternity. Now, what does Jesus mean that his kingdom is not of this world? It's not from this world. Because this is where the confusion comes in, right? The Jews want Jesus' kingdom to be of this world. That's what they expect. And so it doesn't make sense when Jesus continually refuses.

to allow them to crown him as a king and to march on the oppressors. Well, Jesus' kingdom is not a visible kingdom. It's not an external kingdom like all of the other earthly kingdoms. So kingdoms, as we understand them, nations, are geographical. They have borders. They have governments that rule within a defined area. That's not the kingdom that Jesus came to establish. It's not limited to one nation or one country or one people group. Jesus' kingdom is made up of individuals, but the individuals that make up Jesus' kingdom are not identifiable simply by the location in which they live or the clothes by which they wear.

their flag. That is not the kingdom of Jesus. All of those things are things that the Jews wanted, but that is not the kingdom that Jesus came to establish. Jesus's kingdom is also not characterized by pomp and show like all the earthly kingdoms are. Jesus called the disciples to himself and he said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way amongst you. But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. One of the other reasons they couldn't comprehend Jesus as being the king is because they didn't have a category for a king like Jesus, for a king who would come and wash the disciples' feet.

Jesus says, I came to serve, not to be served. Those who are great in the kingdom of God are the servants of all, not those who lord it over everyone and think that they're something special. The kingdom of God is simple. It's not full of all the pageantry. It's not full of all the show and the ceremony and the bells and whistles. Jesus fulfilled all of the ceremonial that was in the Old Testament. And he didn't bring all that back. If Jesus' kingdom were of this world, we're told that his servants would fight to defend him. But his kingdom is not of this world. Force of arms is not how Jesus started his kingdom, and it is not how his kingdom has continued. You even see at the moment of his arrest, there are several fascinating things that happen.

When they come to get Jesus, Jesus says, I am he. And they all fall down. And these are Roman soldiers who have seen things. And at the words of Jesus, they fall. And that is the amount of aggression that Christ shows. And after that, he calmly goes. And when one of the disciples, Peter, draws a sword and cuts a guy's ear off, what does he do? He heals it. This is not what he's about, this violence with the sword. He's rebuked. Jesus has said that as Christians, we turn the other cheek. That when we're asked and we're imposed upon, that we don't just do the bare minimum, but that we go an extra mile to serve those who are imposing upon us in our rights. We're told that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church.

A martyr is the opposite of spreading Christ's kingdom by the sword. We're told that Jesus, if he wanted an earthly kingdom, could have called down legions of angels to do that work. And he refused to. Because his kingdom is not of this world. But we are of this world, right? And so when we think about hardships and difficulties, our inclination is to resort to violence. Because we think, violence will work. Might makes right. That is not what Christ's kingdom is about. He went as a lamb to the slaughter. Jesus' kingdom is not concerned with the things that earthly kingdoms are concerned about. Political power, military might. You realize if you read through the gospels and what Jesus said, he does not talk about the politics of his day. That is not the concern of Jesus. Politics is like, Doesn't even seem to be on his radar. When the Jews tried to trap him into taking sides in politics, they bring him a coin and they say, hey, should we pay taxes? What's Jesus say? Whose image is on the coin, right? Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and render unto God the things that are God's. He doesn't take sides with a political party there. His concern is different. Jesus' kingdom.

is not yet a physical kingdom. It is a spiritual kingdom which exists in the hearts and the minds of his followers, which he's drawing together. His kingdom is not of this realm. It did not come from this world. It came from outside of it. Now, he's going to come back. The Jews were trying to get Jesus put to death by twisting the truth. They were telling Pilate that Jesus was a rebellion that was happening or waiting to happen, and he was dangerous because they were all concerned about, the politics and about earthly kingdoms. And was Jesus a threat to Rome? Well, yeah, he was. He's a threat to all earthly kingdoms, but not in the way that we think. It took Rome decades to figure out what kind of a threat Christianity was. We think that violence is the answer, right? Like that we got to connive and scheme to bring about the kingdom of God.

that we need armies and fighting. The threat that Jesus posed to Rome was not through rebellion. It wasn't through physical force. Jesus did not advocate for the overthrowing of the Roman political structure. Rather, he was testifying to the truth. He was calling on men and women to repent, to have faith, to serve God, to obey God. And in doing so, it led to the overthrow of the Roman government. But it didn't lead to the overthrow of the Roman government through violence and by the sword. But you see the conflict here. There's multiple groups. So we have the Jews, and the Jews want the Roman government overthrown. They want to be a separate nation. Their expectation is that coming Messiah is going to bring about a political salvation. They think that he is going to come and solidify the religious rulers.

and usher in Israel as the once again more powerful, holy nation that it was under someone like David. But this was going to be greater than David ever was. But in their mind, their vision is so small. In their mind, it's all wrapped up with Israel, not the world. They think in terms of geography in a single people group. And Jesus is going beyond all of that. They hate Jesus because Jesus has called out their hypocrisy, their lack of love for people and for God, because Jesus defies their customs, but most of all because he does not fulfill their expectations. They have a vision of how God should work. They have a box. The Messiah is going to come and he's going to...

bring about the overthrow of the Roman Empire. He's going to make the Jews ascend it. They have it all mapped out and planned out, and they know how God's going to work. And then when Jesus comes and he doesn't do any of that, they hate him because they didn't see the day of their visitation. It was hidden from them. You have Jews like Matthew and Zacchaeus, right? Jews who just wanted to live under, this is another category, right? You have the Jews who just wanted to live under Roman rule. Just be left alone. They're going to make it work. They're going to become wealthy. They're going to make their living in service to Rome. They're going to do what Jews do, but it's all going to be quiet and kept under the table. You have the Romans. The Romans are definitely in charge, right? Pilate mocks them. You go take them and judge them by your laws. And they're like, well, we can't kill someone, right? He mocks them because they don't actually have the authority. They have to go to Rome. Rome's in charge.

And Rome is sort of happy to let Jews do what they want within certain parameters. The Jews are freeish. They just have to be quiet, not proselytize, and keep their faith to sort of themselves. As long as they don't cause problems for the Roman government, the Roman government will let them do what they want to do. And then you have Jesus. And Jesus doesn't fit in any of these because Jesus testifies to the truth. Jesus calls people to repentance. He calls them to love and serve and obey God. Each one of these groups is building a kingdom, and each one of them is building one that's at odds with the others and has different sets of priorities. The Romans are fine as long as you kowtow to them. As long as you let the Romans be in charge and don't cause trouble, they'll sort of let you do you, but you better keep quiet about it and not cause riots.

The Jews want to throw off the Roman yoke. They see no difference between their kingdom and God's kingdom. They're the same. Rome rules and their rules are completely incompatible. In the Jewish mind, it's one or the other. The Jews can't exist under Rome for long. They have to break out and be free. So the Messiah, obviously, has to come and usher in the eternal reign of Israel, a physical earthly kingdom. This is what was supposed to be established in their mind. So when Jesus comes, he upsets both sides. Jesus comes and does all the signs and fulfills all the prophecies of the Messiah, but he doesn't bother with establishing an earthly kingdom, a physical kingdom. In fact, he repeatedly refuses to establish it. So why do we belabor this point? Well, Jesus' kingdom is different than everyone expected. It was not built.

to start a rebellion to overthrow Rome or any other earthly kingdom. Yet, Jesus' kingdom is designed and built to overcome the hearts of men. There will be a time when Jesus will overthrow all earthly kingdoms. But in this world, he came not to judge. He comes back. And when he comes back, it's with a sword. Jesus came to save a people for himself, to cast off the shackles of our hearts, and to install himself as regent. And this obviously has implications for governments and for nations. But what Jesus came was to build his church, his people, his kingdom. And it's a spiritual kingdom. You can take that too far. I'm not saying that we don't live in this world. But the weapons of our warfare are different than the weapons of this world. How we go about transforming the world, how Christ goes about transforming the world, is not how the world goes about transforming the world.

into the image that they want to see. So a question for you is, which kingdom are you building? Which group would you fit in? Probably somewhat all of them. The Jews sought to have political earthly power. Why? Because for some, they didn't believe in a resurrection. This life was all that they had, and they needed to make it the best out of it that they could, right? The Sadducees didn't believe in a resurrection. So what happened now is what happens. Get the power by any hook or crook. Some of the Jews had a misguided zeal. They genuinely, think of Saul, they genuinely thought the kingdom of God and the kingdom they desired were the same thing. That Israel was the nation of God manifest. And so what was good for Israel was good for the kingdom of God. Their desires and God's desires were perfectly aligned. And so they were going to...

Throw off the Roman yoke because obviously that's what God desired. And so when Jesus comes, they didn't recognize it because he didn't fit the category they thought. They thought that their desires and God's were perfectly aligned. But Jesus did not come and preach a political message. He taught faith and repentance. The Jews are misguided. They don't know of what spirit they are. Jesus came to testify to the truth. If you want to see political change, testify to the truth of God's word, and never stop preaching Christ crucified, which is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews, but wisdom to those who are Christians. That is how you bring about the kingdom of God, not through political manipulations. Christianity can survive and thrive under any type, form, or form of governmental system. The nation and the politics of the nation are irrelevant.

to the power of God and the work that he can do. Change will happen when God's kingdom grows. It always has. Rome was turned on its head, but not through revolt, not through conspiracies, and not through conniving, but by men and women who turned to the Lord and gave their lives to the service of God, being killed by the sword rather than using the sword. Was it hard? Yeah. Before Rome changed, they did their best to stamp out the church. But guess what? The government's hatred and persecution, while difficult and terrible to endure, never changed the work and the calling of the church. It was the same in persecution and not in persecution. Many of us have a lot in common with Matthew and Zacchaeus before the Lord called them. They just had to keep their head down, live within the system, don't upset the apple cart.

Make your money. We all want the American dream, right? We don't want any conflict between the citizenship that we have in Christ's kingdom and our American citizenship. But if we don't want those things to be in conflict, then what inevitably will happen is we will downplay, whether consciously or not, the responsibilities that we have as Christians. And so we keep our heads down. Our energy, strength, time should be given to pursuing the kingdom of God. not to pursuing comfortable lives. We work to build our careers, to build our wealth, to get nice houses, to get nice cars, and we get distracted from building the kingdom of God because we're so busy wanting to build our own kingdoms. If we do that, the government will be happy to have you around. Just keep your faith quiet and to yourself. That's not how Christ came. That's not how his kingdom is built.

That's not what citizens of his kingdom are called to do, to just put up and be quiet, put up and shut up. That's not what Christ does. Christ comes and speaks the truth to whatever cost. So how do we build the kingdom of God? How do we build the kingdom of God? Have kids. One way we build the kingdom of God is by being fruitful. But here's the thing. It's not good enough to just have kids. You can't just have kids. You have to have kids and you have to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. You have to discipline and disciple and teach them to love God, to love God's word and to love his church so that they will be citizens of the kingdom of God and not become citizens of this world. We have to teach them what to value and what to love. How do we grow the kingdom of God? We cannot stop talking about Jesus and the good news of the gospel wherever we go. We want to see converts. Remember,

The kingdom of God isn't getting the right political party and power. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom that's added to when people turn to God, when they repent of their sins and believe. How many of our friends and relatives know more about our sports preferences and our political opinions than what we believe about the Bible? If you want the kingdom of God to grow, then you must love the unlovely. You must seek to show Christ's love to all around you. Minister to others and serve others. Do not seek to be served. God's greatest servants are the servants of others. This is the kingdom of God. It makes no sense to the world. It's foolishness that the King and the Lord of all creation would ever come and die to save for himself a people.

The truth of the gospel is so out there, no man would deign to make up a religion that makes that little of sense. It has to be from God. If we want to build the kingdom of God, we must seek even more ways to serve in the church. We should be starting Bible studies and prayer groups. We should meet with younger men and women and disciple them and teach them. We should aspire to live lives that look like... The requirements which Peter gives and what Paul gives to be deacons and elders and pastors. We should look at those lists and we should say, that's what I want to do. I want to live like that. Because I want to be as useful as I can towards the kingdom of God. Because if you build your own kingdom, what's going to happen to it when you die? It isn't going to come with you.

You entered this world naked and you're going out of it naked. Nothing. You know, we talk about men and men want a challenge. They want to fight. They want something to do, work to do. Try loving your wife and living with her in an understanding way. Love her as Christ loved the church. That's a hard work. You want a hard work that will build God's kingdom and work in his kingdom, not your own? Stand up to your friends. who are giving themselves over to their sin and exhort them to righteousness and tell them, I will not be part of this. You are going headed towards destruction. Come and speak to a group of children with their parents there and tell them that if they don't repent, they are going to face the wrath of God. And be willing to speak the truth without varnishing it, without trying to make it palatable. That's a challenge. You want to work in the kingdom of God and build it up?

then weep with those who are weeping. Sit with them who are sick, who've lost loved ones, and give them comfort. Give up your time to continue and to serve more in Awana and in nursery and in cleaning the church building and in working hard on the work days. All of these are infinitely more valuable and harder than building your own kingdom or being political. This is work in the kingdom of God. One of my favorite verses in Scripture, one of the things that I think about a lot, is Matthew 25, 21. And his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. What's the last part? Enter into the joy of your master. What beautiful words. I tell you, there's no greater work.

than work and service to the kingdom of God. There's no more joyful work. If you devote yourself to that, what you'll find is we're all hesitant because we all kind of love money and we love ease. And we're like, if I actually live like that, I might actually die like Christ did. Life might actually be really difficult if what we do is live our lives testifying to the truth. And so we want to find other ways to bear a cost. that isn't quite as costly as testifying to the truth. And what I want to tell you is that if we devote our lives to Christ's kingdom, there will be no greater joy that you can have. And that when the time comes that you're called home, you will have your master waiting, calling you into the joy of his rest. And that the fear you feel, You don't have to have because the victory is assured. That Christ has already established his kingdom. That you're working in a kingdom that cannot be overtaken or overthrown because it's not an earthly geographical thing. But the victory has already been won in Christ. I mean, that's the truth of the resurrection that's next week that we'll talk about, right? Is that the victory is assured. And so we're doing a work.

that we don't have to be afraid to do, and we don't have to be afraid of the consequences because God is sovereign and in control. And we're working in something that's far greater than ourselves. It's his kingdom. It's his righteousness. So I encourage you to give your lives to serving in the kingdom of God, to consider hard what you devote your lives to and your time to and your money to and your thoughts and your energy. God is no man's debtor. If you put all of that to serving his kingdom, you will receive a great reward. Let us pray.