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IV. PONTIUS PILATE

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Bible Reading
[John 18: 28-19: 16]
Then they led Jesus from the house of Ca'iaphas to the praetorium. It was early. They themselves did not enter the praetorium, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" They answered him, "If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have handed him over." Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." The Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death." This was to fulfill the word which Jesus had spoken to show by what death he was to die.

Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world." Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again, and told them, "I find no crime in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover; will you have me release for you the King of the Jews?" They cried out again, "Not this man, but Barab'bas!" Now Barab'bas was a robber.

Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe; they came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again, and said to them, "See, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no crime in him." So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man!" When 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 crime in him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the Son of God."

When Pilate heard these words, he was the more afraid; he entered the praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin." Upon this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend; every one who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar."

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gab'batha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" They 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." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

Reflection
- Pontius Pilate, a government official, was a successful man in the eyes of the world. His personality is revealed most, however, in his question to Jesus: “What is truth?”

- To “climb” in worldly success is not in itself a bad thing. To have money and power and use them for God’s glory is not only good but expected of every Christian who has them.

- But when the “climb” involves dishonesty of any kind, then the soul begins to degenerate, to rot. The noble goals it had at the beginning are forgotten, and the only end becomes the continuous accumulation of wealth and power. The truth is sacrificed and lost.

- How far has Pilate gone, if he has to ask the question “What is truth?”! How deeply has he fallen! It probably began with a single lie, or a single misleading comment. Then, day after day, year after year, the lies mounted and dishonesty became a mightier and mightier habit.

- How far have we fallen? How deep is our dishonesty? If it is at the beginning, our hope is great indeed. God’s grace is abundant. We can end it now, before it consumes us.

- But what if we are closer to Pilate that we would admit? What if our dishonesty is so consuming that it has destroyed us entirely? What if we do not even know what the truth is anymore? Then we have, by this dishonesty, contributed to the death of our Lord, despite every warning and every opportunity to turn back.
 
- It is not too late. “Unless you return and become like children, you will not see the Kingdom of God.” Our Lord gives us the grace, the power, to return to our original innocence, our original honesty, and to know that He is the Truth.

Hymn – AH, HOLY JESUS
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
that man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted!

Who was the guilty who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hast undone thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee!

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
for man's atonement, while he nothing heedeth, God intercedeth.

For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion, for my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving, not my deserving.