“Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.” When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha).”
John 19:12-13 NLT
Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent of any crime. He knew how popular Jesus had become with the people. He discerned that the Jewish leaders were extremely jealous of Jesus and were afraid that their positions of religious authority were being undermined. He knew that Jesus was no political revolutionary intent on overthrowing the occupying Roman forces. But Pilate was in a bit of a bind. Jerusalem was overloaded with crowds of people present for the Passover celebrations, and the last thing he wanted was a riot to take place, which could happen if the Jewish leaders stirred everyone up. If Jesus was so popular with the people though, why did so many call out for Him to be crucified? We can only assume that the devil was behind much of the mayhem, because if there was anyone who could destroy his hold on Planet Earth it was Jesus.
The Jewish nation was a problem for Pilate and particularly all their religious customs and festivals. Pilate didn’t care one bit for the Jewish religion and their blasphemy laws. He didn’t have a good track record with the Jews and Luke recorded an incident in the Temple. “About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple” (Luke 13:1). But here Pilate was faced with a potential riot over a Man who was innocent, and, to add to his woes, the Jewish leaders pushed a button that reminded Pilate of the vulnerability of his position, should news reach Rome that he failed to deal with a Man who claimed to be a King, superficially competing with Caesar, even if such an analysis was untrue. So Pilate sat down on the judgement seat outside his headquarters but he was never going to be allowed to release Jesus, even if it meant that he lost face and self-respect.
But as we pilgrims know there is a judgement seat coming, before which everyone will have to appear; well, that is, everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We can read the account of John’s vision in Revelation 20:11-13, 15,“And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. … And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire“. A grim scene I think we can agree, and a day will come when Pilate and the Jewish leaders will have to stand before the Man they crucified “to be judged according to what they had done”. There are those who claim that this event could never happen because how could a God of love send people to hell. But they fail to realise that we live in a moral universe and there will have to be a final reckoning to balance the scales of justice. God is a God of love but also of righteousness and holiness and justice. His love was expressed through the event that Jesus was facing into – His substitutionary death that took on the punishment for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to face the Great White Throne and the Man sitting upon it.
Jesus’ mission was clear. We all know John 3:16 off by heart – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. We pilgrims believe in Jesus so we have nothing to fear, and one day will be in God’s presence enjoying eternal life with Him.
Dear Father God. It is an awesome thought, to have to face the wrath of the Living God. We thank You for Jesus and all He did for us at Calvary. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 