Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 18:37

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

37. Art thou a king then ] The Greek for ‘then’ ( oukoun) occurs here only in N.T. The ‘Thou’ is even more emphatic than in Joh 18:33. The two together give a tone of scorn to the question, which is half an exclamation. ‘So then, Thou art a king!’ Comp. Joh 1:21.

Thou sayest that, &c.] This may be rendered, Thou sayest (truly); because, &c. But the A. V. is better: Christ leaves the title and explains the nature of His kingdom the realm of truth.

To this end for this cause ] The Greek for both is the same, and should be rendered in the same way in English; to this end. Both refer to what precedes; not one to what precedes and one to what follows. To be a king, He became incarnate; to be a king, He entered the world.

was I born came I ] Better, have I been born am I come. Both verbs are perfects and express not merely a past event but one which continues in its effects; Christ has come and remains in the world. The pronoun is very emphatic; in this respect Christ stands alone among men. The verbs point to His previous existence with the Father, although Pilate would not see this. The expression ‘come into the world’ is frequent in S. John (Joh 1:9, Joh 9:39, Joh 11:27, Joh 16:28): as applied to Christ it includes the notion of His mission (Joh 3:17, Joh 10:36, Joh 12:47; Joh 12:49, Joh 17:18).

that I should ] This is the Divine purpose of His royal power.

bear witness unto the truth ] Not merely ‘witness the truth,’ i.e. give a testimony that is true, but bear witness to the objective reality of the Truth: again, not merely ‘bear witness of,’ i.e. respecting the Truth (Joh 1:7; Joh 1:15, Joh 2:25, Joh 5:31-39, Joh 8:13-18, &c.), but ‘bear witness to,’ i.e. in support and defence of the Truth (Joh 5:33). Both these expressions, ‘witness’ and ‘truth,’ have been seen to be very frequent in S. John (see especially chaps. 1, 3, 5, 8. passim). We have them combined here, as in Joh 5:33. This is the object of Christ’s sovereignty, to bear witness to the Truth. It is characteristic of the Gospel that it claims to be ‘the Truth.’ “This title of the Gospel is not found in the Synoptists, Acts, or Apocalypse; but it occurs in the Catholic Epistles ( Jas 1:18 ; 1Pe 1:22; 2Pe 2:2) and in S. Paul (2Th 2:12; 2Co 13:8; Eph 1:13, &c.). It is specially characteristic of the Gospel and Epistles of S. John.” Westcott, Introduction to S. John, p. 44.

that is of the truth ] That has his root in it, so as to draw the power of his life from it. Comp. Joh 18:36, Joh 3:31, Joh 8:47, and especially 1Jn 2:21; 1Jn 3:19.

“It is of great interest to compare this confession before Pilate with the corresponding confession before the high priest (Mat 26:64). The one addressed to the Jews is in the language of prophecy, the other addressed to a Roman appeals to the universal testimony of conscience. The one speaks of a future manifestation of glory, the other of a present manifestation of truth It is obvious how completely they answer severally to the circumstances of the two occasions.” Westcott, in loco.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Art thou a king then? – Dost thou admit the charge in any sense, or dost thou lay claim to a kingdom of any kind?

Thou sayest … – This is a form of expression denoting affirmation. It is equivalent to yes.

That I am a king – This does not mean simply that Pilate affirmed that he was a king; it does not appear that he had done this; but it means, Thou affirmest the truth; thou declarest what is correct, for I am a king. I am a king in a certain sense, and do not deny it.

To this end … – Compare Joh 3:11-12, etc. Jesus does not here affirm that he was born to reign, or that this was the design of his coming; but it was to bear witness to and to exhibit the truth. By this he showed what was the nature of his kingdom. It was not to assert power; not to collect armies; not to subdue nations in battle. It was simply to present truth to men, and to exercise dominion only by the truth. Hence, the only power put forth in restraining the wicked, in convincing the sinner, in converting the heart, in guiding and leading his people, and in sanctifying them, is that which is produced by applying truth to the mind. Men are not forced or compelled to be Christians. They are made to see that they are stoners, that God is merciful, that they need a Redeemer, and that the Lord Jesus is fitted to their case, and yield themselves then wholly to his reign. This is all the power ever used in the kingdom of Christ, and no men in his church have a right to use any other. Alas! how little have persecutors remembered this! And how often, under the pretence of great regard for the kingdom of Jesus, have bigots attempted by force and flames to make all men think as they do! We see here the importance which Jesus attached to truth. It was his sole business in coming into the world. He had no other end than to establish it. We therefore should value it, and seek for it as for hid treasures, Pro 23:23.

Every one … – See Joh 8:47.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 37. Thou sayest] A common form of expression for, yes, it is so. I was born into the world that I might set up and maintain a spiritual government: but this government is established in and by truth. All that love truth, hear my voice and attend to the spiritual doctrines I preach. It is by truth alone that I influence the minds and govern the manners of my subjects.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Art thou a king then? Pilate seems to have spoken this rather in derision and mockery, than out of any desire to catch him in his words. Christ neither owneth himself to be a king, nor yet denieth it, but tells Pilate that he said so; and to this end he was born, and for this cause he came into the world, to bear testimony to the truth: i.e. I cannot deny but that I have a spiritual kingdom, that is truth, and I must attest the truth; it was a part of my errand into the world; and every one who is by Divine grace disposed to believe and love the truth, will hear and obey my doctrine.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

37. Art thou a king then?Therewas no sarcasm or disdain in this question (as THOLUCK,ALFORD, and others,allege), else our Lord’s answer would have been different. Puttingemphasis upon “thou,” his question betrays a mixtureof surprise and uneasiness, partly at the possibilityof there being, after all, something dangerous under the claim, andpartly from a certain awe which our Lord’s demeanor probably struckinto him.

Thou sayest that I am akingIt is even so.

To this end was I“haveI been.”

born and for this cause cameIam I come.

into the world, that I maybear witness to the truthHis birth expresses Hismanhood; His coming into the world, His existence beforeassuming humanity: The truth, then, here affirmed, though Pilatewould catch little of it, was that His Incarnation was expresslyin order to the assumption of Royalty in our nature. Yet, insteadof saying, He came to be a King, which is His meaning, He says Hecame to testify to the truth. Why this? Because, in suchcircumstances it required a noble courage not to flinch from Hisroyal claims; and our Lord, conscious that He was putting forththat courage, gives a turn to His confession expressive of it. Itis to this that Paul alludes, in those remarkable words to Timothy:”I charge thee before God, who quickeneth all things, and beforeChrist Jesus, who, in the presence of Pontius Pilate,witnessed the good confession” (1Ti6:13). This one act of our Lord’s life, His courageouswitness-bearing before the governor, was selected as an encouragingexample of the fidelity which Timothy ought to display. As theLord (says OLSHAUSENbeautifully) owned Himself the Son of God before the mostexalted theocratic council, so He confessed His regal dignityin presence of the representative of the highest political authorityon earth.

Every one that is of thetruth heareth my voiceOur Lord here not only affirms that Hisword had in it a self-evidencing, self-recommending power, but gentlyinsinuated the true secret of the growth and grandeur of Hiskingdomas A KINGDOMOF TRUTH, in its highest sense, into which all souls who havelearned to live and count all things but loss for the truth are, by amost heavenly attraction, drawn as into their proper element; THEKING of whom Jesus is,fetching them in and ruling them by His captivating power over theirhearts.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Pilate therefore said unto him,…. Upon this free and full declaration of Christ, concerning his kingly office, and the nature of his kingdom:

art thou a king then? or thou art a king then: for, from his having a kingdom, it might be very justly inferred that he was a king:

Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king; and which was very rightly said; and Christ by these words owns and confesses, that he was one: adding,

to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. The end of Christ’s being born, which was of a virgin, in a very miraculous manner, and of his coming into the world, which was by the assumption of human nature, among many other things, was to bear testimony to truth in general; to the whole Gospel, the word of truth, and every branch of it, which he brought with him, constantly preached in life, and confirmed by his death; and particularly to this truth, that he was a King, and had a kingdom in a spiritual sense:

everyone that is of the truth; that is of God, belongs to the sheep of Christ, knows the truth as it is in Jesus, and is on the side of truth, and stands by it:

heareth my voice; the voice of his Gospel; and that not only externally, but internally; so as to approve of it, rejoice at it, and distinguish it; and the voice of his commands, so as cheerfully to obey them from a principle of love to him.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Art thou a king then? ( ;). Compound of and and is clearly ironical expecting an affirmative answer, only here in the N.T., and in LXX only in A text in 2Ki 5:23.

Thou sayest that ( ). In Matt 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3, clearly means “yes,” as (thou saidst) does in Mt 26:64 (= “I am,” , in Mr 41:62). Hence here had best be taken to mean “because”: “Yes, because I am a king.”

Have I been born ( ). Perfect passive indicative of . The Incarnation was for this purpose. Note repetition of (for this purpose), explained by (that I may bear witness to the truth), with first aorist active subjunctive of . Paul (1Ti 6:13) alludes to this good confession when Christ bore witness () before Pilate. Jesus bore such witness always (John 3:11; John 3:32; John 7:7; John 8:14; Rev 1:5).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Art thou then [ ] . The interrogative particle oujkoun, not therefore, occurs only here in the New Testament. It is ironical. In ver. 33 the emphasis is on thou : here upon king. So then, after all, thou art a king.

Was I born – came I [ – ] . Both perfects. Have I been born – am I come. So Rev. The Greek order is I for this have been born, etc., throwing the emphasis on Christ ‘s person and destiny. The perfect describes His birth and coming not merely as historical facts, but as abiding in their results. Compare this confession before Pilate (1Ti 6:13) with the corresponding confession before the high – priest (Mt 26:64). “The one, addressed to the Jews, is framed in the language of prophecy; the other, addressed to a Roman, appeals to the universal testimony of conscience. The one speaks of a future manifestation of glory, the other speaking of a present manifestation of truth. The one looks forward to the Return, the other looks backward to the Incarnation” (Westcott).

Of the truth [ ] . Literally, out of : sprung from : whose life and words issue from the truth. See on 14 6, and compare Joh 8:47.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Pilate therefore said unto him,” (eipen oun auto ho Pilatos) “Then said Pilate to him,” in response to his remarks.

2) “Art thou a king then?” (oukoun basileus ei su) “You are really a king then, are you not?” or are you, since you spoke of “my kingdom,” Joh 18:36. His “my kingdom,” of this age, refers to the same thing as “my church,” “house” or “bride,” “vineyard,” etc. Mat 16:18; Mar 13:34-35; 1Ti 3:15; Heb 3:1-6; Joh 3:28-29; Joh 15:1-7; Joh 15:16; Joh 15:26-27.

3) “Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king.” (apekrithe ho lesous su legeis hoti basileus eimi) “Jesus replied, you say (may say) that I am a king,” I really exist a king, with subjects, my church disciples, to whom I have given my laws, and am to give a worldwide administrative territorial charge to do spiritual work. This is the only kind of king I am, in this age, about which you inquire.

4) “To this end was I born,” (ego eis touto gegennemai) “For this purpose or to this end I have been born,” as a Savior and redeemer, Joh 2:16-17; Joh 19:3; Gal 4:4-5; Luk 19:10.

5) “And for this cause came I into the world,” (kai eis touto elelutha eis ton kosmon) “And with reference to this I have come into the world,” which I now explain to you, most noble Pilate.

6) “That I should bear witness unto the truth.” (hina martureso te aletheia) “In order that I might witness to the truth,” regarding creation, sin, and redemption for the world, Joh 1:1-5; Joh 8:12; Joh 14:6; Joh 6:40; Joh 8:21; Joh 8:24. This truth regards God’s relation to men.

7) “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (pas ho hon ek tes aletheias akouei mou tes phos) “Everyone being or existing out of the truth hears my voice,” belonging to truth morally, with any affinity, or gives heed to my voice, Joh 10:27-29; Lovers of truth give heed to truth, obey the voice and call of truth; Deu 18:15-19; Joh 14:6; Act 4:12; Isa 55:4; Joh 8:47; Rev 1:5; Rev 3:14; 1Jn 4:6.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

37. Thou sayest that I am a king. Although Pilate had already learned, from the former answer, that Christ claims for himself some sort of kingdom, yet now Christ asserts the same thing more firmly; and, not satisfied with this, he makes an additional statement, which serves for a seal, as it were, to ratify what he had said. Hence we infer, that the doctrine concerning Christ’s kingdom is of no ordinary importance, since he has deemed it worthy of so solemn an affirmation.

For this cause was I born, that I may bear witness to the truth. This is, no doubt, a general sentiment; but it must be viewed in relation to the place which it holds in the present passage. The words mean, that it is natural for Christ to speak the truth; and, next, that he was sent for this purpose by the Father; and, consequently, that this is his peculiar office. There is no danger, therefore, that we shall be deceived by trusting him, since it is impossible that he who has been commissioned by God, and whose natural disposition leads him to maintain the truth, shall teach any thing that is not true.

Every one that is of the truth. Christ added this, not so much for the purpose of exhorting Pilate, (for he knew that he would gain nothing by doing so,) as of defending his doctrine against the base reproaches which had been east on it; as if he had said, “It is imputed to me as a crime that I have asserted that I am a king; and yet this is an unquestionable truth, which is received with reverence and without hesitation by all who have a correct judgment and a sound understanding.” When he says, that they are of the truth he does not mean that they naturally know the truth, but that they are directed by the Spirit of God.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(37) Art thou a king then?The sentence is both a question and an inference from the word kingdom of the previous verse. There is a strong emphasis, and it may be sarcasm, expressed in the pronoun, Does it not follow then that Thou art a king?

Thou sayest that I am a king.Or, perhaps, Thou sayest; for I am a king. (Comp. Mat. 26:25.)

To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world.Better, Unto this end have I been born, and unto this end am I come unto the world. Our translators have rendered the same Greek words by different English wordsTo this end, for this cause, intending probably that the first phrase should be understood of the words which precede, and the second of those which follow: To this end (that I may be a king) was I born, and for this (that I may bear witness unto the truth) came I into the world. Had this been the meaning, it would have been almost certainly expressed by the usual distinction in Greek; and in the absence of any such distinction, the natural interpretation is, To be king have I been born, and to be a king came I into the world, in order that I may bear witness unto the truth. The birth and the entrance into the world both refer to the Incarnation, but make emphatic the thought that the birth in time of Him who existed with the Father before all time, was the manifestation in the world of Him who came forth from the Father. This thought of coming into the world is frequent in St. John. (Comp. especially Joh. 10:36; Joh. 16:28.)

That I should bear witness unto the truth.Comp. Note on Joh. 1:8. He has indeed a kingdom, and He came into the world to be a king; but His rule is that of the majesty of Truth, and His kingdom is to be established by His witness of the eternal truth which He had known with His Father, and which He alone could declare to man. (Comp. Notes on Joh. 1:18; Joh. 16:13.) He came to be a witnessa martyrto the truth, and to send forth others to be witnesses and martyrs to the same truth, through the Holy Spirit, who should guide them into all truth. Such was His kingdom; such the power by which it was to rule. It was not of this world: it possessed neither land nor treasury, neither senate nor legions, neither consuls nor procurators; but it was to extend its sceptre over all the kingdoms of the earth.

Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.He has spoken of His kingdom. Who are its subjects, and what its power over them? Every one is included who, following the light which God has placed in his soul, comes to the true Light which lighteth every man; who, made in the image of God, and with capacities for knowing God, seeks truly to know Him; every one who, in an honest and true heart, is of the truth, and-therefore hears the voice of Him who is the Truth. The thought is familiar to us from the earlier chapters of the Gospel. (Comp. e.g., Joh. 3:21; Joh. 7:17; Joh. 8:47; Joh. 10:16.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

37. Was I born Alluding to his human birth.

Came I into the world Alluding to his origin from God.

Bear witness unto the truth The truth that overlies all earthly and political truth; the truth verified by the highest intuitions of the human soul; the truth of God and eternal life.

Bear witness Confirm its reality as revealed in the Old Testament, and as written on the heart of man, both by reassertion and new revelation, demonstrated by miracle and by the perfection of my own character.

Every one that is of the truth Wherever there is a human spirit anxious to attain to the possession of truth and righteousness, let his eye be directed to me.

Heareth my voice Such an earnest, convicted inquirer will at once feel that my voice answers his inquiries. Wherever, in all lands and in all ages, there is a human soul that aspires to holiness, my voice will be to him a divine response; and thus my subjects are attracted to me from all the world by a secret power that has nothing to do with warlike force. And thus I am truly a Divine King, ruling in the realm of truth over countless millions of true-hearted subjects; and this kingdom, immaterial and invisible, pervades and overlies all other kingdoms. It exerts a mighty power over them, and, perhaps, will yet dissolve them all into one universal kingdom of truth. But for all this the Roman had but little ear. Such a kingdom for him is but a phantasm; and true, genuine imperial power is the only fact that is fact. Inasmuch as this kingdom of righteousness is over all, it condemns all wickedness, whether of individuals, of princes, of administrations, or of political parties. Sin is sin, and condemned by the laws of Christ’s kingdom, whether committed by a single man, by a government, or by a people. The Church and the ministry have indeed nothing to do with purely secular measures, involving no moral question. But whenever an administration or party adopts sin into its platform or its measures, it is none the less the duty of the Christian Church to “bear witness to the truth.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “It is you who says I am a king. This is why I have been born and this is why I have come into the world, so that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” Pilate says to him, “What is truth?” ’

Pilate was even more puzzled. The man was claiming to be a king and yet not a king. So he put a further question, ‘Are you a king, then?’

Jesus’ reply was enigmatic. Pilate could decide how he took it for himself. It could be a ‘yes’, or it could be a ‘that is the way you put it’ or a ‘what do you think?’

Then He informed Pilate that the reason that He was born and the reason that He had come into the world was in order to bear witness to what was true and to reveal the truth. Yes, He was a king, the king of truth. He emphasised that those who were of the truth, those who responded to truth, listened to what He had to say and accepted His kingship. So Jesus even sought to convert His judge.

This conversation was the bright star against a dark background. He, the light Who lights all men, had come as a light into the world. He had shone forth revealing the truth as never before, and those who were of the truth had heard His voice. And they had found truth and had been delivered from darkness. And now He was offering that truth to Pilate. But most men loved darkness rather than light and that is why Jesus was where He was.

So a cynical Pilate replied, “What is truth?” Pilate was not open to truth. He had no interest in religion and philosophy. Had he been interested the conversation could have continued, but he was not interested in truth. He and his friends had no doubt discussed the question of truth and had dismissed it. All religions were the same and you picked the one you preferred. The impression John gives is of a man to whom truth was not important. What mattered was expediency.

But the reply made Pilate recognise that this was all to do with the Jewish religion which he had never understood anyway. They did not think like others thought. So he went back to the Jewish leaders.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Joh 18:37. Thou sayest that I am a king. Some would read this, Thou sayest [the truth]: For I am a king. “I came into the world for this end; that by explaining and proving the truth in general, and this great and fundamental branch of it in particular, Imight impress it upon men’s consciences, and make them obedient to its laws. In this consisteth my kingdom; and all the lovers of truth obey me, and are my subjects.” What our Lord here says incidentally, is to be regarded as an universal maxim. All sincere lovers of truth will hear him: and accordingly, St. John, with all simplicity, dependingon the evidences which he and his brethren had given of their mission from Christ, lays down the same testimony, We are of God; he that knoweth God heareth us; 1Jn 4:6. In this conference between our Saviour and Pilate we may observe, first, that our Lord being asked whether he were King of the Jews, answers so, that he denies it not, yet avoids giving the least umbrage, as if he had any design upon the government. For though he allows himself to be a King, yet, to obviate any suspense, he tells Pilate his kingdom is not of this world; and evidences it by this, that if he had pretended to any title to that country, his followers would have fought for him, had he been inclined to have set up his kingdom by force, or were his kingdom to be erected in that manner; But my kingdom, says he, is not from hence,is not of that kind or nature: Secondly, that Pilate, by the words and circumstances of Christ, being satisfied that He laid no claim to his province, nor meant any disturbance of the government, was yet a little surprised to hear a man in that poor garb, without retinue, or so much as a servant or a friend, own himself to be a King; and therefore asked him, with some kind of wonder, and possibly with no small degree of contempt, Art thou a king then? :Thirdly, we may observe, our Saviour declares that his great business of coming into the world, was to testify and make good this important and fundamental truth,that he was a king; or in other words, that he was the Messiah: Fourthly, that whoever were followers of truth, and got into the way of truth and happiness, would receive this doctrine concerning him, that he was the Messiah. This is what St. Paul calls thegood confession, which he tells Timothy, Jesus witnessed before Pontius Pilate. 1Ti 6:13. And justly does he so call it; for our Lord did not deny the truth to save his own life, but gave all hisfollowers an example most worthy of their imitation. A careful attention to, and imitation of, his good confession, will be the best proof we can give, that we love the truth, and the best method we can take to make ourselves acquainted with it: And of such infinite importance is the truth to all our best and dearest interests, that it surely deserves the attentive inquiry and zealous patronage of the greatest and the busiest of mankind.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 18:37 . A Jesus had actually ascribed to Himself in Joh 18:36 , which Pilate certainly did not expect; hence he asks, in surprise and not without a flash of haughty scorn: Nonne igitur rex tu es? since thou, that is, speakest of thy . On , not elsewhere found in the N. T., see Khner, ad Xen. Mem. Exc . III. p. 517 ff.; Baeumlein, Partik . p. 198. The sentence is an inference, but asking ( is it not then true, that thou art a king? ) whether the questioned person agrees.

] Confirmation of the assertion expressed by (comp. Mat 26:25 ).

] Corresponding to the contemptuously emphasized at the end of Pilate’s question, emphasized with noble self-consciousness, and still more emphatically brought into prominence by the , which immediately begins the next sentence (“ potens anadiplosis,” Bengel); the repetition of twice also adds weight.

. and . . .] must, according to Grotius, Lcke, and De Wette, designate the birth and the official appearance ; a separation which is not justified by the Johannean . ., in which the birth is substantially included (Joh 3:17 , Joh 9:39 , Joh 11:27 , Joh 12:47 , Joh 16:28 , Joh 1:9 ). The . . . sets forth the birth once again, but in relation to its specific higher nature, as the entrance of the sent of God into the world , so that the divine (Joh 3:17 , Joh 10:36 , Joh 17:18 ) is correlative. [232] The coming into the world is related to the conception of being born , as the leaving of the world (Joh 16:28 ) and going to the Father to the conception of dying.

. .] He was to bear testimony on behalf of the divine truth; for He had seen and heard it with God. Comp. Joh 3:11 ; Joh 3:32 , Joh 1:17-18 .

. .] Genetic designation (comp. on Gal 3:7 ) of the adherents of His kingdom; their origin is the divine truth, i.e . their entire spiritual nature is so constituted, that divine truth exercises its formative influence upon them. These are the souls drawn by the Father (Joh 6:44 ff.), and given to Christ as His own. Comp. Joh 8:47 . Bengel correctly observes: “ Esse ex veritate praecedit, audire sequitur.”

. ] hears from me the voice, i.e . (otherwise, Joh 12:47 ), he gives ear to that which I speak, follows my call, command, etc. With this Jesus has declared Himself regarding His kingdom, to the effect partly that He is a king, and with what definition He is so, partly as to what subjects He has; and thus He has completely answered the question; in no sense, however, as Hengstenberg thinks, has He omitted to answer it as too difficult for Pilate’s comprehension, and expressed Himself instead concerning His prophetic office. The , . . . belongs essentially to the characteristic of His kingdom; a special design, however, entertained in this point, with reference to Pilate (an appeal to his religious consciousness, Chrysostom, Olshausen, Neander; justification as to why Jesus has not more adherents, Calvin; a reminder for Pilate, how he would have to lay hold upon salvation), lies entirely remote from the sense, equally remote with an appeal “a caecitate Pilati ad captum fidelium ,” Bengel, or from the judge to the man (Hengstenberg).

[232] Calovius aptly says: Christ was so born, “ut quum antea fuerit apud patrem, in tempore nascendo in mundum venerit, a patre in mundum missus.” Contrary to the words and the context is Scholten’s view, that . denotes the premundane procession from God.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1719
CHRISTS GOOD CONFESSION

Joh 18:37. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

IN the whole of our Saviours life there was a strong apparent contradiction between the character he professed, and that which he visibly sustained. At his introduction into the world he was announced as a most exalted personage, even as the King of the Jews [Note: Luk 2:11-12.]; yet was he found born in a stable, and laid in a manger. When he entered triumphantly into Jerusalem, and was welcomed with loud hosannas as the Son of David, he did not assume the pomp of earthly monarchs, but rode thither, in a meek and lowly manner, seated on a young ass [Note: Zec 9:9. with Mat 21:2-9.]. But this opposition between his mean appearance and his high pretensions never was more visible than when he stood before the bar of Pilate. He was like any other poor man; except indeed that he was bound as a criminal, and held by his whole nation as more execrable than even a robber or a murderer: yet at this time did he assert his claim to kingly authority, or, as St. Paul expresses it, witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate [Note: 1Ti 6:13.].

In his answer to Pilate, there are two things to be considered;

I.

His confession

The Jews had already condemned him, for making himself the Son of God [Note: Mat 26:63-65.]. But he could not be executed, unless Pilate also should condemn him. But Pilate did not regard any questions relating to the Jewish law; and therefore the Jews brought a different charge against him before Pilate; affirming that he had set up himself as a King against Csar. On this charge Pilate questioned him, and received the answer which we have just read.

In this answer we notice,

1.

The boldness of it

[Our Lord had already told Pilate, that he disclaimed any idea of establishing an earthly kingdom; and that there was no ground for fear or jealousy, as if he was invading the rights of Csar, or attempting to rescue his country from the Roman yoke. He appealed to the prohibition which he had just before given to his Disciples respecting their using the sword in his defence; and declared, that the kingdom to which he aspired was not of a worldly nature; not established on worldly principles, nor supported by worldly force, nor governed by worldly policy, nor in any respect interfering with the interests of other monarchs. Yet even in thus rectifying the misapprehensions of Pilate, he thrice used the words, My kingdom. He might have satisfied himself with simply denying his interference with human governments: but he would on no account conceal what it was of importance to the world to know: and therefore, though he foresaw all the consequences of his confession, he answered plainly to the next interrogation, Thou sayest truly; I am a King.]

2.

The truth of it

[The prophets had abundantly testified of the regal dignity of the Messiah [Note: Isa 9:6-7. Dan 2:44; Dan 7:13-14; Dan 9:25 and Psa 72:1; Psa 72:11.] and in the New Testament it had been confirmed by the testimony both of men and angels [Note: Mat 2:2. Luk 1:32-33.]. The very works also which he had wrought, bore witness to him [Note: Joh 10:25.]. The difference which subsisted between his government and earthly kingdoms, so far from invalidating his claim, served only to establish it on the firmest basis: for, whereas other kings had dominion only over the bodies of men, he reigned over their souls: others had their territories bounded by seas or mountains; but his extended over all the earth.]

But we shall have a further insight into the truth of his confession, while we consider,

II.

His explanation of it

The connexion between the two parts of our Lords answer is not obvious at first sight: but, on comparing them with attention, we shall find, that in the latter he explains,

1.

The manner in which he exercises his kingly office

[Satan is the god of this world, the prince that ruleth in all the children of disobedience [Note: 2Co 4:4. Eph 2:2.]. He has usurped a power over the whole race of mankind, and he governs them all as his vassals [Note: 2Ti 2:26.].

Now Jesus has not, like other kings, any persons who are his subjects by birth: every one of his subjects is rescued from under the dominion of Satan, and constrained to submit to him.

But with what weapons does our blessed Lord invade the kingdom of Satan? not with those which are used in earthly wars, but with the force of truth. It is by darkness and falsehood that Satan retains men in his service; and it is by the light of truth that Christ delivers them from their bondage. Satan makes men believe that God is even such an one as themselves; that they have no reason to fear his displeasure; that their own good works or repentance will save them; and that it is sufficient for them to maintain a moral and decent conduct. Our blessed Lord, on the contrary, proclaims that God is a just and holy Being; that sinners are obnoxious to his wrath; that there is no reconciliation with God but through him; and that they who would be happy in the next world, must now devote themselves wholly to the service of their God. It had been foretold that He should be a witness to the people [Note: Isa 55:4.]: and he came agreeably to the prediction, to bear witness to the truth. For this very end was he born; and by executing this office, he prevailed, and still does prevail, on thousands to renounce their allegiance to Satan, and to take upon them his light and easy yoke.]

2.

The distinguishing character of his subjects

[Those are said to be of the truth, who have been begotten, or converted, by it: just as those are said to be of God, who have been born of God [Note: Compare Jam 1:18. with 1Jn 3:19.]. Now every one that has experienced the influence of truth in bringing him out of darkness into light, and in translating him from the power of Satan into the kingdom of Gods dear Son [Note: 1Pe 2:9. Col 1:13.], from that time hears the voice of Christ, and obeys it without reserve. Other lords had dominion over him before: the world governed him by its maxims; the flesh captivated him by its allurements; the devil enslaved him by his temptations: but from henceforth he will not listen to the syren voice of pleasure, or regard the calls of interest or reputation: he has sworn allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ; and for him he is determined to sacrifice every other consideration.

This designates the character of Christs subjects. Wherever such persons are found, these are the subjects of his kingdom. Other kings exercise their sway over those only who are born in a particular country: but in whatever country these persons live, they belong to Christ; to Christ supremely, to Christ only. All other authorities are subservient to his; and are to be obeyed so far only as shall be agreeable to his laws, and conducive to his honour.
At the same time, none are his subjects, who do not correspond with the character here given. Whatever they may profess, they are not his: they may call themselves Christians; but he calls them traitors, rebels, enemies.]

Address
1.

Those who never yet submitted to Christs government

[Whose are ye? There are but two monarchs, who divide the whole world between them; and these are, Christ and Satan. If then you have never been smitten with that two-edged sword, the word of truth; if you have never been so deeply wounded, that nothing but the balm of Gilead could heal you; if you have never cast down the anus of your rebellion, and surrendered up yourselves to Christ, we must say of you, as Christ himself did of the Jews, Ye are of your father the devil [Note: Joh 8:44.]. And if you are Satans vassals, from whom, and with whom, must you expect your reward? Let this question come home to your hearts; and choose ye this day whose ye will be, and whom ye will serve [Note: Jos 24:14.].]

2.

Those who are afraid to yield themselves up to Christ

[Alas! that any should be deterred by fear or shame from acknowledging Christ; when he braved even the most cruel death, rather than deny the office which he bore for us! What can be your loss or pain, when compared with his? What is the contempt poured upon you, when compared with the accursed death of the cross to which he submitted for your sakes? Perhaps you expect to be acknowledged as his subjects, though you shun the odium of acknowledging him as your king. But this cannot be; for those who deny him shall be denied by him; and those only who confess him, shall be confessed by him in the presence of his Father, and of his holy angels [Note: Mat 10:32-33.].]

3.

Those who call themselves his subjects

[What our heavenly King said of himself, may be fitly applied to all his subjects; For this end were ye born, and for this cause came ye into the world, that ye should bear witness unto the truth. Ye are to be Gods witnesses in the world: ye are to be as lights, and as a city set on a hill. Let it appear then that the truth has made you free [Note: Joh 8:32.]. Let it be seen in you, that truth will rectify, not only the errors of the mind, but the propensities of the heart; and that, when it is mighty through God, it will bring every thought and desire into captivity to the obedience of Christ [Note: 2Co 10:4-5.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Ver. 37. That I should bear witness of the truth ] Our Saviour speaketh religiously to a profane person; so doth Jacob to Esau, Gen 33:5 . Each countryman is known by his language. God will turn to all his people a pure lip, Zep 3:9 . They are none of his that can shift their sails to the setting of every wind, tune their fiddles to other men’s bass, and as the planet Mercury, be good in conjunction with good, and bad with bad.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

37. ] It is best to take . as interrogative, Art Thou then a King? on account of what follows.

, emphatic and sarcastic.

] A formula neither classical nor found in the LXX, but frequent in the Rabbinical writings: see Schttgen, Hor. Hebr. on Mat 26:25 . It seems best to punctuate at , and regard as the reason for the affirmation conveyed in . This agrees best with the order of the words, . . [ ], and with the continued affirmation which follows. The first , if genuine, refers to Pilate’s .

] Our Lord here preached the Truth of his mission, upholding that side of it best calculated for the doubting philosophic mind of the day, of which Pilate was a partaker. He declares the unity and objectivity of Truth; and that Truth must come from above, and must come through a Person sent by God, and that that Person was Himself.

, both times emphatic, and majestically set (see above) against the preceding scornful .

implies that He was born a King, and that He was born with a definite purpose. The words are a pregnant proof of an Incarnation of the Son of God. This great truth is further expressed by . .: ‘I have been born, but not therein commencing my being I have come into the world.’ Thus certainly are the words to be understood, and not of his public appearance, his (as Lcke, De Wette), nor as synonymous with . It is this saying which began the fear in Pilate, which the charge of the Jews, ch. Joh 19:7 , increased.

, not : not ‘the truth,’ so that what He said should be true , but to the Truth, in its objective reality: see ch. Joh 17:17 ; Joh 17:19 , of which deep saying this is the popular exposition for his present hearer.

The Lord, besides, sets forth here in the depth of these words, the very idea of all kinghood. The King is the representative of the truth: the truth of dealing between man and man; the truth of that power, which in its inmost truth belongs to the great and only Potentate, the King of Kings.

Again, the Lord, the King of manhood and the world, the second Adam, came to testify to the truth of manhood and the world, which sin and Satan had concealed. This testimony to the Truth is to be the weapon whereby His Kingdom will be spread; ‘every one who is of the truth,’ i.e. here in the most general sense, every one who is a true dealer with his own heart, who has an ear to hear , ‘of such are my subjects composed: they hear my voice.’ But for the putting this true dealing on its proper and only ground , see ch. Joh 8:47 ; Joh 6:44 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 18:37 . Pilate understands only so far as to interrupt with ; “So then you are a king?” On see Klotz’s Devarius , p. 173. To which Jesus replies with the explicit statement: . “Thou sayest.” This, says Schoettgen (Mat 26:25 ), is “solennis adfirmantium apud Judaeos formula”; so that must be rendered with R.V [92] marg. “because” I am a king. Erasmus, Westcott, Plummer, and others render, “Thou sayest that I am a king,” neither definitely accepting nor rejecting the title. But this interpretation seems impossible in the face of the simple of the synoptists, Mat 27:2 , Mar 15:2 , Luk 23:3 . We must then render, “Thou art right, for a king I am”. In what sense a king, He explains: . . . “For this end have I been born, and for this end am I come into the world;” the latter expression, by being added to the former, certainly seems to suggest a prior state. Cf. Joh 1:9 . The end is expressed in , “that I might witness to the truth,” especially regarding God and His relation to men. The consequence is that every one who belongs to the truth (moral affinity expressed by ) obeys Him, in a pregnant sense, cf. Joh 10:8-16 . They become His subjects, and form His kingdom, a kingdom of truth. For which Pilate has only impatient scorn: ; “Tush, what is Aletheia?” It was a kingdom which could not injure the empire. What have I to do with provinces that can yield no tribute, and threaten no armed rebellion?

[92] Revised Version.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Art thou a king then? = Is it not then (Greek. oukoun. Occurs only here) that Thou art a king? or, So then a king Thou art?

To this end = To (Greek. eis. App-104.) this, i.e. for this purpose.

for this cause. Exactly the same words, eis touto, as in previous clause.

bear witness = testify. Greek. martureo. See on Joh 1:7,

the truth. See on Joh 14:6, and p. 1511.

My voice. See Joh 8:47; Joh 10:3, Joh 10:4, Joh 10:16, Joh 10:27.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

37.] It is best to take . as interrogative, Art Thou then a King? on account of what follows.

, emphatic and sarcastic.

] A formula neither classical nor found in the LXX, but frequent in the Rabbinical writings: see Schttgen, Hor. Hebr. on Mat 26:25. It seems best to punctuate at , and regard as the reason for the affirmation conveyed in . This agrees best with the order of the words, . . [], and with the continued affirmation which follows. The first , if genuine, refers to Pilates .

] Our Lord here preached the Truth of his mission, upholding that side of it best calculated for the doubting philosophic mind of the day, of which Pilate was a partaker. He declares the unity and objectivity of Truth;-and that Truth must come from above, and must come through a Person sent by God, and that that Person was Himself.

, both times emphatic, and majestically set (see above) against the preceding scornful .

implies that He was born a King, and that He was born with a definite purpose. The words are a pregnant proof of an Incarnation of the Son of God. This great truth is further expressed by . .: I have been born, but not therein commencing my being-I have come into the world. Thus certainly are the words to be understood, and not of his public appearance, his (as Lcke, De Wette), nor as synonymous with . It is this saying which began the fear in Pilate, which the charge of the Jews, ch. Joh 19:7, increased.

, not : not the truth, so that what He said should be true,-but to the Truth, in its objective reality: see ch. Joh 17:17; Joh 17:19, of which deep saying this is the popular exposition for his present hearer.

The Lord, besides, sets forth here in the depth of these words, the very idea of all kinghood. The King is the representative of the truth: the truth of dealing between man and man;-the truth of that power, which in its inmost truth belongs to the great and only Potentate, the King of Kings.

Again, the Lord, the King of manhood and the world, the second Adam, came to testify to the truth of manhood and the world, which sin and Satan had concealed. This testimony to the Truth is to be the weapon whereby His Kingdom will be spread;-every one who is of the truth, i.e. here in the most general sense, every one who is a true dealer with his own heart, who has an ear to hear,-of such are my subjects composed:-they hear my voice. But for the putting this true dealing on its proper and only ground, see ch. Joh 8:47; Joh 6:44.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 18:37. . , I. I) A powerful Anadiplosis [The repetition of the same word in the end of the preceding and beginning of the following member of a sentence. Append.]- , for this) So twice. The first may be referred to the preceding clause, concerning His being a King, in order to intimate that He was born a King: Mat 2:2, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? The second may be referred to what follows as to bearing witness unto the truth. Comp. , in Deu 27:12-13, These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless-and these upon-Ebal to curse.-, I was born) Herein His human nativity is signified. Pilate was not capable of comprehending His divine Sonship. Yet it is declared here, notwithstanding, that not the whole origin of Jesus is contained in His human nativity, when there is subjoined, I came into the world.- , unto the truth) The truth, which previously had been told to the people (Jewish), in His passion is preached to princes also, and to the Gentiles. This then is the crowning point of His preaching. All heard and saw the Christ: the truth was offered even to Pilate. The kingdom of the truth is opposed to the kingdom of this world.-, every one) Jesus appeals from the blindness of Pilate to the capability of comprehension existing on the part of believers.- , he who is of the truth) To be of the truth precedes: to hear follows.-, heareth) with pleasure and intelligence. And these are the citizens of the kingdom of Christ.- , My voice) which is true, in its assertion of My kingdom.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 18:37

Joh 18:37

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then?-With the explanation given that it was not an earthly kingdom, he answered Pilate directly:

Jesus answered, Thou [rightly] sayest that I am a king.-In confessing this truth concerning his being a king which sealed his death warrant, he added:

To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.-And he had done it in confessing that he was a king, even though it brought suffering to himself. And those who accepted this truth would listen to Jesus. He not only told the truth in this, but his mission in the world was to proclaim truth.

Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.-[They hear in the sense of heeding to what he says. They follow his instructions.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

world

kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

The Kingdom of Truth

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?Joh 18:37-38.

1. Jesus was on trial for His life on a charge of sedition in claiming to be a king. The charge was expressed in the question, Art thou a king then? His answer to this charge was a puzzle to His judge. His kingdom was not of this world, and yet it was to be supreme and universal. Pilate could understand an authority which was enforced by Roman legions, and maintained by Roman bribes, but could not comprehend his prisoner when He rested His claims simply upon the truth to which He was to bear witness. What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer. The severe assurance of the prisoner brings into bold relief the frivolous scepticism of the judge. It would almost seem that in the two were represented the extremes of modern thought and character.

2. They were standing face to face in the splendid hall of a palace in Jerusalem. It was adorned with vessels of gold and silver: the floor was of rich mosaic, the columns were of many-coloured marble. The speaker was a Roman Governor, seated on his tribunal in all his pomp. On either side were the Roman soldiers, in full armour, with spear and shield. Behind his gilded chair stood the lictors with their fasces. Politically, he represented the mightiest power on all the earththe power of Imperial Rome. Personally, he wielded an almost irresponsible despotism. Before him, worn and wasted, His visage marred more than any manthe agony of long hours of struggle, and torment, and sleeplessness in His eyes, the marks of blows and insult on His facestood a Jewish prisoner. His hands were bound behind His back; His garb was the humble dress of a Galilean peasant. The burning sunlight of an early Syrian spring streamed through the lattices, and the deep silence which hangs over an Eastern city at early dawn would ordinarily have been broken only by the plashing of fountains in the green spaces of the garden, or by the cooing of innumerable doves which sunned their white bosoms over the marble colonnades. It was broken now by far other sounds. The voices of the two speakers were almost drowned by the savage yells of a Jewish moball raging against that toil-worn prisoner, all demanding that the Roman Governor should shed His blood.

On the north-east of the Temple in Jerusalem, in menacing attitude, stood the great Herodian Citadel called, after Mark Antony, Turris Antonia. The perpendicular sides of the hill on which this palatial fortress was reared were faced with polished marble so as to defy all attempts to scale its walls. On the platform immediately above this impregnable rampart was planted the square-built Citadel itself. At each angle of it there shot up a tower, the one to the south side being conspicuous by a turret from which the Roman garrison, much to the annoyance of the priests, could command an unbroken view of the interior of the Holy Temple. To render this marble camp an abode suitable for the Roman Governor in times of danger, Herod had built, on a lower platform hewn out of the living rock, a sumptuous residence, embodying Grecian taste and Oriental luxury. The praetorium, of which the Gospel speaks, was approached on its western side through an open court or forum, leading to a noble Roman archway flanked by two others on a smaller scale. This triple archway opened into an area paved with red flagstones, called by Greeks, Lithostrotos, and by Jews, Gabbatha. Here at right angles with the archway stood the white marble Tribune or Bema from which the Governor was wont to administer justice. Beyond it sprang a grand staircase sloping up to the balcony or loggia sweeping to the right and left of the Governors hall. From this point Pilate probably surveyed the accusers of Jesus.1 [Note: B. Vaughan, Society, Sin and the Saviour, 89.]

I

The Kingdom of Truth

Truth is a kingdom. It is the kingdom of the Spirit. Its Divine authority was distinctly enunciated by Jesus in reply to Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world, therefore its sway is inevitable, its passage cannot be prevented. Men may try to distort its outlines, but its essential power they cannot control. It does not change with the political boundaries or military dominance of earths kingdoms. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight. Kings cannot prevent its growth. Your Csar shall be forgotten, and his throne overturnedwhile My Kingdom shall be spreading over the world and absorbing all other kingdoms. Priests cannot defile it, however much they may seek to interpret truth for their own ends. When the ecclesiastics brought Jesus to Pilate, they would not enter into the palace themselves, lest they should be defiledand the Passover was yet to be eaten. It was an admission from false ceremonialism of its own weakness. The living truth had gone out of their system; they had only the outward forms to rely upon, and they did not dare relinquish one of these, for they had no other authority.

The answer Christ gave to Pilate suggests the best reply to the question, What did Christ mean by the Kingdom of God. He was king, He said, in the kingdom of the truth, meaning thereby not a mere dogma, but the truth of God and the truth of man. The kind of power which He here claims is spiritual power, and that is the greatest that can be swayed. For it is spiritual powertrue or falsethat determines history, shapes the character of society, directs the tendencies of life, the movements of the world. There are uncrowned kings who have swayed the destinies of mankind as no leaders of armies have been able to sway them. There have been poets and teachers who have inspired enthusiasms and kindled hopes that have moved the world, for they have reigned over the domain of human thought and so determined the actions of mankind. There have been kings on other thrones than those of State who have been the real monarchs of humanity,Gutenberg with his printing-press, Bacon with his inductive method, Isaac Newton, James Watt. What a wide domain of conquest the very mention of these names suggests. May we not say with truth that if we are to find the influences which have given power to any of the great epochs of the world, we must look not to the brute force which was called into exercise, but to the ideas which gave nerve to the arms that wielded the force? Wherein, for example, lay the power of the armies of revolutionary France? Not surely in the number of her soldiers or in the genius of her commanders alone. These countless battalions marched with songs of joy against a world in arms because every heart there was stirred with the sense of a grand cause. It was the charmed words Liberty, Equality, Fraternity that excited their enthusiasm into a fierce world-conquering fanaticism. So is it that the true kingdoms which govern men are not those which strike the eye. They do not excite observation. They are the kingdoms of human conviction, thought, aspiration, passion. It is in the sphere of ideas, in the domain of the affections, in the faiths, the hopes, the loves which sway humanity, that we discover the real forces of the world. And so it was that Christ touched the true fountain of all power when He refused to use the forces which the world imagines omnipotent, when He left Csar on the throne and Pilate in the praetorium, and said, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight but my kingdom is not from hence. For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

1. The kingdom of truth is wide in extent.The truth to which Christ bore witness at the first was the truth which concerned His person, and His claims to the love and obedience of men. On the cross He bore witness to the love of God for sinning man. By rising from the dead, and ascending to His Father, He testified that He was indeed the Son of God. By His present spirit He has witnessed ever since for the living God as against the godlessness and self-worship to which man is prone. To the truth which enforces the duties of men, Christ also bore witness, first by His spotless and inspiring life, by His penetrating and faithful words, and then by the long succession of obedient disciples who have imitated the one and exemplified the other.

There is, however, truth of other descriptions than the truth which we call religious and ethical. There is the truth of science, which is expanded every year into grander proportions; the truth of letters, which is more and more abundant and instructive; and the truth of the imagination, which is more and more varied and inspiring. Has Christ any testimony to give concerning these kinds of truth? Does Christ hold any relations to Science, Letters, or Art? And, if so, what are these relations? We believe that they are many and important. We also hold that the spirit of earnest discipleship to Christ always favours, and often inspires, the highest achievements in every one of these forms of truth. We hold not only that Christianity satisfies the wants of which the scholar is conscious as a man, but that it is equally efficient and equally essential in stimulating and guiding him rightly as a scholar. In other words, we contend that allegiance to Christ is a favouring, and in one sense an essential, condition of the best human culture and education.

I notice that among all the new buildings which cover your once wild hills, churches and schools are mixed in due, that is to say, in large proportion, with your mills and mansions; and I notice also that the churches and schools are almost always Gothic, and the mansions and mills are never Gothic. May I ask the meaning of this? for, remember, it is peculiarly a modern phenomenon. When Gothic was invented, houses were Gothic as well as churches; and when the Italian style superseded the Gothic, churches were Italian as well as houses. If there is a Gothic spire to the Cathedral of Antwerp, there is a Gothic belfry to the Htel de Ville at Brussels; if Inigo Jones builds an Italian Whitehall, Sir Christopher Wren builds an Italian St. Pauls. But now you live under one school of architecture, and worship under another. What do you mean by doing this? Am I to understand that you are thinking of changing your architecture back to Gothic: and that you treat your churches experimentally, because it does not matter what mistakes you make in a church? Or am I to understand that you consider Gothic a pre-eminently sacred and beautiful mode of building, which you think, like the fine frankincense, should be mixed for the tabernacle only, and reserved for your religious services? For if this be the feeling, though it may seem at first as if it were graceful and reverent, at the root of the matter, it signifies neither more nor less than that you have separated your religion from your life.1 [Note: Ruskin, The Crown of Wild Olives (Works, xviii. 440).]

2. It is a conquering kingdom.Magna est Veritas et praevalet. Like the magnificent palace of the Incas of Cuzco, the ancient imperial city of Peru, whose ponderous stones were united by seams of melted gold, the whole social fabric is cemented by this pure and durable element, without which the noble structure would soon totter to its fall. Falsehood makes war with Gods grandest attribute, as manifested in heaven and earth, but this attribute must ultimately triumph to vindicate the glory of His reign.

Truth, crushd to earth, shall rise again,

The eternal years of God are hers:

While Error, wounded, writhes in pain,

And dies amid his worshippers.

Many moral victories that we want to see won in the world can be won only when we are gone; but let us make our contribution, and others will carry on the struggle. Captain Urquhart, dying in the Battle of Atbara, in the Soudan, said to the men who were attending him, Never mind me, lads, go on! Inspired with the worth of the cause and the importance of his armys victory, he could forget his pain and give up his life, and tell the others to go on. We have a more important battle to fightwe must carry on the war of God against all wrongand every soldier that falls must inspire the others to go on.1 [Note: T. R. Williams, Gods Open Door, 56.]

3. Its progress is secured by sacrifice.Christs throne is a Cross. The throne of this king was not like that of Solomon, with its golden lions and ivory steps; not like the jewelled throne of Byzantium, or the peacock throne of the Moguls. It was the throne of sorrow; it was the throne of awful self-sacrifice. By this conquer gleamed around that Cross in the vision of Constantine; and it was before this implement of a slaves shame and a murderers punishment, that the eagles of ancient, the dragons of later Rome gave way. It was before this Cross, woven on the Labarum, that the Pagan armies of Maxentius were driven into the panic which Raphael has so grandly pictured in his Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

When upon one occasion the Emperor Justinian was about to surrender to the clamorous claims and the harsh and violent demands of the mob, his wife Theodora is represented to have said to him that it was better to meet and go down to death as the avowed ruler of all than purchase life for a little while by yielding to the unworthy exactions of the unrighteous few; and empire, she tells him, is the best winding-sheet. Empire, universal empire, throughout all the world, throughout all the ages, is the winding-sheet of Jesus Christ. Victorious in the wilderness, victorious in Gethsemane, before that worldly-minded Governor in the judgment hall, victorious on the Cross, because His eye looked not upon the unworthy demands of the immediate occasion, but upon the everlasting years, upon all future times, and wrapped around in the winding-sheet of empire does He die.1 [Note: D. H. Greer, From Things to God, 36.]

II

The King of Truth

1. Jesus claimed Kingship.Pilate asked our Lord plainly, Art thou a King? Jesus answered, Thou sayest it, an expression which in Oriental language was equivalent to an affirmative, Yes, I am what thou sayest. But Christ took no place or rank among the acknowledged world-kings. All forms of world-dominion He refused. Throughout His life He repressed every attempt to gain for Him an earthly royalty, even as at the beginning of His ministry He repelled the devils offer of the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them. The only royal robe He ever wore was the scarlet robe of mockery and insult; the only crown that ever encircled His brow was the crown of suffering and plaited thorns; the only sceptre He ever bore was the reed with which cruel hands smote Him. This does not seem kingly; yet, could we but understand and appreciate it aright, there is a grandeur and moral splendour about it such as never circled round the marble throne, and gorgeous draperies, and jewelled crowns of any mere world-king. World-kings are kings of wealth, and genius, and lands, and people, and armies. The Christ-King, crowned with thorns, is yet the King of the suffering, King of the patient, King of the spiritual, King of souls, King of the eternal, King of truth.

2. Jesus is the embodiment of truth.Milton says of truth: Truth indeed came once into the world with her Divine Master, and was a perfect shape most glorious to look on. Milton looks upon truth as one who comes with Christ into the world. Would it not be better to say that Christ Himself is the Embodiment of truth, for He says, I am the truth? Christs own testimony is proof of this, for three times in the Gospel according to St. John He speaks of Himself as the True One. He is the True Vine for reproduction (Joh 15:1), in contrast to Israel, who proved to be the false vine (Jer 2:21). He is the True Bread for satisfaction (Joh 6:32), in contrast to the manna in the wilderness, which only met the present necessity of the people; and He is the True Light for illumination (Joh 1:9), in contrast to the false wrecker-lights of men.

3. Jesus bore witness to the truth.This was the purpose of His mission. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. He is now before Pilate and nearing the close of His earthly life. The unity of His life, we see as we study it, is the following out to the minutest detail of the principle which He says has been and is His controlling purposeto testify to the truth. In the events which are to follow, Jesus is true to the conception of His mission, even though His persistence in bearing witness to the truth leads Him to the ignominious death upon the cross. Fidelity to His mission He carried to the extent of yielding up His own life rather than cease to bear witness to the truth.

(1) He bore witness by His character.It is nothing more than a simple truism to say that, apart from the metaphysics of His Person, which opens a wide field for speculative controversy, Jesus is the supreme revealer of God. The character of the invisible and omnipresent Deity, whom no eye can fully see, and no life can adequately express, who is without an equal in wisdom and power and goodness, is focused, as it were, in the personality of Jesus. That which overwhelms us by its mystery and vastness, as we look into the universe around usof which we are a partis brought within the range of our vision, and the reach of our love, by Jesus of Nazareth. Not only is there revelation in its loftiest compass, and in its most unveiled expression, but there is something special and unique in the form of it.

(2) He bore witness by His Ministry and Passion.There are groups of pines on the crag-ledges of Umbria which strike the eye against the clear still sky when the autumn night is coming. Each tree alone is weird, it is gnarled and twisted, bared by the tempest, or distorted and tortured by the pitiless wind; but the group they form together has nothing but dignity, the dignity of support and endurance in a lonely world. So it is essential life, together with unparalleled pain leading up to a voluntary and a dreadful death, that gives to the witness of the Passion the emphasis of extent and intensity.

When in the fifth century the Byzantine Empire was sinking into the decrepitude of a merely nominal Christianity, St. Chrysostom saw some converted Goths, with their clear blue eyes and yellow hair, kneeling to worship in one of the Basilicas of Constantinople, and he prophesied that that bold and hardy race should snatch the torch of truth from the more faithless and more feeble hands. They had laid down their barbarism, they had broken their idols at the feet of Him whom they called The White Christ. Their own fierce chieftains they chose from the boldest soldiers, and lifted them upon their shields, amid shouts of warriors and clash of swords; but they bowed before the royalty of a crucified Redeemer. Of their race in part are we. And if we fail in our allegiance to Christ, He will never lack other soldiers and other servants; for though the heart of men be full of evil, though for a time they may say, We will not have this man to reign over us, yet when the last appeal shall come to them, whether they will have Christ for a king, at last they will fall upon their knees in agonies of penitence, and in dust and ashes, with tears and with misereres, with beaten breasts, with uplifted hands, they will sigh back their answerChrist is King!1 [Note: F. W. Farrar, True Religion, 200.]

III

Allegiance to the Truth

1. Jesus before Pilate is the Truth making its appeal and waiting for judgment.

(1) Pilate was indifferent to the truth.It was said of a distinguished American jurist that he finally retired from the bench because he could not there escape making decisions. Pilate was this kind of man. The French statesman, Talleyrand, writing in his old age of the qualities of a Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: He ought to be gifted with a kind of instinct which prevents him from committing himself. Pilate was a good example of the school of Talleyrand. Here was this young enthusiast who had so stirred the people by the kingly declaration of His mission, To this end was I born, that I should bear witness unto the truth; and Pilate, the consistent neutral, looked down on Him with serious pity and answered, Ah, my young friend, what is this illusion for which you want to die? Die for it, then, if you will! I find no fault in you; I wash my hands of blame. You bring your fate upon yourself. And so dismissing this case of an alien, he retired into his palace, well content with himself because he had been neither ensnared by the enthusiasm of the reformer nor misled by the bigotry of the mob.

(2) Pilate turned away from the truth.The Prisoner before him had accepted the title of a king. He based His claim to this title on the fact that He had come to bear witness to the truth. He declared that those who were themselves of the truth would acknowledge His claim; they were His rightful subjects; they were the enfranchised citizens of His Kingdom. Strange language this in the ears of a cynical, worldly sceptic, to whose eyes the most attractive type of humanity was a judicious admixture of force and fraud. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out. The altercation could be carried no further. Was not human life itself one great query, without an answer? What was truth, what else, except that which each man thought? Truth! This helpless Prisoner claimed to be a king, and He appealed, forsooth, to His truthfulness as the credential of His sovereign rights. Was ever any claim more contradictory of all human experience, more palpably absurd than this? Truth! When had truth anything to do with founding a kingdom? The mighty engine of imperial power, the iron sceptre which ruled the world, whence came it? Certainly it owed nothing to truth. Had not Augustus established his sovereignty by an unscrupulous employment of force, and maintained it by an astute use of artifice? And his successor, the present occupant of the imperial throne, was he not an arch dissembler, the darkest of all dark enigmas? The name of Tiberius was a by-word for impenetrable disguise. Truth might do well enough for fools and enthusiasts, for simple men; but for rulers, for diplomatists, for men of the world, it was the wildest of all wild dreams. Truth! What was truth? He had lived too long in the world to trust any such hollow pretensions.

(3) Pilate was surprised and judged by the truth.He found himself unexpectedly confronted by the truth, and he could not recognise it. His whole life long he had tampered with truth, he had despised truth, he had despaired of truth. Truth was the last thing that He had set before him as the aim of his life. He had thought much of policy, of artifice, of fraud, of force; but for truth in any of its manifold forms he had cared just nothing at all. And his sin had worked out its own retribution. Not truth only, but the Very Truth itself, Truth Incarnate stood before him in human form, and he was blind to it. He scorned it, he played with it, he thrust it aside, he condemned and he crucified it. Suffered under Pontius Pilate is the legend of eternal infamy with which history has branded his name.

2. Those who are in sympathy with the truth will pay it homage. A very good illustration of this will be found in the methods of scientific inquiry as it is now prosecuted. For the man of science seeks nothing in his researches into nature but Bimply to discover the truth. For this purpose he toils, working hard by day, and watching long by night, if that should be needful. He spares no pains to verify his facts and observations. He multiplies experiments to rectify possible errors. If these show that he was before on a wrong track, he gives it up, and follows the line suggested by the later results of his inquiries; for his object is not to establish a foregone conclusion, but simply to find out the truth. That truth, when he finds it, may startle many folk, may unsettle former opinions, may seriously affect many interests and recognized authorities. He cannot help that. It is his business simply to find what the facts are and what they plainly teach; and when he has done that he says: There is the truth, and that is the way by which I reached it, step by step. As for all else, I have nothing to do with it whatever. A lie has no vested interests that I can respect: nor will any authority make it anything but a lie. Truth, too, is always, in the long run, wholesome and best for all. And if this be true it is at your peril that you reject it. Be sure that, in so doing, you shall be the losers. Thus, in his own province, he seeks the truth diligently and fearlessly; and one of the noblest results of his researches is the state of mind which he thus helps to produce, with its loyalty and courage and persistent love of truth. Out of his own province, indeed, he is often very much like other men, hasty, not over careful about his facts, and jumping to ill-considered conclusions. But in prosecuting his proper work, his methods and his spirit afford a good illustration of what it is to be sincerely of the truth.

I say, broke in one of the boys, who was just emerging from the tenderfoot stage, o course thats in the Bible, aint it?

The Pilot assented.

Well, how do you know its true?

The Pilot was proceeding to elaborate his argument when Bill cut in somewhat more abruptly than was his wont.

Look here, young feller! Bills voice was in the tone of command. The man looked as he was bid. How do you know anythings true? How do you know the Pilot heres true when he speaks? Cant you tell by the feel? You know by the sound of his voice, dont you?1 [Note: Ralph Connor, The Sky Pilot, ch. xxi.]

(1) Sometimes the truth comes to us at once. It dawns upon us, shines on us, without any conscious effort of our own or immediate seeking on our part:

Think ye mid all this mighty sum

Of things for ever speaking,

That nothing of itself will come,

But we must still be seeking?

This is intuition: but it does not come miraculously; there has been a long preparation for it in the race and often also in the individual. There are other truths that have to be long and earnestly sought for, in the quest of which all our intellectual powers must be employed, and the endeavour strenuously made to free the mind from all personal bias and unwillingness to believe. We often go without the truth because we are too indolent or indifferent to seek it earnestly, or because we are prejudiced against it and unwilling to receive it. There is certainly a moral element involved in the search for and the reception of truth. We have ears that hear not and eyes that see not. Truth reveals itself to those who love it; it comes to those who will give it a home.

(2) And sometimes we reach it gradually. In ascending the mountains of Switzerland, the climber begins his journey by a disappointing contradiction. He descends from some sheltering chlet, by the light of the waning moon; he has to go over a broken path, and with a stealthy step; there are before him real tracts of trouble; the dim light alters proportions, and deceives as to distance, and so, plunging onwards, he hurts his feet. Onward he goes; he must cross the interspaces of gloom, where the shadows fall in blackness on the bases of the mountains, thick, with no shading of pity, but dusky and cruel as the hangings of Death. Onward, onward, the grasp of darkness is at last relaxing; the sky is clearer; there is a promise of the coming day; he struggles higher; around him are rising innumerable peaks, sheathed in the frost-sheets of diamond, and with the glint of the mingling glitter of the moonlight and the morning. It is an ice-world of splendour,mountaineering made glorious,for the light is increasing, there is a feeling of freshness, a sense of security, an exhilaration of joy; the dimness is dying, the severest of the struggle is distanced, he feels, and, with a sense of triumph, he has his feet on the track of Dawn.

(3) But our eye must always be single. The seeker after truth must fulfil one condition: he must lead a true life, a life of moral rectitude at least. A false life can never come to the truth, for truth is revealed only to truth. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life, was advice founded on a melancholy experience. Blessed beyond all earthly blessedness, said one who came through the fiery ordeal not scathless, and is now enjoying the peace he hardly found on earth,blessed beyond all earthly blessedness is the man who, in the tempestuous darkness of the soul, has dared to hold fast to those venerable landmarks of morality. Thrice blessed is he who, when all is drear and cheerless within and without, when his teachers terrify him and his friends shrink from him, has obstinately clung to moral good. Thrice blessed, because his night shall pass into clear bright day.

We may call to mind the experience of Columbus, when he found himself entangled in the Sargasso Sea in the midst of the ocean, to the westward of the Canary Islands. As far as eye could see the surface was thickly covered with weed, through which it seemed hopeless to seek to penetrate. To his sailors the attempt seemed even impious; the Almighty had shown His anger at their endeavour to peer into His secrets. Columbus himself feared that these weeds might indicate the proximity of dangerous rocks on which his vessel might be wrecked. But, strong in his faith in an undiscovered land, he steered right onward, carefully sounding from time to time, till in a few days they got clear of the weeds, out again into the free ocean, and in due time reached the western shore he was seeking. So it ever is in the search for truth, if we are in earnest and will but persevere, with our minds open to such guidance, Divine and human, as we can find, carefully taking soundings as we proceed, but never losing faith in the reality and attainability of truth. We shall not indeed reach all truth, or even the whole truth on any particular subject; but we shall find what we need for mental rest and true practical life.1 [Note: W. L. Walker, The True Christ, 12.]

In the bitter waves of woe,

Beaten and tossed about

By the sullen winds that blow

From the desolate shores of doubt,

When the anchors that faith had cast

Are dragging in the gale,

I am quietly holding fast

To the things that cannot fail:

I know that right is right;

That it is not good to lie;

That love is better than spite,

And a neighbour than a spy;

I know that passion needs

The leash of a sober mind;

I know that generous deeds

Some sure reward will find;

That the rulers must obey;

That the givers shall increase;

That Duty lights the way

For the beautiful feet of Peace;

In the darkest night of the year,

When the stars have all gone out,

That courage is better than fear,

That faith is truer than doubt;

And fierce though the fiends may fight,

And long though the angels hide,

I know that Truth and Right

Have the universe on their side;

And that somewhere, beyond the stars,

Is a Love that is better than fate;

When the night unlocks her bars

I shall see Him, and I will wait.1 [Note: Washington Gladden.]

The Kingdom of Truth

Literature

Abbey (C. J.), The Divine Love, 296.

Bain (J. A.), Questions Answered by Christ, 229.

Burrell (D. J.), The Spirit of the Age, 61.

Campbell (L.), The Christian Ideal, 236.

Chadwick (G. A.), Aids to Belief, 1.

Chadwick (W. E.), Christ and Everyday Life, 191.

Clark (H. W.), Laws of the Inner Kingdom, 32, 84.

Greenhough (J. G.), The Cross in Modern Life, 14.

Greer (D. H.), From Things to God, 26.

Johnston (J. B.), The Ministry of Reconciliation, 54.

Lightfoot (J. B.), Sermons in St. Pauls Cathedral, 91.

Little (W. J. K.), Sunlight and Shadow, 218.

Little (W. J. K.), The Witness of the Passion, 1.

Macintosh (W.), Rabbi Jesus, 1.

MIntyre (D. M.), Life in His Name, 49.

Macleod (D.), Christ and Society, 95.

Peabody (F. G.), Mornings in Tlie College Chapel, i. 159; iii. 185.

Peabody (F. G.), Sunday Evenings in The College Chapel, 197.

Porter (N.), Yale College Sermons (18711886), 34, 76.

Ragg (L.), Christ and Our Ideals, 93.

Ridgeway (F. E.), Calls to Service, 223.

Smith (W. C), Sermons, 182.

Vaughan (B.), Society, Sin and the Saviour, 89.

Walker (W. L.), The True Christ, 9.

Williams (T. R.), Gods Open Doors, 47.

Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible

Thou: Mat 26:64, Mat 27:11, Mar 14:62, Mar 15:2, Luk 23:3, 1Ti 6:13

that I should: Joh 8:14, Joh 14:6, Isa 55:4, Rev 1:4, Rev 3:14

Every: Joh 7:17, Joh 8:47, Joh 10:26, Joh 10:27, 1Pe 1:22, 1Jo 3:14, 1Jo 3:19, 1Jo 4:6, 1Jo 5:20

Reciprocal: Pro 8:7 – my mouth Jer 30:21 – governor Dan 11:2 – will I Dan 12:10 – but the wise Hos 14:9 – wise Mat 2:2 – born Mat 22:16 – true Mat 26:25 – Thou Mat 26:63 – that Mar 14:61 – Art Luk 19:12 – to Luk 22:70 – Ye say Joh 1:49 – the King Joh 10:4 – for Joh 12:27 – but Joh 18:33 – and said Act 2:30 – he Act 7:27 – Who Act 7:37 – him 1Ti 3:15 – the truth Rev 1:5 – who is

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE KING JESUS

Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king.

Joh 18:37

It was not as the Son of God that Jesus said this, but as the Son of Man. It would have been nothing that the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity should have been a King. Of course He was; and much more than a King. But that poor, weak, despised Manthat was standing there before Pontius Pilatethat was a King. And all Scripture confirms it. It was the manhood of Christ that was there. This is the marvel, and here is the comfort.

I. God having elected Christ to His throne, put all that is in heaven and earth under His feet.For when He saith, All things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is exceptedthat is, the Fatherwhich did put all things under Him. This reign of Christ will certainly be to the end of this dispensation. When this dispensation will end, and what will come after it, we do not know. It is safest here to keep to the exact letter of Gods Word. Now see it.

II. The subjugation of the universe to the King Christ is now going on.And it is very gradual. We see not yet all things put under Him. Little by little it is extending itself. One of a city, two of a family. The increase will grow rapid and immense. When He comes again, at once, to Him every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. The promise to Abraham and to David will be fulfilled to the seed, even to the worlds end. There will be one Lord, and His name one.

III. Thy kingdom come.How much of that rich prayer is yet answered? how much are we waiting for? Three things it means. Thy kingdom in my heart: Thy kingdom over all the nations: Thy kingdom at the Second Advent.

(a) The throne of God is set up for me. Sin is there. But now sin is only a rebel. It does not reignas it once did.

(b) It is being accomplished; and God bless the missions!

(c) We long and look for it with outstretched neck, and hail each gleam of the horizon.

IV. Mercy dwells with the King.At His throne mercy and truth have met together; and righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Appeal only to the anointed King of the whole earth. Remind Him of His own absolute will and power. Tell Him that He is King to this very end, that mercy may prevail over judgment; and that He is gone up to receive giftsthe precious gift of lifefor men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them; and see, see whether He will not stretch out His sceptre to you, and say, Live. Shall any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over all Israel? Deliver Him from going down to the pitI have found a ransom.

And when you go to this King in prayeras you may alwaysfor He always sits in His audience chamber to hear the suit of His meanest subjectsremind Him that you are going to a King;a King of power illimitable, and love with no bound; a King, Who has once purchased to Himself, with His own Blood, the right to be Head over His Church. And expect, and command it to your heart. He will give royally. Not according to the mean giving of poor, puny, upbraiding menbut after His own large heart and unbounded sway.

Rev. James Vaughan.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

7

The speech of Jesus in the preceding verse was taken by Pilate as an affirmative answer to his question, yet he wished a more direct one. He therefore repeated his inquiry, except he said nothing about what people Jesus was to rule. And the answer of Jesus was also without any reference to the people who were to compose the citizenship of his kingdom. To this end was I born is in direct agreement with the question of the wise men, when they asked for him who was “born king of the Jews” (Mat 2:2). Very logically, if Jesus was to be born as a king, it would be necessary that he come into the world. Also, the principles that were to rule in his kingdom would be so different from any the world had even known, that the king himself would have to bring the -truth about them into the world. The citizens of the new kingdom would be those who showed a disposition to accept this truth. This is why Jesus exhorted men to take his “yoke” (government) upon them and “learn of me” (Mat 11:29).

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Joh 18:37. Pilate therefore said unto him, A king art thou then? It is of importance to notice the difference of construction between the question as put here and at Joh 18:33. There Thou stands in the first place, here the King. The difference corresponds exactly to the course of thought which we have endeavoured to trace. In the first passage thou is emphatic; thou so poor, so humbled, thou a King? In the second King is emphatic; a King then, high as that is, art thou? In the first the thing is regarded as impossible; in the second the possibility has dawned upon the mind.

Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a King. It is hardly possible to understand these words as a directly affirmative reply to the question of Pilate, for Pilate had not acknowledged that Jesus was a King. It seems better to understand them in the sense, Thou usest the word king in regard to Me, but not in the right sense; and then the following words point out what it was that really conferred on Jesus the empire that He claimed.

To this end have I been born, and to this end have I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth: every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. The transition here from the thought of kingship to that of witnessing is very remarkable. It is to be explained by the consideration that, as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and as the true glory of His work lay in submission to the demands of self-denying love, so His kingdom consists in witnessing to that eternal truth which is the foundation of all existence, which all were created to own, and in which alone is life. The word witness must be taken in a very emphatic sense. Jesus is not only the perfect, He is also the free and willing, Exponent or Revealer of all this truth to men. It is in His entire and voluntary surrender to it that His kingdom lies: His service is really His authority and power. In this respect, too, His dominion is universal over all who will own the truth: bowing to it, they must bow to Him in whom it is contained and by whom it is declared. Thus in His witnessing He is King. We cannot fail to notice how the absoluteness of this witnessing is brought out by means of the formula used by Jewish writers, I have been born and am come, as well as by the twice repeated to this end. For this Jesus had become incarnate: for this He was still standing there. Was not such a witness to the truth in all its glorious range of meaning in reality the universal King?

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Pilate asks him again directly and expressly, Art thou a king or not?

Our Saviour answers, “Thou sayest that I am a king, and so it is indeed as thou sayest, I am a king, and the king of the Jews too; but not a temporal king, to rule over them after the manner of earthly kings with temporal power, and worldly pomp and splendour: but I am a spiritual king, to rule and govern, not only the Jews, but my whole church, consisting both of Jews and Gentiles, after a spiritual manner.”

Observe here, 1. The dominion and sovereignty of Jesus Christ; he has a kingdom: My kingdom.

Observe, 2. The condition and qualification of this kingdom, negatively expressed: My kingdom is not of this world.

Observe, 3. The use and end of this kingdom: that the truth may have place among the children of men for their salvation: To this end was I born, and came into the world, to bear witness unto the truth.

Observe, 4. The subjects of Christ’s kingdom declared: Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice; that is, every one who is by divine grace disposed to believe and love the truth, will hear and obey Christ’s doctrine.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Verse 37

Heareth my voice; obeyeth me; is my subject. The meaning is, that what he called his kingdom was only a spiritual kingdom, comprising all those that loved the truth.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

Pilate did not understand the distinctions between Jesus’ kingdom and his own that Jesus was making. He did understand that Jesus was claiming to have a kingdom. Consequently he next tried to get Jesus to claim unequivocally that He was a king. Jesus admitted that He was a king, but He needed to say more about His reign if Pilate was to understand the nature of His kingship. Jesus had defined His kingdom negatively (Joh 18:36). Now He defined His mission as a king positively.

The main reason Jesus had come into the world was to bear witness to the truth. By this He meant that He came to reveal God (cf. 14:6). Jesus made subjects for His kingdom by revealing God, by calling on people to believe on Him, and by giving them eternal life. This prepared them to participate in His kingdom. Everyone who truly wanted the truth followed Jesus because His teachings had the ring of truth. Jesus’ words were an invitation for Pilate to listen to Him and to learn the truth. Jesus showed more interest in appealing to Pilate than in defending Himself. This desire for the welfare of others marks all of Jesus’ interviews in the fourth Gospel. [Note: Tenney, "John," p. 177.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)