All four of the canonical Gospels contain an account of Christ's trial before the Roman Governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilate. As such, Pilate served as the representative of Caesar's authority in that region. Now, in those days, Roman authority and control would have seemed both absolute and oppressive to the inhabitants of Judaea. After all, Roman soldiers had occupied the area for almost one hundred years by that time.
In the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, we read:
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
--The New International Version
Pilate, and the Jews under his authority, had a perspective on kingship that was based on years of real-world experience. Human kings exercised authority and control over people and territory. Kings were to be obeyed, feared, and respected. To these folks, someone claiming to be the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures to restore the Davidic Kingdom represented a challenge or threat to the powers that were then in place.
Jesus, on the other hand, did NOT fit their expectations about kingship. He offered something new and different. His kingdom was NOT of this world! He told them that his Kingdom came from a different place - that it wasn't of human origin or design. Jesus represented service and sacrifice, love and TRUTH. For folks in the First Century, this model of kingship did not make any sense to them - it was not something to which they could relate.
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