Daily Devotionals

Trouble Maker Week 4: Wednesday

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36

Do you remember seeing commercials for the “Easy Button” that can be found at Staples? If you have not, it is literally a button that says “That was easy” when you press it. Unfortunately, life does not have an easy button. Our struggles and hardships do not have an “easy button.” In fact, easy solutions or fixes do not generally solve real issues. This was true with the people of Israel. You see, there was a group of people within the Israelites who wanted more than anything to be freed from the rule of the Romans. They hoped Jesus would rescue them from Rome, who had overpowered Israel at the time. However, Jesus knew that being released from Rome would be an “easy fix” that would not help with the real problem at hand. What the people of Israel needed was freedom from sin.

There are several passages in Scripture where Jesus was on trial right before His death on a cross. Pilate questioned Him about what He had done to be brought on trial. In response, Jesus explained, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world” (John 8:36). Jesus was explaining to Pilate that He had not come to be a political leader. He was not trying to be an earthly king. He had not come to give a quick fix for Israel by freeing them from Rome. Instead, He wanted to free the world from the destructive power of sin.

Like the Israelites during Jesus’ day, we can have our own expectations that we place on Jesus and the kind of rescuer and leader He should be. In reality, the many things we hope He will do are temporary fixes to our biggest problem. More than anything, we need to be rescued from sin, and Jesus did that for us. Praise God that we have freedom from sin through Jesus’ death and resurrection!

Moving toward action

Write out a prayer to God today. Thank Him that He is a rescuer. Thank Him that He sees the bigger picture while we see the small one. He sees our deepest needs, which is why He sent Jesus to rescue us from our sins. Let this prayer of thanksgiving be a reminder that God is trustworthy and faithful.

Going Deeper

John 18:28-40 (NLT)

"Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?”

30 “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.

31 “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them.

“Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. 32 (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.)

33 Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.

34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”

36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

37 Pilate said, “So you are a king?”

Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. 39 But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”

40 But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)"