From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.  But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

John 19:12, 14 – 16

Pilate could not withstand the demand of the Jewish leaders who insisted that Rome kill Jesus.  Only Rome had that power.

The Jews shouted, “Crucify him.”  They turned to Rome to do the deed that they would have preferred to do themselves – kill Jesus.

What is going on here?  I think it has to do with who is king.  Caesar was the Emperor, the king, so to speak.  Pilate said as he pointed to Jesus, “Here is your king.”  By saying that Pilate struck the issue, “Can there be more than one king?”  Of course not.

The Jewish rulers said Caesar is their king, not this powerless Jesus.  There is no place for Jesus!  The Jews declared, “We have no king but Caesar.”  There it is.  The Jews admitted that their king is Caesar, they have no other king over them.

Do I hear that?  I hear many Christians of today say, “We have no king but Caesar.”  What, may I ask, happened to Jesus?  Can he compete with the power of nations?  He is simply left out of the picture.

Once again, I pause and ask, what do I believe about ultimate power?  Is it the power of nations or the power of Jesus?