John 18:29-38
It is not lawful, &c. The case of Stephen, and other evidence from secular writers, renders it doubtful whether the Jewish tribunals were absolutely prohibited from inflicting capital punishment, in all cases. Perhaps they meant that they were not allowed to punish by crucifixion, which was the object that they had determined upon effecting, if possible. This supposition comports best with the next verse.The argument used here by the Savior is that though he might have called himself a king, yet the whole tenor of his life, and the peaceable demeanor of his followers, showed that his kingdom was a spiritual kingdom; that is, that he claimed to be a king only in a figurative sense.
Heareth my voice; obeyeth me; is my subject. The meaning is, that what he called his kingdom was only a spiritual kingdom, comprising all those that loved the truth.
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