Stockton Methodist Circuit

“Pilate’s Passion”

 

 

One of my favourite films is Clash of the Titans, as a lover of Greek mythology that’s probably not surprising. There’s a scene in that film where the Greek Gods, sat on Mount Olympus, and Zeus, played by Liam Neeson, is seen moving people around on the chessboard representation of the earth. It’s very reminiscent of the backdrop to Holy Week but the players making the moves are the Pharisees. The last days of Jesus is like the endgame in a very elaborate game of chess. The Pharisees are resolved that Jesus must die, but they know that there is one piece they must remove before they can declare checkmate – this piece is the man who holds the power in the region; this man is Pontius Pilate, for only with his consent can they kill Jesus. It’s a slight irritation that such a pivotal character in the story of that week only features minimally so many questions are raised. So what might Pilate’s account of the week say?

 

So let’s start at the beginning – Palm Sunday. Two scholars John Dominic Crossan and Marcus J. Borg in their book ‘The Last Week’ propose that two processions entered Jerusalem that day, one of them we are familiar with as we heard about it in our first reading this morning; the procession from the east.  The triumphant entry into the city of Jesus on the donkey. The other from the west an imperial procession, Pilate’s entry into Jerusalem at the head of a column of Roman soldiers. Both come to the city for the Passover festival, but both have different motives for Jesus. It is the beginning of his journey to the cross. For Pilate it is a procession out of necessity to keep an eye on the Jewish people in case of trouble. Remember what the Passover festival is; the celebration of – the deliverance of the Jewish people from the oppression of the Egyptians. Allow me to quote from the Last Week concerning Pilate’s procession:

 

“Imagine the imperial procession’s arrival in the city. A visual panoply of imperial power: cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armour, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold. Sounds the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums. The swirling of dust. The eyes of the silent onlookers, some curious, some awed, some resentful.”

 

Now take that image of might and power, that display of the most powerful empire on earth at that moment and contrast it with Jesus’s entry, Pilate’s reception of silent onlookers is what he expects for a man of his position sat there on, let’s say, a white stallion at the head of a column, it is respectful and dignified there is no question of his authority. Yet imagine what he hears that night – that this nobody, this son of a carpenter has got the sort of reception in Jerusalem that the Roman Emperor of the time, Tiberius, would demand to receive in Rome. It begs the question how did that happen?

 

Now the irony is that Pilate is probably the one Roman in Jerusalem that might have an answer to that – his duties as governor are focused on keeping the peace, the Pax Romana, so consider the possibility, and it is a possibility, that a few months earlier he receives a report about a man wandering around the countryside preaching, a man that in doing this is picking fight after fight after fight with the Pharisees, a man who seems to have the support of the people but is peaceful, what might Pilate make of that? The truth is we don’t know, but considering Pilate’s position and duties the very existence of Jesus in that context gives Pilate breathing room politically with the Pharisees, because you suddenly go from the Pharisees being possibly the mouthpiece of the oppressed to them being so worried about this nobody, as they would perceive him, that their priorities could shift away from Rome. But also consider the nature of these two processions; on the one hand the establishment the Romans and on the other a seemingly populist movement in Jesus’s followers. Now I won’t even dare to mention the name of a country on the other side of the Atlantic, but you can see the contrast and this sets the scene for the rest of the week. These two figures at the heads of these two processions are now engaged in a collision course and it reminds us of those bible verses that have followed us through Lent “God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong, he chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.”

 

Eventually, of course, Jesus and Pilate come face to face. Pilate probably not as concerned as he was, days earlier, in the aftermath of the Palm Sunday events, there’s been no riots, no uprising and there would possibly have been genuine fears preying on his mind but they haven’t been realized. So here we are at the trial and we see something here that we can relate to: the struggle of conscience, the tug of war between duty and our own sense of right and wrong. But when they come face to face, look at what happens, Pilate says “Not Guilty.” He doesn’t believe Jesus has committed a crime much to the frustration of the Pharisees, who persist in their demand for his crucifixion. Now Pilate is a reasonably intelligent man and he’s clearly sensing a circular argument full of repetition and he has no interest in that; he doesn’t want to risk upsetting the Pharisees but at the same time he doesn’t want to condemn an innocent man to death so he comes up with a smart move. He invokes tradition, he puts it to the people.

 

Yes Pilate decides to hold a referendum. You’ve heard of Brexit, Frexit and possibly Nexit, well from a point of view we have one in the Bible right here. Remember we infer that Pilate is intelligent due to his position as governor, it is therefore likely that he understood a basic principle of such an undertaking – in the courtroom when cross examining a witness the first rule is “never ask a question that you don’t know the answer to.” Likewise, the first rule of a referendum is this “Never call a referendum unless you know the result.” Pilate would know the strength in terms of numbers of Jesus’s followers, remember the entry into the city of only a few days earlier, he likely believes that the people will save Jesus not Barabbas, it seems a sure thing doesn’t it? Who do you choose the man you call the Messiah or the murderer?

 

Of course we know what happens; the people defy the expectation, we’re familiar with that these days last year was full of it.  Pilate still holds the power and he’s still determined not to see Jesus die, but now the Pharisees play their trump card, they level an accusation against Jesus “He claims to be the Son of God.” Now this is the irony of Pilate, he has all the power but the second that statement is made he has no power whatsoever, up until this point Pilate has been dealing with this from a judicial and political viewpoint, but now that theology is brought in he has no choice but to give in to the Pharisees he has been manipulated by them – how? Well in Roman theology, the Son of God is the Emperor and it is Tiberius as far as Pilate is concerned, but even then he has the presence of mind to ask the question of Jesus and gets a non-committal answer of, “That’s who they say I am.”  Jesus’s actions throughout this trial are very much in the vein of those words from the song I Vow to Thee My Country “The love that never falters the love that pays the price, the love that makes, undaunted, the final sacrifice.”

 

And so to Calvary, Jesus is put up on the cross and a sign designed by Pilate is put up saying that Jesus is the King of the Jews, the Pharisees don’t like it and want it changed but Pilate refuses; maybe he’s annoyed with them, maybe he wants to reassert his authority, at the end of it, it is Pilate that gets his way, the sign stays as it is and then after Jesus dies we have a Roman Centurion saying that Jesus was the Son of God. Why’s this important? Well consider this – Judas betrays, Peter denies, if we spool forwards a few days we can include Thomas doubting that’s a quarter of the twelve turning their backs and yet we have two Romans, two outsiders actually declaring the truth – the Centurion at the foot of the cross testifying as a witness and Pilate with the sign, though let’s be fair, Pilate is inadvertently telling the truth, the purpose of the sign is not to declare the truth of Jesus because of course Pilate doesn’t believe it, the point is to intimidate the Jews and remind them who is in charge to send the message of “We’ve crucified your King what can we do to you?”

 

So where’s the Good news in this? It seems to be a very dark story doesn’t it? Well picture the scene, Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, Pilate sat in a room where hours earlier he washed his hands of the affair, he’s racked with shame at having been manipulated, guilt at not being strong enough to overcome – the sky turns black, something considered a bad omen. It makes him think ‘Have I done the right thing?’ Are the God’s angry with him for not sparing the innocent man? But then it comes the cry of “Father Forgive them they know not what they do.” This is the good news because this forgiveness is not just for the Jewish people it is for all; it is for the Pharisees, for Judas, for Peter, for Pilate and it transcends the generations this forgiveness is for us.

 

And as a final thought let’s spool forward a few days after the Crucifixion, Pilate probably back in the governor’s residence in Caesarea sipping some wine, sealing some letters, reading reports etc, a centurion comes in “Governor, you know that man we crucified the other day in Jerusalem? Well he’s alive.” You can imagine what Pilate might do next – the goblet of wine falls from his grip, his eyes go wide his response probably something like “You have got to be kidding.” Part of me would like to think that the Centurion replies with “No sir April Fool’s day was two weeks ago.” But that wouldn’t happen. But consider this Pilate knows that, despite a possible Pharisee conspiracy theory of “Rome saved him,” that Jesus was dead when he came off that cross. But also remember the non committal answer Jesus gave Pilate at the trial well now he’s just given a proper answer to Pilate and it’s this “I Am who they say I Am.”