I was reading in John and something jumped out at me that I never noticed before.
When Jesus was arrested, we read in John 18:10-11 (NIV),
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)
Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"
Then just a few verses later Jesus makes this statement to Pilate,
"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." vv 36
What is going on here? Did Jesus not appreciate that only a few hours earlier, Peter did fight to prevent his arrest? Didn't Jesus stop him from doing so?
On the surface it would seem that Peter was fighting for Jesus' kingdom, but he was not.
I think it's safe to speculate that the man who at one moment was willing to fight and die for Jesus, but who that same evening denied him three times, had not yet understood the difference between the kingdom Jesus was establishing and an earthly one. Peter had to first let go of who he wanted Jesus to be, and instead accept Jesus for who he was.
Peter's dream of a kingdom on earth had come crashing down, but he would eventually understand that Jesus' purpose went far beyond establishing an earthly kingdom.
Much later he would write a very clear description of what followers of the kingdom of God look like.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.. 1 Peter 2:9 10(NIV)
The kingdom of God is not of this world, therefore let's make sure our efforts here are building Jesus' kingdom, not some idea of what we think it should be.
