John 19:9-11 "And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. (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? (11) Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."
"Jesus gave him no answer." It is amazing, isn't it? I go back
to the thoughts concerning the power of the voice of Jesus Christ. His voice
had cleansed the leper, raised Lazarus from the dead, and just a short time
before today's passage, Jesus had spoken, "I am He." To which, the
Roman soldiers went backwards and fell to the ground. In Matthew's
account, we read Jesus speaking to His disciples and those who had come to
arrest Him: "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and
he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? (54)
But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
(Matthew 26:53-54) Certainly the sound of His voice could have
called down those angels; yet, Jesus "gave him no answer" as He stood
before Pilate.
Jesus knew the charges were false. He had the power to stop this farce of a
trial; yet, He opened not His mouth. But then, that was prophesied
concerning Him. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7)
It seemed to have, at the least, aggravated Pilate that Jesus did not
answer him. It was at that point, he felt the need to "flash his
power" before Jesus. "Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify
thee, and have power to release thee?" Don't you know that I can
speak a word and you will be nailed to the cross, or I can speak a word and you
will be released? Surely, he did not understand this One Who stood before
him.
Jesus' answer to Pilate was simple, yet to the point. "Thou couldest
have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above."
Pilate did not have any idea as to Who this was standing before him. He
did not understand that Jesus, indeed the very Son of God, was not there
because of being betrayed; rather, Jesus stood before Pilate because this
moment had been foreordained from before the very foundation of the world. This
was the fullness of time when Jesus, the Son of God, would lay down His life
for His people. This was the moment in time when Jesus, the very Son of God,
would shed His blood to pay the price of redemption for each one of His
children. This was the moment in time when Jesus would not have His life taken
from Him; rather, He would lay down His life (willingly) for His people.
Can we grasp that truth this morning? Can we rejoice in that truth this
morning? Can we understand, even to a small degree, the very depth of love that
God, (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) has for His people? God's love
for you and me this morning is so deep that He gave His ONLY begotten Son to
die for us. Think about that.
I have thought many times about the depth of the Father's love for me, but now
I ask myself: How deep is my love for Him? How about you? How deep?
How do I manifest my love for Him? How can I manifest my love for Him?
Can I show my love for God and still try to hold on to my love for the world at
the same time? How deep the Father's love for me! He made this
wretch His treasure. Now, I ask myself... What is the treasure of my
heart?