SERIES: The Gospel of John
Pitiful Pontius Pilate
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: A creative Sunday School teacher once asked her students to draw a picture of any major event in the life of Christ. After the pictures were turned in, she saw that most of the youngsters had drawn the familiar scenes—the Holy Family in the stable, Jesus overturning the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple, and the three crosses at Calvary. But she had to ask one enterprising youngster to explain his drawing, which showed an airplane with 14 heads sticking out of the windows. He had labeled 13 of them as Jesus and His twelve apostles–Peter, Andrew, James, John, etc. But there was no name on the head in the cockpit. She asked, “Who’s that?” “Oh,” answered the boy, “that’s Pontius the Pilot!”
I thought if we were to have any humor in this sermon, we’d better have it up front, because there isn’t much that’s funny about the life of Pontius Pilate.
As we approach the Easter season, we are examining the lives of some of the key individuals involved in the Passion of our Lord. We have done character sketches of Judas, of Annas and Caiaphas, and of Peter. The one I have chosen to focus upon this morning is Pontius Pilate. Not only was he more involved in the trial of Jesus than the others, but his remarkable witness about the character of Jesus is especially valuable since it comes from one who was never one of His followers. One might be skeptical when one of Jesus’ friends claims He is innocent; but when the man who ordered His execution claims He is innocent, that has value in any court.
Pilate is riding the fast track to political power.
This is a man whose life is well-known in the pages of secular history, as well as the sacred text of Scripture. The Jewish historian Josephus writes much about him, as does Philo of Alexandria. And his name has been found on stone tablets recently excavated by archaeologists in Caesarea.
What we learn is that Pilate was a Roman citizen, born in Italy in approximately 1 B.C., so he was a relatively young man in his early thirties when the events of John 18 and 19 took place. He was married, a member of the Equestrian class in Rome, and wealthy. His early career is unknown, but he must have held a series of civil and military appointments before being appointed governor of a province. The picture we get is definitely one of an ambitious young politician, seeking to climb the ladder of political power and prestige.
Pilate was appointed as the fifth governor of Judea in AD 26 by the emperor Tiberius. His area of jurisdiction was Samaria, Judea, and as far south as Gaza and the Dead Sea. His functions combined military and administrative responsibilities, but the Jews were granted a fair degree of liberty and self-government. The Jewish religious leaders, in the form of the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, retained various judicial functions over their own people, but death sentences could not be carried out without permission of the Roman governor.
Because of political and religious problems, the Romans considered Judea one of their most difficult provinces to govern. On two occasions prior to the trial of Jesus, Pilate had experienced major conflict with the Jews. One occurred on Pilate’s very first visit to Jerusalem. He was accompanied by a large detachment of soldiers, each company of which carried its own banner or standard. On the top of each standard was a little metal bust of the reigning Emperor, Tiberius. Since the Emperor was regarded as a god by the Romans, the Jews considered that little bust to be a graven image. They pleaded with Pilate to remove the images, but he refused, saying he would not pander to their superstitions.
When Pilate returned to his headquarters in Caesarea, the Jews followed him and dogged his footsteps for five days, demanding an apology. Finally, he told them to meet him in the amphitheater, where he surrounded them with soldiers and threatened to kill them on the spot if they didn’t cease their demands. They called his bluff by baring their necks and bidding the soldiers to strike. Pilate knew he was beaten and acceded to their request. That is how Pilate’s tenure in Palestine began—not a very auspicious beginning.
A second confrontation occurred not long afterward. The Jerusalem water supply was inadequate, so Pilate determined to build a new aqueduct. When the necessary funds for the project could not be found, he raided the temple treasury, which resembled Fort Knox. He reasoned that one of the main reasons why more water was needed was to help wash away the blood of 200,000 sacrifices a year. However, the Jews considered this appropriation of temple money to be sacrilegious, and they rioted. Pilate mingled his soldiers with the people in plain clothes, and at a given signal they clubbed and stabbed to death hundreds of Jews. This incident is mentioned by Jesus as a sermon illustration in Luke 13:1.
The confrontations just mentioned between Pilate and the Jews were minor compared to his most troubling predicament—the trial of Jesus of Nazareth. Pilate happens to be in Jerusalem during Passion Week, probably because, with the population swollen to over one million people for Passover, tensions are high and there is always the potential for political unrest among the volatile Jews.
Pilate is awakened in the early hours before dawn on the day before Passover by a mob demanding he deal with a prisoner of theirs. The urgency is that they needed to get the execution over before Passover, so they won’t “defile themselves.” The sheer hypocrisy of such scruples is striking, but perhaps not unlike the scruples of the person who will get drunk on any day except Sunday, or the person who swears like a trooper except in front of a preacher, or the thief who will burglarize any place except a church.
By the time Jesus is brought to Pilate’s Judgment Hall, He has already been through one kangaroo court. You will recall that He was arrested about midnight in the Garden of Gethsemane and taken before Annas, the godfather of the religious establishment. There He was questioned, struck in the face, and sent on to Caiaphas, the ruling high priest. While in custody before Caiaphas, Jesus was blindfolded, beaten, and blasphemed. Then He was sent to the Sanhedrin, where He acknowledged before all the chief priests and scribes that He was indeed the Son of God. They all agreed He was guilty of blasphemy; all they needed is a civil trial so they could legally put Him to death.
From Caiaphas Jesus is sent to the palace of the Roman Governor, Pilate. Once again Jewish scruples surface, not allowing His accusers to enter the palace for fear of defiling themselves for Passover, so Pilate comes out to talk to them. He asks what charges they are bringing against Jesus. John does not record the entire conversation, but in Luke 23 we find the Jews leveling four charges:
1. Misleading the nation
2. Forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar
3. Claiming to be Christ, a King.
4. Stirring up the people.
Let’s read the account from John 18:28 through 19:16:
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So 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.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
33 Pilate 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. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But 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’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
Pilate repeatedly declares Jesus “not guilty” of all charges.
For one thing, none of the charges leveled against Jesus are capital crimes under Roman Law. But in addition, Pilate can find no basis in fact for any of these charges. He declares in verse 4, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
This is the first of at least four and perhaps as many as seven declarations of innocence from Pilate, depending upon how one harmonizes the four Gospel writers. Even Pilate’s wife asserts Jesus’ innocence. In Matthew 27:19 we read that “while 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.’”
Now the point in mentioning these declarations of innocence is to not only to highlight the character of Jesus but also to eliminate any excuse from Pilate or the religious leaders who demanded Jesus’ execution. This is not a case in which the evidence is ambiguous, like the murder case the St. Louis Post Dispatch has been featuring the past two weeks. This is a case in which the evidence is watertight—and it all points to the innocence of the defendant. Pilate sees this, and
Pilate tries every conceivable way to extricate himself from responsibility for Jesus’ death.
He tries to force the Jews to handle the case themselves. We see this clearly in John 18:31: “Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.’ ‘But we have no right to execute anyone,’ the Jews objected.” They want the death penalty and that can only be handed down by Roman authorities.
Pilate, realizing he is dealing with an irrational mob, suddenly sees a glimmer of hope. One of Jesus’ accusers mentions Galilee (we’re back in Luke 23:6), and when Pilate hears this, he asks if Jesus is a Galilean. The reason this is of such keen interest to him is that Galilee is outside his jurisdiction. Herod Antipas is the ruler over that region, and as luck would have it, Herod is in Jerusalem at this very time. So …
He turns Jesus over to Herod’s jurisdiction. (Luke 23:6,7). It is perhaps 6:00 in the morning when Jesus arrives bound at Herod’s residence. Though it is an ungodly hour, Herod is beside himself with happiness when he is told that Jesus is in the courtyard. Verse 8 says he is very glad because he has been wanting to see Jesus for some time, and he is hoping to see a miracle.
But Jesus refuses to even speak to Herod. Jesus never refused a sincere questioner, but Herod is not in that class. And Jesus never ever performed a miracle just to titillate the skeptics. A song in Jesus Christ Superstar entitled “Try It and See,” addresses Herod. It is a blasphemous song, but isn’t that reflective of the whole scene? Herod is speaking:
Jesus, I am overjoyed to meet you face to face,
You’ve been getting quite a name all around the place,
Healing cripples, raising people from the dead,
And now I understand you’re God, at least that’s what you’ve said.
So you are the Christ, you’re the great Jesus Christ.
Prove to me that you’ve divine—change my water into wine.
That’s all you need do and I’ll know it’s all true
C’mon King of the Jews.
Jesus, you just won’t believe the hit you’ve made round here.
You are all we talk about the, the wonder of the year.
Oh what a pity if it’s all a lie
Still I’m sure that you can rock the cynics if you try.
So, you are the Christ, you’re the great Jesus Christ.
Prove to me that you’re no fool, walk across my swimming pool
If you do that for me, then I’ll let you go free
C’mon, King of the Jews.
Herod was a blasphemous man and there are still those like him today who trifle with Jesus, calling Him “the man upstairs” and using His name as their favorite curse word. It’s even blasphemous to call Him a great teacher if that’s as far as one goes. It’s a dangerous game.
Herod and his soldiers ridicule and mock Jesus, dressing Him in an elegant robe, but Pilate’s hope that Herod will dispense with the case goes unrealized, for Herod sends Him back to Pilate. In verse 16 Pilate makes his third attempt to avoid responsibility for Jesus’ death.
He suggests a compromise by offering to punish Jesus. (Luke 23:16) Pilate says to the Jews, “I will punish him and then release him.” One cannot help but think, “Why punish an innocent man at all?” But Pilate is caught between a rock and a hard place. Flogging Jesus seems better than executing Him. But this, too, the Jews reject as insufficient.
He offers to release Jesus as the “Passover Criminal.” (John 18:39) The Jews had a custom of releasing a criminal on the Passover holiday, as a gesture of kindness and celebration. The Apostle John tells us at the end of the 18th chapter of his Gospel that Pilate latches on to this custom as an opportunity to escape the dilemma he is facing. He can release Jesus, which he plainly wishes to do; but at the same time, he can technically convict Him, for only a convicted criminal qualified for the Passover release. Since he wouldn’t be acquitting Jesus, the Jews should be appeased.
But the scheme does not work. Even this apparently foolproof plan is totally frustrated when the Jews in their hateful frenzy yell, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” One cannot appreciate the significance of this without realizing that Barabbas is Public Enemy #1. He is an insurrectionist and a murderer, according to Matthew, Mark and Luke. Their request to have Him released would be tantamount to people clamoring today for the release of Timothy McVeigh if given a choice between him and Billy Graham.
Again he tries to compromise, ordering Jesus to be flogged and crowned with thorns to stir up sympathy. (John 19:1-5) When the Romans scourged a prisoner, they tied him to a whipping post in such a way that his back was fully exposed. The lash was a long, leather thong, studded at intervals with pellets of lead and sharpened pieces of bone. It literally tore a man’s back into strips. Few remained conscious through the ordeal; some died; many went stark raving mad. And as if being scourged weren’t enough, they shove a crown of thorns upon Jesus’ head, and hit Him in the face. “Surely,” thinks Pilate, “surely this will satisfy these blood-thirsty mongrels,” failing to realize that the taste of blood would only send them into a greater demonic frenzy.
He parades the suffering Jesus before the crowd. When Pilate says to the crowd, “Here is the man!”(John 19:5), he uses an expression that in classical Greek means “the poor creature!” And I am convinced that Pilate’s purpose is to show them how ridiculous it is to think that this pitiful creature in the purple robe with blood streaming down His face could be any threat to them at all. But Pilate’s attempt produces the opposite effect intended, for when the chief priests and officers see Jesus they immediately cry out, “Crucify, crucify.”
The sixth attempt to release Jesus is found in John 19.
After a troubling conversation with Jesus, Pilate tries again to release Him, but the Jews intimidate him by mentioning Caesar. (John 19:8-12) These are the last words between Pilate and Jesus, and they are to me the most profound. Pilate asks Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus refuses to answer. Pilate therefore says to Him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” And Jesus answers with those profound words, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”
These are words that every king, every prime minister, every president, and every dictator should take to heart. All authority is God’s authority and only delegates it to men. He can retract it whenever He chooses. These are also words which every persecutor of Jesus Christ and His Church should take to heart, whether communist, fascist, atheist, or humanist. These are words which every unbeliever should take to heart. God is still in control and let His detractors never forget it, no matter how great their temporary authority or prosperity. And these are words which every child of God should remember. No matter how great the opposition we face or how severe the trials, all authority has been given to Jesus Christ. We are on the winning side.
Following this conversation Pilate renews his efforts to set Jesus free, but the Jews pull out their trump card: “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” Now the wheels start turning in Pilate’s head. He knows well that his previous confrontations with the Jews have been reported to Tiberius Caesar. He knows that he is on probation and needs to have a clean slate from here on out. And he knows that Tiberius is a very insecure, jealous tyrant, who takes any report of a possible usurper to his authority seriously.
And John tells us, “When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement.” (John 19:13) This is where sentences were handed down. It is now 7 or 8 am and Pilate has wrestled over his dilemma for many hours. He has sought every means he could think of to avoid condemning this innocent man, but every step he has taken has been frustrated. But even now he desires to make one last effort to extricate himself from this responsibility.
Once more he tries to use shame and sympathy. (John 19:14-15). With Jesus standing before him at the Judgment Seat, Pilate says to the Jews, “Here is your King!” But they cry out,“Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate asks, “Shall I crucify your king?” And then the chief priests answer with what is surely one of the most incredible statements ever to come from Jewish lips: “We have no king but Caesar!” These are the same people to whom God gave the Ten Commandments, the first of which demands that we have no other gods before us. These are the same people who rioted just a few years earlier and put their lives on the line to remove little metal busts of Caesar from even appearing on a banner. Now they are crying out, “We have no king but Caesar.”
So far in this story our sympathy may be with Pilate and our disgust with the religious leaders of Israel. But you have heard it said that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Pilate’s intentions may be honorable, but his actions turn out to be despicable.
Pilate condemns an innocent man while futile declaring his own innocence. (Matt. 27:24-25).
Pilate sees his options are gone. There is no further hope to escape his awful dilemma. John 19:16 tells us, “Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.”
Turn with me to Matt. 27:24-25. The context is late during Jesus’ second appearance before Pilate and immediately before the release of Barabbas:
“When 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!’ All the people answered, ‘Let his blood be on us and on our children!’”
Pilate declared his innocence, but that didn’t make it so. Men throughout history have attempted self-exoneration and rationalization of their actions. But the fact remains that Pilate acceded to the condemnation of an innocent man. Perhaps his guilt is not as great as that of the Jews who clamored for Jesus’ death. Jesus Himself said they were guilty of the greater sin. (19:11). But “greater sin”on their part still implies “sin” on his. And sin is sin.
There are many emotions which are conjured up at the mention of the name Pontius Pilate. One can feel anger or contempt or bitterness or scorn. But the emotion that wells up the strongest in my own heart is that of pity. Pilate to me is the most pitiful of all the characters in the NT. He is pitiful, first of all, because …
He pursued political expediency at the expense of truth. The threat of a riot was more serious to him than the shedding of innocent blood. And I can’t help but see a parallel in our own day to politicians who, because of political pressure, virtual blackmail from special interest groups, and perhaps most importantly, the desire to be re-elected, advocate abortion on demand, resulting in the shedding of innocent blood at the rate of over 1 million babies every year. What we desperately need are men in public office, in church office, and in the business world who are willing to defy and denounce the political pressures that abound at every level of our society, and to stand up for truth just because it is truth.
He sought to alleviate his conscience through religious rite. The washing of the hands was a religious ritual of great significance to the Jews, according to Deut. 21:6-9. It seems that Pilate borrowed the custom here to salve his own conscience. But nothing is more worthless than a religious rite which has no reality of faith behind it. People are constantly trying to alleviate their consciences through baptism, church membership, good works, tithing, and other religious rites. But it doesn’t count for one single iota with God if their hearts are not right with Him.
One of the common tourist sites in Rome is the Scala Santa, or the Sacred Stairs of the judgment seat of Pilate. It is believed by many that these are the actual marble stairs, brought to Rome from Jerusalem, though there is not much historical support for that. The devout pilgrim who ascends these stairs on his knees believes he receives special merit and grace from God. But it was while he was in just such an act of devotion on these very stairs that Martin Luther, a pilgrim visiting Rome nearly 500 years ago, remembered the words of the book of Romans which afterward became the watchword of the Reformation—”The just shall live by faith!” He came to the important realization that the ritual means nothing without the faith.
He bargained for temporary security instead of eternal security and lost both. Pontius Pilate wanted to keep his job as procurator of Judea and decided that the best way to ensure that was to yield to the demands of the Jews. But secular history tells us that at the age of 36, less than two years after he ordered Jesus to be crucified, he was deposed as procurator and ordered to return to Rome for the judgment of the Emperor due to his rash conduct during still another confrontation with the Jews. Only the Emperor’s death while Pilate was enroute to Rome spared him from certain execution. But strong early church tradition tells us he was banished to Gaul where he committed suicide. He had bargained for temporary security instead of eternal security and ended up losing both.
Pilate would never know it, but his would eventually become the most familiar name in Roman history, for uncounted millions in future ages, who knew little about Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius or even Nero, would still confess, “I believe in Jesus Christ … who … suffered under Pontius Pilate.” A pitiful epitaph for a pitiful man.
Conclusion: What would God have us carry away from this examination of one man’s life today? I think it is found in the words of Jesus: “For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his own soul?” What shall it profit a man if he gain popularity or job security or power or wealth or knowledge or family or friends, but lose his own soul? The answer is “absolutely nothing.” But Jesus Christ, of whom Pilate himself said multiple times, “I find no fault in him,”offered His perfect life to pay for our sin, and through faith in Him, and in Him alone, your soul can be saved. Won’t you receive Him as your Lord and Savior today?
DATE: March 20, 1994
Tags:
Trial of Jesus
Pilate
Herod Antipas