Jesus was taken before the highest judge and governor in the area and interrogated. In John 18:33 Pilate asks Him straight out, ¨Are you the King of the Jews¨? Everybody knew that Jesus was something special or out of the ordinary but they continued to scratch around on the surface to try to find an adjustment to their own understandings. We still do this today.
We sit back as the judge and say, ¨If you can convince me or show me how to reason it, then I will believe¨. Or perhaps we were convinced in our minds long ago and therefore have no need to muddle things over again. We stand mentally sound and secure that our verdict and our position on the matter is satisfactory. We place our Savior in the place we find correct for Him in our lives like we were the one who knew everything.
This is great if you choose to set Him above all else, however that action or thought is generally made with the same logic and bowed to the same source, you or I.
Now this or any other text in the Bible cannot be fully understood out of superior brain work or more educated minds. God is Spirit and inhabits and reigns in realms which we still cannot imagine. He and His Son are never limited or subjected to our judgment nor can be reduced to anything we may believe them to be.
To believe in Christ, one must surrender to the knowledge that they cannot possibly fathom the depths of truth and hence comes our need and total dependence upon Him. We were not there when the universe was created, we did not sit in the council when it was decided just how the Deity could be transformed and born of the womb of a mother. There are so many things that we just have to throw up our hands and say, ¨You got me, I don´t know the answer. But if you let me edge a little closer I too can stand with and listen to the sweet voice of the One who can and does understand and will delight in teaching me for all eternity¨.
Now we can find just a little insight from this story of Christ in John 18. Jesus´ words recorded in the scriptures were written and preserved for you and me. Healing and learning may begin for us and we may feed from those words as little fledglings in a nest. The amount to be learned cannot be contained even in our entire universe, but with baby steps we may start to learn to walk. Let that walk draw us nearer to the source and our future is secure.
Jesus says simply in verse 36, ¨My reign is not of this world¨.
A shallow or weak interpretation would lead us to conclude that Jesus was telling Pilate not to worry, that He wasn´t trying to overthrow the current government. One view slightly higher might let us say that Jesus was referring to being the King of a people from all different kingdoms but which have chosen to call Him their King.
God´s thoughts are higher than our thoughts just as the heavens are higher than the earth. His words and His intentions carry this same quality. When Jesus says that His reign is not from here, what can He mean?
The Reference Bible says ¨it is not from this source¨. The King James and American Standard put ¨it is not from hence¨. The Kingdom Interlinear reads like this, ¨not is from here¨. And lastly the Byington states, ¨not from this sphere¨. All are beautiful and carry the same significance to us. The words point us away from what we are familiar to here and lift up the meaning higher, even to the Deity to whom we direct our hope.
We all believe that there is and will be a people who separate themselves and distinguish themselves as true followers of Christ. Without pointing any fingers or starting any quarrels, we can say with honesty, that they will be the ones who listened to Jesus and took His words to heart.
Jesus worked hard to show us that it was possible to lift our understandings higher than the current norm. He was in Himself an example of the unexplainable Deity become flesh and bone. All the ramifications we do not need to capture, but our heart must make that great step into His kingdom. We must draw so near to Him that we find ourselves to be a part of His kingdom which is not from here.
Perhaps it is time we stop putting the final verdict on all things spiritual. Maybe we should spend more time searching higher than our own universe. It could be that the Kingdom which we seek is altogether more wonderful than all our imaginings.
If our view of God is this big, then perhaps we may begin to hear Jesus when He says; ¨To this end I was born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth¨.
We aren´t held accountable for not seeing into the mysterious ¨other¨ realm, but Jesus did come and does bear witness. Therefore we trust His word as the truth, there is another realm above and beyond. There God reigns with our Savior at His side. There with Them is where some will want to find their hearts and their souls. Of those precious believers, Jesus says in the last part of verse 36, ¨Every one that is in of the truth heareth my voice¨.
Shouldn´t we each and every one make all effort to assure that those words are true for us? Don´t you want to be one included in that statement by our Savior? We should want more than anything in the world, that we are one found in the truth and one who hears His voice. It is possible for each of us, we just need to edge a little closer and listen a little more intently.
The serious follower is the one who accepts no final result but keeps pushing harder and closer. This is the kind of worshipper Jesus refers to, and only the ones feeding directly from His instructions in every moment, will be the ones who can truly say that they hear His voice.
For you and I today there is nothing sweeter nor more productive than to hear His voice. Happy listening………
In Him,
Scott W
Searching For Christ 
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