John 19:11 –
Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
Jesus is before Pilate, who is trying to save Him. He has an angry crowd that wants Jesus dead, yet he can find no legal justification to carry out their wishes. Pilate tries to get Jesus to say something to free himself, yet he remains silent for the most part. Think about this he was already flogged within an “inch of his life” and is facing the most brutal form of execution. When you think about it most forms are quick, yet this one they hang you there on display to die.
So with all this Jesus continues defiant to Pilates desires to set him free. At this point they have already freed Barabbas, and flogged Jesus, so Pilate was hoping to suppress the mob. Who interestingly enough less than a week earlier we saw them, in chapter 12, praising Jesus and welcoming Him to town. I have always found it interesting how the Pharisees were able to change people so quickly. Here is a man who just had raised Lazarus from the dead and was not being executed for no real crime.
I like this verse because it really tells us God is in control of things. Sure we have “choice” and can really screw up God’s plan, but I have found God’s will trumps our desires most of the time. That was the case here, God’s plan was to sacrifice Jesus for the sins of the world and Pilate was the person of the moment. I guess he could have folded and release Jesus, but I do believe God would have just changed direction slightly for the same end result.
This gets into a big discussion of if our lives are predestine or if “sh&^ happens”. I kind of think of them as a combination of both. God’s perfect will for our life is say X. (I know panic is setting in for those seeing an equation coming … don’t worry) Our desires an wants may take us to Y. God sets us in motion to His goal, but our decision will determine if we make it to X or Y. I think we are kind of like a large pachinko machine. We are the balls and the pins are life’s decisions, each decision we make pushes us to one side or the other. Now God may pop pins before us, but again it’s our decision to follow His lead or drift away.
I have personally found I can drift way off the path and suddenly these pins keep popping up steering me back. I may slam into a wall or drop into a black hole, but somehow if I am still useful, God gets me back on track. So don’t think you are “exempt” from God’s will and life just happens. We are really powerless before God, other than the ability to make bad choices.