Scripture Daily

Context No. 3059 of 4322 · John

Context · Reflection

John 19:11-15: in context

11Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.” 12At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!” 13When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.” 14Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” 15They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Jesus tells Pilate the truth about his authority: you would have no power over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Pilate tries to release him, but the crowd threatens: if you free this man, you are no friend of Caesar. So Pilate brings Jesus out, says, behold your King, and the leaders cry, away with him, crucify him. Shall I crucify your King? Pilate asks. And the chief priests answer, we have no king but Caesar.

Two things pierce this scene. Jesus, on trial and seemingly helpless, tells Pilate that no earthly authority is ultimate; even the power to crucify him is only on loan from above. And the tragic climax is that cry from the chief priests: we have no king but Caesar. The very leaders whose whole vocation was to long for God's Messiah renounce him for the empire, choosing Caesar over their true King. In rejecting Jesus they reveal where their allegiance had lain all along.

When the pressure is on, do I, like the crowd, effectively say "we have no king but Caesar," choosing the world's power over Christ my true King?

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