Intimidation - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2023

Pilate said to him (Jesus), Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you? Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against me, unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin.
John 19:10.11.

Intimidation
Jesus had spent the night without any sleep. He had been subjected to several interrogations. They had mocked Him, scourged Him and put a crown of thorns on His head. The governor Pilate thought he could assert his authority over Him in this condition by saying, “Are you not speaking to me?” His prisoner’s silence had hurt his pride. So he threatened Him: “Do you not know that I have power to crucify you?” Psychological pressure, abuse of power are the expressions used today to describe Pilate’s attitude. Maybe many of our readers have suffered similar scornful, harmful attacks by their fellows or someone in authority. When such brutal methods are used at a moment of exhaustion, it is all the more sad. How does one react?

Jesus gave an amazing reply: “You could have no power at all against me, unless it had been given you from above.” He withstood the pressure and the intimidation, placing Himself in God’s hands, who has everything under control. He neither defended Himself, nor reprimanded His questioners, He replied with the truth, given precisely and with assurance. Perhaps Peter remembered this scene when writing about Jesus: “When he was reviled, did not revile in return, when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). What an example He has given us!

Today’s reading: Ecclesiastes 9:1-18 · Mark 6:30-44