Christ the King Sunday
Not From This World
As I write this in May 2024, the Israeli military has begun a campaign to eliminate Hamas fighters from the Gazan city of Rafah. It’s reported that there are over 600,000 children taking refuge in that city, many of whom have fled there from the north of Gaza, where Israeli forces have decimated their neighborhoods and homes. There have already been tens of thousands of civilian causalities in this “war,” going back to October 2023, when Hamas militants enacted a brutal terrorist attack on Israelis. Since then, new reports have been replete with images and accounts of indiscriminate bombings that have devastated Palestinian communities and families in Gaza. What are disciples of Jesus to make of this?
There is a clue in John 18, the story of Jesus’ conversation with Pilate shortly before his crucifixion. The context is, Pilate has been delivered Jesus, with the expectation that Jesus will be executed by the Romans for being a threat to the empire. Pilate is reluctant to be used as a weapon to settle intra-Jewish disputes, but nevertheless agrees to interview Jesus. But when Pilate asks Jesus if he is indeed the “king of the Jews,” Jesus replies that his kingdom is “not from this world.” What a strange reply! If Jesus’ kingdom is not from this world, what is its nature? “If [my kingdom] were [from this world], my servants would fight to prevent my arrest” (John 18:36).
Herein lies a crucial attribute of Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus embodies the nonviolent character of God’s kingdom in his self-donating love. Jesus models for his disciples the others-centered love that is the essence of his reign. Jesus’ kingdom does not harm others, it does not oppress the vulnerable, it does not wage war. May we be citizens of Jesus’ kingdom.
TC Moore, co-pastor, Roots Moravian Church
St. Paul, Minnesota
