In our gospel reading for today, Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate, a governor of the Roman empire. And Jesus makes a controversial claim – Jesus...is a king. That has Pilate and the whole nation of Israel in an uproar, because in Jesus, they have no idea what kind of king is coming into power. It's worse than they think – Jesus is not just SLIGHTLY different from all the other kings they have known – he himself describes his kingdom as “not of this world”. But for those of us who are a part of Jesus' kingdom, we know the freedom that comes with his kind of kingdom, because unlike the nations of the world, his kingdom is NOT an empire.....
There's nothing like the fear of what a new leader will do to put a country on high alert. If you follow the media down south, there is an avalanche of content discussing the upcoming cabinet of President-Elect Trump, and there's plenty of content discussing the effects of Trump on Canada as well. Each new election...or coup...or military conquest in the world, brings a wave of dire predictions as to what calamities the new leader will bring in. With new leaders, the structure of the empire changes, and the people are uncertain where they will fit in. Will the empire grow at OUR expense, resulting in new tax burdens and regulations? Will the empire impose new restrictions on the basis of new things it calls crises? Will the empire make commitments that our children will pay dearly for, for example, national debt or the loss of community stability with uncontrolled immigration? Will we be considered special friends of the empire, like 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, or homeowners who use heating oil, or employees of the Quebec company Bombardier? Or, will we be like family rights activists, or vaccine mandate protesters, or consumers of other fossil fuels - people selected by the empire for special punishments? Every time there is a new leader, the answers to these questions might change, and that makes us anxious.
Pontius Pilate was also anxious in our gospel reading today. Standing in front of him was a new leader for the Jews, King Jesus of Nazareth, and he was not behaving like any other king Pilate had ever heard of. Kings of empires are supposed to protect their citizens, and attack their enemies...enemies like Pilate himself. But instead, Jesus was turned over to Pilate BY the Jews, and those loyal to Jesus had let it happen. Jesus explains it for him, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
The Jewish religious elite were anxious today, too. Jesus was supposed to be the Messiah to free them from the Romans. But instead of attacking the Romans, Jesus spent much more of his time verbally attacking them, questioning their interpretations of the law, berating them for their undeserved privilege in society, and inciting the common people against them. Kings of empires were supposed to uphold the law, especially the laws that provided privilege for those loyal to the king. Jesus explains it to them, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
Even the common Jews on the street were anxious today. Although Jesus was a popular rabbi, and showed the miraculous signs of being the Messiah, he didn't have the backing of the religious experts, and looking at his closest followers did not inspire confidence that Jesus could pull off the military coup that everyone wanted. And a partial or failed military coup would only result in Roman rage and destruction. Kings of empires were supposed to look after and promote the prosperity of their citizens, not jeopardize it. Jesus explains it to them, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
Maybe that's why some Islamist groups see Jesus and his followers as a threat. THEIR interpretation of THEIR prophet's kingdom IS of this world. Portions of their holy writings are dedicated to CREATING empire, maintaining it, defending it, and prospering it. Now, at the time the Qur'an was written and afterward, yes there was a Christian-based empire, the Holy Roman Empire that called for the crusades and later justified the colonization of the Americas. But that empire arose by sinful, selfish ambition, not at the direction of Jesus. Jesus' words are clear, “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting to expand my empire, but my kingdom is from another place. If you find yourself enslaved by a powerful empire, it's not mine.”
You see, empires are all the same. They want what empires always want – power. And they get power by manipulating the economic, social, and political structures of society in their favour. Economically, empires manipulate markets with regulations that benefit those who keep them in power, stripping people of their economic freedom, and encouraging them to become reliant on the empire. Socially, empires pit groups of people against each other, increasing tensions until the empire is the only thing people have left in common, stripping people of their freedom of association. Politically, empires control the flow of information, making it impossible or dangerous to dissent, stripping people of their freedom of expression. Power by any means necessary – that might as well be the definition of empire.
The empire we live under is already very powerful. Many of our political, economic, and even church leaders have apparently bought in to the empire, to solidify their own positions. We can feel trapped into buying into the empire for ourselves, knowing that the choices we are making are not the best for our family and community, but not seeing any other options. There is a strong temptation to align ourselves with the empire, and try to become its special friends. But then we remember that we are followers of Jesus, and we are called by him to testify to the truth of the tyranny that empire always tries to get away with. And testifying to the truth will make us enemies of the empire. If we're doing it right, we'll be dangerous enemies.