"33 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. 34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” 36 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.” 37 Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” 38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.39 But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?” 40 But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)"
This scene is a very telling one in a number of ways. Thought the obvious statement concerning the Kingdom of God here, is when Jesus says that His Kingdom is not an earthly one. The fact that throughout history there have been Christians who have lived as if they believe the exact opposite is true, is saddening. If we truly view Jesus' Kingdom as a Kingdom that isn't of this world, our priorities in life would start to shift. We wouldn't be as concerned about things going wrong financially here on earth because our treasure is in Heaven where moth and rust can't touch it. We wouldn't be concerned about persecution because we're blessed when others revile us, think less of us, and persecute us. Everything is different since Jesus' Kingdom is not an earthly one! How comforting is that to know!?!?
"Father give us eyes to see Your Kingdom. I pray that we would be like children and have faith in Jesus that You are who You say You are and that You love us! I pray that we would seek You each and every day, longing to reach out and grab hold of You, clinging to the cross of Christ and not be lured away to other things that surround us here on earth. We love You! It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen!"
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