John 19:10-11 “So Pilate said to Him, ‘You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You? Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.’”
Let’s unpack this verse carefully because it could be confusing. Jesus recognized that God gave Pilate authority to crucify and therefore he, Pilate, has a responsibility to God. The fact that God had given Pilate authority to execute the death penalty was the reason the High Priest and the Jewish officials gave Jesus over to him. They didn’t have that authority. For that reason the High Priest and Jewish officials committed a greater sin than Pilate in the death of Jesus.
This truth didn’t let Pilate off the hook so to speak, but it reveals that this execution took place under God’s jurisdiction. God established government as a “minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil” (Rom. 13:4). So Pilate was sinning against God to punish Jesus, who he knew was innocent.
But the High Priest has the responsibility to offer the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the people, and he was the one who delivered Jesus to Pilate proclaiming Him to be blemished and guilty. He knowingly offered to God what was in his mind a unacceptable offering. He is guilty of the greater sin.
The reason we live to love with Jesus is the reality that everything we do is an offering of worship to God because we are priests serving in God’s temple. Have we been guilty of great sin by offering to God actions and words that we know are unacceptable for His consumption?
When we love, we know we offer that which is a fragrant aroma of Jesus.
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
