Trading One Sword For Another

March 21

Read: John 18

Trading One Sword For Another.

“Jesus 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.” - John 18:36

Say what you want to about the Apostle Peter, but he was no “chicken”. Peter was not one who was afraid to make radical decisions… I mean, he left his business on the beach to follow Jesus. In the passage here, he takes out his sword and lops off someone’s ear. Then later on, he boldly follows behind Jesus closely to see where they are keeping him captive. I think he was planning some sort of “prison break” for Jesus. When I stop to think about it, I think Peter just had the “guts” to do what a lot of us want to do deep down within us: Sometimes, we just want to “fight” - to take matters into our own hands and approach these “worldly problems” in a “worldly way”.

Jesus looks at Pilate and says, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting…” Make no mistake, the servants of Jesus are in a fight for sure, but it is not the “of this world” fight that you might be expecting. When we forget that Jesus’ Kingdom is “not of this world” we begin to scrambler and try to fight against the very work in this world that the Lord is doing. In short, we make the same mistakes that Peter made. We begin to forget about the power and authority that Jesus has (see yesterday’s devo) and we feel trapped. Later on in his trial, Jesus says this to Pilate the Roman governor who would eventually facilitate his crucifixion:

“So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:10,11)

Pilate has NO AUTHORITY other than what is given him from above. (cf. 19:11) Jesus is the one who has “all authority in heaven and on earth”, it has been given to him by the Father. (cf. Matt. 28:18) When we see these two truths laid out - Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world and all authority has been given to him ultimately - then we can avoid picking the wrong fight. We can remain calm when the Father’s plan is working out before us. This is how Jesus remained calm and collected during this intense examination and the grueling suffering of the cross. The world thinks that it has more “authority” and power than it actually does. When we see things around us that seem to be “unraveling” we may be tempted to think it is “time to fight”. This is not the case, Jesus says so: (to Peter) “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” and “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.”

What “fights” are you picking today? Are the one’s that Jesus is calling you to? Have you become frustrated with he decisions that the “Roman Governors” of the day are making? Remember they have no authority of their own any more than Pilate did! Have we been goaded into a battle within the wrong “arena”? Or are we fighting with the wrong “weapons”? Look at these words from Jesus in this final section:

“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.” (18:37)

Our job is to “bear witness to the truth”. We follow Christ’s lead. We can “put our swords away” and take up the “sword of truth” (which is the word of God) instead. (cf. Eph. 6) We must stand firm in TRUTH. Those who are “of the truth” will listen and respond! Those who continue on in rebellion against Christ will have their day under HIS authority and power. Love you guys. - JDP