Authority

“I saw it with my own eyes, and I heard it with my own ears. Jesus spoke back to Pilot and told him that he, Pilot had no authority over him except what had come from above. Can you believe it? Jesus dared to speak back to Pilot? Do you suppose that Jesus was actually the one in control? It looked that way to me.”  

 

Imagine what those who looked upon that scene (John 19:11) thought about this dialogue between Jesus and Pilot. No one would dare speak to a Roman official in such a way. It was unthinkable. This event reminded me of the time (John 3:31), when Jesus talked about the one who had come from above, meaning him. What Pilot didn’t know was that Jesus was the one from above, the one in control of this whole situation. Surely Pilot thought he was a mighty big man. He had lots of power, and people were afraid of him but not Jesus. It was as if Jesus was saying, you think you are so powerful. You think you are in control, but you are not. You are nothing. The only power you have is what I give you. Yes, Jesus was in control the whole time.

 

We have that same authority. Jesus told us that he had given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven. We have his authority. We have “above/heaven” rights, power, and control. When the devil, like Pilot, thinks he is so big and so powerful that he can scare us into submission, we need to remember Jesus’s words and say to him. “You have no authority over me except what has come from above.” Take those words and make them your own!  

 

“Devil, you have no right over me. I am seated in heavenly places. I am from above with Jesus, and he has given me authority over you. You can’t scare me. You can’t steal from me because you have no rights. It’s Jesus and me, and we are in control!”

 

John 19:11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” ESV

 

Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ESV

 

John 3:31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. ESV