John 18:36- Catholic Interpretion of Kingdom?

[newportrojan]

Hello. I am Catholic but am struggling with John 18:36…

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place

How do Catholics interpret this? I often see Apologists refer to the Kingdom as the Catholic Church…but here Jesus says “his kingdom is not of this world”… This seems to contradict the idea that the Church is the Kingdom, because it is on and part of this world…please help. Thank you!

Eric

 

[Nita]

Hello. I am Catholic but am struggling with John 18:36…

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place

How do Catholics interpret this? I often see Apologists refer to the Kingdom as the Catholic Church…but here Jesus says “his kingdom is not of this world”… This seems to contradict the idea that the Church is the Kingdom, because it is on and part of this world…please help. Thank you!

Eric

The Church on earth is only part of Jesus’ kingdom. His kingdom/Church encompasses:
Church Militant (those on earth), and the
Church Suffering (those in Purgatory), and the
Church Triumphant (those in heaven).
Jesus, the High Priest and King of this Church/Kingdom, is in heaven and reigns from there.

I think the sense of John 18:36 includes more than just who comprises His Kingdom though. It probably has more to do with what His Kingdom is about - what He seeks to conquer (sin and death); where He wants to rule (in our hearts); what will be the treasures of the Kingdom (spiritual treasures: Mass, sacraments, eternal life with God). All of these are spiritual, not worldly. It is saving human souls He is interested in, not conquering land and peoples to rule over in the worldly sense

Nita

 

[Joe_Kelley]

My kingdom is not of this world

the kingdom is in the world but not of it.

 

[jcrichton]

Hello. I am Catholic but am struggling with John 18:36…

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place

How do Catholics interpret this? I often see Apologists refer to the Kingdom as the Catholic Church…but here Jesus says “his kingdom is not of this world”… This seems to contradict the idea that the Church is the Kingdom, because it is on and part of this world…please help. Thank you!

Eric

Hi!

…sometimes we tend to be overly analytical:

“Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand…” John the Baptist kept calling out–he did this right before Jesus entered His public Life. No other prophet before John called the people to the Kingdom; yet, John was not calling for people to comit mass suicide so that they could be closer to Heaven (the Kingdom in Heaven). He was calling people to Jesus!

Jesus then begins His Ministry and He preaches that the Kingdom of hand is at hand–He also reveals certain truths (the Way, the Life, the Resurrection, the only Path to the Father)… then He announces that casting devils out by the Spirit of God that signaled that the Kingdom of God was upon Israel. He also tells His disciples that He would not eat with them nor drink of the vine until He did so in the Kingdom of God–what did Jesus do after His resurrection?

Maran atha

Angel

 

[COPLAND_3]

Listen to how St. Thomas Aquinas explains it.

Sometimes the word kingdom means the people who reign, and sometimes the authority to reign. Taking the word in its first sense, Augustine says, My kingdom, that is, my faithful ‑ you “have made them a kingdom … to our Lord” (Rev 5:10) ‑ is not of this world.[22] He does not say they are not “in the world” (17:11), but that they are not of this world, because of what they love and imitate, since they have been wrested from it by grace. For this is how God has delivered us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his love.

Chrysostom explains this sentence by taking kingdom in the second sense, and says, My kingdom, that is, the power and authority which makes me a king, is not of this world, that is, does not have its origin in earthly causes and human choice, but from another source, from the Father: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away” (Dan 7:14).[23]

2352 Here he shows by clear signs that his kingdom is not of this world: first, a sign is given; secondly, the conclusion is drawn (v 36).

2353 In regard to the first, note that one who has an earthly kingdom, whether by right or by force, needs associates and ministers to keep him in power: the reason being that he is powerful through his ministers, not all by himself: “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker” (2 Sam 3:1). But the heavenly king, because he is powerful by himself, gives power to his servants; and consequently he does not need ministers for his kingdom. And thus Christ says that his kingdom is not of this world, because if my kingdom were of this world, my ministers would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews. When Peter started to fight for Christ (18:10), he forgot that he was not of this world. Still, our Lord did have some ministers, the angels, who could have rescued him from the hands of the Jews, but he chose not to be rescued: “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Mt 26:53).

2354 But my kingdom is not from the world, that is, because Christ does not need such ministers, he concludes that his kingdom is not from the world, that is, does not have its source from this world. And yet it is here, because it is everywhere: “She [Wisdom] reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well” (Wis 8:1); “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” (Ps 2:8); “And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him” (Dan 7:14).

 

[NotWorthy]

The Church was not here yet, during John 18. The Church was conceived on the Cross when the water and blood flowed from Jesus’ side. She was born at Pentecost. This formed the incomplete union between His Kingdom in Heaven and His Kingdom here on earth. These Kingdoms will become completely one at His Second Coming.

 

[epostle]

All good answers posted!

Here’s my $.02

A “kingdom” requires a hierarchy or it’s not a kingdom.

*Matthew 19
[27] Then Peter said in reply, “Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?”
[28] Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
[29] And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. *

Jesus does not separate the kingdom into heaven and earth departments. Jesus does not limit the “twelve thrones” to earth only, because he makes a unity with his glorious throne. A throne is a chair or office, and if it has no successors, its neither a throne or an office.

It’s interesting to note “there were about 120 brethren” present at Pentacost, the birth of the Church. “10” in apocalyptic language is the number of man, and 12 is the whole People of God, represented by the twelve tribes of Isreal. 10 X 12 = 120, an expression of the universal character of the Church, in both heaven and earth. (IMHO)

 

[Fidelis]

From the Navarre Bible Commentary on this passage:

33-34. There is no onus on Pilate to interfere in religious questions, but because the accusation levelled against Jesus had to do with politics and public order, he begins his interrogation naturally by examining him on the main charge: “Are you the King of the Jews?”

By replying with another question, Jesus is not refusing to answer: he wishes to make quite clear, as he has always done, that his mission is a spiritual one. And really Pilate’s was not an easy question to answer, because, to a Gentile, a king of the Jews meant simply a subverter of the Empire; whereas, to a Jewish nationalist, the King-Messiah was a politico-religious liberator who would obtain their freedom from Rome. The true character of Christ’s messiahship completely transcends both these concepts–as Jesus explains to the procurator, although he realizes how enormously difficult it is for Pilate to understand what Christ’s Kingship really involves.

35-36. After the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, Jesus refused to be proclaimed king because the people were thinking in terms of an earthly kingdom (cf. Jn 6:15). However, Jesus did enter Jerusalem in triumph, and he did accept acclamation as King-Messiah. Now, in the passion, he acknowledges before Pilate that he is truly a King, making it clear that his kingship is not an earthly one. Thus, “those who expected the Messiah to have visible temporal power were mistaken. ‘The kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 14:17). Truth and justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is the kingdom of Christ: the divine activity which saves men and which will reach its culmination when history ends and the Lord comes from the heights of paradise finally to judge men” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ is Passing By”, 180).

1. This is what his kingship really is: his kingdom is “the kingdom of Truth and Life, the kingdom of Holiness and Grace, the kingdom of Justice, Love and Peace” (Preface of the Mass of Christ the King). Christ reigns over those who accept and practise the truth revealed by him–his Father’s love for the world (Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 4:9). He became man to make this truth known and to enable men to accept it. And so, those who recognize Christ’s kingship and sovereignty accept his authority, and he thus reigns over them in an eternal and universal kingdom.

For its part, “the Church, looking to Christ who bears witness to the truth, must always and everywhere ask herself, and in a certain sense also contemporary ‘world’, how to make good emerge from man, how to liberate the dynamism of the good that is in man, in order that it may be stronger than evil, than any moral, social or other evil” (John Paul II, “General Audience”, February 1979).

“If we [Christians] are trying to have Christ as our king we must consistent. We must start by giving him our heart. Not to do that and still talk about the kingdom of Christ would be completely hollow. There would be no real Christian substance in our behavior. We would be making an outward show of a faith which simply did not exist We would be misusing God’s name to human advantage. …] If we let Christ reign in our soul, we will not become authoritarian. Rather we will serve everyone. How l like that word: service! To serve my king and, through him, all those who have been redeemed by his blood. I really wish we Christians knew how to serve, for only by serving can we know and love Christ and make him known and loved” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ is Passing By”, 181-182).

By his death and resurrection, Jesus shows that the accusations laid against him were based on lies: it was he who was telling the truth, not his judges and accusers, and God confirms the truth of Jesus–the truth of his words, of deeds, of his revelation–by the singular miracle of his resurrection. To men Christ’s kingship may seem paradoxical: he dies, yet he lives for ever; he is defeated and is crucified, yet he is victorious. “When Jesus Christ him appeared as a prisoner before Pilate’s tribunal and was interrogated by him…did he not answer: ‘For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth’? It was as if with these words …] he was once more confirming what he had said earlier: ‘You will know the truth, and truth will make you free’. In the course of so many centuries, of so many generations, from the time of the Apostles on, is it not often Jesus Christ himself that has made an appearance at the side of people judged for the sake of truth? And has he not gone to death with people condemned for the sake of truth? Does he ever cease to be the continuous spokesman and advocate for person who lives ‘in spirit and truth’? (cf. Jn 4:23). Just as he does not cease to be it before the Father, he is it also with regard to the history of man” (J Paul II, “Redemptor Hominis”, 12).

 

[Clovis]

His kingdom is paradise and all glory sitting at the right hand of God.