Thursday, April 13 – Katie Rhodes

Pilate

Read Matthew 27:11-26

Reflection ~

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a scruffy, brash smuggler who made his living off a universe at war. A young idealist dressed in white tumbled into the smuggler’s path and asked for help seeking his destiny. The idealist testified of a supernatural “force” which shaped his life and controlled the fate of the universe. The smuggler scoffed: “Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe that there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. ‘Cause no mystical energy field controls my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.” The smuggler was determined to be the captain of his own ship. Yet, whenever circumstances took a turn for the worse, this brash character was also known for spouting out, “It’s not my fault!”

Star Wars is one of the most famous storylines in our culture, but there is another person even more famous for proclaiming “It’s not my fault!”  Pontius Pilate literally sat in front of God incarnate and handed him over to die. Readers throughout history have wrestled with how to interpret Pilate. He seems attuned to Jesus’ significance and declares his belief in Jesus’ innocence. In a time when women were not even thought of as fully human, his wife was allowed to send him an urgent message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him!”  Pilate hems. He haws. He tries to come up with a compromise. He is out yelled and outmaneuvered. He is afraid of the crowd rioting under his watch. Finally, in the greatest instance of blame shifting since Adam and Eve, Pilate washes his hands, claiming that his assent to murder was “not my fault.” Like the smuggler, Pilate did not want to surrender to supernatural guidance, but he also did not want to accept responsibility for his own actions. 

History does not remember Pilate as blameless but rather as someone who chose to please people rather than God. Of course, in the grand arc of the story, we know that Pilate is not solely responsible for Jesus’ death. Jesus said elsewhere, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” John 10:18. Yet, we also know that despite his elaborate object lesson, Pilate’s hands were not clean of Jesus blood. Jesus also said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Matthew 12:30

It is easy to judge Pilate for his choice. Yet, how often do we act exactly the same way — just with lower stakes? As Christians, how often do we choose not to treat Jesus as our King? How often do we ignore the guidance of people God has placed in our life (like Pilate’s wife)? How often do we neglect to protect the innocent or ignore the cause of justice? How often do we let our fear of failure, our fear of hardship, or our fear of the disapproval of men trump our calling?

Prayer ~

Good and just God, thank you for sending your Son into a cruel and unjust world. Please give me the discernment to know your presence, the humility to listen to wise counsel, and the courage to join you in protecting the innocent and promoting justice. Thank you that love wins and that death is not always the end of the story. Amen