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Jesus’ Message To Pilate: A Kingdom Beyond The Sword

Jesus’ Message To Pilate: A Kingdom Beyond The Sword

Last updated on: March 30, 2026 at 1:58 am by Henry Karlson

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Jesus’ Message To Pilate: A Kingdom Beyond The Sword 2026-03-30T01:58:28-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Andrea Schiavon (1510-1563): Christ Before Pilate, Christ Telling Pilate His Kingdom Is Not Established By Violence, By The Sword / Wikimedia Commons

It amazes me how often I find a Christian giving a gnostic reading to Jesus’ words, with the most common example coming from when he said, “My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world” (Jn. 18:36b RSV). Too many suggest these words indicate that Jesus has no concern or care for what happens in the world. Some even end up claiming that this is because the world is evil, that Jesus has no authority over it, because it is ruled by Satan. But, if this were true, then the Son of God would not have assumed human nature, and with it, material creation, for God would not affirm that which is evil. The world is not evil, nor is it worthless. Christians are not allowed to do anything they want to it, justifying that attitude by saying that it doesn’t matter what they do to it because it ultimately doesn’t matter. Contrary to that belief, the world has its place in eternity, which is why it is described in Scripture as the “world without end.” To properly understand the words Jesus spoke to Pilate, we have to consider the context in which they were spoken. Jesus was captured by Roman authorities who treated him as if he were a zealot, someone promoting a militant uprising against Rome. Many of his followers expected him to do just that; they believed, as many Jews believed at that time, that messiah would be a militant figure, someone who would use the force of arms to displace Rome and its authority from the world scene. They were wrong, and this is what Jesus was telling Pilate: if he wanted to, he could have been what they had expected, and if that were the case, no one would have stopped him. He did so by suggesting that the true scope of his authority, his dominion, was much greater than Israel and Rome; his kingdom transcended human governments and the borders used to establish them. We certainly must not read into his words the suggestion that he did not care for the world and what happened on it, for, if we paid attention to his messianic work, he constantly showed his concern for the well-being of everyone in it. He promoted a new way of life, one which was meant for everyone, encouraging them to make the world a better place. Indeed, God so loved the world that God sent him, God’s son, into it (cf. Jn. 3:16). What he did not care for, what he did not follow, what he resisted and fought against, was the world as it was bound to and followed systemic structures of sin. He rejected the world system those structures created. His victory over sin, and the structures they created, his messianic accomplishment, was established by his death and resurrection from the dead.

Christ willingly suffered his death on the cross because he loved the world. All creation awaited this, because all creation wanted to be freedom from the bondage sin imposed upon it. His kingdom is said not to be of this world in respect to the way it is not of the world order that relies upon the systemic structures of sin, the world order which thinks might makes right, the world order which encourages violence. He saw the way of the sword came out of and followed the order established by sin. He doesn’t want us to have anything to do with it, which is why we have been warned that those who live by the sword shall die by it. Peter had to be reminded this on the night on which Jesus was betrayed, when Peter took up the sword – Jesus told him to put it away, and healed the one whom Peter hurt with it. Jesus, throughout his passion, showed us the reality of his kingdom and the way it wants us to live: if we want to be his followers, we are to learn from his suffering on the the cross that the way of his kingdom is the way of love and not the sword.

If we are to follow Christ, we will do what we can to imitate him in his earthly ministry; we will seek to heal that which sin has harmed or destroyed. We will not follow the spirit of the anti-Christ and the anti-kingdom, which is the way of violence and destruction. If the way of God, if the way of the kingdom of God, were to suggest that might makes right, God would merely exercise power and deny everyone’s freedom; instead, it is the way of love, where love (God) makes room for the beloved (creation), giving the beloved (all creation) the freedom it needs to properly love God back. God’s love is given to all creation, to all that is good in it, which is why the kingdom of God can be found throughout it; wherever that which is good is found, there, in that good, the kingdom of God is found. The kingdom of God works in the world by way of redemptive love, freeing that which is good from the bondage and contamination of sin, and once it is freed, the kingdom of God brings God’s grace to it so that it can be made greater, until it is brought into a new modality of being, the modality of the resurrection, where sin can never know or touch it. Those who have embraced the way of the kingdom of God will not deny God’s creation, but like God, will love it, knowing that its goodness is to be treasured, its beauty restored to it, so that what sin has defiled will be transformed so that sin will no longer have power over it again.

Those who follow Jesus, those who embrace the kingdom of God, will say, like Jesus to Pilate, that God’s kingdom is not of this world, that is, it is not of the world as it is seen and understood through the lens of sin. It is not the way violent force, seeking to destroy anyone who gets in its way. It is not hateful, seeking the death of anyone. It looks to the world with mercy and love. Those who follow Christ, those who know and experience the kingdom of God, will seek to free the world from the harm it suffers, from those who are violent, destroying the world by the sword, and those who defile it, consuming from it in excess, through greed and gluttony, leaving in it and its environment in ruins. This is why they will not only be conservationists, but environmentalists; they will reject all the selfishness which justifies the exploitation of the world, knowing that such exploitation is just another iteration of the sin of violence, that is, another iteration of the way of the sword. Is it no wonder, as we have engaged such environmental destruction, we now find ourselves suffering from that destruction ourselves? We have been warned that living by the sword will lead to our death; surely, we should listen to the world and its cries of pain, seen in the extreme weather patterns arising all around us, and realize, we must stop, repent, and do what we can to heal the world before it is too late.

Jesus told Pilate his kingdom is not of the world. Why do so many Christians ignore the context of those words and use them to justify destroying the world? Why do they use them to reject the world which God created, the world which God loved, and do so by embracing the very violence Jesus said he rejected? Jesus didn’t come into the world to be a warrior sweeping away all his foes through violence; he came into the world to be a lover, to free the world from the woes of that violence. Let those who have an ear, hear.

* This Is Another Post From My Personal (Informal) Reflections And Speculations Series

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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