Allegience – John 19: 13-16

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

I consider this passage to be the nadir of Jewish history. Early in their history Israel offended God when they demanded to have a human king like all the other nations. (1 Samuel 10: 19) Then, throughout the time of the kings, Israel fell away time and again. They denied God and they spurned his prophets. Throughout their history, God has always been their real king. Now they deny God altogether.

“We have no king but Caesar.”

Scripture says, “For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.” (Psalm 47:7) What must God have thought when he heard that? What did Jesus think? The statement has the effect of pledging allegiance to Caesar and at the same time denying allegiance to God.

“We have no king but Caesar.”

Really?

Application: It pays to know who you owe allegiance to. In the large scheme of things we have only two choices; God or Satan. Satan, of course, is by his nature deceptive and so he cloaks his reign in the lie that a person who serves him is somehow serving their self-interest. God, who by his nature is truthful, offers us fulfillment and peace if we serve Him because that is what we were created for. Choose wisely.

Food for Thought: In this passage we see Pilate give in to the Jews. To make that happen we see the Jews deny their God and pledge themselves to Caesar. What does the Jews’ behavior say about them? How would Pilate see the Jews in this light?

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