Pilate
In Jesus’ day, any death sentence had to be approved by the Roman official in charge of the administrative district. Pontius Pilate was governor of the province of Judea, where Jerusalem was located. When the Jewish leaders had Jesus in their power and wanted to kill him, they had to obtain Pilate’s permission. So it happened that early one morning Pilate found a crowd at his door demanding a man’s death.
Pilate’s relationship with the Jews had always been stormy. His Roman toughness and fairness had been weakened by cynicism, compromises, and mistakes. On several occasions his actions had deeply offended the religious leaders. The resulting riots and chaos must have made Pilate wonder what he had gotten himself into. He was trying to control the people who treated their Roman conquerors without respect. Jesus’ trial was another episode in Pilate’s ongoing problems.
“They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway.”- Acts 13:28 NLT
For Pilate, there was never a doubt about Jesus’ innocence. Three separate times he declared Jesus not guilty. He couldn’t understand why these people wanted to kill Jesus, but his fear of the Jews’ political pressure made him decide to allow Jesus’ crucifixion. Because of the people’s threat to inform the emperor that Pilate hadn’t eliminated a rebel against Rome, Pilate went against what he knew was right. In desperation, he chose to do wrong.
Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.
In His Name & for His Glory,
RL Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
Source: The Life Application Study Bible, p2159.
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