Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Pilate therefore said to him, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, March 22, 2026
by Rev. Dr. Miles Hopgood, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: We cannot ignore the political implications of Jesus’s death while living authentically as his disciples.
Imagine that tomorrow one of our two major political parties announces that they are adopting the Nicene Creed as part of their political platform. In response, the opposing party declares themselves anti-Nicene Creed. What would be the faithful response for the church? Should we stop using the Nicene Creed altogether because it has become politically controversial? You may laugh, but when I proposed this scenario to a congregation, this was an answer given in earnest by more than one person. Few suggested that we should align ourselves fully with the pro-Nicene party, a comforting sign that Christian Nationalism has not completely consumed our churches. All could recognize that the question prodded at something uncomfortable and that neither jettisoning the creed nor embracing partisanism was the appropriate response. And yet it was difficult for all to come to a consensus about how exactly to navigate such a scenario.
As today’s gospel passage illuminates, thinking about the intersection of politics and our faith is important, even if it is disquieting for many among us. Here, we are confronted with two truths: first, that the crucifixion of Jesus was motivated primarily, if not entirely, by politics, and second, that these are the same politics of all empires, not merely the Roman one. Jesus did many things to offend the religious sensibilities of both Jew and Gentile in his time, but it is the political implication of his proclaiming a “kingdom” of God that has brought him to this moment. Pilate appears to waver in his commitment to kill Jesus, but he finds his motivation when the crowd questions whether his desire to spare Jesus is a sign of wavering allegiance to the emperor. Even if we accept John’s presentation that Pilate really was reluctant to see Jesus’s killed, he ultimately demonstrates that his loyalty is to imperial power (and his place in its hierarchy) over justice or any other truth. So too, on the part of the people, we see what evil is done when the tools of the state are used to advance religious goals. Everything about their religion as presented in this encounter would have prevented Jesus’s crucifixion—even if “he ought to die” (v.7), recall, as we heard last week, that they were not permitted to put him to death (John 18:31). In letting the state become the means to a religious end, they end up sacrificing their faith to imperial authority: “We have no king but the emperor” (v.15).
Confronting all of the above may be more than your people are able to handle. A sermon is not often the best place to dig into thorny issues which would be better handled in a forum where dialogue can take place. In service of such conversation, consider how you can use today’s passage to provoke the need to have such conversations together. However deeply you go into these topics, be sure to accompany your challenge with the consolation we receive in this passage as well. Jesus confronted all of this for our sake, and when we have hard conversations with one another, we testify that the faith which grounds us is greater than what we disagree over. To be a community in mission for the world and entrusted with the good news that God’s grace has overcome the grave—this was never going to be easy or free from conflict. Jesus’s tenacity in enduring what we read about today can give us courage to trust that he will see us through the conflicts we need to have and keep us together as one.
