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. (John 19:10-11 KJV)
William Burkitt’ Commentary
Observe here, 1. How offended Pilate was at Christ’s silence, and how unreasonably he boasts of his power and authority: Have not I power to crucify thee, and power to release thee? It is the great sin and snare of men in power, to forget from whom they derive their power, and to think that they may employ their power as they please.
Observe, 2. The piety and meekness of our Saviour’s answer: Thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above.
That is, thou hast no power over me, nor couldest thou inflict any punishment upon me, were it not that my Father hath in his wisdom, divine counsel, and for glorious ends, permitted it so to be.
Learn, that Christ’s being under the power of any man, how great and eminent soever, did flow from the peculiar dispensation of God, who in his wise and wonderful counsel so ordered it, and ordained it for the redemption, and salvation of his people; he was above all human power as God, and no ways obnoxious to Pilate’s power, being a perfect innocent man.
Observe, 3. How Christ charges his death more upon Judas and the Jews, than upon Pilate and the Gentiles: He that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. Not that Pilate was excused from sin, in delivering Christ to be crucified: he sinned heinously in abusing his power; but Judas sinned more in delivering him up to the chief priests, and the chief priests in delivering him up to Pilate, than Pilate himself, whom they made a tool to serve their malice and revenge: they had better means of knowing than he; and so sinned against more light than he; and consequently their guilt was greater, and their condemnation heavier, than his.
Learn thence, that the greater means of light and knowledge persons sin against, the more aggravated is their guilt, and the more heightened will be their condemnation: He that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.