The Urantia Book
PAPER 185
THE TRIAL BEFORE PILATE
185:0.1 SHORTLY after six o'clock on this Friday
morning, April 7, A.D. 30, Jesus was brought before Pilate, the
Roman procurator who governed Judea, Samaria, and Idumea under the
immediate supervision of the legatus of Syria. The Master was
taken into the presence of the Roman governor by the temple
guards, bound, and was accompanied by about fifty of his accusers,
including the Sanhedrist court (principally Sadduceans), Judas
Iscariot, and the high priest, Caiaphas, and by the Apostle John.
Annas did not appear before Pilate.
185:0.2 Pilate was up and ready to receive this
group of early morning callers, having been informed by those who
had secured his consent, the previous evening, to employ the Roman
soldiers in arresting the Son of Man, that Jesus would be early
brought before him. This trial was arranged to take place in front
of the praetorium, an addition to the fortress of Antonia, where
Pilate and his wife made their headquarters when stopping in
Jerusalem.
185:0.3 Though Pilate conducted much of Jesus'
examination within the praetorium halls, the public trial was held
outside on the steps leading up to the main entrance. This was a
concession to the Jews, who refused to enter any gentile building
where leaven might be used on this day of preparation for the
Passover. Such conduct would not only render them ceremonially
unclean and thereby debar them from partaking of the afternoon
feast of thanksgiving but would also necessitate their subjection
to purification ceremonies after sundown, before they would be
eligible to partake of the Passover supper.
185:0.4 Although these Jews were not at all
bothered in conscience as they intrigued to effect the judicial
murder of Jesus, they were nonetheless scrupulous regarding all
these matters of ceremonial cleanness and traditional regularity.
And these Jews have not been the only ones to fail in the
recognition of high and holy obligations of a divine nature while
giving meticulous attention to things of trifling importance to
human welfare in both time and eternity.
1. PONTIUS PILATE
185:1.1 If Pontius Pilate had not been a
reasonably good governor of the minor provinces, Tiberius would
hardly have suffered him to remain as procurator of Judea for ten
years. Although he was a fairly good administrator, he was a moral
coward. He was not a big enough man to comprehend the nature of
his task as governor of the Jews. He failed to grasp the fact that
these Hebrews had a real religion, a faith for which they
were willing to die, and that millions upon millions of them,
scattered here and there throughout the empire, looked to
Jerusalem as the shrine of their faith and held the Sanhedrin in
respect as the highest tribunal on earth.
185:1.2 Pilate did not love the Jews, and this
deep-seated hatred early began to manifest itself. Of all the
Roman provinces, none was more difficult to govern than Judea.
Pilate never really understood the problems involved in the
management of the Jews and, therefore, very early in his
experience as governor, made a series of almost fatal and
well-nigh suicidal blunders. And it was these blunders that gave
the Jews such power over him. When they wanted to influence his
decisions, all they had to do was to threaten an uprising, and
Pilate would speedily capitulate. And this apparent vacillation,
or lack of moral courage, of the procurator was chiefly due to the
memory of a number of controversies he had had with the Jews and
because in each instance they had worsted him. The Jews knew that
Pilate was afraid of them, that he feared for his position before
Tiberius, and they employed this knowledge to the great
disadvantage of the governor on numerous occasions.
185:1.3 Pilate's disfavor with the Jews came
about as a result of a number of unfortunate encounters. First, he
failed to take seriously their deep-seated prejudice against all
images as symbols of idol worship. Therefore he permitted his
soldiers to enter Jerusalem without removing the images of Caesar
from their banners, as had been the practice of the Roman soldiers
under his predecessor. A large deputation of Jews waited upon
Pilate for five days, imploring him to have these images removed
from the military standards. He flatly refused to grant their
petition and threatened them with instant death. Pilate, himself
being a skeptic, did not understand that men of strong religious
feelings will not hesitate to die for their religious convictions;
and therefore was he dismayed when these Jews drew themselves up
defiantly before his palace, bowed their faces to the ground, and
sent word that they were ready to die. Pilate then realized that
he had made a threat which he was unwilling to carry out. He
surrendered, ordered the images removed from the standards of his
soldiers in Jerusalem, and found himself from that day on to a
large extent subject to the whims of the Jewish leaders, who had
in this way discovered his weakness in making threats which he
feared to execute.
185:1.4 Pilate subsequently determined to regain
this lost prestige and accordingly had the shields of the emperor,
such as were commonly used in Caesar worship, put up on the walls
of Herod's palace in Jerusalem. When the Jews protested, he was
adamant. When he refused to listen to their protests, they
promptly appealed to Rome, and the emperor as promptly ordered the
offending shields removed. And then was Pilate held in even lower
esteem than before.
185:1.5 Another thing which brought him into
great disfavor with the Jews was that he dared to take money from
the temple treasury to pay for the construction of a new aqueduct
to provide increased water supply for the millions of visitors to
Jerusalem at the times of the great religious feasts. The Jews
held that only the Sanhedrin could disburse the temple funds, and
they never ceased to inveigh against Pilate for this presumptuous
ruling. No less than a score of riots and much bloodshed resulted
from this decision. The last of these serious outbreaks had to do
with the slaughter of a large company of Galileans even as they
worshiped at the altar.
185:1.6 It is significant that, while this
vacillating Roman ruler sacrificed Jesus to his fear of the Jews
and to safeguard his personal position, he finally was deposed as
a result of the needless slaughter of Samaritans in connection
with the pretensions of a false Messiah who led troops to Mount
Gerizim, where he claimed the temple vessels were buried; and
fierce riots broke out when he failed to reveal the hiding place
of the sacred vessels, as he had promised. As a result of this
episode, the legatus of Syria ordered Pilate to Rome. Tiberius
died while Pilate was on the way to Rome, and he was not
reappointed as procurator of Judea. He never fully recovered from
the regretful condemnation of having consented to the crucifixion
of Jesus. Finding no favor in the eyes of the new emperor, he
retired to the province of Lausanne, where he subsequently
committed suicide.
185:1.7 Claudia Procula, Pilate's wife, had
heard much of Jesus through the word of her maid-in-waiting, who
was a Phoenician believer in the gospel of the kingdom. After the
death of Pilate, Claudia became prominently identified with the
spread of the good news.
185:1.8 And all this explains much that
transpired on this tragic Friday forenoon. It is easy to
understand why the Jews presumed to dictate to Pilate -- to get
him up at six o'clock to try Jesus -- and also why they did not
hesitate to threaten to charge him with treason before the emperor
if he dared to refuse their demands for Jesus' death.
185:1.9 A worthy Roman governor who had not
become disadvantageously involved with the rulers of the Jews
would never have permitted these bloodthirsty religious fanatics
to bring about the death of a man whom he himself had declared to
be innocent of their false charges and without fault. Rome made a
great blunder, a far-reaching error in earthly affairs, when she
sent the second-rate Pilate to govern Palestine. Tiberius had
better have sent to the Jews the best provincial administrator in
the empire.
2. JESUS APPEARS BEFORE PILATE
185:2.1 When Jesus and his accusers had gathered
in front of Pilate's judgment hall, the Roman governor came out
and, addressing the company assembled, asked, "What accusation do
you bring against this fellow?" The Sadducees and councilors who
had taken it upon themselves to put Jesus out of the way had
determined to go before Pilate and ask for confirmation of the
death sentence pronounced upon Jesus, without volunteering any
definite charge. Therefore did the spokesman for the Sanhedrist
court answer Pilate: "If this man were not an evildoer, we should
not have delivered him up to you."
185:2.2 When Pilate observed that they were
reluctant to state their charges against Jesus, although he knew
they had been all night engaged in deliberations regarding his
guilt, he answered them: "Since you have not agreed on any
definite charges, why do you not take this man and pass judgment
on him in accordance with your own laws?"
185:2.3 Then spoke the clerk of the Sanhedrin
court to Pilate: "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death,
and this disturber of our nation is worthy to die for the things
which he has said and done. Therefore have we come before you for
confirmation of this decree."
185:2.4 To come before the Roman governor with
this attempt at evasion discloses both the ill-will and the
ill-humor of the Sanhedrists toward Jesus as well as their lack of
respect for the fairness, honor, and dignity of Pilate. What
effrontery for these subject citizens to appear before their
provincial governor asking for a decree of execution against a man
before affording him a fair trial and without even preferring
definite criminal charges against him!
185:2.5 Pilate knew something of Jesus' work
among the Jews, and he surmised that the charges which might be
brought against him had to do with infringements of the Jewish
ecclesiastical laws; therefore he sought to refer the case back to
their own tribunal. Again, Pilate took delight in making them
publicly confess that they were powerless to pronounce and execute
the death sentence upon even one of their own race whom they had
come to despise with a bitter and envious hatred.
185:2.6 It was a few hours previously, shortly
before midnight and after he had granted permission to use Roman
soldiers in effecting the secret arrest of Jesus, that Pilate had
heard further concerning Jesus and his teaching from his wife,
Claudia, who was a partial convert to Judaism, and who later on
became a full-fledged believer in Jesus' gospel.
185:2.7 Pilate would have liked to postpone this
hearing, but he saw the Jewish leaders were determined to proceed
with the case. He knew that this was not only the forenoon of
preparation for the Passover, but that this day, being Friday, was
also the preparation day for the Jewish Sabbath of rest and
worship.
185:2.8 Pilate, being keenly sensitive to the
disrespectful manner of the approach of these Jews, was not
willing to comply with their demands that Jesus be sentenced to
death without a trial. When, therefore, he had waited a few
moments for them to present their charges against the prisoner, he
turned to them and said: "I will not sentence this man to death
without a trial; neither will I consent to examine him until you
have presented your charges against him in writing."
185:2.9 When the high priest and the others
heard Pilate say this, they signaled to the clerk of the court,
who then handed to Pilate the written charges against Jesus. And
these charges were:
185:2.10 "We find in the Sanhedrist tribunal
that this man is an evildoer and a disturber of our nation in that
he is guilty of:
"1. Perverting our nation and stirring
up our people to rebellion.
"2. Forbidding the people to pay
tribute to Caesar.
"3. Calling himself the king of the
Jews and teaching the founding of a new kingdom."
185:2.11 Jesus had not been regularly tried nor
legally convicted on any of these charges. He did not even hear
these charges when first stated, but Pilate had him brought from
the praetorium, where he was in the keeping of the guards, and he
insisted that these charges be repeated in Jesus' hearing.
185:2.12 When Jesus heard these accusations, he
well knew that he had not been heard on these matters before the
Jewish court, and so did John Zebedee and his accusers, but he
made no reply to their false charges. Even when Pilate bade him
answer his accusers, he opened not his mouth. Pilate was so
astonished at the unfairness of the whole proceeding and so
impressed by Jesus' silent and masterly bearing that he decided to
take the prisoner inside the hall and examine him privately.
185:2.13 Pilate was confused in mind, fearful of
the Jews in his heart, and mightily stirred in his spirit by the
spectacle of Jesus' standing there in majesty before his
bloodthirsty accusers and gazing down on them, not in silent
contempt, but with an expression of genuine pity and sorrowful
affection.
3. THE PRIVATE EXAMINATION BY PILATE
185:3.1 Pilate took Jesus and John Zebedee into
a private chamber, leaving the guards outside in the hall, and
requesting the prisoner to sit down, he sat down by his side and
asked several questions. Pilate began his talk with Jesus by
assuring him that he did not believe the first count against him:
that he was a perverter of the nation and an inciter to rebellion.
Then he asked, "Did you ever teach that tribute should be refused
Caesar?" Jesus, pointing to John, said, "Ask him or any other man
who has heard my teaching." Then Pilate questioned John about this
matter of tribute, and John testified concerning his Master's
teaching and explained that Jesus and his apostles paid taxes both
to Caesar and to the temple. When Pilate had questioned John, he
said, "See that you tell no man that I talked with you." And John
never did reveal this matter.
185:3.2 Pilate then turned around to question
Jesus further, saying: "And now about the third accusation against
you, are you the king of the Jews?" Since there was a tone of
possibly sincere inquiry in Pilate's voice, Jesus smiled on the
procurator and said: "Pilate, do you ask this for yourself, or do
you take this question from these others, my accusers?" Whereupon,
in a tone of partial indignation, the governor answered: "Am I a
Jew? Your own people and the chief priests delivered you up and
asked me to sentence you to death. I question the validity of
their charges and am only trying to find out for myself what you
have done. Tell me, have you said that you are the king of the
Jews, and have you sought to found a new kingdom?"
185:3.3 Then said Jesus to Pilate: "Do you not
perceive that my kingdom is not of this world? If my kingdom were
of this world, surely would my disciples fight that I should not
be delivered into the hands of the Jews. My presence here before
you in these bonds is sufficient to show all men that my kingdom
is a spiritual dominion, even the brotherhood of men who, through
faith and by love, have become the sons of God. And this salvation
is for the gentile as well as for the Jew."
185:3.4 "Then you are a king after all?" said
Pilate. And Jesus answered: "Yes, I am such a king, and my kingdom
is the family of the faith sons of my Father who is in heaven. For
this purpose was I born into this world, even that I should show
my Father to all men and bear witness to the truth of God. And
even now do I declare to you that every one who loves the truth
hears my voice."
185:3.5 Then said Pilate, half in ridicule and
half in sincerity, "Truth, what is truth -- who knows?"
185:3.6 Pilate was not able to fathom Jesus'
words, nor was he able to understand the nature of his spiritual
kingdom, but he was now certain that the prisoner had done nothing
worthy of death. One look at Jesus, face to face, was enough to
convince even Pilate that this gentle and weary, but majestic and
upright, man was no wild and dangerous revolutionary who aspired
to establish himself on the temporal throne of Israel. Pilate
thought he understood something of what Jesus meant when he called
himself a king, for he was familiar with the teachings of the
Stoics, who declared that "the wise man is king." Pilate was
thoroughly convinced that, instead of being a dangerous
seditionmonger, Jesus was nothing more or less than a harmless
visionary, an innocent fanatic.
185:3.7 After questioning the Master, Pilate
went back to the chief priests and the accusers of Jesus and said:
"I have examined this man, and I find no fault in him. I do not
think he is guilty of the charges you have made against him; I
think he ought to be set free." And when the Jews heard this, they
were moved with great anger, so much so that they wildly shouted
that Jesus should die; and one of the Sanhedrists boldly stepped
up by the side of Pilate, saying: "This man stirs up the people,
beginning in Galilee and continuing throughout all Judea. He is a
mischief-maker and an evildoer. You will long regret it if you let
this wicked man go free."
185:3.8 Pilate was hard pressed to know what to
do with Jesus; therefore, when he heard them say that he began his
work in Galilee, he thought to avoid the responsibility of
deciding the case, at least to gain time for thought, by sending
Jesus to appear before Herod, who was then in the city attending
the Passover. Pilate also thought that this gesture would help to
antidote some of the bitter feeling which had existed for some
time between himself and Herod, due to numerous misunderstandings
over matters of jurisdiction.
185:3.9 Pilate, calling the guards, said: "This
man is a Galilean. Take him forthwith to Herod, and when he has
examined him, report his findings to me." And they took Jesus to
Herod.
4. JESUS BEFORE HEROD
185:4.1 When Herod Antipas stopped in Jerusalem,
he dwelt in the old Maccabean palace of Herod the Great, and it
was to this home of the former king that Jesus was now taken by
the temple guards, and he was followed by his accusers and an
increasing multitude. Herod had long heard of Jesus, and he was
very curious about him. When the Son of Man stood before him, on
this Friday morning, the wicked Idumean never for one moment
recalled the lad of former years who had appeared before him in
Sepphoris pleading for a just decision regarding the money due his
father, who had been accidentally killed while at work on one of
the public buildings. As far as Herod knew, he had never seen
Jesus, although he had worried a great deal about him when his
work had been centered in Galilee. Now that he was in custody of
Pilate and the Judeans, Herod was desirous of seeing him, feeling
secure against any trouble from him in the future. Herod had heard
much about the miracles wrought by Jesus, and he really hoped to
see him do some wonder.
185:4.2 When they brought Jesus before Herod,
the tetrarch was startled by his stately appearance and the calm
composure of his countenance. For some fifteen minutes Herod asked
Jesus questions, but the Master would not answer. Herod taunted
and dared him to perform a miracle, but Jesus would not reply to
his many inquiries or respond to his taunts.
185:4.3 Then Herod turned to the chief priests
and the Sadducees and, giving ear to their accusations, heard all
and more than Pilate had listened to regarding the alleged evil
doings of the Son of Man. Finally, being convinced that Jesus
would neither talk nor perform a wonder for him, Herod, after
making fun of him for a time, arrayed him in an old purple royal
robe and sent him back to Pilate. Herod knew he had no
jurisdiction over Jesus in Judea. Though he was glad to believe
that he was finally to be rid of Jesus in Galilee, he was thankful
that it was Pilate who had the responsibility of putting him to
death. Herod never had fully recovered from the fear that cursed
him as a result of killing John the Baptist. Herod had at certain
times even feared that Jesus was John risen from the dead. Now he
was relieved of that fear since he observed that Jesus was a very
different sort of person from the outspoken and fiery prophet who
dared to expose and denounce his private life.
5. JESUS RETURNS TO PILATE
185:5.1 When the guards had brought Jesus back
to Pilate, he went out on the front steps of the praetorium, where
his judgment seat had been placed, and calling together the chief
priests and Sanhedrists, said to them: "You brought this man
before me with charges that he perverts the people, forbids the
payment of taxes, and claims to be king of the Jews. I have
examined him and fail to find him guilty of these charges. In
fact, I find no fault in him. Then I sent him to Herod, and the
tetrarch must have reached the same conclusion since he has sent
him back to us. Certainly, nothing worthy of death has been done
by this man. If you still think he needs to be disciplined, I am
willing to chastise him before I release him."
185:5.2 Just as the Jews were about to engage in
shouting their protests against the release of Jesus, a vast crowd
came marching up to the praetorium for the purpose of asking
Pilate for the release of a prisoner in honor of the Passover
feast. For some time it had been the custom of the Roman governors
to allow the populace to choose some imprisoned or condemned man
for pardon at the time of the Passover. And now that this crowd
had come before him to ask for the release of a prisoner, and
since Jesus had so recently been in great favor with the
multitudes, it occurred to Pilate that he might possibly extricate
himself from his predicament by proposing to this group that,
since Jesus was now a prisoner before his judgment seat, he
release to them this man of Galilee as the token of Passover good
will.
185:5.3 As the crowd surged up on the steps of
the building, Pilate heard them calling out the name of one
Barabbas. Barabbas was a noted political agitator and murderous
robber, the son of a priest, who had recently been apprehended in
the act of robbery and murder on the Jericho road. This man was
under sentence to die as soon as the Passover festivities were
over.
185:5.4 Pilate stood up and explained to the
crowd that Jesus had been brought to him by the chief priests, who
sought to have him put to death on certain charges, and that he
did not think the man was worthy of death. Said Pilate: "Which,
therefore, would you prefer that I release to you, this Barabbas,
the murderer, or this Jesus of Galilee?" And when Pilate had thus
spoken, the chief priests and the Sanhedrin councilors all shouted
at the top of their voices, "Barabbas, Barabbas!" And when the
people saw that the chief priests were minded to have Jesus put to
death, they quickly joined in the clamor for his life while they
loudly shouted for the release of Barabbas.
185:5.5 A few days before this the multitude had
stood in awe of Jesus, but the mob did not look up to one who,
having claimed to be the Son of God, now found himself in the
custody of the chief priests and the rulers and on trial before
Pilate for his life. Jesus could be a hero in the eyes of the
populace when he was driving the money-changers and the traders
out of the temple, but not when he was a nonresisting prisoner in
the hands of his enemies and on trial for his life.
185:5.6 Pilate was angered at the sight of the
chief priests clamoring for the pardon of a notorious murderer
while they shouted for the blood of Jesus. He saw their malice and
hatred and perceived their prejudice and envy. Therefore he said
to them: "How could you choose the life of a murderer in
preference to this man's whose worst crime is that he figuratively
calls himself the king of the Jews?" But this was not a wise
statement for Pilate to make. The Jews were a proud people, now
subject to the Roman political yoke but hoping for the coming of a
Messiah who would deliver them from gentile bondage with a great
show of power and glory. They resented, more than Pilate could
know, the intimation that this meek-mannered teacher of strange
doctrines, now under arrest and charged with crimes worthy of
death, should be referred to as "the king of the Jews." They
looked upon such a remark as an insult to everything which they
held sacred and honorable in their national existence, and
therefore did they all let loose their mighty shouts for
Barabbas's release and Jesus' death.
185:5.7 Pilate knew Jesus was innocent of the
charges brought against him, and had he been a just and courageous
judge, he would have acquitted him and turned him loose. But he
was afraid to defy these angry Jews, and while he hesitated to do
his duty, a messenger came up and presented him with a sealed
message from his wife, Claudia.
185:5.8 Pilate indicated to those assembled
before him that he wished to read the communication which he had
just received before he proceeded further with the matter before
him. When Pilate opened this letter from his wife, he read: "I
pray you have nothing to do with this innocent and just man whom
they call Jesus. I have suffered many things in a dream this night
because of him." This note from Claudia not only greatly upset
Pilate and thereby delayed the adjudication of this matter, but it
unfortunately also provided considerable time in which the Jewish
rulers freely circulated among the crowd and urged the people to
call for the release of Barabbas and to clamor for the crucifixion
of Jesus.
185:5.9 Finally, Pilate addressed himself once
more to the solution of the problem which confronted him, by
asking the mixed assembly of Jewish rulers and the pardon-seeking
crowd, "What shall I do with him who is called the king of the
Jews?" And they all shouted with one accord, "Crucify him! Crucify
him!" The unanimity of this demand from the mixed multitude
startled and alarmed Pilate, the unjust and fear-ridden judge.
185:5.10 Then once more Pilate said: "Why would
you crucify this man? What evil has he done? Who will come forward
to testify against him?" But when they heard Pilate speak in
defense of Jesus, they only cried out all the more, "Crucify him!
Crucify him!"
185:5.11 Then again Pilate appealed to them
regarding the release of the Passover prisoner, saying: "Once more
I ask you, which of these prisoners shall I release to you at
this, your Passover time?" And again the crowd shouted, "Give us
Barabbas!"
185:5.12 Then said Pilate: "If I release the
murderer, Barabbas, what shall I do with Jesus?" And once more the
multitude shouted in unison, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
185:5.13 Pilate was terrorized by the insistent
clamor of the mob, acting under the direct leadership of the chief
priests and the councilors of the Sanhedrin; nevertheless, he
decided upon at least one more attempt to appease the crowd and
save Jesus.
6. PILATE'S LAST APPEAL
185:6.1 In all that is transpiring early this
Friday morning before Pilate, only the enemies of Jesus are
participating. His many friends either do not yet know of his
night arrest and early morning trial or are in hiding lest they
also be apprehended and adjudged worthy of death because they
believe Jesus' teachings. In the multitude which now clamors for
the Master's death are to be found only his sworn enemies and the
easily led and unthinking populace.
185:6.2 Pilate would make one last appeal to
their pity. Being afraid to defy the clamor of this misled mob who
cried for the blood of Jesus, he ordered the Jewish guards and the
Roman soldiers to take Jesus and scourge him. This was in itself
an unjust and illegal procedure since the Roman law provided that
only those condemned to die by crucifixion should be thus
subjected to scourging. The guards took Jesus into the open
courtyard of the praetorium for this ordeal. Though his enemies
did not witness this scourging, Pilate did, and before they had
finished this wicked abuse, he directed the scourgers to desist
and indicated that Jesus should be brought to him. Before the
scourgers laid their knotted whips upon Jesus as he was bound to
the whipping post, they again put upon him the purple robe, and
plaiting a crown of thorns, they placed it upon his brow. And when
they had put a reed in his hand as a mock scepter, they knelt
before him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And
they spit upon him and struck him in the face with their hands.
And one of them, before they returned him to Pilate, took the reed
from his hand and struck him upon the head.
185:6.3 Then Pilate led forth this bleeding and
lacerated prisoner and, presenting him before the mixed multitude,
said: "Behold the man! Again I declare to you that I find no crime
in him, and having scourged him, I would release him."
185:6.4 There stood Jesus of Nazareth, clothed
in an old purple royal robe with a crown of thorns piercing his
kindly brow. His face was bloodstained and his form bowed down
with suffering and grief. But nothing can appeal to the unfeeling
hearts of those who are victims of intense emotional hatred and
slaves to religious prejudice. This sight sent a mighty shudder
through the realms of a vast universe, but it did not touch the
hearts of those who had set their minds to effect the destruction
of Jesus.
185:6.5 When they had recovered from the first
shock of seeing the Master's plight, they only shouted the louder
and the longer, "Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him!"
185:6.6 And now did Pilate comprehend that it
was futile to appeal to their supposed feelings of pity. He
stepped forward and said: "I perceive that you are determined this
man shall die, but what has he done to deserve death? Who will
declare his crime?"
185:6.7 Then the high priest himself stepped
forward and, going up to Pilate, angrily declared: "We have a
sacred law, and by that law this man ought to die because he made
himself out to be the Son of God." When Pilate heard this, he was
all the more afraid, not only of the Jews, but recalling his
wife's note and the Greek mythology of the gods coming down on
earth, he now trembled at the thought of Jesus possibly being a
divine personage. He waved to the crowd to hold its peace while he
took Jesus by the arm and again led him inside the building that
he might further examine him. Pilate was now confused by fear,
bewildered by superstition, and harassed by the stubborn attitude
of the mob.
7. PILATE'S LAST INTERVIEW
185:7.1 As Pilate, trembling with fearful
emotion, sat down by the side of Jesus, he inquired: "Where do you
come from? Really, who are you? What is this they say, that you
are the Son of God?"
185:7.2 But Jesus could hardly answer such
questions when asked by a man-fearing, weak, and vacillating judge
who was so unjust as to subject him to flogging even when he had
declared him innocent of all crime, and before he had been duly
sentenced to die. Jesus looked Pilate straight in the face, but he
did not answer him. Then said Pilate: "Do you refuse to speak to
me? Do you not realize that I still have power to release you or
to crucify you?" Then said Jesus: "You could have no power over me
except it were permitted from above. You could exercise no
authority over the Son of Man unless the Father in heaven allowed
it. But you are not so guilty since you are ignorant of the
gospel. He who betrayed me and he who delivered me to you, they
have the greater sin.
185:7.3 This last talk with Jesus thoroughly
frightened Pilate. This moral coward and judicial weakling now
labored under the double weight of the superstitious fear of Jesus
and mortal dread of the Jewish leaders.
185:7.4 Again Pilate appeared before the crowd,
saying: "I am certain this man is only a religious offender. You
should take him and judge him by your law. Why should you expect
that I would consent to his death because he has clashed with your
traditions?"
185:7.5 Pilate was just about ready to release
Jesus when Caiaphas, the high priest, approached the cowardly
Roman judge and, shaking an avenging finger in Pilate's face, said
with angry words which the entire multitude could hear: "If you
release this man, you are not Caesar's friend, and I will see that
the emperor knows all." This public threat was too much for
Pilate. Fear for his personal fortunes now eclipsed all other
considerations, and the cowardly governor ordered Jesus brought
out before the judgment seat. As the Master stood there before
them, he pointed to him and tauntingly said, "Behold your king."
And the Jews answered, "Away with him. Crucify him!" And then
Pilate said, with much irony and sarcasm, "Shall I crucify your
king?" And the Jews answered, "Yes, crucify him! We have no king
but Caesar." And then did Pilate realize that there was no hope of
saving Jesus since he was unwilling to defy the Jews.
8. PILATE'S TRAGIC SURRENDER
185:8.1 Here stood the Son of God incarnate as
the Son of Man. He was arrested without indictment; accused
without evidence; adjudged without witnesses; punished without a
verdict; and now was soon to be condemned to die by an unjust
judge who confessed that he could find no fault in him. If Pilate
had thought to appeal to their patriotism by referring to Jesus as
the "king of the Jews," he utterly failed. The Jews were not
expecting any such a king. The declaration of the chief priests
and the Sadducees, "We have no king but Caesar," was a shock even
to the unthinking populace, but it was too late now to save Jesus
even had the mob dared to espouse the Master's cause.
185:8.2 Pilate was afraid of a tumult or a riot.
He dared not risk having such a disturbance during Passover time
in Jerusalem. He had recently received a reprimand from Caesar,
and he would not risk another. The mob cheered when he ordered the
release of Barabbas. Then he ordered a basin and some water, and
there before the multitude he washed his hands, saying: "I am
innocent of the blood of this man. You are determined that he
shall die, but I have found no guilt in him. See you to it. The
soldiers will lead him forth." And then the mob cheered and
replied, "His blood be on us and on our children."
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