Monday, March 25

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Monday

Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.”  But they all cried out together, “Away with this man...Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.   - Luke 23:13-25

No one would argue that Pilate was a man in position of power. He was a Roman governor with armies of soldiers under him. He had the power to determine the fate of criminals—to sentence them, punish them, or in some cases, release them. He also had the power to crucify men, something that the religious leaders did not have. And yet, with all the power that he had, he was ultimately powerless when it came to releasing Jesus. Though he “found no basis for the charges against him, we see him becoming more and more powerless to the cries and demands of the crowd, and ended up resorting to compromises in order to both appease them and maintain his position of power.  

We see Pilate engaging in a struggle of will—torn between appeasing the crowd and sticking up for truth. We see him trying to find some wiggle room to be able to satisfy both, and therefore busy compromising and negotiating in order to find a happy medium.

I find myself many times in the same position as Pilate—a struggle of will of sorts. Having been a Christian for some time now, and being involved in ministry, there is a set of truths about God, about reality, and about the Christian life, that I know are true.  I’ve investigated them and found them to be true, and my conviction in these truths has grown over the years. And yet, I still find it difficult to faithfully, consistently live out these truths in my day to day life, truths that I know are true, right and good?  

Why?  Because of external and internal sources that “shout” a different “truth”. Voices within and voices in this world that tell me that the truth of life is that I must look out for my own interests, that I cannot fully trust other people, that I need to carefully measure out how much I’m going to give to others. The “truths” of this world that says that my significance and worth comes from status, title, numbers, results, people’s approval and respect.  

Or another “truth” for Pilate would have been the call to maintain peace and order to his life–to exercise tight control over his life, and to do so at all cost. If he released Jesus, that would have meant opening up a whole can of worms, as riots and rebellion would start up in the city, as he would not only receive disapproval from Caesar, but his own position as governor (or possibly his very life) would have been jeopardized. There were the audible “shouts” of the crowd that he had to appease, but there were also the “shouts” within that painted a bleak future of his life. Therefore, in the end, though he believed in Jesus’ innocence, though he tried to make compromises and have the best of both worlds, and the shouts of the world prevailed.

As I reflected over the character of Pilate, I saw that when it comes to Christian life, the most miserable position to be in is when you’re living a compromised life–like Pilate, trying to find some sort of happy medium, where you can honor God’s truth and at the same time, honor yours as well and constantly in negotiation with God in terms of what you’re going to give to Him and how much.  In my heart, I know that it’s simply not possible to have both, and yet, at the base level, I keep operating in negotiation mode as though it can. 

It is very sobering to see the end result of Pilate’s compromise. “Pilate decided to grant their demand.” Finally, he made a decision, but it was a decision to have his own way and reject truth.  

Oh do not try to negotiate with Jesus, and do not hold part of yourself back from Him.  The very best deal you could ever have is waiting for you if you will only surrender yourself completely to Him!

Jeff Frazier