Jesus’ Kingdom Transcends This World's Power

“I’ve heard stories of how voting, regardless of who ‘won,’ was disastrous for the congregation, alienating Methodist from Methodist, bifurcating the multifaceted range of opinions within the congregation, reducing complex theological/biblical/ethical issues to you’re either with us or you’re against us.
Is it bad taste for me to remind you that, in the only instance of congregational voting in the Gospels, we voted for Barabbas rather than Jesus?” *

John 6:15 showed that, after feeding 5,000 people (and no doubt at other times), Jesus could likely have taken political power if he’d wanted to. But he hadn’t come to create that kind of kingdom. Jesus baffled Pontius Pilate, a typical Roman political climber, who asked him, “So you are a king?” Calmly contained, Jesus said, “My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world…. My kingdom isn’t from here.” Jesus came from, and ruled over, a totally different (though ultimately more “real”) realm.

• Pilate, a tough, cynical Roman politician, thought he knew kingly qualities. In his opinion, Jesus didn’t act like a king. He was probably mocking the Jewish leaders more than honoring Jesus when he called him “the king of the Jews.” What makes Jesus the kind of leader you want to follow? In what ways could his example shape the ways you lead at work, parent children, or drive on a crowded road? Do you seek human leaders who act as much like Jesus as possible?
• Peter reacted to Jesus’ physical danger. As he’d said (John 13:37), he was ready to die for Jesus, to “go down fighting.” Jesus knew that Peter’s life, lived by Kingdom values, would do more to defeat the forces of evil than his sword ever could. Have you ever faced a situation in which God might tell you, in effect, “Put up your sword”? When have you needed to let God’s spirit show you a more Christ-like way to handle an issue?