Did Pilate Have Power Over Jesus?

Tom: We’re continuing with the gospel. We’re in the Gospel of John and we’re in John:19:8When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
See All...: “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid: and went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.”

Dave: Well, the rabbis have told Pilate, “This man claims to be the Son of God.” Well, that was a little bit frightening. There is something about Jesus—you know, His demeanor, everything about Him. He’s not an ordinary person. And now when they say He claims to be the Son of God, “in the name of the living God, tell us!” Well, then He does tell them.

But have you ever been wrongfully accused? Had somebody say bad things about you? Our immediate reaction is to strike back—or explain. I want to defend myself. Tom, if I try to defend myself of all the things that they say about me on the Internet, or elsewhere, it would be a full-time job. I would be consumed in it. We just have to forget it and put it in the Lord’s hands. And Jesus—here is Jesus—He’s God! Who are these puny creatures mocking Him and so forth? He could wipe them out in a moment, and furthermore, they are falsely accusing Him.

And yet He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t say a word. It’s—Tom, it’s a powerful declaration.

Tom: Verse 10: “Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?”

He was a little bit full of himself, wasn’t he?

Dave: Yeah, well, of course, it looks pretty….

Tom: He’s the governor.

Dave: …it looks pretty obvious, right? He’s in charge—he’s got the soldiers. Jesus has His hands tied behind His back. He’s standing there in weakness. I love that hymn, Tom. Probably a long time—we may have quoted it, but people don’t remember it. But:

In weakness like defeat, He won the victor’s crown.

Tread all our foes beneath His feet, by being trodden down.

He Satan’s power laid low,

Made sin, He sin o’erthrew,

Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so,

And death, by dying, slew.

Pilate has no power over Him, and Jesus is going to respond. He says, “You couldn’t have any…you’ve got no power over me. It has to be given you from above,” and Jesus is going to do His Father’s will. Jesus is submitting Himself, as the prophets foretold and as His Father has asked Him. He’s submitting Himself to Pilate, but Pilate has no power. But Pilate does not understand Him.

Tom: Well, Jesus lays it out very simply. Jesus answered, “Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above….”

Dave, the last part of this verse: “…therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” Now is this referring to Judas or to the Jews? And if the latter, would you consider this to be anti-Semitic, as the New Testament has been accused of being by many, it seems?

Dave: Tom, I don’t think it would be referring to Judas because Pilate doesn’t know anything about Judas. He doesn’t know how Jesus was betrayed, and so forth, for thirty pieces of silver. He’s definitely speaking of the rabbis. They’ve got the greater sin. “They’re the ones that brought me to you,” Jesus says. “You wouldn’t have had to deal with this situation if they hadn’t brought me here.” They’re the ones who are making the accusation. Pilate didn’t have his men run around and try to get the goods on Jesus and make some accusation. Pilate was not the one who arrested Him. So it’s simple logic. Jesus says, “Look, they’ve got the greater sin than you have.” But when you say “greater sin, lesser sin,” well, Pilate is going to wash his hands of this affair. He can’t escape it. So it’s hardly anti-Semitic. It’s stating a fact.

Tom: Yeah.

Dave: It was the rabbis who hated Him. It was the Jewish mob that cried, “Away with him!” But it was the Romans who crucified Him. It was Pilate who did it for political reasons because he wanted to be able to tell Caesar that he had the Jews under control—that they were on his side. So it’s not a simple matter, as sin usually isn’t. There were complex motives involved. The rabbis, they didn’t want Jesus to take their place. They were jealous of Him. The mob—it’s pretty hard to understand, Tom, their motivation, because some of them had been fed by Jesus miraculously. I’m convinced some of them had been healed by Jesus.

But they didn’t want Him to run their lives. And it’s one thing to let Jesus heal you and to feed you. It’s something else to look at His pure, sinless example, be condemned by it, and have Him say, “You must follow me.” They don’t want that, Tom, and I—where was I? I just came back from Albania. In fact, I was talking last night…well, I just got back, and a young man who had just come to Christ about two weeks ago, desperate to talk to me, called me from Israel. And in both places we’re talking about this. This young man, he’s come to Christ. He’s excited! He’s telling his friends! He’s been in the military. They don’t want to hear. They don’t want to believe. And he says, “Even when I give them the evidence, they don’t want to believe,” and he understood why. Because if you believe in Jesus, He’s going to change your life. You’re going to have to turn from your sin. You’re going to have to be a different person. Well, He will make you a different person.

And we just came back from Albania, and there you had a communist government for fifty years. They suppressed all religion. You couldn’t practice it, although some people secretly were Muslims or Orthodox. It was only nominal, and even when they had the freedom, they don’t go to these churches, but so many of them have come to Christ! The oldest believers are ten, eleven years old in the Lord, and you’ve got two-year old, three- and four-, five- you know, and [it’s] thrilling to see the maturity they have and their love for the Lord. But why doesn’t everybody come to Christ?

Well, they explain it to you themselves. Because they realize it’s going to change your life. If you acknowledge—you know why did the evolutionists keep pushing this incredible, impossible nonsense? Because if they believe that God created them, then they’re accountable to Him.

So the Jews are guilty; the Romans are guilty. Pilate is guilty; the rabbis are guilty. But it’s not anti-Semitic by any means.

Tom: Well, Dave, I know that, and you know that, but nevertheless, people keep bringing this up, and to me, it’s incredible absurdity. This is God’s Word.

Dave: Yeah.

Tom: God is going to be anti-Semitic? These are the words given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Dave: Well, if you want something anti-Semitic, let’s take Jeremiah or Isaiah. Let’s take Moses—what he had to say about this rebellious people. Let’s take the psalmist: “All the day long I’ve held out my hand unto a disobedient and rebellious people.” So the prophets—that they corrected the Jews doesn’t mean that they were anti-Semitic. We’ve got to face the facts Tom. And what am I? I’m an American. Is the Bible anti-American because it corrects me? No it’s…

Tom: I thought you were a mongrel. Didn’t you tell me you were a mongrel?

Dave: Yeah, I am. I’m part British, and Scottish, and Irish, and Norwegian, but I’m still an American, you see, and so then I could say the Bible is anti-American because it corrects me and tells me how to live my life? No, that’s nonsense, Tom.

But anyway, people are looking for some excuse, and they’ll come up with anything.