What does Jesus mean when he says, "My kingdom is not of this world?" (John 18:36)

For most, Jesus’s statement confirms that Jesus was interested in building a spiritual kingdom. He is establishing not an earthly but a heavenly kingdom. Pilate has no reason to fear.

We must be careful with what Jesus does NOT say.

He does not say the world is not the sphere of his kingdom, but that his kingdom has a different source and nature. Jesus was not sidestepping politics, he simply was asserting a different kind of politics.

His kingdom doesn’t follow the rules of this earth. Its character is otherworldly. This interpretation is confirmed by Jesus’s follow up statement.

If his kingdom were of this world, his servants would fight. Had Jesus been interested in a kingdom by the worldly definition, his first task would have been to recruit soldiers.

He did recruit people, but they don’t win by fighting, force, or violence. They win by sacrifice and submission. In one sense, there is no offense against the Empire.

But what this doesn’t mean is that his kingdom is not active in this world or doesn’t have anything to do with this world or the Empire. His soldiers simply take their commands from a higher authority.