Day 5 | Jesus’ Trial Before Pilate
Lisa Sheffler, author
All people were created by God and have dignity and worth. Yet we don’t always treat each other as if that is true. Sin has corrupted the human heart so thoroughly that it is capable of desiring another’s suffering and pain. We mock and deride with words, and sometimes verbal assaults turn physical.
Even if we don’t participate in such victimization, we just can stand by when it happens to others, too afraid to speak up or intervene. In those moments we side with the counterfeit strength of the bully instead of showing real strength by helping the weak.
It’s become an almost regular occurrence these days to hear stories of people in positions of power using their privilege to hurt, denigrate and victimize others. Invariably, there are those skulking in the background who suspected the abuse but failed to do anything about it. Neither the impulse to humiliate, nor the fear of speaking out are new. It was taken to its fullest extreme in the treatment of Jesus as he endured a mockery of a trial and a painful road to the cross.
Read
Matthew 27:11-31
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 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!”
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Reflect
Like most bullies, Pilate is ultimately a coward. Though he had armies at his disposal, he bends to the will of the angry mob instead of standing up for justice. The religious leaders are guilty, Pilate is guilty, and the crowd is guilty. They are all complicit in the death of the only innocent man who has ever lived.
It is bitter and perverse irony that the ultimate King of kings was mocked and shamed in this way. That God allowed such treatment out of love for us should bring us to our knees in worship. The mercy that God displayed is truly amazing because the pain and humiliation that the Son of God endured is a witness to the evil of which humanity is capable. Yet God chose to offer us a chance to be redeemed.
Barabbas was a violent outlaw and insurrectionist. While Jesus is sentenced to die, Barabbas, a truly guilty man will go free. But then, Jesus’s sacrifice allows all sorts of guilty people go free. Former rebels, thieves, bullies, liars and worse not only escape eternal punishment, but receive welcome in the family of God. On some level, we are all Barabbas. This is at the heart of the good news that we are to spread throughout the world. Because justice is satisfied by Jesus’ death, sinners can be forgiven and transformed by the Spirit.
The human heart has been so corrupted by sin that the only hope is a complete transformation. When we place our faith in Christ, we aren’t just rebuilt or refurbished; we are reborn and made new. Of course, we don’t always act as if that’s true; we seem to forget who we are in Christ and live in ways that are inconsistent with who we are as his follower. But his mercies are new every morning and our Father will never give up on us. Ultimately Easter demonstrates the power of goodness and life over evil and death. We can choose to live as if that victory is already ours, because it is.
Pray
What praise and thanks will you offer God for his mercy? Consider writing out a prayer of gratitude to him. Even as our world has walked through a scary and difficult time, we can be grateful that because of Jesus, we have peace with God.
Pray that the Spirit gives us eyes to see those suffering from injustice, and the courage to fight on their behalf. Let’s not stand by when another is victimized, mistreated, humiliated, or falsely accused, but let’s stand up against the powerful and shout “No!” Any sacrifice we make on behalf of the victimized will not be in vain.