Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Are You the King of Your Own Little Kingdom? | The Gospels | John 18:28-40

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

Are you secretly running your own little kingdom? What happens when we treat ourselves as the ultimate authority? Where does Jesus fit into the kingdoms we’ve built? In today’s episode, Jeff explores John 18:28-40 and reminds us that Jesus isn’t just offering us another way to live; he is the King, and his kingdom is greater than anything we can build for ourselves. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: John 18:28-40

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. Would you like to live in a country where Crocs footwear are banned? Where reply all emails are forbidden, where you can break the speed limit if you're rushing home with a load of tacos? Well, if so, there is a place for you. Nestled in Southern California is the 11-acre micro-nation.

called the Republic of Slow Jamestan. I promise I'm not making that up. It is very much nonfiction. Slow Jamestan. With a population of around 25,000 people, Slow Jamestan is as real as it gets. It's even got a ruler, a man named Randy Williams, who gave himself the title of Sultan.

There's a real ruler, real citizens, real laws, real placement on a map. Yes, Slow Jamestan is about as real as real. as it gets, except for the fact that it's not completely real. Because as a newly self-declared micro-nation within the United States, Slojammistan is not recognized as a sovereign nation by other countries. It's still subject to the bigger authority, the bigger truth, the bigger reality of the American leaders and laws. So yes, it really exists, but Randy Williams doesn't have the full authority to say what's true, what's real. What's real?

in the grand scheme of things. He's the sultan of his little 11-acre kingdom, but beyond that, he's just Randy Williams. Now, it's easy for the average person to scoff at the audacity of Williams to declare himself the sovereign sultan of that 11-acre territory within the sovereign nation of the United States.

It seems so unreasonable, so out of touch with reality, so untethered to the truth. But what if you and I do the same thing in our hearts every day? What if there is this little 11-acre kingdom within our own lives that we try to stake out as our sovereign territory where we can rule and dictate what's true, even if there's a far greater sovereign who rules not only over our lives but over all things? For many of us, this is at the very root of our anxieties, our stress, our anger, and our fear. We bear a weight that we were never meant to carry when we pretend to have the

authority that only belongs to the author of life. Now, what difference would it make if we recognized our little faux kingdoms and gave them back to the one who actually holds all things together? Our passage today in John chapter 18 wakes us up to that reality and frees us into the truth that the king over the cosmos is also the king over every contour of our lives. Now, as we approach God's word together, let's slow down and ask for His grace to move through our time. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the gift of life and breath today. And we thank you for the gift of your word. We bring before you every part of our lives, every part of our experiences here in this moment, our joys and our sorrows, our anxiety and our

excitement, our calendars, and our contingencies. God, would you meet us in this space? Jesus, help us abide in you as we engage with your truth. And Holy Spirit, we ask you to move in and through this time in John's gospel account. As we read your living word, may it read us and restore us to life with you. In Jesus' name, amen. Now everything in John's gospel accounts so far has pointed to the reality that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the king over all things who will restore God's people and restore God's world. And as Jesus's magisterial prayer in John 17 showed us, he is not a distant or uninterested king. He is a very present and active Messiah who brings us into his joy and into his love.

Now, amidst that ongoing emphasis about the truth of Jesus' kingship, he is the Messiah, the 18th chapter of John seems like a stark contrast. In the flow of chapter 18's narrative so far, Jesus has been betrayed, arrested, questioned by the high priest, and denied by Peter. This is not the way you're supposed to treat a king. We'll pick things up as Jesus is brought to Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, under the accusation that he is inciting a rebellion against Rome. Let's dive into our text with John, chapter 18, verses 33 through 40. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him,

are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord? Or did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests of delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, so you are a king. And Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? After he said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told

them, I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you, the king of the Jews? They cried out again, not this man but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Okay, as we reflect on this passage, consider for a moment Pilate's questioning of Jesus. Remember, he's the governor over Judea, representing the interests of the mighty Roman Empire

over this territory. He is a man with a great amount of earthly authority himself. It seems like the realm of his rule and the rule of the empire he served, is so significant in this moment in time. And notice how his interrogation of Jesus circles around this question of Jesus' authority and Jesus' realm of sovereignty.

Is Jesus a king? If he is, where is his kingdom? Now, Jesus insists that his kingdom is not of this world that it is far beyond the kind of territory Pilate has in mind. He tells the governor, Pilate, that he came to bear witness to the truth, that everyone who is of the truth listens to his voice. And Pilate's response to Jesus is so interesting here. Pilate is supposed to be the authority of the occasion.

He is supposed to determine what the truth is. And yet, his question to Jesus reveals an utter lack of authority over the truth, over anything, when he encounters Jesus. Jesus, who is the way, who is the truth, and who is the life. Pilate, this man with an apparent abundance of authority is completely oblivious to the author of life, the author of truth, who stands before him. Considering the context of John chapter 18, Pilate's question here is especially piercing. What is truth?

What is true about where and who the truth comes from? Is it from the human-sized rulers like Pilate and the emperor of Rome? from the self-proclaimed sovereignty of Randy Williams and you and me. The author of truth can be right in front of us, and we can pass over him in favor of our own versions of truth in the little 11-acre kingdoms we reign over. Our passage ends with Pilate, finding no guilt in Jesus. But at the same time, he doesn't see the great kingship of Jesus either.

He rejects the authority and the truth of Jesus, as do the crowds, who choose to free a robber instead of the reigning king. Now, I get it. You and I are not pilot. We're not the crowds. We're not declaring ourselves the Sultan of Slojjama Stan. But we all have ways that we too can reject the reign of the bigger authority. We settle for our own little kingdoms that feel so real to us,

but aren't real enough to transcend our own lives. We need a kingdom from a different world. We need a king who not only made this world, but made us and holds us together. So how about your life? When you think about your life right now, how are you acting like the ruler of your own little 11-acre kingdom? When you think about what makes you angry or fearful, elated, or anxious, do you see the ways that you're living like you're the sovereign over your own life, maybe even over the lives of other people? I get it. your work is wonderful, your schooling is significant, your endeavors are important. But if you and I think

that we are the sovereigns over these little things over our lives themselves, then we're really just ruling over 11 acre kingdoms. This passage in John chapter 18 is forcing you and I to ask that question that pilot asked, what is truth? But instead of having a stop at that question, This passage is trying to draw our attention to the king behind the question because the truth is here. And the truth isn't a mere idea or a philosophy or a slogan. The truth is a person. The truth is also the life and the way to a kingdom beyond this world. The kingdom our world desperately needs.

So how do you need to surrender to the kingship of Jesus today? How do you need to stop pretending like you can. reign over your life and instead rest in his truth and in his love. The thing is this, the reigns of Pilate and his emperor have been over for millennia. The semi-sovereignty of Randy Williams will entertain people for a time, but it has an expiration date as well. But Jesus is still reigning. His is a kingdom without end. What is truth? Well, the truth is that Jesus is the king. the author of truth and his sovereign grace is at work here and now with you and me today let's turn to him and trust him together father we praise you for the goodness of your kingdom that is beyond this world

and coming into this world making all things new jesus you are the way you are the truth you are the life help us rest in your reign holy spirit would you form us into a people of truth as we let go of our little 11-acre kingdoms and cling to the goodness of the kingdom without end. We pray all of this because of your grace, for your glory, and in your bigger story. In Jesus' name, amen.