PILATE THE PROCURATOR – A DOUBLE MINDED PSYCHOPATH - PART 2
THE CHARACTERS OF JOHN’S GOSPEL – PILATE - PART 2 OF 2
This Message on Pilate continues from Part 1.
John 19 v 4 Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”
What use was that? This evil man who was supposed to uphold justice, trashed it to win the favour of the Jewish leaders. The sins that men do will follow them. One of the greatest hates of God right through the Old Testament is the injustice done by those whose positions were to uphold and dispense justice. Unjust judges are an abomination in God’s sight. Pilate most certainly will give account. You would not want to be in his shoes. He was a man who paid lip service to justice and acted only in HIS best interests.
John 19 v 5 Jesus therefore came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” John 19:6 When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”
Pilate presented Jesus in mockery. He handed the Lord over to His enemies knowing he was innocent because he, himself, considered Jesus innocent. That is where we get the expression, “washed his hands of the whole affair”, especially as he did the act publicly - Matthew 27 v 24 “When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the multitude saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood. See to that yourselves.” Matt 27:25 All the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Nothing will ever wash away the guilt of this satanic man, this corrupt governor, this one who walked over justice like an elephant walks over sticks. Like Lady Macbeth, all the perfume of Arabia and all the waters of the ocean will never absolve Pilate’s guilt. He delivered up Jesus, much to the hurt of his own eternal soul, and to the continual hurt of the Jewish people. Pilate is totally guilty of the murder of Jesus. Yes, it is murder, for he delivered an innocent one to death. Washing his hands was an act of a hypocrite.
John 19 v 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.” John 19:8 When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid John 19:9 and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” but Jesus gave him no answer. John 19:10 Pilate therefore said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above. For this reason he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.”
The expression “Son of God” unsettled this evil man even more. Not surprising because the demonic world is fearful of the Son of God. This interchange over Jesus’s origin and destiny, only revealed the absolutely flawed character of Pilate. Look at verse 10. Pilate had authority alright, but he was so degenerate he could not use his authority with justice. He was incapable for he was a murderer. He was incapable because he did not know right from wrong. Verse 11 is an important verse for it looks at ultimate authority and comparative guilt. We must understand this verse. In ultimate authority, we have confirmed that the final Decider is God who establishes and breaks down. Remember that nothing touches you for good or bad except the hand of God controls it. Then there is comparative sin and guilt. Jesus says that Judas has a greater sin than Pilate. Pilate’s sin is very great, don’t lessen it, but the sin of Judas is greater.
There is no excuse for Pilate – none whatever. We can not even find one point to excuse him, but note this important detail. Pilate was in the presence of Jesus for one night and condemned Him. Judas was in the presence of Jesus for three and a half years and betrayed Him. Judas was in the most privileged position as were all the disciples. They lived with God in His very presence day and night and saw God among them. Yet, even so, Judas betrayed Him. A man in the ultimate judgement is judged according to the light he has received. In this case, Judas has a greater guilt than Pilate.
John 19 v 12 As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.” John 19:13 When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. John 19:14 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover. It was about the sixth hour and he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” John 19:15 They therefore cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him. Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar,” John 19:16 so he then delivered Him to them to be crucified.
Pilate’s weak and insincere efforts to release Jesus are lamentable. He scourged an innocent man. He allowed soldiers to torture and mock Jesus. He let injustice flow from his hands all night. He was a pathetic man. It was now 6 o’clock in the morning and Pilate made the choice – King Jesus or King Caesar. He chose Caesar and handed Jesus over for crucifixion.
The Jews were cunning, for the leaders of the nation were scheming, jealous and vile haters of God, having a form of religion but in absolute darkness in regard to the covenant God of the nation. They were like the priests and leaders of Malachi’s time. They knew how to manipulate Pilate and they threatened to undermine his position before Rome.
In verse 14 Pilate presented Jesus to the Jews as their King. I can’t accept this as being a move just in mockery. I think Pilate was hoping the Jews would accept Jesus as King in name only, not in connection with any territory, and then that would solve his dilemma for he had a horrible choice – either he had the courage to release Jesus because he knew He was innocent, or wash his hands of it and surrender to the Jews. He chose the latter, but the Jews were given the choice also. Verse 15 for two millennia has been the downfall of the Jewish people and led to their separation from God, and their wandering in the world for all that time, as they try to live in a hostile world, but are bound to Caesar. They bound themselves to the Caesars of the world system and rejected their God.
John 19 v 19 Pilate wrote an inscription also, and put it on the cross and it was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” John 19:20 Therefore, this inscription many of the Jews read, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. John 19:21 The chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’ but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” John 19:22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
“What I have written, I have written.” That has become the second of the most famous Pilate quotes to come down to us through history. Pilate knew who Jesus was. At least his controlling demons did. Pilate wrote a correct inscription for the Lord of Glory. All the Gospels have only part of the inscription, but in full, it reads, “This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews”. What God has written, He has written, Pilate! And your infamous behaviour has been recorded. It is written down for the day of the great white throne. Jesus stood in judgement before Pilate in the Roman court, but at the great white throne, Pilate will stand in judgement before the very One he crucified, and that will be a dreadful day.
John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. John 19:32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him,
John 19:38 “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate granted permission. He came therefore, and took away His body.”
Two more events end the record of Pilate in John’s Gospel. Pilate would be haunted for the rest of his life because of his decision, for he lived another 10 years at least after that, maybe 20 and would have known about the spread of Christianity in the empire. He would very well have known about the miraculous disappearance of the body of Jesus from the tomb.
Those two events were Pilate ordering the crucified men to have their legs broken and granting permission to Joseph of Arimathea to take Jesus for burial. The Jews could have no one on crosses after 6 pm as the Sabbath would be starting. The Sabbath was more important than crucifying their very own Messiah. That is what legalists are like. This wicked man was anxious that the crucifixion scene be removed from sight and from his memory, but it was not going to ease his conscience. He probably hoped the burial of Jesus was the end on the matter and of course he would encourage Joseph. Little did he know the great resurrection prophecies that would seal his own doom.
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Pilate was a man with choices and decisions and fears like all mankind. How many people on earth have betrayed their consciences for some position, or some advantage? How many have sacrificed truth for opportunism? Would you be surprised if I said to you, “All of us have at some time and probably many times.” People do not have the conviction of conscience or of truth. Truth is easily trampled; easily sacrificed; easily discarded. People don’t want to stand alone or on principles. I admire the individuals in Hong Kong who stood and stand on principle and stood for their own democracy against communist China.
Every time we fail to uphold what is right we give ground to the enemy. We weaken our position and strengthen Satan’s. Before we were Christians we did not have the resources, but now as Christians we have the power of God and the enabling of the Holy Spirit. We also have a new sense of right and wrong because the Spirit leads us into all truth, and we have a boldness due to the power of the Spirit. That was demonstrated in Stephen who stood for the truth of God and did not flinch one bit but it cost him his life. Today he is so full of joy and rejoicing that a temporary blip in human history is all forgotten. The Holy Spirit helps us in our infirmities and makes our coward spirits brave.
I want to refer you to a great man of principle and faith, a man who stood for truth and did not give ground. This is the verse - Joshua 24:15 “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Pilate, choose for yourself today what you will honour. Will you serve the idols of your nation or will you stand for the truth, the eternal truth of the Son of God? You will not be able to wash your hands of the truth as if it is dirt melting from your hands. Joshua is an example we must keep before us.
There is man’s truth and there is God’s truth. Man’s truth is sometimes “untruth” and sometimes contrived in falsehood and wickedness. Lawmakers who brought in laws to sanction and advance homosexuality speak of establishing the truth, but it is Satan’s truth for he is a liar and a murderer from the beginning. God’s truth is eternal and was relevant from eternity past. God’s truth is established in truth, for Jesus is the Truth and He upholds all things in His power and for His purpose. God’s truth is absolute and therefore unchangeable.
I must share a thought with you and something I really did not face when I was working. Today in industry and business and more and more in government departments, employees are told to lie. They lie to clients, mislead them, lie to organisations and deceive one another. I think how terrible it is for an employee to be told by the boss to say such and such to a person knowing it is wrong, that it is utterly false. It is a dilemma I did not face so I do not think I am in the position to dictate to others. I do know that on your own volition, according to your own choice, you do not lie and deceive one another if you are a Christian. There is something critically wrong when Christians lie for advantage, and Paul was clear - Colossians 3 v 9 “Do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices.” Paul was speaking of our days when he wrote, 2Timothy 4 v 3/4 “For the time will come when . . . and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.”
Pilate knew what the right thing to do was but he refused to do right and chose the bad. We have the New Testament verse, “To him who knows to do good and does not, it is sin.” When we know what the right thing to do is, and choose not to do it, God says it is sin. The application to Pilate is great. What can we do when we see and know how men and women strive for power and become heads of departments, politicians, public servants and so many of them are taking bribes, turning their heads the other way to condone wrong practices, compromise the truth or sit on the fence when a decision should have been made for the right thing. God has it all on His account and one day it will face the reckoning.
How do you deal with unprincipled liars and with those who trash truth? What did Jesus do before Pilate? Examine that. I can’t really tell you how to deal with that matter in your own life. Some Christians are very pro-active like Wendy Francis while others don’t want to know anything that is happening and live like hermits with their ears shut. All of us are somewhere along the spectrum. What does the bible say about conduct and truth? That is a matter I leave with you for there is a lot in the New Testament. Weak individuals slay their own consciences. Christians must be of good courage for Jesus has overcome the world and so if we have to stand before another Pilate in false accusation and have a verdict against us, then the Lord was in that very place. Do not fear. Be brave and don’t give ground to the enemy.
I can’t remember if I have given a message on compromise. I do have one. This world is so full of compromise that it becomes the very fabric and makeup of the people of the world. It affects Christians also quite strongly. On a lot of issues we find it hard to be absolutely correct and truthful. We can give way to this side or the other side. We can be influenced by this side or the other side. Pilate was a man of compromise, and in the appearance of the Lord before him, he compromised to the Jews.
God hates compromise. It was the characteristic of the Laodicean church. Like Pilate it was gutless and spineless. That is not what we are to be. I don’t want to be crude but the guts are the internal organs especially all those in the abdomen. If you took the guts away and the spine, what is left? A fallen and grovelling uselessness. God does not want us to be a grovelling uselessness.
The old hymn, “Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross” reminds us of our duty as Christians. We will end by singing that hymn.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
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Open with “We Limit Not the Truth of God” by George Rawson
