No power but from above
Jesus before Pilate
Pilate held the power of life and death, and he wanted the prisoner to feel it. Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?
Jesus — beaten, bound, by every appearance the one with no power at all — answered with a calm that must have unsettled the governor: You would have no power against me, unless it were given to you from above.
In the most lopsided power dynamic imaginable, a Roman governor over a condemned Galilean, Jesus quietly relocated the real authority. Pilate's power was genuine, but it was granted, derived, and accountable. He was not nearly as in control as he believed.
“You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above.”
— Jesus, before Pilate — John 19:11 (WEB)
Every authority over you and under you is granted from above. That truth keeps you humble when you hold power and steady when you are under it.
“He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings, and sets up kings.”
Jesus stood bound before Pilate with more composure than the man holding the gavel, because he knew where authority actually comes from. A leader who internalizes this is freed on both sides: he does not swagger when he holds power, and he does not despair when he is under someone else's. He can submit to flawed authority without fear and wield his own without pride, because he answers to a throne above every throne. The inner work is seeing the One above the org chart.
Wield your authority as something granted and accountable — which means using it for those under you, not over them. When you are under difficult authority, resist both rebellion and despair; you serve a higher throne and can act with integrity inside an imperfect system. Make your decisions remembering that you too will give an account upward. Let the awareness that your power is on loan make you gentle with the people it touches.
Those with real power, like Pilate, assume their authority is their own and absolute — and those under harsh authority assume they are simply trapped. Both forget the from above. Leaders especially miss that the power which feels so solid in their hands is granted and revocable, and that they are never the highest authority in the room.
Identify one relationship where you feel powerful and one where you feel powerless. This week, in the first, use your authority to serve the other person in a concrete way; in the second, act with integrity rather than fear, remembering the throne above the one troubling you.
The people who appear most in control are often the least aware of how borrowed their control is. Pilate thought the moment belonged to him; in fact he was a small actor in a far larger story, exercising an authority he had not generated and could not finally keep.
A leader who knows his authority is from above is freed from two opposite tyrannies: the arrogance of those who think their power is their own, and the panic of those who feel powerless under someone else's. Both forget the from above.
When you feel most in control — or most powerless — do you remember that all of it is granted from above? How would that change the way you use, or endure, the authority around you?