Power: Priests, Pilate and People

The death of the Lord on the cross was, among other things, the result of a power struggle. We can see three main players in this power struggle, each with a single purpose: to see the Lord crucified.

Perhaps the most prominent people in the struggle for power were the religious leaders of the day - the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests. These groups with their mutual animosity came together in the crucifixion. At an early stage in the Lord’s ministry, the Pharisees and Herodians consulted with each other on how they might destroy Him.¹ Here was a religious group and a political group joining together in a common cause. We can view the debates between the Lord and the religious authorities. The people liked the teaching of the Lord, ‘for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes’, Mark 1. 22; cp. Matt. 7. 29. The religious leaders saw their power over the people slipping away from them. Just six days before the crucifixion, on what is commonly called Palm Sunday, while the Lord was receiving the praises of the crowds, the Pharisees say, resentfully, ‘Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him’, John 12. 19.

When the Lord was before Pilate, the religious leaders put pressure on him not to release the Lord by accusing Him of a political offence, and, if Pilate did not acquiesce to their demand, then the implication would be that he was not a loyal Roman, John 19. 12.

The struggle for power, or what the religious leaders saw as power, comes to a head in the cross. Here, it seems as if the power of the religious authorities had triumphed. They had the Lord where they wanted Him. This troublesome rabbi who challenged them in their teachings and interpretations of the law and prophets, Matt. 22. 29, who pointed out their hypocrisy, 23. 27, was dealt with effectively and finally, or so they thought.

Next, we come to Pilate, the Roman governor of the troublesome Jewish province. In Pilate, we see a man who has the whole power and authority of the Roman Empire behind him. Yet, when it comes to dealing with the Lord, he is powerless. In his interrogation of the Lord, Pilate claims, ‘I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee’, John 19. 10. These are bold claims indeed. And, under other circumstances, these claims would no doubt hold true. After the cross-examination, Pilate, finding no guilt, was willing to release the Lord, Luke 23. 20, but he found that he was unable to do so. The claim of power proves empty.

The common people are also shown to have a degree of power when it comes to the cross. We may have got used to the shows of ‘people power’ in the 1980’s, with the fall of the Marcos government in the Philippines, and the Eastern Bloc, and the Berlin Wall. This is nothing new for there was an expression of ‘people power’ in the crucifixion of the Lord. The main example of this power is when Pilate wants to set the Lord free. It is the cries from the crowds of ‘Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas’, Luke 23. 18, and, ‘Crucify him, crucify him’, v. 21, that prevailed over the might and authority of Rome. Try as he may, Pilate could not defeat this power for ‘the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed’, v. 23. Truly, the people had power of a kind, and exercised that power.

The cross of Christ challenges all human concepts of power. In our three thumbnail sketches, we see that power is associated with might, strength, or force in attempting to achieve one’s own ends. What do we see in the cross? We see God’s strength shown out in weakness. Human power is transient, often lasting no longer than the leader who holds it. We see God’s power as eternal. We see human power as fickle, as in ‘people power’. We see God’s power as firm, established, unmoveable, Ps. 18. 2.

It may look as if the priests, or Pilate, or the people were exercising their power, but we find that it was Christ who was really in control and exercising His power. Only the Lord could say about His life, ‘No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again’, John 10. 18. Pilate was reminded that his power and authority was a given one, 19. 11. The Lord’s power is because of who He is. Looking at the Lord hanging on the cross, He seems powerless, whereas He displays great strength and power. What was not seen by those at the cross was that ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself’, 2 Cor. 5. 19. Man does not have power to save himself; salvation is in the cross of Christ. To a fallen, perishing world ‘the preaching of the cross is … foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God’, 1 Cor. 1. 18. The Lord is the power of God and the wisdom of God, v. 24. We should view all power in the light of the cross.