Remembering the Story:

A Devotional Guide for Holy Week--2013

Thursday:  Trial before Pilate; Avoiding Responsibility

Sing:    See him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;

O the wormwood and the gall!  O the pangs his soul sustained! 

Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.

“Go to Dark Gethsemane,” verse 2—Words by James Montgomery.  Hymn No. 290 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Read:  Luke 23:1-25

Reflect on the Biblical Story:

One word that I have never heard used to describe Pontius Pilate is “principled;” but Pilate tried here to do the right thing.  Time and time again, he tried to let Jesus go.  “I find no basis for an accusation against this man” (23:4).  He tried, unsuccessfully, to escape from the dilemma by putting the matter in Herod’s hands, but Herod was as adept at avoidance as Pilate.  Once again, Pilate told the accusers ‘I have examined him [Jesus] in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges” (23:14).  Then Pilate tried to appease the accusers by giving them the choice between releasing a known murderer, Barabbas, or Jesus, as part of their Passover custom (23:18), but the accusers called his bluff and called for Barabbas.  “I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death,” Pilate pronounced (23:22).  Still, the crowd of accusers demanded that Jesus be condemned.  Pilate’s ultimate verdict was not that Jesus was guilty; rather, his verdict was that the accuser’s “demand should be granted” (23:24).

This theme is as old as the Garden of Eden.  It’s not my fault—“the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12).  “The serpent tricked me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13).  In Matthew’s account of the trial, Pilate asserts his innocence by symbolically washing his hands and proclaiming “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves” (Matthew 27:24).  Pilate could wash Jesus’ blood from his hands; but he could not wash his own guilt from his soul. 

I find another interesting detail in this story.  Pilate and Herod each tried to pass responsibility for Jesus’ trial to the other.  Neither of them would accept responsibility for Jesus guilt or innocence; but in their efforts to avoid responsibility, they became “friends with each other” (Luke 23:12).  Birds of a feather sometimes really do flock together.

There is irony in the crime for which Jesus was accused.  “We found this man perverting our nation” (Luke 23:2)—a charge that does not appear to warrant a penalty of death.  “I have found no in him no ground for the sentence of death,” Pilate asserted (Luke 23:22); but the accusers would not accept this result.  Ultimately, Pilate gave into their demands.  What was the ultimate finding of guilt?  The inscription above the cross read simply, “This is the King of the Jews” (Matthew 23:38).

Reflect on Your Story:

1.       When in your life have you tried to avoid responsibility for difficult or unpopular decisions?  What did you do to try to avoid the situation?  Were you conscious of your actions at the time?  Did someone else bring it to your attention?

2.       How do you deal with guilt?  Pilate tried to wash away his guilt; how do you deal with feelings of guilt?

Pray:    “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”   Amen.  (Psalm 51:2-3, 10).