You know Cornelius, when you asked about my days as ruler in
Judea, you make me search my memory. Especially when you ask whether I remember
anything about the beginnings there of the Christian sect that is growing so
strongly here in Rome. I find it hard to recall much that is very definite.
There were many uprisings among the Jewish people in those
days because of their peculiar beliefs. Likewise there were constantly new
nomadic prophets who claimed to have a message for the people from their God,
Yahweh. Jesus, whom some called the Christ, was a Galilean. I'm sure, because I
remember sending him to Herod, the tetrarch in Galilee who was in Jerusalem at
the time Jesus was brought to me for trial. It seems that the Galileans were
particularly inclined to follow these would-be messiahs.
About all I can recall for sure in connection with this
Jesus, whom the Christians follow, is that his trial came up one year during
the Passover season. That was a time of year when I stayed in Jerusalem because
of the possibility of trouble.
Every year at the time of the Passover in the spring these
Jewish people came to their Jerusalem temple from all over, from Galilee up
north but also from many non-Jewish countries, from Greece, Syria, Egypt, and
even from Rome. So whenever there was a Passover celebration the agitators and
fanatics would be busy stirring up the people against Rome. On group, called
the Zealots, was particularly violent and fanatic. I had many of them
crucified.
I remember one particular Passover that involved these
Christians you’re asking about. That year things seemed especially unsettled
and the Jewish people were restless. Early in the he week of the Passover my
men reported that a Galilean rabbi had come into Jerusalem on a donkey and some
of the pilgrims hailed him as a hero.
They had even staged a kind of festival parade, pulling
branches from palm trees and olive trees to honor him and taking off their
coats to put on the road for their hero to tide over on his donkey. But there
was no violence or rioting, and though they shouted hopes of deliverance the
rabbi did nothing to incite rebellion. So we did nothing about it.
That same week, however, we had to arrest another Jew by the
name of Barabbas. I remember him because the incident that caused his arrest
was particularly violent. Barabbas killed one of my Roman soldiers. It happened
when his gang of zealots stirred up a demonstration against Rome trying to
incite the Jews to revolution. When my soldiers broke up the gathering,
Barabbas managed to kill one of them. We held him in custody until the best
time to crucify him as an example to other agitators.
This kind of riotous agitation gave me a clue that there
would be more trouble brewing. I suspected that the temple crowd, the priests,
Pharisees, and scribes, might try to whip up hatred toward our Roman law and
order. There was an unusually large crowd of pilgrims and Jewish people from
many countries in Jerusalem that Passover. Such a crowd meant disturbances of
all sorts against Roman rule.
So I was really surprised when my servant woke my very early
one Friday, the day when the Jewish Passover would reach its climax in the
evening. The servant told me that the temple crowd, led by the chief priest
himself, had brought a political prisoner they accused of treason and wanted me
to crucify. It wasn't at all what I expected of them. I knew at once that they
were up to some kind of trickery. But I thought it best at least to listen to
their charges.
I had to leave the palace to meet them on the pavement
outside because of one of their peculiar religious laws.
Though they could bring this man, likely innocent, and shout
for his crucifixion, they couldn't enter the palace of a gentile governor
without becoming religiously unclean and thus not able to celebrate their
Passover.
When they hauled up their prisoner before me; I saw that he
too, was a Jew. The priests said his name was Jesus from Nazareth. Of course,
the name meant nothing to me, but I recognized at once that coming from
Nazareth made Jesus a Galilean. That is why I later sent him over to King Herod
of Galilee, who being a Jew, was also in Jerusalem for the Passover.
All that effort accomplished, however, was that Herod
thereafter became more friendly toward me. He returned Jesus to my jurisdiction
and decision.
As soon as I saw Jesus I knew at once that the priests had a
religious quarrel with him and not a political one. Jesus had a calm air and a
kind of serenity about him that didn't fit a political rebel. So I told the
priests to take care of it themselves according to their religious laws.
But they got mean. They insisted Jesus was a traitor and a
rebel. They threatened to notify Caesar in Rome that I was soft on traitors.
The temple crowd led by the high priest said this Jesus claimed to be a king
and that he didn't support paying taxes to Caesar.
Though I knew in my heat that it was all being done out of
spite and envy, I went through the motions of asking Jesus whether he was king
of the Jews. He looked at me without fear and gave a strange answer. Jesus
said, "My kingdom is not of this
world." Then he said some things about truth that made no sense to me.
But I knew beyond a doubt that Jesus of Nazareth was no political threat to
Rome.
Then I hit on what I thought was a brilliant idea. It would
certainly get me off the hook of having to make a final decision about Jesus. I
wouldn't have to go against the Jewish leaders with a decision to set Jesus
free in spite of their charges. They would make the choice themselves, I
thought. I offered to release either the harmless Jesus or the vicious
Barabbas. But the hatred of the priests toward Jesus - which I believe stemmed
from envy - was so great that they stirred up the people to ask that Barabbas
be released. [Matthew 27:15-23]
I was frustrated. But, I thought, surely they would be
satisfied with a lesser punishment than crucifixion. So I had Jesus flogged
till the blood ran down his back in streams.
Then I brought Jesus out, showed him to the people. I told
them I found Jesus to be innocent, and said, "Here he is! Look at Him!" To my consternation the crowd still
shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
What could I do? If I didn't crucify him they would blacken
my name to Caesar in Rome. So I yielded. I gave my decision and ordered Jesus
to be crucified. Even my own wife had warned me not to get involved, because
she had a dream that told her Jesus was innocent. [Matthew 27:19] But what
could I do? I had to make a decision. But I could not make the hard decision.
So I took the easy way out. I condemned an innocent man to
crucifixion to save my reputation with Caesar at Rome. To let the priests and
temple crowd know, though, that I considered Jesus innocent and that it was
their responsibility, I called for a basin of water. Then I publicly washed my
hands and said "I am innocent of
this man's blood; see to it yourselves." [Matthew 27:21-26]
As I remember it, that was the beginning of the Christian
sect. In time, even my wife, became a believer. She tells me often that I, too,
should ask God to forgive me. She often assures me that Jesus of Nazareth, whom
I crucified, really is the Son of God and that, three days after he died on the
cross, he rose from the dead. She says that is what gave his disciples courage
and gives his followers today the faith to say, "Jesus Christ is Lord of
all."
Concluding thoughts: Poor Pontius Pilate! He was faced with what for him was a
hard decision: To do what was right and set Jesus free or to do what was safe
for him and yield to pressure. How often we are faced with decisions that tempt
us to protect our own interests by yielding to pressures that make us do what
is not right or good in God's sight.
Jesus Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate, but He rose
again to give assurance that God's mercy is there for all who seek it in repentance
and faith. Whenever we confess the Creed, in church or at home, may it be a
voluntary testimony of our own faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Illustration
from a woodcut by Baron Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872, a distinguished
German artist known especially for his book, The Book of Books in Pictures.
copyright © WELS used by permission for personal and congregational use.
