Q3. King of the Jews

[Pastor Ralph]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

[JanMary]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate?

 

When Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world, they interpreted Him as saying He was a King.

 

If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans?

 

Their King was Caesar, and if true that Jesus was king of the Jews he might try to take over Caesar's kingdom.

 

What kind of king does Jesus say he is?

 

A king not of earthly origin...not political. He said "He's a king of another place" than the world.

 

Jesus said, "My kingdom (kingship, royal power) belongs not to this world. I am a King. This is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the Truth."

 

Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus?

 

It is implied that it is a spiritual kingdom, where Truth reigns, having no human origin.

 

What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

 

Satan has lured the Church into a political battlefield over abortion and same sex marriage, by goading and confronting with accusations about being "intolerant", "narrow", "prejudiced".....to the point that the gospel has been silenced as these issues have become the focus and the everyday headlines. Satan is so much smarter than we are! These issues have caused people to think of Christianity as distasteful and hateful. Satan has turned both issues over the years, into first, "rights of women", and now "rights of groups of people" rather than sin.....while our message has been hijacked.

 

The church is on the defensive rather than the offensive, presenting the Gospel. We have not understood that we are to hate the sin but love the sinner. (We are all sinners, so one group is not more sinful than another, since Jesus didn't categorize sin by degrees.) We have decided one or another sin is more sinful than the ones we aren't guilty of committing. So instead of loving women who've had abortions, (and men who've participated) into the church and fellowship, they hide in their guilt, shame and condemnation, avoiding church. (Not all churches are guilty of this practice of "clean yourself up first and then we'll welcome you into our pristine fellowship". I personally know 3 married couples where one or both in the marriage were formerly homosexuals who were lovingly presented with the gospel, and who on their own discovered that their lifestyle was sin....and were delivered. I know of others who still feel like homosexuals but have become born again, and who abstain from sexual relationships, (fornication, outside of marriage)

 

At the same time Satan has twisted the Bible's message to say that Christians should not be involved in government, even having our history to be rewritten, so that children are now being taught that our founding father's were not Christians, but "deists" and.as a result statistics say that less than 50% of Christians vote. Our government has become not only secular, but is now becoming anti-Christian. The proverb says: As the leaders go, so goes the nation" and "When the wicked are in authority, transgression increases, but the uncompromisingly righteous shall see the fall of the wicked." We've allowed the Church to become political, through Ignorance, I believe, and having been deceived, we've become engaged in a futile "war" of words." We've neglected our duty as Christians to become involved (live in the world, as teachers, congressmen/women, judges, policemen and women, etc but not OF the world) so that we have influence with those outside the church.

 

It's time to cry out to the Lord for His wisdom and His plan and His intervention in our nations and in our churches, many of whom seem to be lost in slumber and apathy, while shunning the Holy Spirit, Who is the One Who breathes life into us.
 

[SoiKosum]

(John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes? 

 

Jesus was accused of being 

- a criminal

- a rebel

- opposed to paying taxes to Ceasar

- a King, a threat to Rome

 

In fact, the Jewish leaders are charging Jesus for being a blasphemer, however, this would not have been taken seriously by the Romans. As such, to Pilate they politicized their accusations  and charged Jesus for being a dangerous criminal and a rebel who is a threat to Rome.

 

In response to Pilate's question, Jesus acknowledges that He is a King, however His Kingdom is from another place. Jesus said that His Kingdom is not of this world.

 

Politicizing the gospel message would detract from the intention of acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour and His teachings. The gospel message would be muddied with the political agendas and misquoted or taken out of context to support the political ideologies of the day / party.

 

[Clarence]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

 

The Romans were not interested in the Jews claiming that Jesus was in some way desecrating their religion and nation. Their charge would have to be a political one before the Romans would listen-(from the notes). So the Jews claimed that Jesus opposed payment of taxes to Caesar and claimed to be a king and that he was stirring up people by his teaching (Luke 23:2,5). They also claimed he was a criminal (John 18:30). Pilate was not convinced that these charges were serious enough or perhaps did not believe the Jewish authorities about their claims, as he was reluctant to doing anything about it (18:31). The Romans tended to be a paranoid about political unrest, and were quick to quash civil unrest, as this could lead to political instability (18:19).

In answer to Pilate's question 'Are you the king of the Jews?" (18:33) Jesus said that he was not a king of this world- Pilate did not need to fear as Jesus was not about to claim-he did not claim to be a king with a kingdom in this world, so we would not be any threat to the Rome.

The danger to the gospel message when we politicise Christian causes is that people observing question motives. In addition the bible says that followers of Christ must submit to the authorities, not be involved in uprisings against them (Romans 13:1-7).

[hanks]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) 

What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? 

If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? 

What kind of king does Jesus say He is? 

Where is the source of His Kingship, according to Jesus? 

What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

According to Luke 23, the Jewish leaders brought three political charges against Jesus. They accused Him of turning the loyalty of the people away from Rome, inciting the Jews not to pay taxes to Caesar, and announcing that He was a king in opposition to Caesar. All these charges, although all lies, would be taken seriously by the Romans as this all points to undermining the Roman Empire – treason. Our Lord Jesus confessed He was a King. But not the kind of king the Jews accused Him of being, and definitely not the kind that would threaten Rome. Christ's kingdom is not from here – it is not of this world, and does not receive its power or authority from the world. He is not a political king – His authority comes from heaven from our Heavenly Father. His kingdom is concerned with truth, the truth about God, Christ Himself, the Holy Spirit, sin, salvation, and all the other doctrines of Christianity. Not about the untruths told by politicians to further their own pockets and careers. 

 

[blezed]

(John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?          

• They charge Jesus with being a "criminal".  They said that Jesus opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king....a revolutionary who is stirring up the populace to rebel against Rome.
• The charge against Jesus is taken seriously because anything that threatens Roman interests is a serious matter.
• Jesus says that he is a King from another place.  His kingdom is not of this world.
• When we politicize Christian causes, we seriously confuse the world about what we stand for.

 

[lighthouse2014]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

The Jewish leaders charged Jesus of politician decent, inciting a riot, claiming to be the King instead of Caesar, a revolutionary inciting riots against Rome.

If these charges were true, the Jesus could be sentenced to death by crucifixion. These charges of course were serious it would imply a revolt against Roman law and Caesar.

Jesus tells Pilot that "He is indeed a King, but not of this world".

The Kingship of Jesus is not of this world, he only came into this world to proclaim the truth and all that knew the truth listened and followed him.

The dangers when we politicize our Christian belief is that non believers take it as being discriminatory against them and their belief. However, without some influence in the government by Christians as politicians, the government would have no moral standards at all. Evil and sin would run rampart in society with no representation of truth or honesty.  

[Delivered]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate?

They charged him with that of evildoer, that he was not politically correct, accusing him of perverting the nation, and forbidding giving tribute to Caesar, saying he himself is Christ a King.

 

Q4.  If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans?

 “IF” these charges were to be true, he could be put to death by the Roman government, as capital punishment was reserved for Rome.

 

Q5.What kind of king does Jesus say he is?

 Jesus answered “yes” to “King of the Jews”: Israel was blinded to the truth that the Messiah must first come as a Lamb that pleased the LORD to bruise him; making his soul an offering for sin, performing that good thing which he promised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah, before the King from the righteous Branch of David will reign, and will execute judgment and justice in the earth, in his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely: whereby he will be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God will give unto him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and his kingdom there will be no end; and he will execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

 

I believe the day is coming soon when “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” will reign as King; this is why I am watching and waiting with Joyful singing in my heart.

[PeteD]

Lesson 30 Question 3

The Jewish leaders imply that Jesus is a criminal, that is, that he committed a rebellious act that required death.

If this were true this would certainly have threatened the hold the Romans had on the Jews.

When asked if he is the king, Jesus states that his kingdom is not of this world but that it comes from another place that is concerned with the truth and not power. If it were  political power his disciples would have fought for him.

Jesus is saying that his kingdom is not political, that is, it is not predicated on physical force or threat. If it were it would be like any other show of force, a forced obedience and not true worship that is predicated on a love relationship.

[haar]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate?    
 

The Jewish leaders charged Jesus before Pilate for political offences- stirring up rebellion against the Roman authority and claiming to be king.

 

If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans?

 

If this charge is found to be true, Jesus would face severe punishment by the Roman authorities.

 

What kind of king does Jesus say he is?

 

Jesus however meant that He was the King of kings (not a mere earthly king).

 

Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? 

 

From God; Heaven.

 

What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

 

The Gospel is polluted, distorted, misrepresented and it looses its importance.

 

[RebeccaMallinson]

The Jewish leaders charged Jesus with setting himself up as a king and being a threat to Rome.  Palestine was part of the Roman Empire, so this would have to be taken seriously as a rebellion.  Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world.  The source of his kingship is his Father.  The danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes is that we lose the spiritual importance, which is actually the most important part of the message.  We might as well be Communists!

[Stanley Tavaziva]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

 

This Roman governor, Pilate, was in charge of Judea (the region where Jerusalem was located) Pilate was unpopular with the Jews because he had raided the Temple treasuries for money to build an aqueduct. He did not like the Jews, but when Jesus, the King of the Jews, stood before him, Pilate found him innocent. The Kingship of Jesus come to be, He the was The Son of God.

 

Pilate knew what was going on; he knew that the religious leaders hated Jesus, and he did not want to act as their executioner. They could not sentence him to death themselves—permission had to come from a Roman leader. But Pilate initially refused to sentence Jesus without sufficient evidence. Jesus’ life became a pawn in a political power struggle.

 

The danger of our Christian message is we will be deluted in power hungry by unbelievers. When the gosple is preached they thing we are taking over political power

 

[royk]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

The Jew leaders wanted Pilate to believe Jesus was a rebel threat to Rome, and to the security of Pilate's job. They were partly successful, but Pilate tried to show them that Jesus was not what they claimed him to be. Jesus had announced he was the Messiah when he came to Jerusalem on a donkey, to fulfill the prophecy. He would not deny that he was here to save all people, they just didn't want to believe they would never die by following him, in this way they would lose their power. Since they were filled with their own pride and laws they denied he was God, and in truth they were so blind they couldn't accept where he obviously came from. Imagine he raised several from the dead, and they said it was BAD! They are better politicians than anyone, keeping the lies and twisting them to a kind of truth. The moment we do this we become Obama, in ways of not trying to help people be saved. We dilute the message and block the spirit from using us in the moment.

 

The real truth we should focus on is does a person need to be saved, and how can we help them get there? Politics has no place for this kind of activity, only the truth of God will work.

[pickledilly]

The Jews needed a charge that would concern the Romans, or else they would be left to resolve the matter on their own. This was not acceptable to them because they had no legal authority to execute a death sentence, which was their ultimate and only goal. (And if they had the authority, it wouldn't have “lifted up” Jesus on a cross to fulfill prophecy. It would have beaten Him into the dust with a stoning.) So they created a charge that Jesus was claiming to be a king of the Jews, was stirring up the Jewish people against Rome, and was a dangerous rebel to Roman authority. This was the attention-grabbing charge needed to get the Romans to take the matter seriously.

 

Jesus told Pilate He had a kingdom that was not from this world, it was from another place. The source of His royalty was truth from heaven. He had been born and came into the world as king of another realm to bear witness to that truth.

 

When the Jews politicized Jesus, that completely distorted who He is and what He is about. They dragged a spiritual kingdom down into an earthly situation and tried to make it fit, all for their own gain. They essentially ridiculed and slandered Jesus to destroy Him in the political realm. (Sound familiar in modern day politics?) But they were off the mark because Jesus was never about earthly matters.

 

We are of “another kingdom” because we belong to Christ and His kingdom. But we are still in the world and are called to be responsible citizens, which means we are to affect influence through our political rights and freedoms. That doesn't mean we are to turn into political creatures who use those rights and freedoms to destroy others and seek personal gain. And it doesn't mean we are to drag political issues into the church, which distracts and shifts the focus of the Body of Christ from the reason for our primary existence. That purpose is to proclaim the Gospel message of salvation and redemption to God, and to be living representations of His love. Anything other than that is a distortion of who Christ is and what He is about.

[Joe_Applegarth]

What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans?  In reality, the Jews wanted him executed for blasphemy because he claimed to be the Son of God (or God in the flesh) and they also felt that he had violated the Sabbath on a number of occasions both of which were very serious offenses to 1^st century Jews.  The Jews only had legal powers that had been delegated to them by Rome.  They wanted Jesus executed in the most humiliating fashion possible (crucified) but they lacked the authority to execute him themselves so they needed to have the Romans pass sentence on him.  In order to get Roman buy-in on Jesus’ execution, they brought him before Pontius Pilate charging that someone who has made himself out to be king couldn’t possibly be loyal to Rome.  Jesus' “conviction” was nothing more than a matter of political expediency for Pilate.  The Jews were pressuring him for an execution and he was more concerned with keeping peace between Rome and the Jews than he was about the truth of Jesus’ guilt.

                                                          

What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship?  What Jesus was telling Pilate was that even though His kingdom is “in the world” it isn’t a physical kingdom with borders and boundaries.  His is a spiritual kingdom that is not “of the world” and He doesn’t rely on mortal power as earthly kingdoms do, His Kingdom relies instead upon the spiritual power of God and his rule is one of divine grace.

 

What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?  Personally, I believe that God expects us to do everything in our power to advocate for those causes in which we believe strongly.  If Christ is the Lord of our lives, then it would stand to reason that in all things, He must always be Lord and that includes our political views.  If something catastrophic were to occur in this country and our religious freedoms were taken away, as Christians I’m quite sure our lives would become much different and probably extremely difficult.  But the truth is, Christianity has survived and even thrived under extreme persecution since the first century so I strongly believe that it would certainly survive here in spite of efforts to do away with it.  The only political guidance that we need is scripturally based:  Godless Nero was the Roman Emperor when Paul wrote to the Romans: “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” (Romans 13:1)  He went on to tell Timothy that we should pray for kings and those in authority “in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1 Tim. 2:1-2) and Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no authority over me, unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:11). 

 

As Christians, we all need to be extremely careful not to become infatuated with political parties or individual candidates.  We all need to remember that we are not Republicans or Democrats; we are Christians!  Remember this if you will, every politician and every candidate running for office is a sinner, a human being who is subject to the desire for political power and prestige but, God Himself has conceived governmental authority to be a part of His master plan.

[Joe_Applegarth]

What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans?  In reality, the Jews wanted him executed for blasphemy because he claimed to be the Son of God (or God in the flesh) and they also felt that he had violated the Sabbath on a number of occasions both of which were very serious offenses to 1^st century Jews.  The Jews only had legal powers that had been delegated to them by Rome.  They wanted Jesus executed in the most humiliating fashion possible (crucified) but they lacked the authority to execute him themselves so they needed to have the Romans pass sentence on him.  In order to get Roman buy-in on Jesus’ execution, they brought him before Pontius Pilate charging that someone who has made himself out to be king couldn’t possibly be loyal to Rome.  Jesus' “conviction” was nothing more than a matter of political expediency for Pilate.  The Jews were pressuring him for an execution and he was more concerned with keeping peace between Rome and the Jews than he was about the truth of Jesus’ guilt.

                                                          

What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship?  What Jesus was telling Pilate was that even though His kingdom is “in the world” it isn’t a physical kingdom with borders and boundaries.  His is a spiritual kingdom that is not “of the world” and He doesn’t rely on mortal power as earthly kingdoms do, His Kingdom relies instead upon the spiritual power of God and his rule is one of divine grace.

 

What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?  Personally, I believe that God expects us to do everything in our power to advocate for those causes in which we believe strongly.  If Christ is the Lord of our lives, then it would stand to reason that in all things, He must always be Lord and that includes our political views.  If something catastrophic were to occur in this country and our religious freedoms were taken away, as Christians I’m quite sure our lives would become much different and probably extremely difficult.  But the truth is, Christianity has survived and even thrived under extreme persecution since the first century so I strongly believe that it would certainly survive here in spite of efforts to do away with it.  The only political guidance that we need is scripturally based:  Godless Nero was the Roman Emperor when Paul wrote to the Romans: “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” (Romans 13:1)  He went on to tell Timothy that we should pray for kings and those in authority “in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1 Tim. 2:1-2) and Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no authority over me, unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:11). 

 

As Christians, we all need to be extremely careful not to become infatuated with political parties or individual candidates.  We all need to remember that we are not Republicans or Democrats; we are Christians!  Remember this if you will, every politician and every candidate running for office is a sinner, a human being who is subject to the desire for political power and prestige but, God Himself has conceived governmental authority as part of His master plan.

[Old Jerry]

I think that the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with trying to take over Pilate’s kingship and rebelling against him. If this were true that would be a serious offence because they didn’t want any resistance to the rule. Jesus says he is a king of a different world. The source of his kingship according to Jesus is his heavenly Father. The danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes is that we forget whose kingdom we belong to.

[Godswriter]

Q3. (John 18:29-35) What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate? If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans? What kind of king does Jesus say he is? Where is the source of his kingship, according to Jesus? What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?

They charged him with being the King of the Jews and insurrection. Yes and it would mean death by crucifixion. A king from heaven and not of earth. When we do that, we forget who and where the kingdom is.

 

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

Charged for Insurrection and claiming to be King of the Jews.   If it was discovered that Christ was an actual insurrectionist; a serious crime indeed.   Christ's kingdom is a spiritual kingdom not a political entity.   This Kingdom is divine in nature not wrought by violent Insurrection.    Political themes mixed in--- dilutes the preaching of the Cross of Calvary.   Apostle Paul stayed clear of political discussions; his full attention was on the Cross.

[Irmela]

Q3. (John 18:29-35)

What do you think the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with before Pilate?  They charged Him with political wrongdoing, so that Pilate would listen.  If it was  only something about the Jewish traditions he would summarily have handed it back to them to deal with the problem.  So they lied and made it sound as if it was political and in this way they could assure death by crucifixion, which is what they wanted,  in the hope that the 'movement' to follow Christ would be stopped. 

If true, why would that be taken seriously by the Romans?  The Romans feared that their "underlings" would take over.  They tried by cruelty to keep them under subjection.

What kind of king does Jesus say He is?  He is not a king of this world, i.e., not a political king to be a threat to Rome.  Neither is He a rebel king;  He did not come to overthrow Rome.

Where is the source of His kingship, according to Jesus?  His Kingdom is not of this world.

What is the danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes?  They are twisted into seemingly being unjust and unfair, pointing fingers at certain wrongs and not others.