TRAPPED!

“‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realise I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of the greater sin.’

“From then on Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, ‘If you let this man go you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.'” John 19:10-12 NIV.

Three versions? Who was Pilate to believe?

He thought he knew who had the destiny of Jesus in his hands. After all, he was the Roman governor with delegated authority from the most powerful person in the world to decide whether Jesus lived or died. He was frustrated with Jesus because He was making no effort to defend Himself. In a few sentences He could easily have persuaded Pilate of His innocence, and Pilate would have had no option but to release Him for the sake of justice.

Here is a lesson for us. Every person must decide for himself. Jesus’ life and words present the evidence. It is not His role to persuade people to believe in Him but to let the facts speak for themselves and to give them the choice to receive or reject Him for who He is. Is He or is He not the Son of God? If He is, then we give Him total allegiance because we can do no other.

Jesus’ response must have shocked Pilate. It was not Pilate who had the authority to decide on His fate. His authority was only delegated, and not from Rome. There was a higher authority to which Rome was accountable and so was Pilate. God was in charge of the whole universe, and not even Caesar could rule without His permission.

That should change the way we view life when things seem to have gone horribly wrong. Do things just happen? Randomly? Coincidentally? Not from Jesus’ perspective! Here He was, standing before the Roman governor, on trial for His life on trumped up charges.  Where was God? Where was justice? From our point of view it looked like things had spun out of control. But…

Peter said, “‘This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing him to a cross.'” Acts 2:23 NIV.

This was a deliberate plan of God and Jesus was in on the whole thing. He did not want to be released because He had a mission to fulfil and He was carrying it out in obedience to the Father. When they tried to arrest Him in the garden, they could not until He handed Himself over. Now He stood before Pilate and watched him wrestle with his conscience, knowing that fear would override justice because it had to be.

The religious leaders used their power to persuade Pilate – the power of intimidation. Although Jesus was no threat to Caesar, and Pilate knew it, the Jewish hierarchy taunted him with the accusation, “If you let Him go, Caesar won’t like you. Jesus is guilty of treason because He says He is a king. If you let Him go, you are in cahoots with Him and that means you are against Caesar!”

Pilate was trapped. Whichever way he decided, he was in trouble. To which authority should he bow; to Caesar; to God; or to the Jews? After the day of Pentecost, Peter knew the answer. When he and John stood before the Sanhedrin and were commanded not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, Peter courageously looked their accusers in the eye and replied:

“‘Which is right in God’s eyes; to listen to you or to Him? You be the judges!'” Acts 4:19 NIV.

Pilate made his choice and had to live with it for the rest of his life.