Mob Scene

John 19:1-16

¹Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. ²And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” ⁶When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” ⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. ⁹He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” ¹²From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” ¹⁵They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

Have you ever had someone in your life who knew how to push all of your fear buttons? Have you ever felt manipulated into doing something you knew wasn’t right or you just didn’t want to do but your fear draws you into capitulation? That’s Pilate’s position by this point in the Passion story. The Pharisees are tapping into his greatest fears and as a result they get what they want. Pilate walks a tightrope as the leader of Judea for the Romans. His greatest fear is rebellion because the Romans weren’t going to tolerate any more riots from this region without coming in and taking his throne away from him. Of course the Pharisees know this and use that knowledge to their advantage. For them, Jesus has to die and since they have no authority to execute the death sentence the command has to come from Pilate. They give Pilate no choice; either kill Jesus or face a riot. He has zero options. The text says he grew afraid when he heard that Jesus might be “The Son of God.” He had so many reason for that fear.

Unlike Pilate, who had no working relationship with God, we have a place to turn when we are between a manipulator and a bad situation. We can always look to God for answers and even escape; or perhaps only just protection and solace. Pilate had no one to count on but himself and so he was trapped. The Pharisees used this fear to full advantage. If we’ve learned nothing else from our study of the Bible it is that bad things are still going to happen to us. No sane person says “oh yeah, bring the bad stuff.” At this point in the story, Jesus is just going where He’s sent and dealing with the pain. The soldiers are allowed to abuse Him, Pilate is allowed to do whatever he wants with Him, and the Pharisees are allowed to pour out their hate upon Him. Bad stuff is going to happen. The Pharisees are manipulating the situation, Pilate is covering his butt, and Jesus is obediently enduring the evil events of the day. In the end God’s good and perfect will is played out and because Jesus is bound to God’s will, He patiently endures the pain. Because of His patient endurance we are saved.

In the blood of Jesus we are now restored into the presence of God the Father and as such have the full benefit of His power and protection in our lives. Even as I say that I am struck by the sheer simplicity of it all and yet so many would deny themselves the blessings of walking with God through each and every day. And even though the message is simple I am also convinced that we each need to be reminded every single day of that incredible grace and mercy poured out in the blood of Jesus. I don’t have to walk in fear of what others can do to me. They did their worst to Jesus and because of it I live with Him either here or on the other side of death. Pilate may have been afraid, but we don’t have to be.