The King

John 18:28-38

²⁸Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. ²⁹So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ³²This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³³So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After His arrest, Jesus is taken to the high priest, Peter denies Jesus three times, and now Jesus is brought before Pilate.

Pilate asks Jesus if He is the king of the Jews. Jesus states that He is a king, but that His kingdom is not of this world. This answer does not trouble Pilate, and he concludes that Jesus has not broken any laws of Rome.

Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, refers to Jesus as “. . . the blessed and only Sovereign, the king of kings and Lord of lords.” (1 Timothy 6:15).

John, in Revelation 17 declares that Jesus “is the Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14).

In this season of lent, it is good to focus on the kingship of Christ and what it should mean to us. Jesus Himself declared that He is king, but His kingdom is not of this world. But this does not mean that He is king only over heavenly and spiritual beings. He is the king of all things and all beings, even those who do not believe nor acknowledge His kingship. He is king of all – Not just over a specific country or people.

For us, who have been saved, He is our king, and we ought to acknowledge Him as our king. What would it look like for us to treat Jesus as our king? There are a few examples for us in the Bible.

Joshua and the commander of the Lord’s army (Joshua 5:13-15) – Importance of obedience to the Lord’s plan, instead of expecting the Lord to help us with our plans. Joshua leads Israel into the Promise Land and the first obstacle they face is the walled fortress of Jericho. Joshua has no experienced warriors, and they are still recovering from being circumcised. They also do not have any tools to get through the wall – No ladders, no battering rams, no catapults.

As he pondered these things, Joshua sees a man standing before him with a drawn sword. Joshua asks the man whether he is a friend or foe, and the man answers, “Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have come.” Joshua immediately accepts this and waits to be commanded.

When we have a task from the Lord ahead of us, we tend to rely on our talents, experiences, knowledge and wisdom. We might even believe that this is the reason the Lord gave us the task, as if the Lord is depending on us. But the truth is that often, what the Lord is desiring of us is obedience.

Joshua understood this. Even after he hears the commanders unusual plan for defeating Jericho – March around the city thirteen times, blow the trumpet, then yell – He obeys and leads the Israelites to follow the plan.

If we obey the Lord, then the Lord will enable us to bring about the outcome that He desires. This is one example of how to relate to a king.

Another example is David and the Three (1 Chronicles 11:15-19) – Always searching to determine the desires of the Lord, rather than our own needs/wants.

There were three mighty warriors in David’s army who loved their king. They were fighting the Philistines, and the enemy had occupied Bethlehem, David’s hometown. David was probably remembering his carefree childhood days and longingly expresses a desire for a drink of water from the well in Bethlehem. There was no way that David meant this as an order and would never risk the lives of valuable men, but the Three immediately went behind enemy lines into Bethlehem and brought back water from the well. These men loved their king enough to always seek to determine the desires of the king, rather than their own needs or wants.

Then there is the example of Paul. At the time of his conversion, the Lord shows him how much he will suffer for the name of Jesus. During his travels, the Holy Spirit tells Paul that in the cities he will visit, there will be nothing but troubles and imprisonments. Paul does not take this as a warning to avoid the cities but acknowledges it as fact and continues. Paul is an example of a man who is committed to serving his king. Not just out of a sense of loyalty, but out of his deep love for his Lord who forgave his sins – Sins that he felt were so bad that he had a hard time forgiving himself – His persecution of Christ’s church and the death of Stephen. He knew he had been forgiven much, and thus his love for Jesus ran deep.

Easter will be here in six weeks. The reason Jesus had to die on the cross was our sins. We sometimes consider our sins as “not so bad” since we know about people who are a lot more sinful than ourselves. However, as far as our salvation goes, there are no degrees of sins. Any sin is enough for us to spend eternity away from God. Any one of our sins that we might consider as “not so bad” necessitated our Lord dying on the cross for us to be forgiven.

Think about the worst thing you have ever done in your life. Something that pops into your head every once in a while, and for which you feel regret. Remember that the Lord forgives you for that. Instead of just regretting it, be grateful for the Lord’s forgiveness, and let it fuel us to love and serve the Lord. Let us live like Jesus is the king of our lives.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on February 22, 2026.)