Pilate’s elite status blinded him to a greater reality.
Pilate questioned Jesus, expecting that Jesus would beg or plead with him to wield his power in Jesus’s favor (Mark 15 TLB).
When Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is as you say” and then spoke no more. Pilate was amazed and continued to ask, “Why don’t you say something?” Pilate had never before seen anyone remain silent and not anxiously defend himself. But, Jesus had stepped aside from Pilate’s expectations and submitted to death, God’s unique plan for Him.
Pilate had chances to exit the usual court trial dynamic , but he did not take them. Mark 15:15 says Pilate was afraid of a riot and anxious to please the crowd. He had risen to power by understanding and manipulating social pressures such as those. He was not able to change his perspective or orientation even when his wife sent him a message urging him to, “Leave that good man alone; for I had a terrible nightmare concerning him last night” (Matt 27:19). No matter that he was amazed by Jesus or that his wife perceived Jesus as a good and innocent man, Pilate acted according to the political training that had yielded him earthly success. He let the rabid crowd have Barabbas, the man they deserved, instead of Jesus, a man whose goodness, priorities, and kingdom were incomprehensible to them.
Many of my sins and mistakes have been related to being stuck in a small mind set like Pilate, unable to imagine something larger or greater. From fear of disturbance or wanting to please the “crowd” around me, I also ignored the intuitions of those like Pilate’s wife who saw things differently, more clearly. With my eyes fixed on my internal insecurities and the attractive actions of peers around me, I made mistakes. Some of these isolated mistakes developed into “patterns or habits of mistakes” (errors) that have been difficult to change. I give thanks that Jesus persisted through the hardships of rejection and suffering to accomplish His saving work. I am grateful for intuitive people around me who listen to quiet voices of wisdom and give me feedback or correction. Pilate was boss of the small world that he could see and not part of the greater world he refused to perceive.
Photo from First Station of the Cross, San Giovanni Rotondo by “Jim, the Photographer,” at Creative Commons.
Susan Olmstead Wang 