Brief synopsis of the readings: Again we turn to the Old Testament book of Daniel where he describes a dream of “one like a Son of man” who received dominion, glory, and kingship. All will serve him and his kingdom will not be destroyed. John’s Gospel recounts the conversation between Jesus and Pilate. Pilate asked if Jesus was the King of the Jews and Jesus did not directly answer the question. Instead he told Pilate that his kingdom does not belong to this world. Finally he told Pilate that he came into the world to testify to the truth and “[e]veryone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

As Americans we’ve always had a complicated relationship to the idea of kings and queens. We were founded to escape a king (George III) that we felt was not serving us well and founded a democracy where leaders serve at the pleasure of the people. It’s spelled out in our Declaration of Independence: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” This document was noteworthy because most people at the time believed that kings were inviolate and untouchable. But in the sweep of history we see countless instances of kings being overthrown and murdered. Granted these instances are rare but all kings lived with the burden of that possibility.

Enter Pontius Pilate from our Gospel. We know a fair amount about him not only from Scripture but from the excellent records the Romans kept. He was the governor of the Roman territory of Judea under Emperor Tiberius. That didn’t make him king, but he had enough power over the people of Judea that he acted as their king. His rule wasn’t absolute; he ruled with the consent of Tiberius.

But he also ruled, in a sense, with the consent of those under him. In our history we’ve seen where kings have been overthrown but there are more instances when they faced limits to their power. For history buffs the best example was 1215 when the English King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta by his barons and the senior clergy. It limited his power as king of England.

And that’s important as we read the Gospel about the meeting of Pilate and Jesus. While the Gospels often describe the same event in different ways, John’s Gospel shows Jesus in much stronger ways; it’s not hard to see why John’s Gospel was chosen for this commemoration. While Pilate clearly expected Jesus to be subservient, that clearly wasn’t going to happen. Pilate had the power of life and death over Jesus and most people in that position would beg for mercy.

In some ways it appears that Pilate and Jesus were talking past each other, or at least were having different conversations. If we boil it down we can see that they see their kingship in fundamentally different ways. Pilate, like all earthly kings, ruled with a certain amount of fear. Fear for their life but also fear for their status and fear for their easy lifestyle. Pilate was acutely aware that he needed to not only keep Tiberius happy, he also needed to keep his subjects happy enough that no whiff of revolt reached Rome. It was a difficult balance to rule with both authority and fear. And let’s face it: the Gospels tell us that Pilate really didn’t want to order Jesus’ crucifixion but ordered it nonetheless because he didn’t want to appear weak in the face of a Jewish revolt.

Jesus doesn’t beg for mercy simply because he doesn’t rule at the pleasure of anyone. As he told Pilate, his kingdom is not of this world. This must have puzzled Pilate because it was much beyond his understanding. Imagine an earthly king knowing he could rule entirely without fear or worry for his future.

That would likely leave anyone at a crossroads. If you could rule without worrying about losing your place, you could rule as ruthlessly or as kindly as you wished and it would have the same result. What he know about Pilate tells us he would probably choose to build himself up by pushing everyone down. If he could take anything he wants, why not take everything?

On the other hand we see Jesus’ kingship as one of service. A kingship that cares about the poor and marginalized, that heals and empowers, that encourages and invites. King Jesus is the kind of king that rules at the pleasure of no one but rules at the service of all.

And as disciples we face the same choice. Since we are all promised the salvation we desire, we can act with great selfishness or great service. As an undergraduate at Boston College I took several courses from Dr. Peter Kreeft and when asked who was saved he said this (and yes, I’m paraphrasing mostly because I’m remembering something I heard 40 years ago): “I believe that God’s judgement means that he will open the door of heaven and the door of hell and ask us to choose.”

In other words we can live as Pilate and grab whatever we can from whomever we can. Or we can live like Jesus and serve whomever we can. And I believe in Dr. Kreeft’s image everyone believes they are in heaven. Those who rule ruthlessly need never worry about running into anyone they dominated because they are in a different place. Ruthless rulers generally don’t go after each other because it’s easier to go after those who can’t fight back. This is heaven for them because they are surrounded by other ruthless rulers who speak the same language.

And those who rule in service with others are surrounded by those who are grateful. Imagine when you get to heaven that you are met by all those people you were kind to, all the people who needed your help and you gave it to them.

And you will all speak the same language. The language of Christ the King.