Friends, over the past few Sundays, we have focused on the events of Jesus’ last few days and hours on earth before his crucifixion. After the Last Supper, Jesus was arrested while he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Roman soldiers arrested him – they took him to be questioned by the former high priest and the man then serving as high priest. The religious authorities did not have the power to execute Jesus, so they took Jesus to Pontious Pilate, the Roman official appointed by Emperor Tiberius to rule on his behalf in Judah.
Last Sunday, our scriptural focus was on the first part of Jesus’ questioning by Pilate. Pilate had to determine why Jesus was under arrest and why the religious authorities wanted him to be executed. But, Pilate seemed confused by what Jesus told him, and by what the religious authorities told him. The authorities couldn’t enter Pilate’s house before a high holy day, so Pilate went outside to talk to them and then back inside to question Jesus. Typically, people who are under trial and facing execution plead their case, but Jesus was surprisingly quiet.
It was traditional for Pilate to release a prisoner before the Passover festival – he offered to release Jesus. Instead, the gathered crowd asked him to release Barabbas, a Jewish murderer and insurrectionist. Pilate reluctantly agreed to release Barabbas and then continued questioning Jesus. We pick up the story in the Gospel of John, chapter 19.
Listen now to the word of God….
Our Scripture Reading John 19:1-16a
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe
and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jew(ish leaders) gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,
and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jew(ish leaders).
But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray…
The Message Jesus Condemned
From 26 AD to 36 AD, Pontius Pilate was the most powerful man in all of Judaea. He was the governor appointed by Roman Emperor TIberius to rule on behalf of Rome over the land and its people. He commanded troops who acted as the police force throughout the land. He was head of the judicial system. He had the power to sentence people to death through the Roman capital punishment system. He was responsible for the collection of tributes and taxes and for the distribution of government funds, including the minting of coins. His commands were followed by everyone in the land, yet he couldn’t resist the peer pressure of the crowd who demanded Jesus’ execution.
In the first century, when the people of Jerusalem and Judaea were living under Roman occupation, everything was very tense. No country likes being taken over and ruled by another. The Romans had to squash descent and rebellion in little villages and big cities. There were organized plots against them and spontaneous rebellions. For the Romans, the time of greatest concern was the high Holy Days – pilgrims poured into Jerusalem from across the land and the city was bursting at its seams with people. Those people were particularly nationalistic and devout when they came together to worship and celebrate the holidays. The Roman soldiers and police force had to be prepared for anything that would trigger the people.
When the Jewish Religious Officials brought Jesus to Pilate, the Romans were worried. And, Pontius Pilate, despite being the most powerful man in the land, was worried. He wanted to defuse the situation.
Repeatedly, Pilate told the Jewish Religious officials that he could not find any good reason to execute Jesus. Finally, the officials pulled out their “trump card” … they said Jesus claimed to be king, and since they were ruled by the Roman Emperor, Jesus was seditious – they claimed he was inciting people to rebel against the Roman King and proclaim Jesus king instead.
After they accused Jesus of sedition, Pilate succumbed to the pressure of the crowd. He didn’t want a rebellion. He seemed to have doubts … but the Jesus situation was not worth causing an uproar.
So, Pilate condemned Jesus to death.
We all have moments like this in our lives, although I hope none of us will be put in a position to determine whether someone lives or dies…. but we have all had moments when we give into pressure even though we have doubts.
I can think of a few examples of Pilate-moments – Perhaps we will called up for jury duty, and we become the sole member of the jury who thinks the “defendant” is innocent….or perhaps we will be in a position where we have to enforce a workplace policy we disagree with…or perhaps we will need to punish a child to enforce a rule our spouse put in place but we think is too harsh. I am sure we can all recall times in our lives when we have had these Pilate-moments of our own.
This is where our faith comes into play. Despite it being easier to avoid conflict and go along with peer pressure, it is not worth it if we violate our conscience. When Jesus came to earth, he demonstrated God’s love in his words and actions. We must center our faith when we determine our words and actions. Sometimes, that means we may risk our own necks in the process. But, the short-term upset is better than the long-term guilt we feel when we don’t stick up for what is right.
Pilate had all the power in the world, yet he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of upsetting the crowd.
We are also people with power…compared to many people who live in the world, we have access to resources and community. We have the power to say something on social media and start a fire storm. We have the power to act with kindness and make a difference in the lives of vulnerable people. We have the power to work to improve the lives of our neighbors by supporting the Daily Bread Food Pantry and Every Good Gift’s outreach to young mothers. We have the power and resources to support the offerings of our church that contribute to disaster relief and refugee programs and aid to orphans. We have more power than we often think we have..
So, let us use our power and resources for good. Let us not succumb to placating the crowd. And, let us work on behalf of vulnerable people in our community and in our world.
Amen.