Matthew 27:24-26 * Midweek Lent 5,
PERSONALITIES OF THE PASSION:
PILATE
Dear Friends in Christ,
This evening we continue with the fifth installment under our general theme, “Personalities of the Passion.” The individual under consideration tonight is a man whose name we mention every Sunday in our Creeds. Like Herod of last week, he is part of the legal operation of Jesus’ passion. His name is Pontius Pilate.
We follow the same format as in past weeks. We’ll begin with a thumbnail sketch, move to the part he played in the passion of Christ, and end with what we can learn from him and apply to our lives as Christians today.
What do we know about this “Personality of the Passion?” A brief history of Pilate’s life as gleaned from the history available to us is as follows…
He was a Roman citizen probably born in
Pontius Pilate must have been a member of at least the
middle class of Romans, because a certain amount of wealth was necessary to
advance to the position that he did. How
he rose in the ranks we don’t know, but we do know he was appointed to be the
Roman governor over areas of the
From the sources that have come down to us we may conclude
that Pilate was short on tact and diplomacy, and that the relationship between
him and the people he governed was one of mutual distrust, even hatred. For example, one time he ordered soldiers
under his command to carry ensigns (banners) of the Roman Emperor into the
“holy city” of
The Jews, however, didn’t back down. So Pilate did. This one incident reveals poor judgment, arrogance, disdain for those who didn’t agree with him, and finally, moral weakness – qualities which seem to be indicative of Pilate’s character.
We learn that Pilate further outraged the Jews by
appropriating some of the contributions given at the
It was a similar incident that finally led to Pilate’s political ruin and removal from office. Apparently a certain religious fanatic who claimed to be a prophet of God made the pronouncement that Moses had hidden some sacred vessels used by the Children of Israel on a particular mountain. He said he knew exactly where they were. He didn’t, because they didn’t exist, but apparently he attracted quite a following. A large group assembled at the appointed time at the foot of the mountain ready to make the climb. Foolishly, they were armed with weapons, which Pilate interpreted as a rebellion-in-the-making. Again he sent his soldiers in after them and a number of these fanatics were killed.
This all happened in
From this point on the history of Pilate gets a little sketchy, but the most commonly held story is that he was banished to some distant corner of the Empire, where he eventually committed suicide. This, however, cannot be proven.
It is interesting to note that because there is some doubt about the facts regarding the end of his life, a number of legends and traditions have sprung up around Pilate. One legend claims that Pilate was tried, convicted and sentenced to die, but just before his death (which some legends say was by crucifixion) made a full confession of Jesus Christ as his savior. Another claims that Pilate’s wife eventually became a Christian. And perhaps most intriguing of all is that one distant branch of the Christianity known as the Coptic Church (which has its roots in Egypt) so embraces these legends to the point of observing June 25 as the day honoring Pontius Pilate as a saint and martyr.
That, then, is a brief history of the man named Pontius Pilate. What part did he play in the passion of Jesus Christ? A huge one. We might say that, humanly speaking, Pontius Pilate was Jesus’ last line of defense. When he capitulated to the will of the Jewish leaders, the only thing left for Jesus was the cross. This we see as we turn to our text:
“When Pilate saw that
he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water
and washed his hands in front of the crowd.
‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility.’” Let’s back up just a step. You will recall how Pilate, convinced of
Jesus’ innocence, tried to get himself out of a moral dilemma by offering the
crowd a choice between freeing either Jesus or a notorious criminal named
Barabbus. When the sentiment swung
toward Barabbus, Pilate tried to reason with them. But as our text points out, “he was getting nowhere.”
In addition we are told that a riot was beginning to
germinate, and Pilate, who had dealt with those things before, had no desire to
see it go full bloom – especially at this time of the year when
So, he took water and (we can imagine) in a very deliberate and methodical manner symbolically washes the guilt off his hands, all the while proclaiming his innocence in the miscarriage of justice that was about to go down. Very deftly – but also very cowardly – he shifts responsibility from himself to the people. And when the people accept the responsibility with their cry, “Let his blood be on us and our children!” Pilate no doubt felt he had handled the whole incident in the most expeditious, pragmatic way possible; that he had escaped with his integrity intact. “Then he released Barabbus for them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”
“But he had Jesus
flogged.” If you are one of the many
who’ve seen the movie, “The Passion of
the Christ,” you are no longer able to gloss over this piece of
information. In fact, if you saw the movie, the image of Christ being flogged
may be permanently etched in your mind.
Whether you saw it or not, the simple, unadorned truth is this: Flogging was a cruel, terrible torture
designed to inflict pain – and oftentimes death. But this Christ underwent. Not for himself, but for us. As our substitute. More importantly than focusing on the “what”
is the “why.” Isaiah spells it out: “He
was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed.”
Mockery. Injustice. Scourging. The cross. All for us. This is what we mean when we say: “He suffered under Pontius Pilate.” And this is the part Pilate played in the passion of Jesus Christ.
What can we learn from Pilate? There is one lesson in particular. It has to do with our Christian character. It is this: When it comes to doing the right thing, the God-pleasing thing, we must not cave into pressure no matter how good the excuses or reasons may sound.
Think about Pontius Pilate. He had good excuses. His reputation was at stake. It looked like a riot might be in the works. He had a chance to gain some much needed popularity and perhaps instant credibility with people he didn’t particularly like but had to get along with. So he condemned Jesus. It was expedient. It was pragmatic. It was calculated. It would keep the peace.
Only one problem. It was wrong.
But now a question: Do we not find ourselves in similar situations? We are presented with a dilemma where the choice is between doing the right thing knowing it will seemingly have negative repercussions or doing the wrong thing knowing it will seemingly have positive repercussions. Sometimes we know that making the right decision, the moral decision, the God-pleasing decision will come with a price. Maybe it will result in loneliness or loss of popularity or loss of opportunity. And we desperately hate to feel like we are different, or alone, or unpopular…
So at times we may find ourselves engaged in serious rationalization. And it becomes very tempting to do what is expedient, what is pragmatic, what is popular, what will yield the most net gain or the best bottom line results; what will cost us the least in terms of personal negative impact. In the process (so this line of thinking goes), sure there may be a few rules that unfortunately will have to be sidestepped, perhaps a few commandments that of necessity have to be trampled underfoot, but, hey, keeping the peace – my peace – is more important. Besides, God forgives, doesn’t he?
And the answer is yes, He does. He forgives the times when we’ve placed our interests above His and when in our weakness we’ve made our decisions not on what is right or wrong in His eyes, but what is better or best for us in our eyes. He forgives when we choose the express lane of expediency over the sometimes hard path of Christian integrity.
But Lent reminds us of what it took. Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. He chose to drink the full cup of suffering for our sins. He held nothing back for us.
And because He held nothing back for us, we are moved to hold nothing back for Him. Even if it isn’t expedient or pragmatic. Even if it results in loss of popularity or opportunity. Precisely because we have been forgiven – and know what it took – we are moved to live beyond only ourselves and for Christ. And do you know what? When we do, all those things that we once thought were so important fade into the brighter glory that comes with a growing relationship with Christ.
Had Pilate done the right thing, history would remember him for his moral courage. But he caved into the pressure of the moment, and history knows him as being weak and unprincipled. Not the one Christ received justice from, but the one whom Christ suffered under…
Therefore, for the sake of our gracious Lord Jesus who suffered our stripes and died for us, when it comes to taking our stand for Him, may He endow us with the moral courage noticeable by its absence in tonight’s “Personality of the Passion:” Pontius Pilate. Amen.