As we sat silently in our pews, listening to the Palm Sunday Gospel reading, my youngest son leaned over to me and whispered, “Mom, was Pontius Pilate a bad man?” Delighted to know that he was listening so intently, I smiled and whispered back, “Great question. I’ll explain later.”
To be honest, I didn’t have a great answer at the moment, so I was glad to have time to reflect before responding. As a curious person myself, I love digging into these big questions and attempting to answer as thoroughly as possible.
The name is one we recite every Sunday in the Nicene Creed. We know Pilate as the man who ultimately ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. While this line gives historical context in the Creed, it also naturally equates the name as belonging to the one who crucified our Lord.
But Jesus offers us a deeper look through one line he speaks to Pilate:
“You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11).
For this reason, the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.
Let that sink in.
What does Jesus mean?
Let’s start with the first statement: “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above.” Here, Jesus highlights that his death and resurrection fulfill Old Testament prophecies, and that Pilate’s role is part of that fulfillment.
But he goes further and makes a profound statement, which gives us insight into a common human weakness: the sin of condemnation.
It was the crowd who blamed, mocked, and plotted against Jesus. It was the crowd who condemned Him. They were the ones who ultimately delivered our Lord to be crucified under Pontius Pilate.
This reality can so easily be lost on us. We tend to look at the crucifixion and trace it back to Pontius Pilate alone, forgetting that it was the choices – the thoughts, words, and actions – of the people in the crowd that ultimately led to the trial.
It calls to mind some thoughts for pondering …
How often do we follow the crowd? Condemnation is something we can all choose. We may not think of it as condemnation, but it can appear in many forms.
Rash judgment
Blame
Gossip
Shame
Mockery
It can be easy to brush these off as innocent, but we must remember that when we condemn others, we are condemning our Lord, Jesus Christ. He died for each one of us. To treat our neighbor with rash judgment or to blame, gossip, or bring shame to another is to do the same to our Savior.
Jesus tells us that the greatest commandments are to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:29-31).
Perhaps, understanding this, we can look at Pontius Pilate a little differently and – perhaps more importantly – look inward at our own thoughts, words, and actions to discern whether we ourselves are guilty of condemnation.