Conversations with God

Hello God, it’s me, Mara:

You know, Lord, comfort and safety, that’s our motto. It’s so easy to hide our heads in the sand, pretending there are no problems. We’re like everyone else, aren’t we, Lord, wanting to wash our hands of the whole affair. One chap with that attitude is written about in the Gospels. The scene, so long ago, was dramatized in the city of Jerusalem.

We picture the event which unfolds involving Pontius Pilate, the governor (recorded in Matthew 27). Pilate, a procurator, was in the judgment hall of the palace. A crowd watched the proceedings, their eyes on Pilate and Jesus. Pilate was desperate (this affair upset him terribly). Pilate tried to avoid the responsibility of judging the Man who stood before him.

Then an urgent message came from his wife: (verse 19), “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man: for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” Reading on in verse 20, we discover that the chief priests and elders then persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and have Jesus executed – they wanted Him crucified. Pilate didn’t want that to happen so he asked what crime Jesus had committed, but – the crowd screamed: “Crucify him!”

What was Pilate to do? He called for water, then before the crowd, he symbolically washed his hands of the whole affair, saying (verse 24), “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”

Such a wimp! Washing his hands did not cleanse him of guilt or cowardice. With Pilate out of the way, the crown ruled, demanding the release of Barabbas, the scourging of Christ, and that He be delivered over to be crucified.

Before we condemn Pilate, help us remember that we, also, wanting comfort and safety, would probably side-step responsibility rather than take a stand against the crowd which may endanger us.

Love, Mara