March 9, 2005 Pilate’s Politics
When you put people into your car to ride with you, you are putting their lives into your hands. One wrong turn or one moment of indecision could lead you into a quick and fiery death of the most painful kind. Imagine, for instance, that as you were driving home on the Interstate you had a flat tire. In a split moment of time you would need to make the decision how far you can go and where you should go. If you could not make it to the edge of the road, your very life could very easily be lost. You would need to not only make smart decisions, but also quick decisions. This is the way life goes.
Imagine the responsibility that comes with some vocations of life - that of a general, judge, or politician. One wrong decision may cause the death of hundreds or even thousands of people. The decision to send a nuclear bomb by President Harry Truman against Japan caused the death of over 50,000 people in the blink of an eye. Because of this, some people do their best to stay out of such situations where their decisions have so much clout. They flee from marriage, friendship, and parenting because of their fear of failure and their fear of responsibility. Yet there are some who are not so wise. In thinking about the perks of some places of responsibility, they seek the office. However, when they also find out the negative sides of the office, they wish they had never sought such a place.
What is worse than this are those who seek positions of authority, but then, when they are given such positions, do not have the stomach to make the tough decisions. Instead of saying yea or nay, they hem and haw and alternate between both opinions - trying to please both sides and pleasing neither. These kinds of leaders - because of their fear to anger anyone - often cost more lives than those who hap-hazardly make a quick but wrong decision. Sometimes there can be no compromise.
With this in mind, it brings us to tonight’s topic - Pilate’s Politics. Here is another person who - in a position of authority - did not want to make the tough decision. Pilate did more damage to himself and justice than he could have ever realized. Yet in the end we’ll see how -
Pilate’s Politics Served a Good Purpose
I. The difficult situation
It becomes obvious in reading the history of the Gospels that Pilate was a politician of the worst type. Although he was able to live in a seeming palace with servants and soldiers at his side, he also was put in charge of keeping peace among the Jews. I imagine what it would be like to be named the governor of Baghdad. Nobody in their right mind would want such a job. It was put under his charge to try and keep control over some seemingly fanatical people who only understood the whip. On top of this, when the Jews wished to fulfill the punishment of the law on their people, they had to go to Pilate prior to doing so. Pilate had a tremendous reponsibility as governor, as he had to answer to the Emperor if things were to get out of hand. Pilate didn’t seem to want this responsibility. Notice what he did when Jesus was first brought to him.
Luke 23:1-7 The whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.” So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
Pilate wanted nothing to do with Jesus. However, since Herod had no real authority to put Jesus to death, Jesus was sent rather quickly back to Pilate.
Time and again Pilate cross examined Jesus to find what exactly he had done wrong. Time and again he found nothing. He didn’t want to even make such a decision. Pilate’s indecision - his failure to make a firm decision on the side of justice - led him down a path of injustice. Notice how it progresses.
He went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” 40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him in the face. 4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” (Jn 18:38-19:4)
Pilate’s indecision led him to several more sins. Not only did he release a known rebel and insurrectionist, but he also admittedly had an innocent man flogged and beaten. Instead of siding with Jesus, he tried to take a middle road of injustice. All this indecision did was to put blood in the eyes of the Jews, and make them demand more.
When they sensed the weakness of Pilate to stand up for justice, the Jews played politics with Caesar. “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” Notice how the Jews played politics with Caesar. They used simple logic. Jesus claims to be the King of the Jews. If He claims to be King, then He will try to take Caesar’s throne. Therefore, if you don’t put him to death, you are allowing an insurrection to occur. Then you will be accountable to Caesar, and may lose your position of authority. Pilate knew full well that Jesus wasn’t claiming to be an earthly king. Jesus had told him in no uncertain terms that his kingdom was not of this world. Yet he still seemed to fear what the Jews would say or do in response if he didn’t put this Jesus to death. He was put in a difficult situation. Either put an innocent man to death or risk his position as governor. Pilate didn’t want to make such a decision - but here he was - being told to make such a decision and make it fast.
The struggle that Pilate faced was not peculiar to him. It is something that Jesus wants each and every Christian needs to be prepared for. Jesus said in Matthew 10:37-38, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Consider, for example an Old Testament law that God wrote in Deuteronomy 13:6-10, If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. This clearly reflects the principle which God states in the 1st Commandment - “You shall have no other gods.” There may come a time in your life that you will be asked to make a decision - between God and sleep - God and work - God and child - God and spouse - God and your very life. In such a place, God does not seek a compromise from you. He will not be pleased if you decide to give God your life on Sunday morning, and then seek your own pleasings throughout the week. He seeks to be the object of your affections for every moment of your life - no matter how tired you are - how busy you are - there is to be no wavering. God demands first place.
If we want to be honest, this is a position we don’t like to be in. We would rather ride both sides of the fence - without having to make any such decisions. This version of Christianity decides to love Christ with no sacrifices - no choices - no narrow paths. This is what many choose. To them, Christ demands nothing more than an occasional prayer or glance upward. Doctrine is not such a major thing. What they seek to do is to water down our God - and in doing so - they turn him - only in their minds - into a nice little old man who just wants us to do our best. The difference between the Christian faith and the way of the world really isn’t that far off to such compromisers. In the end, they will be surprised at how different Christianity really is. If Elijah were alive he would like to shake them and say, “how long will you waver between two opinions.” There is no middle road. God will not allow it. Jesus says, “I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Do not try the middle fence, my friends. You will find yourself compromising justice and whipping Jesus with your words and actions. Christianity is not meant to put you into a comfortable position - not in this world.
II. The political solution of Pilate
Like it or not, Pilate was being forced to make a decision he didn’t want to make. The Jews were forcing him to either choose to free Jesus and put his own political life at risk, or to murder Jesus and save his own political situation. How did he respond?
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. (Jn 19:12-17)
Pilate made the only decision that his sinful nature could make. When push comes to shove - the sinful nature cannot help but be selfish. It has to look to it’s own power. This is how the Fall has conditioned humans to naturally respond. Therefore, Pilate threw Jesus on the cross, to save himself from an insurrection and a bad wrap before Caesar.
Before handing Jesus over, if you remember, Pilate washed his hands in front of them. He wanted to remove the responsibility from his hands. In a sense, he was playing politics with his own conscience - trying to convince it through this action that he was really innocent of doing anything wrong - and passing the blame on the Jews. Such an empty ceremony could not do so. History shows that he felt so guilty over it, that from that point on he carried an intense hatred of the Jews. Bent on vengeance and anger over his cowardice, Pilate was known from history to be especially cruel in his treatment of the Jews. It became so bad, that he eventually lost his position because of his harshness. If I remember correctly, history states that he committed suicide. By all accounts Pilate’s politics landed him in hell. The washing of the hands of Pilate, the terrible decision to crucify Christ - you can’t wash that away no matter how you spin it. Pilate was the only line of defense. Instead of defending Jesus, the politician of Pilate condemned him.
The politics of the household, the politics of work, the politics of church - how many times when push comes to shove do we make the wrong decision? You know that your children need your care and attention, but you are too tired to do much after work. So you decide to sit down and watch TV instead of talk to your kids and spend some time with them. Even though you are tired, your conscience tells you that you should go to worship on a Sunday morning. Any sin against your conscience is a serious thing. You try to excuse your sin because you are tired, but your conscience doesn’t buy it, and neither does God. You made the wrong decision. You have a choice - to either allow yourself to be ostricised at school as a Christian, or to mix in with the crowd in a wholly unhealthy way. So you decide to be a “moderate” Christian, because you don’t like standing out. We tell ourselves that we have to be “realistic” about life. Yet we know in our hearts that we have committed sin. Those decisions - try as we might to convince ourselves that we have no other choice - bring guilt - because they crucify Christ.
III. The political solution of Christ
In the midst of this political showdown, stood Jesus. If you notice, he wasn’t much into the politics of the matter.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:64)
Now, this wasn’t the most popular answer Jesus could have given. It definitely wasn’t politically correct. But Jesus told the truth anyway - and that’s all he spoke. Again, notice how Jesus responded to Pilate.
Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. (Matthew 27:11-14)
Jesus didn’t worry about what the governor or the Jews would think of it - He simply told them the truth - the simple plain truth. He didn’t try to sugar coat it. He didn’t speak like a politician trying to make his answer sound more palatable. He knew that the truth would put him on the cross. Yet he spoke the truth anyway. Even the Pharisees said to him, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.” (Mt 22:16)
You see the attitude when it came to the way Jesus spoke with the disciples. Even the disciples had their own politics. Every one of them wanted to be great rulers in the kingdom of heaven. It got to the point that they argued about it along the road. James and John sent their mom to ask Jesus if they could sit at the right and left of Jesus. Peter and the disciples wanted Jesus to be an earthly ruler, just like the rest of the Jews. They had visions of earthly kingdoms and huge palaces. Therefore, when Jesus talked about dying and suffering - the disciples didn’t like that kind of talk. Peter tried to talk him out of it. Jesus had none of it. He said, “get behind me, Satan.” In Matthew 20:25-27 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Jesus remained focused on His principles in the face of pressure to do what everyone thought He should do.
Isn’t it ironic then, that the One Person who didn’t fall into the politics of life was crucified because of it? Here was one Guy who didn’t let anyone’s opinion of him sway what He said or what He did - and He still ended up being crucified just for being straight forward about who He was and what God’s Word said. It shows you how revolting our world really is - one that expects lies and can’t put up with the Truth - must crucify the Truth - just so that the lies can continue on. Anyone looking at that cross at first may have believed the lies - that Jesus was just an imposter - a phony. Yet as we see the Truth unfold - we see that the Truth cannot be covered by a million lies. As the sky drew dark, the tombs split in two, and the temple curtain tore in two, the Truth was told. As Jesus lay on the cross, the Truth continued to come forth. Jesus said, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” Jesus said, “it is finished.” The politics of Pilate - the injustice of his decision - ended up becoming the greatest injustice - and yet the greatest justice that this world will ever know. God’s politics said that man must die. Man must go to hell. He didn’t look for a middle road. He didn’t look for a compromise. There was only one way to satisfy His wrath. My Son must die as the substitute for the world. Pilate’s politics put God’s politics into play. God used it for a good purpose. Jesus was able to use Pilate’s cowardice to display God’s strength. The greatest strength of God is in His unconditional love - to have the strength and courage to administer justice and hell on His Son - to not hold back on His wrath - so that Jesus could pay for our sins as our substitute.
All too often in life we play politics. We fear what our friends will think of us. We drive ourselves and perform our deeds trying to impress each other. We shade the truth of who we are so others will be more impressed with us. In doing so we we lie to others about who we are and what we consist of. Think about how worthless this is. On Judgment Day, it isn’t going to matter what your wife thinks of you. It isn’t going to matter what your kid thinks of you. It isn’t going to matter what you think of you. It will only matter what God thinks of you. When we see how we are swayed by human opinion - it shows how full of garbage we are!
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Paul said, even though we are dirty and filthy politicians, when we are IN CHRIST - we look holy and blameless in HIS SIGHT. If Christ hadn’t spoken the truth, we couldn’t say that. If Christ hadn’t died on the cross, we wouldn’t say that. But through faith in Jesus - we can say that. This is the Truth that God wants us to cling to. We are holy and blameless in God’s sight. Jesus isn’t ashamed to call you His own - because He purchased you. This isn’t politically correct. It’s doctrinally correct. It’s the unchangable truth. Isn’t that all that matters? Amen.
