October 23, 2023
An Interview With The King of Kings
“Jesus answered, ‘Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?’” John 18:34 (NASB)
I had a bad experience with a pastor in ministry over 25 years ago. I was working as a youth pastor at the time. The newly arrived pastor was approached by a few people in the church spreading lies about me. I waited until he was settled knowing he would contact me. These lies were demonic. When the pastor finally called me in, he asked me “So what is this I hear you have been doing?” I listened for the next 30 minutes as he berated me. When he was finished, I asked him, “Would you like to hear what I have to say?” He said, “Well, go ahead.” I explained, “There are two sides to every story, but since you started off this way, there is no sense in giving mine. Your mind is already made.” I spoke to a pastor-mentor in ministry afterward. I resigned a week later. The mentor told me, “Run, don’t walk away.” He said, “This is bad.” He didn’t want to see my ministry damaged by those who hated me. He later confided that it was the worst ministry he had seen in 50 years. I almost didn’t continue in ministry after being hurt.
“Jesus answered, ‘Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?’” The question posed was answered by asking Pilate another question. Pilate had a legitimate interest in the case of Jesus if He was deemed a “king,” in the political sense. If Jesus was king of the Jews, He could potentially threaten Pilate. He could be one who opposed Roman law or began uprisings. Jesus responded to Pilate saying He was the “King of the Jews” (vs. 33), in a religious sense. From early on, most Jews did not understand Jesus’s identity. It was seen in His arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday when all those covered the road with palm branches and welcomed their newly arrived king (symbolic of a conquering king). They believed Jesus would free them from the bondage of the Romans. He would finally break the oppression they suffered by their captures over the centuries. Before this time, in the Intertestamental Period (the period between the Old and New Testament writings or 400 Years of Silence), the Jews were victims of dispersion in two exiles. Israel in Assyria (2 Kings 17:23), and Judah in Babylon (2 Kings 25:21). “The majority of Jews did not return to Judea after their exile in the Persian empire (Babylon). They became colonists there.”[1] So one can see how the Jews might have been looking for someone to finally deliver them from the bondage they suffered. Pilate too, would have been aware of history, not as Jews in bondage, but of troublemakers from the 24-year war with the Syrians, called the Maccabean Revolt (166-142 B.C.). This war was fought against Hellenization (or Greek cultured influence on their nation). So Jesus responded, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” He knew the Jews had brought lies into his camp to influence Pilate’s decision to rid himself of another incident. It was a smooth and carefully laid lie. They could get Pilate to do all their dirty work, and still achieve their purpose.
The problem with lies is that they are hard to spot. Jesus knew Pilate was being deceived by the Jew's lies to use Roman force to execute Jesus. Pilate too, must have been a little suspicious as well as we will see in the coming hours. In my youth pastor days, I too was a victim of lies. Mine didn’t cost me my life but certainly targeted my ability to minister to students. After a short period, the pastor who gave me such a hard time later resigned himself.
[1] (MacArthur, John, 1997), 1372.