ESOCS Devotional 9 August 2026 -God’s Will Prevails
MEMORY VERSE: John 19:11“Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.”
TEXT: John 19:1-26
So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”
8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have [c]power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
11 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.”
12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus [d]and led Him away.
17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
“They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.”
Therefore the soldiers did these things.
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”
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It will be better for us on earth if we understand the purpose for which God has brought us on earth. If we do, then we will have less stress over life. In our text today, we see Jesus pass through shame, mockery, rejection and abuse (John 19:1-10) but he was relaxed. He did not curse, cry or fight back. He held his peace. Jesus took all in good faith.
What is it that will make you pass through unjust treatment and brutality, yet putting little or no resistance? We find the answer in Jesus’s answer to Pilate in verse 11. Pilate warned that he had the power to crucify and to release Jesus. But the Lord said to him “thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given me, except it were given thee from above.”
Yes instances abound in the past when the Jews sought to have Jesus dead, but they could not get hold of him. They plotted in vain. The life history of the apostles and prophets also reveal the futility of attempts made against the life of the elects when God did not permit it.
Till date, the power of hades do not prevail against the elects of God. God scatters the gang up of the enemy and frustrates the conspiracy of the blasphemers. The weapons of the enemy never prevails against God’s servants and elects. There is a command from heaven to the world “touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm.”
The best we can do for ourselves today is to package our earthly life to remain in Christ. It is not a matter of luck. It is a matter of choice. The Bible says that whomsoever comes to the Lord, he will in no wise cast away.
Truly in Christ Jesus, we can find ourselves get shielded under the shadow of the highest where no human hand or evil power can have access to harm.
Question
Can anyone counter the purpose of God in the life of his servant?
Prayer
I thank you father for your love and mercy towards me. You will prevail in my life, in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading:
Ezekiel 34:11-16, Deut. 6:15-end, Heb. 4:1-10
ESOCS Devotional 9 August 2026
