July 22

Jesus and Pilate

            Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.”  So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”  When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.”  The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”

                 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever.  He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.  Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”  From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

                When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.  Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”  They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.”  Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

John 19:4-15

           Pilate is the Roman governor over Israel.  He commands the local Roman Legions, members of the most powerful fighting force in the world.  King Herod bows to him.  The local leaders of business and politics and religion bow to him.  He has the power of life and death over every man, woman and child in his domain.

            At no point in this passage does it seem like he is in control.

            The crowds and religious leaders are stirred up into a mob that appears ready to riot if they do not get the crucifixion that they are demanding.  While riots are not rare for governors of invading forces to have to deal with, they are never something that a good leader looks forward to.  And then there is Jesus.

            This man has been beaten and abused by his captors for hours.  The Jews say that there was a trial where He spoke heresy and that He deserves to die.  It is clear that the trial was a farce and the religious leaders simply want him disposed of by any means necessary.  His face is covered with bruises and blood, but He carries more authority with Him than anyone that Pilate has ever met.  He stands silently as Pilate unravels before Him, the governor desperately searching for any way out of this situation.  At one point, Pilate commanded that Jesus speak, citing the Roman’s power and authority to save His life or take it.

            Jesus simply shook His head and said, “Your power over Me was given to you from above,” and was silent again.  This chain of events was not under Pilate’s control, he was merely one small piece that was playing his part in a cosmic-sized game.  Jesus’s life was not taken.  It was given.  Freely.  The pain, the trial, the beatings…none of it was necessary to overcome His power.  Jesus came to offer His life freely, to trade it for all those who were held captive by Sin and Death.  The price that they could not pay, He was happy to give.  The chains that they could not break, He took for His own.

            It is easy to forget.  It is easy to look around this world and see the injustice and see the hatred and think that evil is winning.  This story that we are engaged in is not one of Good versus Evil or Light versus Dark or God versus Satan with the outcome in question.  This is simply the chaotic and tumultuous prologue of our story where humanity is given the freedom of choice.  At the end of the prologue, everyone has chosen to follow Jesus or not, and then our real story begins.  Jesus has made a way for everyone who chooses to follow it; that way leads out of Sin and Death and Pain and Suffering into Life that is Real Life.

            Pilate may have had the titles and wealth, but he was the only one in that room who did not know why he was there.  Jesus was in control.  

A moment to reflect:

How has God been in control even when life seemed dark and chaotic?