Articles
Are YOU a King - Mark 15
Are YOU a King - Mark 15:2
"And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” Mark 15:2 (ESV)
When the Jews brought Jesus to Pilate, they had to produce a charge against him that broke Roman law. This would have the Romans putting Jesus to death and thus in outward appearance it leaves the Jewish leaders out of it. Hence they "began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” Luke 23:2 (ESV). It was this charge of claiming to be ‘king’ that led Pilate to ask Jesus if He claimed to be a king.
An interesting aspect of the Greek language and the importance of the word order seem to indicate that this question included a sense of sarcasm. YOU are a king? Seeing Jesus in his ordinary clothes of an ordinary man, a man with no army, a man with no wealth, a man that has been publicly beaten and humiliated, all of this would have left Pilate a bit baffled as to their accusation of kingship. Hence, there seems to this sense of unbelief in the question.
Scholars are somewhat divided on how to translate Jesus’ answer. Literally it can be simply translated “you say”… but what does that MEAN? Most realize that it was an affirmative answer that also indicated a certain ambiguity. He IS a king but not in the political sense that Pilate would need to worry about. This comes out clearly in John’s telling of this. "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.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. 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.” John 18:36–37 (ESV)
Getting past the political sense of ‘king’ is still difficult for many people. Jesus IS King. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He has all authority in heaven and upon earth.
As we learn from Romans 13, the political part is in actuality ‘delegated’ by Him. The earthly powers are His servants to address the needed earthly relationships and existence of men. They yet themselves are under His authority. As Daniel said: He rules in the kingdoms of men. As Jesus said to Pilate: You would have no authority except the Father has given it to you.
In the spiritual realm, we are translated into the kingdom of Christ when we are converted. This happens when we acknowledge HIM as Lord and bow our will unto His. We not only believe the facts about Him (resurrection, glory, etc.) but we also trust His will to instruct us on how to live. We turn from our stubborn lives of living by OUR own rules and turn to live by His teaching. We freely confess before all that He is Lord. We are buried in baptism and are made alive and forgiven by the power and act of God. We arise then to live a new life dedicated unto Him. We no longer live for self, but He now lives in us.
To make a direct application, let us simply rephrase Pilate’s question and redirect it: Is He your king? Let us not only confess this with our lips but let us declare it in our living. Hugh DeLong
