There is none higher

This week's bibley goodness is from John 19:15-16:

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.

Pilate was the local administrator during the Roman occupation of Palestine. He was in charge of maintaining rule of law and ensuring that Rome stayed strong in the region. Anyone who opposed Rome would be destroyed. The Jewish elite didn't want to lose their power by rocking the boat, so they got all politically correct and kissed up to Pilate. That was dumb.

"We have no king but Caesar." Do we believe that sometimes? While we're supposed to submit to our government wherever we can, we are ultimately accountable to a higher authority. The same goes for social customs, relationships, and so on. Read the book of Daniel for an excellent example of what submitting to a higher authority looks like.

The statement "We have no king but Caesar" is actually pretty sad. Can you think of any man in the world who could solve all of your problems as effectively as God? Can you think of anyone who would rule as justly as God rules his creation? If our submission stops at mankind's kingdom, it relies on mankind's kingdom, and that will cause us to come up short. The fact is, we do have a King who is higher than "caesar": The King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

Love and serve those in the world around you, but remember that you answer to the highest authority of all. No man or woman will ever have the authority to limit your relationship with God, or to decide your fate in eternity. If it ever comes to a choice between what God wants and what your friends or family or government or society wants, God has to win. The Jews of Palestine allowed infidels to remove Jesus Christ from among them in order to be allowed to continue in their comfortable lives. They turned their backs on our God in order to keep their power and not rock the boat. Any of us could do the same, if we're not careful.

There is no authority higher than God. There is no one greater than Him.