The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 19:9b-11, Pilate “said to Jesus, ‘Where are You from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer.

10 Pilate therefore 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?’

11 Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from

above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.’”

People who have a little authority always seem to think they have it all. Pilate was one of those. He acted as if all authority rested in him, yet he only had authority because he was under the authority of Rome. He asked questions of Jesus that Jesus did not answer. Pilate was not

used to being challenged, and he retaliated by saying “Do you not know that I have authority to

release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”

While Jesus had refused to answer Pilate’s previous questions, He chose to answer this one, saying, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above…” It seems that Pilate then understood precisely what Jesus meant; namely, My Father is in control of this and every situation. All authority derives from Him.

Then Jesus added a strangely significant thought: “…he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin” –the greater sin. It would seem appropriate to understand from that response that some sins are indeed greater than others. Further, the question has been answered by the One who was and is in all authority.

All sins work against the LORD. They all deprive Him of the glory He is due; yet, some sins are greater! We must be careful, however, not to exercise our own authority in determination of which are greater. To know that some are is quite sufficient for us to know. Just stay away from all sin, and you will have no interest in knowing which is greater. You just might commit the greater and live forever to regret it.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”