“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!” “What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.” John 19:15

It was a power struggle—the religious leaders vs. the ruler of the day. The tie breaker was an appeal to self-interest.

The religious leaders wanted the blood of an innocent man because he’d exposed their hypocritical control over the people. Pilate, the ruler, wanted control of the crowd because… he lived for the favor of man. The innocent man was Jesus.

“‘Away with him,” they yelled. ‘Away with him! Crucify him!’ ‘What? Crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the leading priests shouted back” (John 19:15). And how right they were. The high priests of the Jews had rejected Jesus as King. But Caesar wasn’t their king. They hated the Romans, and, as time would tell, the Romans would scatter the Jews across the earth. An honest cry would have been “We have no king but ourselves!”

In reality, each one of us says the same when we choose anything or anyone else but Jesus to rule in our own lives.

We have no king but ourselves, we say, when greed makes us so busy, we don’t even have time to notice anyone in need.

We have no king but ourselves, we say, when we refuse to own our wrongs, apologize, and make amends.

We have no king but ourselves, we say, when we refuse to live by God’s design for our sexuality.

Of King Jesus, scripture says, “He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that the people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule eternal—it will never end…” (Daniel 7:14).

May we live like we have no king but Jesus!