A Conversation With the King

The fifth personal conversation that John records of Jesus, is found in chapter eighteen and nineteen; Jesus and Pilate; 18:28 – 19:22. What a scene. The chief priest and the religious leaders turned Jesus over to Pilate for Rome to carry out their plans to kill Him. Pilate knew that it was out of envy that they wanted to get rid of Jesus (Mark 15:10), because He was popular with the crowds and they were not. The relationship between Pilate and the chief priest was tenuous. The chief priest was the religious leader of the nation, while Pilate was the political leader, representing Caesar. Both the chief priest and Pilate barely tolerated each other.

As Jesus stands bound before Pilate, the conversation begins with a question from the governor, “Are you the King of the Jews?” The religious leaders knew that Pilate would not execute Jesus on the grounds of their charge of blasphemy, so they veiled their fears with the charge that Jesus was trying to become the leader of the people, rather than them, by His popularity. So Pilate jumped to the bottom line not knowing that he was having a conversation with the King.

Jesus answered Pilate with a question, a teaching technique that Pilate was raised on, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me? Jesus also jumped to the bottom line of insecurity in Pilate, the fear of not being in line with popular opinion, with rocking the boat, the fear of declaring a personal confession with conviction. Rather than face it, Pilate tried to avoid it by putting the focus back on Jesus with more questions, “Am I a Jew?” Along with this, a statement and question in an attempt to find insecurity in Jesus, “Your own nation and chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus informs Pilate that His Kingdom is not of this world. Pilate responds with a question, “So you are a king?” Jesus takes his question and turns it into a confession, “You say that I am a king…” and then describes His purpose, which is the purpose of everyone under authority, to bear witness to the truth. And for those who desire to know the truth, the truth will be heard and received. Pilate responds with a question that still rings with emptiness for those who refuse to know the truth, “What is truth?” As you read the rest of the conversation, you discover that Pilate can only ask questions because he refuses the truth, Who was standing before him.

This scene is all too familiar as Pilate represents multitudes, who have asked questions but refused the answer, the truth from God. When you are not getting an answer to your questions, consider that you are asking the wrong questions. When God reveals the truth, but you are asking the wrong question, He appears to be silent. God is never silent, but He is often ignored and not heard.

Today, allow God’s word to shape your questions and listen to the Truth from God’s word. Hear Him and your questions will become confessions of the Truth. This pleases the Father, which is what it means to worship Him in spirit and truth.