Pilate and People.
Pilate questions Jesus and is amazed that He remains silent. Brian explains how Pilate got it all wrong and crucified the Messiah.
Pilate Before Christ or Christ Before Pilate?
Mark chapter 15 is often called: “Christ Before Pilate”, but a better title would be: “Pilate Before Christ”. The examiner is being examined.
“And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.”
(Mark 15:1-5)
Pilate Asks, “What is Truth?”
Pontius Pilate lacks the Roman virtues of honor and integrity. Then comes the day when honor and integrity stand right in front of him: No wonder Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” What he does not know is that Jesus doesn’t just know the truth – He is The Truth.
When he asks in frustration, “Have you no answer to make?” Jesus is silent. That silence must be deafening. Pilate is used to screaming mobs revolting in one loud voice. Now he cannot even hear the echo of his own voice. Silence seems to fill the whole universe. Centuries earlier, Isaiah described this silent scene unfolding:
“Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before his shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”
(Isa 53:7)
The Silence of Jesus
Pilate is convinced of his innocence and sends him to King Herod where again King Jesus remains silent. Pilate brings him back and this time Jesus breaks the silence, saying: “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36).
Pilate’s world rejected that kingdom. Pilate is like people in our world today. People reject Jesus to protect themselves; their status, a promotion, respect, or the approval of people. When it comes to admitting we love Jesus, even Christians can be scared off by a snarky smile or a silent smirk.
Guilty
Pilate turns the torment over to ordinary people – his soldiers. Because when it comes right down to it, that is who sent Jesus to the cross. You don’t need to figure out if the Romans were more to blame than the Jews. Everyone is guilty. I am guilty. You are guilty. Jesus went to the cross for you, for me. The soldiers act out that guilt when they put a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head, picturing God’s curse on sinful people.
“Because you … have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you … Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.”
(Genesis 3:17-18)
The cursed thorn crown is pressed down on Jesus, as our sins would be laid on him.
Facing Sin
They scourge Jesus with an awful whip. If I completely described what it did, it would make you sick to your stomach. Once a policeman saw the results of a cruel beating. He arrested a man who had used a hardened piece of wood to beat a little girl. A complete stranger, he said he chose her “because she was the prettiest”. When the policeman saw the blisters that covered her back and legs, he could barely stop himself from hurting the man.
That was one pretty good policeman facing one terrible sin. It almost broke him. What was it like when the completely good man – Jesus – faced not just one terrible sin but all the sins of every person. He not only faced that sin – that holy Jesus became sin. The Bible says that,
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
(2 Cor 5:21)
He became what he never was – sin, so that we could become what we never were – righteous. Pilate made his decision about Jesus – have you made yours?
Have you ever been betrayed by a fr
Brian Stapley
Brian Stapley is the husband of Margaret and “Christian-proud” father of Tabitha, Ben, Jeremy and Joel. He has been director of the Boys JIM Club of America since 1981 and a “JIM Clubber” since 1958, the year he became a Christian. The mission statement of the JIM Club is, “Discipling boys to love Jesus deeply and express him vividly.”
He has been an educator since 1970, primarily as a high school English Teacher. (Don’t dangle your participles.) He has been in fellowship at Scottlea Gospel Chapel, St. Catharines, since 1976 and travels to preach about three dozen times a year, in Ontario and New York State. He is a ventriloquist, in company with Casey, Theodore, Dodo, Grumpa, and a menagerie of others. Also, a bit of a magician.
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Images Courtesy of:
Christ before Pilate – Andrea Schiavone
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