It is often thought that in John 18 Jesus says ‘My kingdom is not of this world’. But this mistranslation is misleading: his kingdom makes itself felt in this world, but the origin of its power and the nature of its exercise is quite different from ‘worldy’ power.
As we celebrate Christ the King on the last Sunday of the lectionary year, we need to look back to Daniel 7 and forwards to Revelation 1 to understand the radical nature of Jesus’ authority and power as he reigns as king.
Come and join Ian and James as they explore these questions!
Full written commentary behind the discussion can be found on the blog.
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As an initial comment this from my blog
https://stevesfreechurchblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/46/
In which I’m basically saying that whether you translate it as ‘of’ or ‘from’ this world, Jesus is not saying his kingdom is vague or ethereal, it’s a kingdom working in a very real and practical way in the world – BUT it’s not the kind of military coercive rebellion against Rome (or other earthly powers) that would concern Pilate. In Pilate’s terms, Jesus’ kingdom is so different from the conventional idea of the Messiah, as seen in the various Jewish revolts, that Pilate is able to declare Jesus innocent.
And here’s the rub: from Constantine through to Henry VIII and Cromwell, and on down to modern people like Joe Boot and Stephen Wolfe, Christians have persistently tried to set up ‘Christian states’ – precisely the kind of this-worldly kingdom that Jesus rejected, the kind of kingdom that if Jesus had proposed it, Pilate would have had to find him guilty. Such Christians are compromising Jesus’ innocence on which his sacrifice for our sins depends.
The Church of England by its ‘establishment’ contradicts this crucial teaching of Jesus.
On the way to meet a friend this morning, I heard on Premier Radio 15- 20 mins of Ian Paul fielding questions from listeners on Revelation.
Great stuff and encouraging with enthusiastic teaching and responses. Thank you.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for your podcasts, I enjoy listening to them.
When reading the passages I came accross the following translation in the Complete Jewish Bible and thought you may find it interesting.
Yochanan (Jhn) 18:36 CJB
[36] Yeshua answered, “My kingship does not derive its authority from this world’s order of things. If it did, my men would have fought to keep me from being arrested by the Judeans. But my kingship does not come from here.”
Yochanan (Jhn) 18:37 CJB
[37] “So then,” Pilate said to him, “You are a king, after all.” Yeshua answered, “You say I am a king. The reason I have been born, the reason I have come into the world, is to bear witness to the truth. Every one who belongs to the truth listens to me.”
https://bible.com/bible/1275/jhn.18.36.CJB
That is interesting. The move from ‘kingdom’ to ‘kingship’ does bring out a dynamic sense of the term. ‘Derive its authority’ is a helpful interpretation, though of course it moves beyond being ‘translation’.
I can see why Iudaioi is translated ‘Judeans’ here, but the term cannot be translated like that on all occasions.
Thanks for sharing.
As a Jew himself, John is of course not being “anti-Jewish racist” – as I prefer to call it because in the original use of ‘Semitic’ that term also includes most of Israel’s surrounding opponents. Gazans I believe can get quite annoyed because they almost all look traditionally Semitic and modern Israelis very often don’t!
There are certainly times in the gospel when John refers to ‘Jews’ meaning all Jews; there are also times, usually when talking about the opposition to Jesus, when he as a Galilean is talking about ‘Judeans’ in the way that a Mancunian like me would talk of “Them Southerners”!