“Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.” (Luke 23:20-25NIV)
From the passage of the Scripture above, it is clear that Pilate knew quite well that Jesus did not deserve to be punished at all, not to talk of being given a death sentence. Yet he gave him a death sentence. Of course, he did this reluctantly, for as we are shown in a parallel passage, right before the people, he washed his hand with water and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this man.” (Cf. Matt 27:24)
But the fact remains that he gave Jesus a death sentence. He gave him a death sentence, even though it was in his place to release Him and let Him go in peace. He gave Him a death sentence, even though he had examined him and found him guiltless. Yes, he gave Him a death sentence, even though his wife had earlier sent a message to him not to have anything to do with the condemnation or death of an innocent and righteous man.
Now why did Mr Pilate do that? Why did he use his office, which was the highest office in the land at the time, to promote injustice, when the right way to judge was very clear to him? It was because he wanted to please the people; he wanted to go with the crowds (Mark 15:15). Of course, he did not see it that way. That was why he used water to publicly wash his hands off the case. But what was that? That was nonsense. He was in a position to use his authority to save an innocent man from a jealous and ruthless mob. But he would not. How, then, could he think a bowl of water was all he needed to free himself from the sin and guilt of murder?
In any case, similar things still regularly happen in the world today. Here and there, we see people who are in a position to promote justice or what is upright act contrary what to what they know and even believe to be the truth. Why? Fear is always the reason.
When we are afraid of being different, afraid of becoming unpopular with the majority, we may find ourselves throwing away our sense of justice or our duty to give justice in order to please men. And then we will start looking for ways to justify ourselves by saying things like, “If you can’t beat them, you join them,” or “God sees my heart and knows that I am not in support of this.”
But the word of God says ‘No’ to such things. His word commands us never to follow a multitude to do evil (Ex 23:2). And that is not because our refusal to go with the multitude will be easy in every situation. Rather, it is because the will of God is for us to separate ourselves from every kind of evil, even if doing so will set us against the whole world.
To say the fact, there may surely be times in our lives in which our stand for justice or morality will set us against the crowd or the majority. Yes, there may be times in which our refusal to go with the majority in promoting wickedness, injustice or immorality will be the only chance for righteousness to win where we are. And it will be good of us not to be like Mr Pilate but like God the true judge on such occasions. Otherwise, whatever we do afterwards may not have any power to change the history we have already made.
Pilate made history as the head of a supreme court that sentenced the only sinless man that ever walked the face of the earth to death. Yes, God wanted things to end that way. But Pilate did not have to be the one to make it happen. And you also don’t have to be the one to once again illustrate to the world that the natural man will always choose evil over good, if the circumstances are right, when you can be one of those that will be showing the world that God still has righteous people here on earth that will always do His will, even if they have to go against everyone else.
Which will it be, then? Will you be God’s man or another Pilate? Or shall I say, “Will I be God’s man or another Pilate?” I guess we all will find out someday in eternity.
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