One of the most unsettling feelings is walking into a room and questioning your reason for being there. It might be simple forgetfulness, or it could be a more profound sense that you don’t belong. Oftentimes, when people get in front of a group of people to speak, they feel as if they don’t belong. This unease is why public speaking remains one of our most common fears. As Jesus came into the world, even He had to navigate this tension of belonging, especially when He encountered the influential people of His day. While He was filled with purpose, there were many forces actively trying to destroy Him. In the face of these trials and conflicts, Jesus relied on His divine purpose as His guide. Similarly, God has placed Christians in the world, much as He placed His people in a new world after freeing them from Egypt. This begs the question: What is our purpose? Jesus confronted this directly in His trial before Pilate. Instead of getting entangled in a power struggle or debating accusations, He clearly articulated His purpose: to testify to the truth. Like Him, our purpose is not to win worldly arguments, but to reveal God’s truth to the world.
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 18:33–38a.
The idea of purpose guides all of those involved in this trial, the religious elites, Pilate, and the government, as well as Jesus. The purpose of the religious elite was to eliminate Jesus, whom they saw as a direct threat to their power and influence. Having already decided that Jesus must be killed, the Jewish leaders brought Him to the Praetorium, the center of the local Roman government, to have Him condemned and executed by Roman authority. This was a calculated move to shift responsibility for His death onto the Romans. They manipulated the system, acting early in the morning to avoid widespread opposition. Once they realized that a religious charge of blasphemy didn’t matter to Pilate, they were forced to refashion their case in political terms. They accused Jesus of being a revolutionary inciting rebellion against Rome by claiming to be the king of the Jews, a charge designed to force Pilate’s hand, framing Jesus as a political rival of Caesar, which had to be taken seriously. Their primary fear was that Jesus’ truth would expose their worldly ambitions and pull people away from them, so they rejected Jesus for political security.
Pilate’s purpose, in contrast, was to maintain the Pax Romana. As the Roman procurator, his duty was to keep order among a restless people, and he was ultimately responsible to the emperor. He understood that the religious leaders had a personal issue with Jesus, but knew that to keep peace among the rival groups, he must hear out their charges. They focused their central charge on the kingship of Jesus, as a potential threat to Rome, because heresy and other religious charges fell outside Pilate’s sphere of power. After all, Pilate sought to release Jesus when Jesus clarified His kingdom was “not of this world.” However, the Jewish leaders forced his involvement by stating they could not lawfully execute anyone, compelling a Roman sentence. They exploited Pilate’s political vulnerability, as his standing with Caesar was precarious, and any threat to peace would ultimately lead to Pilate being replaced. They pushed Pilate further through their threats that if he let Jesus go, he would be in opposition to Caesar. Fearing he would lose his position, Pilate, driven by his own desire for power and security, succumbed to the pressure of the Jewish religious leaders.
Caught between these competing worldly purposes, Jesus remained steadfast in His own. He came to bear witness to the truth and had no time to waste appeasing either the religious elite or the Roman governor. When Pilate asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus immediately clarified the spiritual nature of His authority, stating, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He explained that if His kingdom were earthly, His followers would have fought for His release. Instead of getting entangled in the accusations of envious leaders or the political anxieties of a troubled governor, Jesus explicitly declared His mission: Jesus came to speak truth, to share truth, and to ensure the truth is heard in the ears of all people. His purpose was not to engage in power struggles, but to reveal a spiritual kingdom to all who were willing to hear His voice. Those who heard and acted upon the words of Jesus were those who shared and promulgated the Gospel throughout the entire world.
Facing a trial that would end in crucifixion, Jesus remained focused on His purpose: to speak the truth and witness to its divine power in the face of threatening worldly forces. Similarly, Jesus calls us to remain faithful to our witness and adhere to the truth of the Gospel, no matter the opposition. We will face temptations from both religious and secular powers that are more concerned with maintaining their status than advancing the Gospel. Jesus’ actions remind us not to waste our energy in earthly power struggles. Our purpose, right where we are, is to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed, bearing witness to a power that comes only from the Almighty. Therefore, our role is not to appear perfect, follow hollow traditions, or cozy up to powerful elites. Instead, we do what Jesus did: walk in a manner that glorifies God and enjoy the blessings of that relationship. Our lives must demonstrate an ultimate allegiance not to any earthly institution, but only to the mission of God. Jesus came to bear witness to the truth, and He calls us to be co-laborers in that same work.
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