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<DIV><FONT size=4>Pilate picks up on Jesus words “my kingdom”. Jesus is king of
“truth” (v. </FONT><A
onmouseover="window.status='Click here to read the text'; return true"
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href="http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=John+18%3A37"><FONT
size=4>37</FONT></A><FONT size=4>); his subjects are those who belong to the
truth. He was “born” and “came into the world” to establish the kingdom of God,
the ultimate truth.</FONT>
<P></P>
<P><A href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr34m.shtml"><FONT
size=4>http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr34m.shtml</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>18:37</EM>: “‘You say that I am a king’”: Pilate and Jesus
mean different things by kingship, so a direct answer is not possible. [Sanders,
J.N. 1968]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>18:37</EM>: “the truth”: For Jesus’ testimony to “the
truth”, see 5:32; 8:40, 45, 46. 8:44 tells us that <EM>the Jews</EM> have
rejected “the truth”. The disciples have received it from Jesus: see 14:6;
17:17, 19. [Brown, Raymond E., et al., 1995 ] Here, it means <EM>reality</EM>.
[Sanders, J.N. 1968]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr34l.shtml"><FONT
size=4>http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr34l.shtml</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>We have come to the end of another liturgical year, and Dianne
Bergant explains that we observe the feast of Christ the King here, at that end,
because "it celebrates the realization of all of our theology. It is not only
the goal toward which our Sunday meditations have been taking us, Christ's
enthronement is the omega point toward which all of history has been moving."
The wise reign we look forward to, and sometimes experience in the here and now,
"is a kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice and peace,"
and this king is one we can approach without fear, knowing that we belong to
this gentle and loving shepherd king.<BR><BR>There is no need, then, for fear.
Words like king and kingdom and kingship are our ways of trying to describe this
shepherd king who carries us and leads us and calls us home. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://i.ucc.org/StretchYourMind/OpeningtheBible/WeeklySeeds/tabid/81/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/252/A-Wise-Reign-Nov-1622.aspx">http://i.ucc.org/StretchYourMind/OpeningtheBible/WeeklySeeds/tabid/81/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/252/A-Wise-Reign-Nov-1622.aspx</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Kate Huey, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Pilate mocks the Jewish authorities throughout, exposing their
powerlessness. He relents only when they convert to become defenders of the
emperor. The situation is bizarre. Pilate emerges as pathetic and weak. The
Jewish authorities emerge as traitors to their faith. It is a narrative spun out
of some strands of history woven within the fabric of contemporary conflict in
which inner Jewish tension has erupted into mutual accusation and recrimination
between those who follow Jesus and those who do not.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MkChristtheKing.htm">http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MkChristtheKing.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William Loader</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV align=justify>We should also remember, as Malina and Rohrbaugh
(<I>Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John</I>) point out:</DIV>
<DIV align=justify>To speak here of a "trial" of Jesus, so common in Western
scholarly literature, is out of place. Rigidly hierarchical societies such as
those under Roman imperial rule in the ancient Mediterranean world do not allow
for trials of social inferiors; instead they have accusations and punishments.
[p. 256]</DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/john18x33.htm">http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/john18x33.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Brian Stoffregen<BR>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4> In its simplest terms, the kingdom of God that Jesus
announced and embodied is what life would be like on earth, here and now, if God
were king and the rulers of this world were not (Borg, Crossan). Imagine if God
ruled the nations, and not Obama, Medvedev, Kim Jong-il, Mugabe, or Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. Every aspect of personal and communal life would experience a
radical reversal. The political, economic, and social subversions would be
almost endless—peace-making instead of war mongering, liberation not
exploitation, sacrifice rather than subjugation, mercy not vengeance, care for
the vulnerable instead of privileges for the powerful, generosity instead of
greed, humility rather than hubris, embrace rather than exclusion, etc.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20091116JJ.shtml">http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20091116JJ.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Daniel B. Clendenin, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The Judean authorities want Jesus gone, and not without
reason. Jesus' attacks on the Temple elite had been scathing. One
notes, however, that in all four gospels, Jesus was careful not to criticize the
Romans directly. His rare jibes at the Romans were oblique and
indirect. This was politically deft. You don't take on the most
powerful aspect of the power structure, which would be the Roman Army, but
rather its weakest component, which was the Temple elite, especially when that
elite is already under suspicion and held in low regard. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2009/11/lectionary-blogging-christ-the-king-john-18-3337.html">http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2009/11/lectionary-blogging-christ-the-king-john-18-3337.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Petty, 2000</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>