My Kingdom Is Not of This World

^33 (A)So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^(B)“Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, ^(C)“My kingdom ^(D)is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^(E)my servants would have been fighting, that ^(F)I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^(G)“You say that I am a king. ^(H)For this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^(I)I have come into the world—^(J)to bear witness to the truth. ^(K)Everyone who is ^(L)of the truth ^(M)listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^(N)he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ^(O)“I find no guilt in him.

I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

14 ^(A)“Let not your hearts be troubled. ^(B)Believe in God;^[a] believe also in me. ² In ^(C)my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that ^(D)I go to prepare a place for you?^{[b] 3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you ^(E)to myself, that ^(F)where I am you may be also. ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”^{[c] 5 (G)}Thomas said to him, “Lord, ^(H)we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am ^(I)the way, and ^(J)the truth, and ^(K)the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

²¹ So he said to them again, ^(A)“I am going away, and ^(B)you will seek me, and ^(C)you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² So the Jews said, ^(D)“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, ^(E)“You are from below; I am from above. ^(F)You are of this world; ^(G)I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you ^(H)would die in your sins, for ^(I)unless you believe that ^(J)I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵ So they said to him, ^(K)“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^(L)he who sent me is true, and I declare ^(M)to the world ^(N)what I have heard from him.” ²⁷ They did not understand that ^(O)he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^(P)lifted up the Son of Man, ^(Q)then you will know that ^(R)I am he, and that ^(S)I do nothing on my own authority, but ^(T)speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹ And ^(U)he who sent me is with me. ^(V)He has not left me alone, for ^(W)I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰ As he was saying these things, ^(X)many believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ^(Y)“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will ^(Z)know the truth, and the truth ^(AA)will set you free.” ³³ They answered him, ^(AB)“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AC)everyone who practices sin is a slave^[a] to sin. ^35 (AD)The slave does not remain in the house forever; ^(AE)the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and ^(A)not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is ^(B)folly to ^(C)those who are perishing, but to us ^(D)who are being saved it is ^(E)the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

^20 (G)Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? ^(H)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[a] to save those who believe. ²² For ^(I)Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ ^(J)crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(K)the power of God and ^(L)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is ^(A)in Christ, he is ^(B)a new creation.^{[a] (C)}The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is from God, ^(D)who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us ^(E)the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling^[b] the world to himself, ^(F)not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us ^(G)the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, ^(H)we are ambassadors for Christ, ^(I)God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ^21 (J)For our sake he made him to be sin ^(K)who knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^(L)the righteousness of God.