As you know, since the movie the Passion has come out there has been a storm of controversy. One of the points of controversy about the film is that Mel Gibson didn’t portray a Pontius Pilate that was malicious enough.
So on pondering this, I decided to try to research who the real Pontius Pilate was. I found there are diverse views on this man.
Do you remember the television program To Tell the Truth? Two of the three contestants would pretend to be one of the contestants. I found as I researched Pontius Pilate there are different versions of the man presented. So the question we are asking today is: “Will the real Pontius Pilate stand up?”
Did you know that the Ethiopian Coptic church recognizes both Pontius Pilate and his wife, Procula, as saints? They observe June 25th as Saint Pilate and Procula Day. The early church father Tertullian believed that Pilate "was a Christian in his conscience", and the Greek Orthodox church made his wife a saint.
Medieval legends have Pilate tortured, exiled, drowning, decapitated, swallowed up by the earth, and compulsively washing his hands in his remaining days. Some even believed the corpse of Pilate anxiously roamed the earth.
“So will the real Pontius Pilate please stand up?”
Pilate is not only presented in the four Gospels and the book of Acts of the Apostles, but also by the Jewish historian Josephus, Philo, and Cornelius Tactitus, considered the greatest Roman historian. All of these historians paint Pilate as a brutal despot who despised the Jewish people. He often seemed provoke his Jewish subjects to riots, often to the disgruntlement of Rome.
If there was one thing Rome desired from their governors was them not inciting trouble from their conquered peoples.
As governor, Pilate was in charge of administering all aspects of Roman law. He served as the head of its judicial system, collected taxes, allocated spending for the province, and shipped the rest to Rome. At least twice, his Judean subjects pressured him by threatening to complain to Rome. According to Philo, it was one such complaint that brought the fury of the Emperor Tiberius on Pilate.
Pilate at one time viciously quelled a peaceful gathering of Samaritans at Mt. Gerazim by killing those leading the event. The Samaritans had gone to Mt. Gerazim in search of holy vessels they believed Moses had buried there. It seems that atrocities and antagonism with his subjects were the hallmarks of his time of service.
In describing Pilate, Philo writes of "his venality, his violence, his thefts, his assaults, his abusive behavior, his frequent executions of untried prisoners, and his endless savage ferocity.” All of his actions eventually earned him his walking papers. Pilate was sent back to Rome in March 37AD. Some believe he was sent to Gaul and that he committed suicide in 39AD.
According to the historian Eusebius, Pilate remained unable to "wash his hands" of the crucifixion of Christ. Eusebius asserts that he even wrote a report about Christ and His resurrection to the Emperor Tiberius. Eusebius writes: "Tiberius referred the report to the Senate, which rejected it. …for the old law still held good that no one could be regarded by the Romans as a god unless by vote and decree of the Senate.”
What do gospels, however, have to say about Pontius Pilate? The following is a harmonized gospel account of his encounter with Christ.
Luke 23
1Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2And 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."
3So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
4Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
5But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."
6On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
8When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. 9He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12That day Herod and Pilate became friends--before this they had been enemies.
13Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” New International Version (NIV)
John 18
29So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?"
30"If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you."
31Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law."
32"But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
33Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
34"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"
35"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
36Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
37"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
38"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him. 39But 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’?"
40They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.
John 19
Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified
1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.
4Once 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."
Matthew 27
19While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
22"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
23"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man’s blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
25All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
26Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
I. Pilate Saw Jesus as Innocent, but Tried to Pass the Buck.
A. First, he attempted to have the Jews deal with Christ.
B. Then Pilate hoped by declaring Jesus innocent that would end the matter, but as we see, passions intensified.
C. Then he thought: “Hmm… I’ll send him to Herod. Yeah, let him deal with this.” Herod only passed the buck back to Pilate.
D. Then he thought if he could only have Jesus beat to a pulp maybe the mob might be pacified. The mob, however, remained intransigent.
E. He then tried appealing to the sympathy of the mob. (As if they would actually have any at this point.)
F. Pilate then remembered the custom of releasing a prisoner at Passover. So he thought he would pick a real bad fellow—Barabbas. Barabbas was a murderer and also guilty of insurrection against Rome. Surely, they would choose Jesus over Barabbas. They did not.
So will the real Pontius Pilate please stand up? It’s obvious he won’t. Because of this I have more respect for the Jewish leaders who condemned Christ than I do for Pilate. At least they were able to stand up for their convictions. Pilate, however, saw Jesus to be innocent and was not really able to stand up for what he believed in. That makes Pilate a coward in my book!
II. Like Pilate, many people today won’t take a stand for Jesus
A. Why people won’t take a stand for Jesus
1. Some people want to go along with the crowd.
2. Some try to use the failings of others in the church as an excuse not to follow Christ.
3. Some reject the gospel for academic or “scientific reasons
4. Some agree with the message of the gospel, but want to put off accepting Christ for a while. They feel there are plenty of years in life and that religion is something best reserved for a later time. The trouble is that this later time never comes.
5. Some don’t want to give up the pleasures of the world. This reminds me of the rich man who walked away from Jesus.
6. Some try to take a middle of the road approach by saying Jesus is a great teacher. They say they admire Jesus, but are unwilling to commit their lives to them. I feel this is where many in our society stand. They want to accept Jesus on the cafeteria plan.
If one claims to follow Jesus then one must accept all of what He said. Consider what C.S. Lewis wrote:
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said wouldn’t be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he’s a poached egg—or else he would be the devil of hell; you must make your choice. Either this was, and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But don’t come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He hasn’t left that alternative to us.”
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
III. Reasons why we should take a stance for Christ
A. He has offered a chance to live an abundant life full of blessing!
John 10
10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.—New International Version.
B. We are hopelessly lost without Christ
The bad news…
Isaiah 64
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (New International Version)
Luke 13
3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
The good news…
John 3:14-16
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)
John 5
24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
1 John 1
9”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Jesus has provided a way for us to be free of our curse of sin and death. We need to believe who He said He was and repent of our sins. If we trust in Him for salvation, we will be saved. This is something, however, we must do today and not put off. This Scripture reminds us that today is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6
2For he says,
"In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
IV. Unlike Pilate, we as believers need to boldly stand for Jesus!
We need to be bold in standing up for Christ like the early apostles. Consider the response of the apostles after they are warned by the Sanhedrin.
Acts 4
17But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."
18Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
We all have to decide where we stand with Jesus. If we claim to stand for Him, then we need to stand for Him boldly.
What is your verdict? What are you going to do with Jesus? What will you do with Jesus? What have you been doing with him throughout the past years? We all have the opportunity to call Him Lord and trust Him with our lives.
