阅读经文 

你是一个有权柄的人吗？千万不可容让权柄冲昏你的头脑！神要求人运用他们掌握的任何权柄来达成有益的目的，而不是树立自己的名声或成为一个独断专行的人。我们若是能够尊崇神的计划，该有多好啊。   

在新约圣经关于耶稣的事迹中，有权柄的人视祂为威胁。就像诗篇第二篇描述的那样，他们“一同商议”（参诗 2:2）来除灭耶稣；对他们来说，神的权柄等于“捆绑”和“绳索”。（参诗 2:3）于是他们把耶稣--耶和华的“受膏者”（参诗 2:2）和“君”（参诗 2:6） ——钉在十字架上。

神在诗篇第二章第六节说：“我已经立我的君在锡安我的圣山上了。”那些有权柄的人以邪恶的手段将这句话所描述的加诸耶稣身上，他们把耶稣钉十字架，然后把十字架立在耶路撒冷城外的山上。神却高举那座山，十字架也成为一个宝座，因为在十字架上，耶稣向世界显明什么才是真正的权柄。

有权柄的人把耶稣钉在十字架上，然而耶稣却是凭祂自己的权柄舍弃祂的性命，祂因顺服父神的旨意如此行。（参约 10:18）耶稣舍弃祂的性命，是为了成全神拯救世人的美善计划。这才是真正的权柄。  

Are you in a position of authority? Don't let it go to your head! God wants people to use whatever authority they have for good purposes, not to make a name for themselves or to become a law unto themselves. If only we would honor God's intentions.

In the New Testament story of Jesus, powerful people see Jesus as a threat. Following a pattern described by Psalm 2, they "band together" (v. 2) to get rid of Jesus. To them, God's authority amounts to "chains" and "shackles" (v. 3). So they crucify Jesus, who is the Lord's "anointed" (v. 2), the "king" (v. 6).

In Psalm 2:6, God says, "I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain." In a perverse parody of this statement, those powerful people install Jesus on a cross and plant it on a hill outside Jerusalem. But God exalts that hill. And the cross turns out to be a throne. Because on the cross Jesus shows what genuine authority looks like.

Powerful people may have nailed Jesus to a cross, but Jesus laid his life down by his own authority. And he did it in obedience to God the Father (see John 10:18). Jesus laid down his life for the sake of God's good purpose of saving the world. That's what real authority looks like.