You would have no authority over Me

John 19:1-16 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

 Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; ³ and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. ⁴ Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” ⁵ Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” ⁶ So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

⁸ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” ¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” ¹² As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”

¹³ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” ¹⁵ So they 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.”

¹⁶ So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.”   Despite the fact that Jesus had already been scourged and beaten, despite the fact that He faced crucifixion, Jesus recognized that God alone has true authority. He is the one who gives authority on earth.  The psalmist says:  But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another.(Psalm 75:7) In Daniel 2:20-21 it says: “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.  “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings”       We too need to have that same confidence and understanding. Despite what we face, whatever the trial or the difficulty, God has authority, He is ultimately in control. 1 Peter 5:8 says: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.    The devil has no authority, whom he may devour indicates that he needs permission.

Does this mean then that God is responsible, that He Himself actually causes the evil and difficulties we face? The answer is no. Rather, we live in a fallen world, a world which was affected by the sin of Adam and Eve. They had been given dominion over the earth and sin caused that dominion, the authority to rule the earth, to be lost from mankind. Sin caused a curse on all of earthly creation. The evil and difficulties we face are rooted in the fact that we live in a fallen world and that other people too have a free will so that we can be affected by their decisions and actions as well as our own. God does not cause the bad things that happen. However:    we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.(Romans 8:28-29)     God will use the things in our lives, the good things He gives us and the difficult things we experience, all for our good, for the ultimate purpose of conforming us to the image of His Son, to make us like Jesus.

The key for us is to, like Jesus, understand and embrace the fact that this is not our permanent residence. We are in fact residents of the kingdom of heaven. In Psalm 56:3-11, the psalmist says:  When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.  In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?...Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.  In God, whose word I praise, In the Lord, whose word I praise,  In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? What can mere man do to me?     Earthly people and earthly things have power to affect only our natural human side, not our eternal soul. We should have the same attitude and philosophy as Paul who says:  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.(Philippians 1:21)

Jesus never said He came to take away all our difficulties and trials. On the contrary, He says:  If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. (John 15:19-20)  He says: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33) Jesus doesn’t ask us to do something which He has not already done or made the way for us to do. We can have the confidence to face every difficulty and trial knowing that:  nothing has authority over us, unless it has been given you from above.

Jesus says: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18) The dominion or authority which was lost through the curse of sin has been restored through the cross of Christ. We don’t always fully see, know or understand the will and the plan of God for our lives or the lives of others. But this we can be sure of, regardless of the situation or circumstance, God is in control. Jesus has ALL authority in heaven and on earth. While He may not always deliver us from our difficulties; He Himself endured the cross, He promises: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”(Matthew 28:20)   That’s the promise He makes based on the fact that He has ALL authority. Jesus says:  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)     Following Jesus, giving our lives to Him, will not guarantee that we have no more difficulties. But as we yoke ourselves to Him, as we let Him lead, we will find rest, peace, and comfort. We will find all that we need to make it through whatever we face. He is in control whether we allow Him to be or not. We may as well yield to Him.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You that through the finished work of the cross I am a resident of the kingdom of heaven. There is no authority over me, but Yours. Thank You for Your promise to never leave me. Thank You that in You I can find rest, peace and comfort even in difficult times. Continue to conform me to Your image that I may live in such a way that others would see my confidence in You and they too would be drawn to the kingdom of heaven.   Amen