“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”  Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

John 19:10 – 11

Pilate was at his wits end.   He was about to do something that he did not want to do, side with those who wanted to kill Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  He was caught in a dilemma, try to set Jesus free or bow to the demands of the Jewish leaders to kill Jesus.  In the end he conceded to the demands of the Jews who lived under his control, Roman control, to have Jesus condemned, out of hand, and killed.  Without a trial!

Do you feel the drama of this exchange between Pilate and Jesus?  Pilate claimed to have the power of the Roman Empire to condemn and kill Jesus.  There was no higher authority on earth at the time, Pilate was in charge.

Jesus turned to the troubled Pilate with a simple word – the power of God is driving these events, not you, not politics or religion, but God himself.   Sorry, Pilate, you do not have the power that you think you have.   Furthermore, the Jews who were handing Jesus over to the Roman rulers, to Pilate, is committing the greater sin.  Now, Pilate, whether you represent Rome or yourself, you are not in control at all.  If you hand Jesus over to the Jews to be killed, you will be committing a great sin, but the greater sin is committed by the Jews who are demanding all this.

The greatest power on earth at that time was the Roman Empire.  That power met the power of God, as we see here.  Behold, the power of God was greater than the power of the Empire – All empires!

Here I am, living in a world driven by power.  The nation in which I live claims to be the greatest power there ever was on the earth.

Considering the conversation between Pilate and Jesus I rest in the knowledge that the power of God knows no equal.  Nations come and go.  God is forever.