John designs the dialogue between Jesus and Pilate to help his readers think about what kind of power Jesus has (John 18:33-37.) Pilate tries to put Jesus into the category of "king," but Jesus says, "That's not really what I am. My power is very different from the kind of power you exercise."
Christ gets his power from love. As we surrender more and more to his gracious love, we find ourselves wanting to love Jesus back and able to do that with his own love, willing to love others with the love of Jesus, even those we find unlovely. The love of Jesus reaching others through us transforms them into lovers like Jesus. And so his influence spreads.
Pilate got his power from the emperor; Jesus gets his power from love.
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