John 19:7-16
King of the Jews to Be Crucified
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 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.”
12 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.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 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.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
Sometimes we think that the law of the land is over us and is something we are to follow and should follow...
The Jews had a law of blasphemy that said one could not blaspheme God...The Jewish leaders insisted that Jesus be crucified because He claims He is the Son of God...Then a great, but very short dialog, over what power is and who is powerful and who is not takes place... The short dialog is between Pilate and Jesus and His Jewish opposition...Pilate asks Him, “Where do you come from?”...But Jesus gave him no answer...Pilate then 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.”...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.”...When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha)...It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon...“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews....
Jesus seems to me to be the One in control, despite being the One who is about to be crucified...Jesus answers only the questions He wants to...Pilate, supposedly the one in charge, seems (to me) to somehow understand this and His innocence and tries to set Him free...Pilate had the title and was over the Jewish people to enforce the laws of the land...He was in power, and had power over Jesus...
This discussion between the three parties Jesus, Pilate, and the Jewish leaders is so interesting...The dialog maybe really about who is in control and who's in power...It very much seems the calm and candid and innocent Jesus is in power...This is a paradox, and it causes one to think about what is actually going on...The only reason Pilate has power is because God has given it to Him from above...Pilate has no job, no power without it coming from God...God has allowed Pilate to be over Jesus' trial...Jesus' mockery of a trial gives us this narrative that seems to suggest something is about to happen...The trial will turn a supposedly Shameful (to His opposition), Suffering Servant and supposedly Criminal into Something (King of the Jews and the World)...That paradox is something we may never be able to explain...Jesus gives us in these Words that being in control of a situation and being powerful is not what man actually thinks it is...And being powerful and in power is not what we believe it is...
Jesus teaches us here, that God is over us...God is in control...God is the One that is Powerful...He is the One we should follow...