Are There Degrees of Sin?

Pilate’s arrogant boast was not true. Breaking His silence, Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” (i.e., from God). Although he was a responsible moral agent and accountable for his actions, Pilate did not have ultimate control over events related to the Son of God. Nothing that happens—even the death of Jesus Christ—is outside of the sovereignty of God. Faced with opposition and evil, Jesus took comfort in the Father’s sovereign control of events (cf. 6:43–44, 65). . . .