Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
“Crucify him!” they shouted.
“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

• Mark 15:1-20

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.  But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

• John 18:33-40

Mark 15:10 ” The chief priests ‘had handed Jesus over’ ‘out of self-interest.’ Pilate, who was politically astute, knew what was going on. The chief priests felt threatened because Jesus spoke the words and did the works that brought him the affections of the people. The position and prestige of the religious leaders were at stake. From their perspective, Jesus had to be eliminated.”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Ann L. Bowman, Gospels Epistles contributor)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

• Apostle’s Creed

The Message

This line in the Apostle’s Creed is kind of strange.  Pilate did not strike Him.  Pilate tried to plead with the mob to let Jesus go.  Pilate talked to Jesus, but as usual, Jesus spoke the Truth, but He evaded a direct answer to the questions, at least He evaded answering the questions directly in language Pilate could understand.

In the Matthew 27 version of the story, Pilate’s wife tells her husband of a dream.  She begged Pilate to have nothing to do with Jesus.

But this line is in the Apostle’s Creed in that Pilate was the governor.  All torment that Jesus suffered was done under Pilate’s watch.  Jesus suffered a great deal before He ever reached Golgotha.

Yet, again, the first beating occurred before the high priest.  They slapped Him.  They punched Him.

Pilate ordered Him to be flogged.  This was followed by the indignities of the crown of thorns and being mocked by the Roman soldiers.  Then Jesus had to take His own cross to Golgotha.

All of this while Pilate washed his hands of the whole thing.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Be Thou My Vision.  This is sung by 4Him.  Why did I choose this hymn?  Pilate had Jesus right there before Him, but he did not see who He was.  Be Thou My Vision, Lord so that I can see you more clearly and see You for Whom You are, oh Lord of my life.

 

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We believe in You.  We trust You.  Jesus suffered indignities with no comment.  We get “offended” at times when offense was not considered.  Words can hurt, but if we are to take up our cross and follow You, we need to be above retaliation, words in kind, and thoughts of retribution.  Vengeance is Yours, Lord.  The slings and arrows of this world should not distract us from loving You and forgiving those who persecute us.  After all, they are persecuting You, the One who dwells within us.  Give us strength to handle these indignities and the physical pain of persecution with dignity and grace.
In Thy name we pray,
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.