Jesus was questioned by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate on the eve of the Feast of Passover, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?‘. Responding with His own question as He did so often to probe the heart, Jesus asked, ‘Did you hear that from others or is that your own idea?‘ (John 18:33-34)
The Roman judge was clearly not interested in the distraction and asked Jesus directly, ‘What have you done?‘ (John 18:35), which opened the door for Jesus to comment on His Kingship.
My kingdom is not of this world.
If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting
so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is,
My kingdom is not of this realm.
John 18:36
And there it is. The answer wrapped in a mystery. Pilate may have latched onto the only part of Jesus’ answer that made sense to him when he responded, ‘Are you a king then?‘ (John 18:37). And again Jesus answered cryptically, ‘You say that I am a king. I came into this world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ (John 18:37). Had Pilate had eyes to see and ears to hear he might have understood (Matthew 13:15-16) that God’s kingdom is from above (John 8:23).
Though not of this world, the kingdom of heaven is not far off.
When Jesus began His ministry He started by saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand‘ (Matthew 4:17). When He empowered and commissioned His disciples to go to the lost sheep of Israel, He told them to preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand‘ (Matthew 10:5-7). And when Jesus appointed the seventy to go two by two to all the cities before Him, He told them to, ‘heal the sick and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you‘ (Luke 10:9).
In fact, when the Pharisees demanded that Jesus tell them when the kingdom of God would come, He told them
The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed
nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’
For behold, the kingdom of God is within you
Luke 17:20-21
Unlike the kingdoms of this world, the kingdom of God exists within those whose hearts are open to the things of God. The apostle Paul explained in his letter to the church at Colossae that this mystery, that has been hidden for generations, is now revealed to those who believe, ‘which is Christ in you, the hope of glory‘ (Colossians 1:26-27).
To the church at Ephesus, Paul prayed that ‘Christ may dwell in your hearts‘ so that they would understand the depths of Christ’s love and be filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).
God has commanded the light to shine out of darkness and in the hearts of those who believe, delivering them from the power of darkness and transferring them into the kingdom of His Son (2 Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 1:13).
Since the kingdom of God is not observable like a worldly kingdom, it’s no wonder the world is skeptical that it exists. But to those who believe, God gives the ‘Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ‘ (2 Corinthians 4:6).