John 19:10-12 - You have no power over me

19:10,11

Pilate was getting exasperated. He reminded Jesus of the power that he had, or thought he had. Either to set Jesus free or to have Him crucified. Jesus now does respond, telling Pilate that he has power only because God has given it to him. This applies to all of us in whatever positions of authority or power we may find ourselves, great or small. We sometimes glory in the position that we have. This is a grave mistake, we should instead focus on how we use the power or authority that we have. Do we use it for good, for righteousness, for justice and mercy, or to get our own way? Or, as Pilate was doing here, acting out of fear? We can do wrong things either out of the direct desire to do wrong, or out of fear. We are guilty in both instances. But Pilate was not the most guilty. The religious leaders were the most guilty. Now we also know that the cross was always God’s plan, everything was happening according to His plan, but this does not take away one ounce of guilt from the religious leaders.

19:12

Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, so he made repeated attempts to set Jesus free, but the Jews refused to listen. Remember that the “Jews” here means the Jewish leaders. They told Pilate that if did set Jesus free he would be no friend of Caesar. The question Pilate needed to answer was where did his allegiance really lie. Was it with God or with Caesar? We all know the answer he came up with. Pilate was using all sorts of political tricks, but there comes a point where the question is very simple, do we go with the truth or not? Nominally Pilate had more power than the Jewish leaders, but in reality he was beholden to their demands. We have power structures in our societies, but the reality can often be quite different.