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Good morning, Covenant family. Brent did a great job leading us through John 18:28-40 on Sunday. I’m not adding anything to his message, but there was one question that Jesus asked that I’ve been pondering. I’m going to invite us to ponder it together in this Covenant Weekly for March 17, 2026.

In the flow of the story, Jesus is brought by the religious leaders to Pilate. They make their accusation of criminality with no evidence so Pilate comes inside to talk with Jesus. He asks Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

This is an interesting question because in John’s narrative, this isn’t something that has been said to him. We don’t know where he got this idea from. Which makes Jesus’ response more than rhetorical.

Jesus looks at Pilate and says, “​​Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me?”

I’ve been thinking about this question for a while now. A couple of weeks ago, I was reading about Jesus’ transfiguration in Matthew 17. In the story, Moses and Elijah show up with Jesus and Peter wants to build shelters for them. He wants to include Jesus in the upper pantheon of Jewish historical elites. It is a bold take for Peter to make to elevate Jesus that high. It kind of begs the question, “Was that his own idea or did others talk to him about Jesus?”

But in response to his proposal to build shelters, a cloud covers over Jesus, Moses, and Elijah and a voice from heaven says, ““This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” The voice of God says, essentially, “Jesus doesn’t belong in a pantheon alongside Moses and Elijah. As good as those prophets and leaders were, Jesus is above them. You need to listen to him more than them!”

I was raised with messages about Jesus. We all were. And those messages were shaped by messages that others received, and on and on through the years. It’s unavoidable. But it is important for us to know where the things we say about Jesus come from. “​​Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me?”

The thing is, we’ve been told about Jesus from reliable witnesses - those who walked and talked with Jesus; those who broke bread with him; and those who were so convinced of his love, sacrifice, resurrection, and hope that they laid down their lives to follow him. We need to listen to others, but particularly those first witnesses and those whose lives clearly reflect the Jesus they tell us about.

If someone’s testimony about Jesus and their life as a professing Christian does not align with the Jesus of the gospels, it is likely good to pick up Jesus’ question to Pilate as our own. “Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about him?” It may prompt a good conversation about what Jesus is really like.