Ep. 8: Jesus Visits Pilate | The Crucifixion of Jesus

Before we move on to the next event, it's worth pausing for a second and more closely examining some of these characters in the story. Take Pilate for instance. Pilate is the one who ultimately gives permission for Jesus to be crucified. But the Bible is clear, Pilate didn't want to do this. Pilate saw him and thought he was innocent and wanted to release him. What happened in the story has power for us today. My friend Victor is going to explain right now. Are you the king of the Jews? This is Pontius Pilate opening question to Jesus. Now I want for us to explore maybe the feelings and what Pontius Pilate was going through when he received Jesus to be trialed and being accused of just doing many things to the point that maybe he needed to die. So Pilate receives Jesus and as Jesus is coming he asked this question, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus' response is very clear, his, hey I am. And after that Pontius Pilate is asking more questions but Jesus is not answering, he's just quiet. And I have to think that Pontius Pilate as the authority of the city of Jerusalem representing the Roman Empire, as the governor, as the authority, he expects what people will answer but also he will expect that a criminal is gonna try to just work their way out. And Jesus embraces some of these charges and in the way that he does it, it had to create the doubt in Pontius Pilate that maybe what Jesus was saying was true, that maybe based on his experience with authority like with Caesar in the case of Pontius Pilate and seeing a king, that maybe the way that Jesus was behaving was actually demonstrating that he was the king. So it had to be a difficult decision and I almost, when you read it you almost feel this tension that Pilate is struggling with making a decision, he feels stuck. On one hand he has a group of people that are saying, hey Jesus is guilty, he needs to die. On the other hand you have his judgment and him processing, I don't think there is fault in this man. In fact his wife is saying, I had a nightmare with Jesus, you should not deal with him. But the opposition is strong, Pilate is trying to keep peace and because of that he just feels forced that he has to make a decision, he feels forced that he has to make this decision against his judgment. So then Pilate not

wanting to deal with it, he says you know what I'm gonna wash my hands. I'm just gonna, this is gonna be my way out. I'm not going to be part of the decision, this decision is on you, I am out. You know 2,000 years later I find myself in the position of Pilate. I feel maybe God is inviting me to an area in my life and he's saying hey I want you to do this, I want you to step into this. And I start saying well the circumstances are saying this, like the pressures of my life, of my work, of my family, work-life balance, whatever it is, is pushing me in a different direction. So then my reaction is you know I'm gonna wash my hands, I'm out. But Jesus earlier in his ministry he said if you're not with me you are against me. So this serves for me as a reminder that there is no option of in or out, there is just in. So then at this point it's not a matter of whether we choose or not, as in any time that we are either choosing or not, we are making a decision. And for me in my life I want to choose the thing that God has for me. And I don't want to wash my hands and walk away, but I want to actually fully embrace it and I want the same for you. So as we wrestle with these things in Good Friday, I want to invite you to read these passages and sit in it and maybe you feel the same tension, maybe you can step into a place where God is inviting you.