To Pilate he must go

John 18:28-32

28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ 30 They answered, ‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’ 31 Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ 32 (This was to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

Pilate, the Roman governor, asked a simple question of the authorities – “What are you accusing this man of having done?” The answer is nothing short of bizarre, “If he hadn’t done anything wrong would we have brought him to you to be judged?” The answer reveals just how thin the case against Jesus was. Basically the authorities are saying, “You find some reason to do what we want, and we want him dead.” (Under Roman law, and Israel at this point was under Roman control, the Romans retained for themselves the power of capital punishment. So the authorities wanting Jesus dead, need the Romans to do the deed.)

While the religious authorities are asking to the death of an innocent man – which for all intents and purposes is an immoral act; they are trying to stay ritually pure by not going into a Gentile’s palace/headquarters. The irony is profound, and tragic, because they believe both acts – the killing of Jesus and the staying ritually pure are consistent with following God. As Jesus said, “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Matthew 15:8)

But before we are too quick to condemn, we can recognize in ourselves a similar tendency to overlook the grave wrongs in our own lives while at the same time ensuring that other things are done the “right” way. The tendency of looking at the exterior, rather asking about the heart. We can so quickly become like the religious authorities, and this passage invites us to examine ourselves (not other people), asking God to show us the places where our hearts are far from God.

PRAYER:

Lord God, examine our hearts we pray, and reveal to us those places where our hearts are far from you. Shape us that we might be people who live the pattern of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.