THE GREATER SIN -- Monday:
"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." (John 19:11)
The King of kings was standing before a mere pawn–an instrument being used by someone else. On the lowest level, Pilate was a servant of the devil. From a higher perspective, God was using him to carry out the death of His only begotten Son. Pilate had just asked Jesus "Where are you from?" But the Lord "gave him no answer," standing as a sheep dumb before its shearers. The absence of a response infuriated wicked Pilate. With a chiding tone he asked, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" It was like saying "How dare you!" It was at that point that Jesus said the words of this text, and arresting words they are!
"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."
He first apprizes Pilate that he is operating in God's world, and cannot move about at will. If God had not willed it, Jesus would not be standing before Pilate, but Pilate would be standing before Jesus, as he surely will in the last day. The power he had against Jesus was "given" to him "from above." Well did Paul say to the Romans, "For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom 13:1). No earthly ruler can wag his tongue without Divine approval–particularly against His Son and His people! Jesus knew that, and so He confessed it before the one who seemed to be in charge of the situation.
This did not get Pilate off of the hook, so to speak. He was still sinning in what he did, and was so charged by believers in one of the premier prayers of the Bible (Acts 4:27). Still, his sin was not as great as the sin of those who brought Jesus to Pilate. They were guilty, Jesus affirmed, of "the greater sin." I suppose it is a good thing Jesus is not with men in the body today, making such affirmations. Many, identified as Christians, would argue with Him, saying all sin is alike, and no sin is greater than another. Of course, that is just rhetoric. Such individuals will give an account to Jesus personally in the great and notable day of the Lord. They have contradicted the Lord, and it will not be forgotten.
Why was the sin of the Jews greater than the sin of Pilate? First, Pilate was acting as a political dignitary, not out of personal preference. That did not excuse his deed, but it did place it in another category. Second, the Jews were not reacting as officials, but because of their personal hatred for Jesus. Too, they were sinning against greater light, for Jesus went about among them, "doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil" (Acts 10:38).
The "greater sin" is always the one that requires the rejection of more spiritual light. Thus, those falling back into sin, from which Jesus once extricated them, are in a "worse" state than they were before they were delivered (2 Pet 2:20). Pilate was wicked, but Caiaphas was more wicked. Herod was evil, but Judas was more evil. The Ephesian image makers were sinners, but the Galatians who were lured away from Jesus were worse. Some sin IS greater!
PRAYER POINT: Father, In Jesus; name, keep me from presumptuous sins.