Don't Be Like Pilate

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 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. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! John 19:1-14 (KJV)

Pilate had Jesus whipped and crowned with a crown of thorns. The religious leaders wanted Jesus crudified for many reasons. He performed miracles, exposed the leaders’ hypocrisy, taught the truth and was declared to be God. The people followed Jesus and the leaders were jealous. Most of the religious leaders missed the truth of who Jesus is; the Savior of the world, but the common people accepted Him as the Son of God, Savior, and Promised Messiah. The Jews couldn’t crucify Jesus so they pushed Pilate into doing their dirty work.

Pilate said, “I find no fault in him,” meaning he found no legal reason to kill Jesus. In verse 5, he said to the Jews, “Behold the man.” Yet, Pilate had Jesus scourged without legal cause. Pilate actually sought to release Jesus, but when push came to shove, political pressure caused him to cave to the Jews’ demands.

In verse 14, Pilate refers to Jesus differently and says, “Behold your king.” To call anyone a king was to usurp authority over Caesar, which meant death. Yet, Pilate went from calling Jesus a man in verse 5 to calling Him a king in verse 14. And the sign that Pilate had erected on Jesus’ cross also called Him king. Somewhere in the process of trying Jesus, Pilate must have recognized that He was no ordinary man, but fear of the Roman government kept him from accepting Jesus personally.

It is not enough to call Jesus a man or even a king. To be saved, we must believe and confess that Jesus is our Savior and Lord and continue to live for Him all our days. Pilate was close to salvation, but not close enough. History tells us that in the end, Pilate committed suicide. Jesus suffered, bled, died, and rose again. Pilate is long gone, but Jesus lives on.

Christ’s work is finished. We must settle for ourselves who Jesus is, and receive His finished work of salvation in order to be saved. Who Jesus is to you determines the kind of life you’ll have now, and throughout eternity. Pilate called Jesus a king, but he did not call Him HIS King. Don’t be like Pilate.