Ken Brownell thinks about the General Election in the light of John’s record of Christ’s Passion.
You would have thought he had other things on his mind.
But as he stood on trial before Pontius Pilate Jesus spoke about his kingdom and politics.
Jesus is on trial before the Roman governor Pilate. He has been accused by the Jewish religious authorities of claiming to be a king. Any claim to kingship was a threat to the Roman imperial authorities, so Pilate questions Jesus about his kingship. In their conversation, Jesus speaks about the nature of his kingdom (John 18.36). He is indeed a king and was born to be so (18:37). Later, when Pilate says that he, as Roman governor has power to free or have him executed, (19.10-11) Jesus tells Pilate that his political power comes from above, or from God, and that Pilate and those involved in his arrest are accountable to God for their guilt.
What Jesus says here actually indicates everything we need to know about politics in this world.
Jesus rules
Jesus is the king both of the people he came to save and of the nations over which he now rules at his Father’s right hand.
Jesus is the promised king in the royal line of David, but his kingdom is not a political one. His kingdom or saving reign embraces all those who repent and trust in him for salvation. Having accomplished redemption, Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of his Father where he now reigns over everything. To him all authority in heaven and on earth has been given and he rules until all his enemies are defeated. In short, Jesus is right now the King of kings and Lord of lords. That is the great political reality of the present age whether or not the rulers of this world acknowledge it.
Not of this world
The source or origin of Christ’s kingdom is not of this world but of heaven and from God. This world is in rebellion against God and led astray by the usurping prince of this world – Satan. For that reason the kingdom of Christ can never be identified with the kingdoms of this world, even at their best. That’s something Christians past and present have done and continue to do in various ways, often with very damaging results for the cause of Christ. In the past the UK was often seen as a Christianised form of Old Covenant Israel. More recently Christians on the left and right have had a tendency to see the kingdom as being about political and social transformation. No. As disciples of Jesus we must conduct ourselves in keeping with the spiritual nature of the kingdom of Christ. If it was an earthly kingdom then we would use physical violence or earthly means in its defence and advance, but because it isn’t we don’t. Our weapons are the spiritual ones of the Word of God and prayer. This is one reason why the organised church and her ministers should stay out of the public political process. Direct involvement of the church is at best confusing, at worst corrupting, and always a distraction from what it most important.
Accountable to God
When Pilate says he has power or authority over Jesus, Jesus tells him that his power comes from God. In part this means that God providentially governs everything that happens in the world, including human government, so that his purposes are accomplished. God gives governments the authority by which they govern and can command the submission of their citizens. For this reason human rulers at all levels are accountable to God for how they govern and will have to give an account to him on the Day of Judgment.
What does this mean for us?
First and foremost we belong to the kingdom of Christ and in this world our priority is to see it advance through the prayerful preaching of the gospel.
We must never forget where our first loyalty rests as Christians. However loyal we may be to our earthly nations or movements or parties we must remember that our primary citizenship is in heaven, from where Jesus will return at the end of the age to bring in his kingdom in its fullness. In this world we live as aliens and strangers, as we look forward to the eternal city with foundations whose architect and builder is God, (Hebrews 11.9-10). Of course as we live in this world we want to do as much good as we can for our earthly cities and nations, as the Jews were encouraged to do in the exile (Jeremiah 29.1-9), but our first concern is to see the kingdom of Christ advance in the world through the prayers and preaching of churches and Christians. If we are forced to make a choice between our loyalty to our earthly cities and the city of God we will choose the latter.
Prayer and submission
Living in this world we will engage with earthly governments. We will pray for them and submit to them. Such submission means honouring or respecting them as God’s servants even if there is not much to respect. We respect the office whatever the people who hold it are like. Submission also means obeying their laws which includes our taxes (Romans 13.6-7). Of course, there is a condition and that is that no government can command a Christian to disobey God. If it does we must then disobey it and take the consequences (Acts 5.29).
Christians in politics
Though not mentioned explicitly by Jesus or the apostles and only hinted at in the New Testament, it is in principle right for Christian to participate in politics since government is God’s ordained servant for maintaining order and upholding justice in a fallen world. In New Testament times such participation was very limited, as it has been for much of history and is still in many parts of the world. But in a democracy like the United Kingdom we can participate in politics by voting and standing for office. Of course, we must do so with moral integrity and without compromising our Christian convictions or behaviour, but it is possible. In this we can learn much from biblical examples of political engagement in difficult political environments such as Joseph, Obadiah, Daniel and Esther. Our motivation is not to make the country more Christian, even less to impose a theocracy, but simply to do as much good as we can in this area of life out of love for our neighbours (Titus 3.1-2).
