The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 382

I pnt forth any claim of this kind, which thou do to transform into thy blltllr thou as the chief m11.gistrate of this Roman enemies th011e who would natumlly condone rodnce hll!<t nny legal oognill:ance of?" f t was not, 1\8 Hen~tenberg and Westcott or favour any euoh olo.im as tho.t of being o 110ditioue rivA.I to the Romn.n Cmsn.r? eniweet, an appeal to the ffl/171 ratl1er th1m Ver. 86.-In reply to this challenge, J'eau to the gnremnr, to the oonB<',ience of PilRte anawered~bviously assuming the fnct that mlher the.n to the forms of the tribunal; but he wits B kin~ in a sense entirely different (Meyer), with the intrepid oon•oiousness of from that winch hn.d been mo.Jiciously sug- porfoct innooen<"e of the political crime, our gested to Pilate-?ly kingdom-the king- Lord Mks for the formal declare.tinn of the dom that is mine-ii not of this world. charge brought against him. Or did othera Neither now nor at eny future period will tell it thee concerning me, Alford, Lo.nge, it derive its origin from this world. So fo.r Schaff. etc., all a,grce ";tb Goclet in rup- as Christ is Kiniz, his royal powor and state )'IOsing that Christ wo.s discriminating be- are not furnished by earthly foroe, or fleshly tween the theocratic and the political use ordme.ncce, or physical energies, or mo.terio.l of the great phmse. It is obvious that he wcn.lth, or imperilLl armies. The dominion did rise from the latter to the former in the that he will wield will be one over hearts following verses, bnt it is difficult to find end lives; the authority of the Lord Jesus the distinction in this aHemative question. co.nnot be arrested or overpowered by physi- •• Did others (not thine own police or ob- cal force. Most oommento.iors justly rego.rd 110rvation )-did the Jews, in fact, bring thee this ae a spiritual mnnifesto of the sources this cho.rge &!!&inst me? No.v, did tbev e.nd quality of the kingdom of Christ, o.nd a not? Is it not'entirely dne to ti,is outbreak foreshadowing of the sepe.ration between the of hostility to my teaching tln•t they ha'l'e spiritnal and secular power--& declare.lion chosen thus to impeach me before thee-to that all effort to embody Ohrietian laws and deliver me to thee?" Therefore, first of government in compulsory forms, and to all, Cb rist repudiated the che.rge, in the defend them by penal ee.nctions e.nd tempoml only sense in which it could have conveyed fol't",e, is disloyalty to the royal rank and crown any colonrable idoa to the mind of Pilo.le. rights oftbe Lord Jesus Christ. Hengsten- Ver. 35.-Pilate answered, with the proud berg regards the nssertion ae precisely the and haughty tone of a Iloman military judge reverse; sees in the passage," rightly under- or procurator, Am I a Jewt The ryrl, is stood, the very opposite purpose. The king- very emphatic, aud the force of the question dom that sprang directly from heo.ven must requires a negative. You know that it have absolute authority over all the earth, would be insult to me to make such a sup- and it will not submit to be pnt into ob- position. 1'he nation that is thine, not mine, scurity. The kingdoms of this world must and the chief priest&, delivered thee to me. become the kingdom of the Lord and his An uneqnivoeaJ statement that l,e ho.d no Anointed, o.nd he shall reign for ever and reason of his own to assume that Jesus was ever." This ia true, but not along the linea a political aspirant. Whatever inner reasons or with the mo.chinery of earthly rule and these Jews had to malign Jesus and confuse authority. The influence e.nd authority of Pilate'e mind with the ambiguity of the Heaven works upon the spirit by truth e.nd title, the governor ie innocent o.s yet of any righteoneness and pee.ce, and thne trsnsforms such theocratic or religious meauing in the institutions, permee.tes society from the charge. More than this, the humiliation of ground of the bee.rt, modifies the rele.tions the Divine Lord of men, the King of Isrnel, between the members of a household, o.nd is grievouely aggravated by the very uee of transfigures those between a rnler and his the word. "Thy own nation has delivered subjects, between the master and his sle.ves, thee np, has betrayed thee to me." The between labour e.nd capito.l, and between crime of Judas has been adopted by the man and man. Wuenever it is trinmphant, religioue authorities and the patriotic lee.ders whenever the lives of kings and their peoples of the p~ople. "He came unto his own, and are se.nctified by supreme obedience to liis owu people received him not." Christ Christ the King, then war will be impos- frequently anticipated this result of his sible, all tyrannies and slaveries will be ministry; and he regarded it as the climax abolished, e.ll me.lice o.nd violence of monarchs of hi,; indignity (see especially Luke ix. 44; or mobs will be at an end ; then the wolfish and ef. the language of St. Peter, Acts iii. and the lamblike nature will be at peace. 13), that the anointed King should by his Then all the means for enforcing the will own people be "delivered" np to lawless of one against another will be done away. Gentile hands t.o be crucified and slain. He will have put down e.11 rule, authority, Pil~te e.ssures him that, if he is now in his and power; for he must reign, and he alone. hand,,, tLe cause of it is simply that hie own This kingdom is not (i,c) "from," "out of,'' people had utterly repudiated hie claims, this world's methods or resources: does not wh1ttever they may have been. What didst begin from without and establish itself, or on. xvm. 1-40,] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S'l'. JOHN. 395