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November 18, 2021Daniel 7:13-14; Psalm 93:1, 1-2, 5; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37
What are the forces of power in your life? We are all “influenceable.” But we can choose what has power over us and what does not. In today’s Gospel, the meeting of Jesus and Pilate is a clash of two powers. But it doesn't look like a competition at all. Pilate represents the might of Rome, the occupying force in Palestine in Jesus’ day. Troops and crucifixions would have served as a constant reminder that the Jewish people were not free. On the other side, we have Jesus. He spent the night before in prison, and had been on “trial” before his own religious leaders. Jesus, in chains, would have looked like no competition for Pilate. But Jesus is a King. He says: "My kingdom does not belong to this world.” But...while it is not a kingdom of this world, it is a kingdom for this world. Jesus’ kingdom is about love, the love of God, breaking into this world in such a way that we can call it a new creation. Jesus makes all things new (Rev. 21:5). This invisible Kingdom is made up of a rag-tag motley crew of outcasts, misfits, and the disenfranchised. A few hundred years after Jesus encountered Pilate, the Roman Emperor Constantine would be bending his knee to the name of Jesus as the first Christian Emperor. The motley crew transformed the Empire. What about today? Where does Jesus’ power need to enter into your life or community?
