Who Was in Control?
TRANSLATION
(1) Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. (2) The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him with a purple robe. (3) They came up to him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they slapped him with their hands. (4) Then Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” (5) Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!” (6) When the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” (7) The Jews responded, “We have a law, and according to that law he deserves to die because he claimed to be the Son of God.” (8) When Pilate heard these words, he was even more afraid. (9) Again he entered the palace and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” However, Jesus gave him no answer. (10) Pilate then said to him, “Do you refuse to answer me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to set you free and the authority to have you crucified?” (11) Jesus responded, “You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me over to you is guilty of the greater sin.”
(12) From then on Pilate sought to have him released, but the Jews cried out, “If you free this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” (13) When Pilate heard these words, he had Jesus brought out, and he sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement (in Aramaic, “Gabbatha”). (14) Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. Then he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” (15) They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests responded, “We have no king but Caesar.” (16) Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
OBSERVATIONS
Two salient facts were revealed in these verses. First, the Jewish leaders finally admitted to Pilate their reason for demanding Jesus’ death: “…he claimed to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he became even more reluctant to have Jesus crucified. Then, the reason why Pilate finally gave in to their demands came to light, namely, his fear of the Jews reporting him to Caesar as no longer “Caesar’s friend.” Proper names were the most frequent repetitions in this description of Jesus’ trial before Pilate. “Pilate” was mentioned nine times (vss. 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, & 15) while “Jesus” is found six times (vss. 1, 5, 8, 11, & 13) along with the title, “King of the Jews” and “king” four times (vss. 3, 14, & 15). “The Jews” is also found four times (vss. 3, 7, 12, & 14) along with “the chief priests” twice (vss. 6 & 15). “Caesar” was mentioned three times (vss. 12 & 15).
Other repeated words included “crown of thorns” and “purple robe” (both in vss. 2 & 5), “behold the man/your king” (vss. 5 & 14), “crucify/crucified” seven times (vss. 6 & 10, 15, & 16), “law” (twice in vs. 7), “authority” (three times in vss. 10 & 11), “delivered” (vss. 11 & 16), “release(d)” (twice in vs. 12), and the phrase, “away with him” (twice in vs. 15).
OUTLINE
I. While questioning Jesus, Pilate was forced to confront his divine authority. (1-11)
II. Though wanting to release him, Pilate was compelled by the Jews to sentence him to death. (12-16)
IDEA STATEMENT
Though desperate to release him, Pilate was forced into sentencing Jesus to death by the demands of the Jewish leaders clamoring for his crucifixion.
APPLICATION
On March 30, 1981 in Washington, D. C., President Ronald Reagan was shot and badly wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in an assassination attempt. In a news conference later that afternoon the Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, famously and erroneously told reporters, “As of now, I am in control here in the White House.” In the decades since, that blurted assertion has been viewed as a classic blunder that would eventually undermine Haig’s own presidential aspirations. A powerful Cabinet secretary had made a shocking miscalculation during a national crisis that demanded he remain calm and in command. Instead, he had shown that he was anything but in control.
That same kind of bravado was on display when Pilate responded to Jesus’ silence, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus calmly responded, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” This declaration not only put Pilate in his place but clearly unnerved him as he desperately tried to find a way to release his prisoner. Soon the Roman governor would bow to the will of the Jewish leaders who demanded Jesus’ death, all according to the will of our sovereign God who through these seemingly out-of-control circumstances was providing the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all humanity.
Each of us desperately desires to be in control of our lives when, in reality, we have little power to determine much of anything. How much better off would we be if we were to acknowledge that only God is in control and that we must look to him to lead and guide us, to provide for our needs and make our ways safe. Once we submit to his control in our lives, we can rest secure in his infinite power and steadfast love.