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News and views from the German-language region of Europe

October 9, 2015

"My servants would fight"

Filed under Sabbath Thoughts

When Pontius Pilatus asked Jesus if He was the king of the Jews and what He had done to be delivered up by His people and the chief priests, Jesus answered: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (Johannes 18:36).

In His answer Jesus made clear that He was not part of the Jewish nation, although He had been born as a Jew, and He was also not part of the world. The "world" is "kosmos" in Greek, by definition "a structured whole". Some 12 hours earlier Jesus had prayed that He had existed prior to the world's ("kosmos") existence (John 17:5).

When Jesus said "fight", He obviously meant violent action or resistance. His answer to Pilate's question implies that His servants – those called to follow in His footsteps – are also not really part of this world. The Bible exhorts us not to be part of this world's system (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 18:4). Why? Because "our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).

When the seventh trumpet sounds, Jesus' reign on earth will begin. Then Jesus' servants will fight, if necessary, to help implement Godly rule and judgment for a new "structured whole" for this earth: "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 1:14-15).

With these thoughts I wish everyone a rewarding Sabbath!

Paul Kieffer's blog with personal insights and news from the German-language region in Europe.

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