John 18:1-19:42

John 18:1-19:42

John 18:33-19:16

So Pilate went back into the praetorium

and summoned Jesus and said to him,

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered,

“Do you say this on your own

or have others told you about me?”

Pilate answered,

“I am not a Jew, am I?

Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.

What have you done?”

Jesus answered,

“My kingdom does not belong to this world.

If my kingdom did belong to this world,

my attendants would be fighting

to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.

But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”

So Pilate said to him,

“Then you are a king?”

Jesus answered,

“You say I am a king.

For this I was born and for this I came into the world,

to testify to the truth.

Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

When he had said this,

he again went out to the Jews and said to them,

“I find no guilt in him.

But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.

Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

They cried out again,

“Not this one but Barabbas!”

Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.

And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,

and clothed him in a purple cloak,

and they came to him and said,

“Hail, King of the Jews!”

And they struck him repeatedly.

Once more Pilate went out and said to them,

“Look, I am bringing him out to you,

so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”

So Jesus came out,

wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.

And he said to them, “Behold, the man!”

When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,

“Crucify him, crucify him!”

Pilate said to them,

“Take him yourselves and crucify him.

I find no guilt in him.”

The Jews answered,

“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,

because he made himself the Son of God.”

Now when Pilate heard this statement,

he became even more afraid,

and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,

“Where are you from?”

Jesus did not answer him.

So Pilate said to him,

“Do you not speak to me?

Do you not know that I have power to release you

and I have power to crucify you?”

Jesus answered him,

“You would have no power over me

if it had not been given to you from above.

For this reason the one who handed me over to you

has the greater sin.”

Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,

“If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.

Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out

and seated him on the judge’s bench

in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.

And he said to the Jews,

“Behold, your king!”

They cried out,

“Take him away, take him away!  Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them,

“Shall I crucify your king?”

The chief priests answered,

“We have no king but Caesar.”

Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, today I contemplate the sorrowful passion of your Son. I see the great love your Son has for me and his willingness to die for me. Help me respond generously to your Son’s love and offer my life to you in union with his.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Are You the King of the Jews? When we read the Gospel of John, it is striking that Jesus does not speak often about the Kingdom of God as he does in the other Gospels. Matthew has Jesus speaking all the time about the Kingdom. Mark also records Jesus’ parables and teachings about the Kingdom. John, however, waits until the end of his Gospel to narrate something about the Kingdom of God. The Judeans who handed Jesus over to Pilate needed something better than blasphemy to argue that Jesus deserved to be executed by the Romans. And so, they accused Jesus of insurrection and treason. That is why Pilate asks him, “Are you the King of the Jews (Judeans)?” Pilate wants to know if Jesus actually poses a challenge to Caesar’s authority.

2. My Kingdom Does Not Belong to This World: Jesus uses Pilate’s question about whether or not he is the “King of the Judeans” to clarify that there is a distinction between earthly kingship and heavenly kingship. Earthly kingship is not superior to divine omnipotence and omniscience. As Jesus says to Pilate: “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above.” The Kingdom of God that Jesus established is not political or merely earthly. It is a heavenly Kingdom that has been inaugurated on earth. It is like leaven in the dough. It transforms society, making it more just and charitable. It is like a treasure buried in the field of the world. It welcomes both sinners and saints. It will start small like a seed but become a great tree that welcomes all nations. The Kingdom of Christ is “an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace” (Preface of Christ the King).

3. Behold, Your King: When Pilate presented Jesus to the people, he said, “Behold, your King!” He said it mockingly, but he declared a great truth. The king the people saw was bloodied from the scourging and bruised from the punches across his face. He was a suffering king. On the cross, Jesus reigned and offered forgiveness to sinners. From the tomb, Jesus emerged victorious. Jesus conquered death by dying. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. And for two thousand years, Jesus has reigned and will reign until the end of time, when he comes in glory. “As the Lord of the cosmos and of history, the Head of his Church, the glorified Christ mysteriously remains on earth where his kingdom is already present in seed and in its beginning in the Church. One day, he will return in glory, but we do not know the time. Because of this, we live in watchful anticipation, praying ‘Come, Lord’ (Revelation 22:20)” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 133).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are my king, my faithful and merciful high priest, and my bridegroom. You opened the way to heaven, to your Father. I will follow you and seek the things that are above.

Living the Word of God: If I cannot attend the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion today, can I spend some time reading, meditating on, and contemplating the Passion according to John? If my parish has Eucharistic adoration this evening, can I read through the Passion there, before our Lord in the Eucharist?