“Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12). That’s what the religious leaders told Pilate, and that continues to be the main reason why the Church faces opposition all over the world. That’s why the communist government in China tears down sanctuaries and imprisons pastors. That’s why Muslim governments from Iran to Saudi Arabia make it illegal for anyone to convert to Christianity. No totalitarian regime can tolerate the existence of any source of authority, any locus of the people’s devotion except for the almighty state.

So, why would the Jews and their religious leaders have said such a thing? After all, the people said they believed in God, and their leaders taught the necessity of worshipping and offering sacrifices in the Temple. But these leaders also thought that they needed to stay on the good side of the Romans, who had conquered all the area around Jerusalem. They thought that if they allowed the common people to go on believing that Jesus was the Messiah, the people would rise up in a rebellion which the Romans would inevitably crush, destroying the Temple and the city of Jerusalem in the process (John 11:48).

And it turns out that the leaders had a point. For when the Jerusalem crowd saw Jesus standing in chains before Pilate, it became obvious to them that He was no revolutionary, and that He had no intention of leading them in a fight against the Romans. And so, instead of asking for Jesus to be delivered to them, they asked for Barabbas to be released (John 18:40). For Barabbas was who they really wanted – someone who was willing to use violence, someone who ignored the Romans’ law, someone who had committed murder and who had already led at least one insurrection (Luke 23:19). Like the Romans, and like their religious leaders, the Jerusalem mob really trusted only in physical force, in military power.

So, what about us modern American Christians? How many of us are looking to the government to solve our economic issues, or even the moral problems that plague our culture? How many of us are focused on winning elections so that we can impose our version of righteous living on others? Are we really placing our faith in Christ, or are we looking to Caesar to keep us safe? Where do our true loyalties lie?

For if we follow Jesus, we follow One Who refused to rise up in rebellion against worldly rulers, One Who was just not interested in who happened to be in command of the Roman legions. For after all, the Roman Empire is gone, along with the Persians and Greeks and Egyptians who reigned before them. But Jesus’s kingdom, which is not of this world (John 18:36), still remains, a kingdom not propped up by violence, but based solely on the truth of His love and grace, of His holiness and righteousness.

So, does it really make sense to care so much about what the urban mobs or the hypocritical religious leaders or the self-important politicians think these days? None of them would have any power unless God had given it to them (John 19:11). So instead, let’s keep our focus on Heaven, where the real power lies. Let’s trust in Jesus, the One Who has all authority in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

John 18:38-19:16 (ESV)

After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
40 They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.
2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.
3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.
9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.
14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.