Read 1 Chronicles 11-12, Zechariah 6, and John 19.
This devotional is about John 19.
Many people who achieve something in life believe that they are special. They believe they are smarter than others, prettier than others, or more physically or athletically gifted than others.
These things may be true. But they do not completely explain someone’s success. Throughout human history, there have been men more athletically gifted than the greatest professional athlete you might choose. Goliath, for example, was over 9 feet tall with the strength to match. Put him on any NBA team today and he would be an unstoppable scorer and shot-blocker. But, basketball had not been invented when Goliath lived; his culture put athletically-gifted men into the army where many of them–including Goliath himself–were killed in battle. Put Wilt Chamberlain or Michael Jordan, or Shaquille O’Neil back in those days and they would be put in the army to fight not paid millions to play a game.
What is true of Goliath is true of men with every other measure of achievement. Leonardo da Vinci may have been smarter than Elon Musk. But the education and technological tools Elon has used to his advantage were not available to da Vinci. Da Vinci accomplished great things but he never had the kind of personal wealth that Elon Musk and others in our society have.
Our text for today, John 19, records Jesus’s trial before Pontius Pilate. Pilate was not the emperor of Rome, but he was far more powerful than most people on earth or in Israel. He believed–correctly so–that he was powerful enough to save Jesus’s life. But he also seemed to believe that there was something special about him that gave him the position in life that he occupied. In verse 10 here John 19, Pilate asked Jesus, “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Verse 11 goes on to say, “Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.'” In other words, it was God’s will that put Pilate where he was. Whatever human factors, like intelligence, that contributed to Pilate’s success were merely gifts of God and Pilate’s position of power was granted to him by the providence and will of God alone.
You and I did not choose to be born at this time in history, nor did we choose to be born to the parents we had. We didn’t choose the complex of traits that have enabled us to have whatever success we’ve enjoyed in life. Most of us, probably, didn’t choose to come to the United States; we were born in this free county where opportunities abound and we have the ability to choose. We also didn’t choose to be chosen by God for eternal life. So, none of us has any reason to feel proud, to mistreat others, or to brag. Everything we have was given to us “from above” as Jesus put it in verse 11. So, we should be careful about doing what is righteous wherever God put us. We should also fight the tendency to feel entitled to our success and, instead, give thanks to God for everything we’ve gotten in this life, including the opportunities that put us where we are.