When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
– John 19:6
Most of us would love to be told we are like Paul or John. What a great thought that is and a great goal to strive for. I think that most of us may have our Paul days or our John days, but it definitely is not an everyday occurrence! I dare say that the majority of my days don’t even come close to equating with those strong Christians. I am not even sure if any of my days come close.
Unfortunately, there are many days that I come closer to being Pontius Pilate than the disciples, and I would bet if you looked at your life, you may find yourself in the same place. Now, I realize you are thinking, “What? Are you crazy? He sentenced my Lord to death!” Guess what, so did you! Our sin is truly what put Jesus on the cross, not man! However, that is not even what I am getting at.
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. – Matthew 27:24
Pilate knew Jesus was not at fault. He knew Jesus did not deserve to die. Nevertheless, Pilate never took a stand and said, “I am releasing this innocent man.” He did try to wash his hands of the situation and renounce guilt, but that is like saying, “Here. Go ahead and kill my brother. I know you are going to do it, and I won’t stop you. Because I am not doing it, however, I am guiltless.” Well, okay, that is exactly what he implied. That does not constitute as acceptable in God’s eyes. For someone who has the power to do something and to not do it is just as guilty as the person doing it. Pilate was one of the head people, yet he feared the common man.
With all this said, I don’t know that I can be so hard on Pilate when most of us do this in our everyday lives. How many times have we kept quiet when someone says something awful and dishonoring to our Lord? How many times have we kept quiet when a door opened to share the gospel? How many times have we watched something happen that we should have spoken up? I can say for myself that it has been way more than I would like to admit!!
I often wonder if Pilate repented and got saved after Jesus’ death? It is definitely possible. Some think it would have been recorded, but I don’t believe that is necessarily true. I am not saying he did, but I don’t rule anything out! If Saul (Paul) could be saved after all the killings of Christians, then anyone can!
Anyway, I know that I definitely have the tendencies of Pilate. I allow my flesh to overpower me at times, and I am ashamed that it happens so much. If I truly were a Paul, my compassion for souls would overtake everything else in my life. If I were a John, I would be leaning upon Jesus in a way like never before. Again, more often than not, I fail at this.
I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. – 1 Corinthians 15:31
The great thing about the Lord? We have a brand new slate each and every day to work worth. We can switch from Pilate to Paul if we want to. We must remember, however, that we need to die to self daily in order to accomplish this. Every day it is a battle . . . every hour of the day, every moment . . . The devil is powerful and so is the flesh. This is why we need the Holy Ghost indwelling us!
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Think about it as you go through your day: am I a Paul or a Pilate? My prayer is for Paul!
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I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20
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