THE PRAYER FOR JUDGMENT

In a court of law a “Prayer for Judgment” is the legal document stating the reasons for a judicial decision.  As we have seen throughout the trial of Jesus, multiple accusations were brought against Him by the religious leaders.  They accused him of both political and theological crimes.  But since Pilate had little or no interest in the theological accusations being levied against Christ, it was the political accusation that ultimately sealed His fate.

Time after time as a “Prayer for Judgment” was asked for by the Jewish lawyers seeking the death penalty against Jesus, their requests were rebuffed or rejected by Pilate.  But finally in the face of the accusation that “…If you let this man go you are no friend of Caesar” – Pilate folded.  Like many politicians, he succumbed to political blackmail.  But as he did he desperately sought to absolve himself of the guilt of what he knew was “innocent blood.” 

Pilate desperately wanted to somehow walk away from this whole messy trial with his political career in tact.  But this was not just the “trial of the Century” – it was the “trial of history!”  There has never been a trial in the annals of human history to equal this one that he presided over as Judge.  And every human being in one way or another is subpoenaed for the jury in this trial.  No person can be neutral in the face of the Passion of the Christ!  Like Pilate, we all must made a clear decision about the claims of Christ.  Neutrality is not an option – legally or spiritually.  So let’s take a final look at this greatest trial of human history.

In a court of law, it is customary to have a “legal briefing” after every important trial. This is the time when the lawyers give their legal summary briefs of the case. The Four Gospel writers do the same thing after the conclusions of Christ’s mock trial before Pilate. Here are their legal briefings:

• Matthew: “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!” (Matthew 27:24).

When the crowd heard Pilate shift the responsibility from himself to them, they cried out: “Let His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matt. 27:25). And with those words, they not only sealed Christ’s fate – they sealed their own fate also!

Pilate therefore sought to absolve himself of personal responsibility in the death of Christ. To dramatize this, he did something very familiar to the Jews – which further rubbed their noses in the guilt of Jesus’ conviction to die.  “Pilate…washed his hands…”

When Pilate did this before the crowd, he reenacted something that the Jewish leaders were all very familiar with. It came right out of their own Scriptures. It had to do with the absolution of guilt in the case of an unsolved murder. In such cases, Moses had instructed that a “virgin heifer” would be sacrificed as an atonement:

“Then all the elders…nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken…and they shall declare: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood… And the bloodshed will be atoned for. So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood…” (Deuteronomy 21:6-9).

We can hear echoes of this when the Psalmist Asaph cried out: “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence” (Psalm 73:13).

We do not know how Pilate knew these portions of the Jewish Scriptures. But we can almost be sure that it was his final act of distain and disgust toward the Jewish leaders. So before turning Jesus over to them – He would “rub their noses” in their own Scriptures!

From that time on, this act of “hand washing” to absolve guilt has been associated with Pilate. But regardless of his use and abuse of Scriptures, he could not shirk his legal and moral responsibility concerning the execution of Christ. He could not shift the blame to the Jewish leaders or the crowd. Even though he dramatically proclaimed: “I am innocence of this man’s blood,” God and history still hold him accountable! No amount of water and hand washing can absolve him of his responsibility in the Passion of the Christ!

• Mark: “Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified” (Mk. 15:15).

While Matthew emphasizes Pilate’s attempt to absolve himself of all guilt concerning the death of Christ, Mark emphasizes his capitulation to the crowd. In caving in to the wishes of the crowd, Pilate did what most political leaders and politicians do – he let the crowd set the agenda. It was their inflamed passions that were in control – not truth or justice. So while Pilate had the power and authority to do the right thing – he chose not to exercise it. He folded to the crowd!

How often we do the same today. It is what the “crowd wants” that wins the day. It is the pressure of the clamoring masses that sweeps us along like a tidal wave. When we realize that “everybody believes this” and “everybody is doing it” – we fall in line.  So how easy it is for us to identify with that out-of-control crowd 2,000 years ago.

• Luke: “Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’  For the third time he spoke to them: ‘Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in Him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have Him punished and then release Him.

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that He be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demands” (Luke 23:20-23).

Doctor Luke has always proven himself to be an astute observer and accurate historian. He is the kind of witness that every good lawyer wants to call to the stand. In his Gospel account, we often notice how he records and recounts little details that the other Gospel writers did not include. So we read one important thing in his account that we have not seen in the others. Luke tells us that Pilate spoke to the crowd “three times” about Jesus. And each time he came back with the same clear legal verdict: “Not guilty!” This is important in Jewish understanding because the Law of Moses said that:

“One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deuteronomy 19:15; II Corinthians 13:1).

So the innocence of Christ was clearly affirmed by more than “…the testimony of two or three witnesses.” The many false witnesses could not prove Him guilty of any crime – although they desperately tried to do so. Pilate examined him several times privately and publicly, and found Him completely innocent of all charges trumped up against Him. Finally, Herod also interrogated Him, and found Him guilty of no crime – especially of any deserving the death penalty.

So there can be no doubt in the court of divine or human justice that Jesus was totally innocent – morally or legally!  Christ’s absolute innocence was a necessary prerequisite for Him to be the guiltless sacrifice for the sins of the world!  And Doctor Luke testifies that Christ’s innocence was declared no less than “three times.”

• John:  The Fourth Gospel writer gives a longer account of the drama between Pilate, Jesus and the religious leaders. He tells us that Pilate tried one last desperate attempt to placate and appease the Jews: “Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged.”  We will look at this Roman “flogging” or “scourging” in a later chapter. But after this “flogging,” Pilate turned Jesus over to his sadistic and harden soldiers. They made a further mockery of Jesus, and did everything possible to humiliate Him as the “King of the Jews.”  We read this familiar account of their mockery:

“The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They clothed Him in a purple robe and went up to Him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’  And they struck him in the face.

Pilate felt that this public scourging and humiliation would certainly satisfy the crowd’s desire to see Christ suffer. So once more he comes out and presents the beaten and blooded Christ with these words:

“Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.”

When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man!’

The Latin phrase that Pilate used when he said: “Behold the man!” is Ecce homo. Little did Pilate realize that this phrase would become famous and echo down through the centuries! Along with “washing his hands,” this phrase Ecce homo has become synonymous with Pilate himself.

But as the blood-thirsty crowd “Beheld the man” in His “crown of thorns” and “purple robe,” they became even more enraged!  They cried out all the more: “Crucify! Crucify!”

Once again Pilate sought to shift the blame: “You take Him and crucify Him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against Him.” At this point they again accused Jesus before Pilate of claiming to be deity, and therefore deserving of death. “We have a law,” they said, “and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” This claim by Jesus startled Pilate. Even the Romans had beliefs about the gods who would inhabit a human being. As a result, “When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace.”

Once Pilate was back in side his palace, he further interrogates Jesus about His claims of deity. But Jesus remained silent. This silence greatly frustrated Pilate, so he said to Jesus: “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

At that point Jesus set the record straight. “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above.” Jesus then went on to say: “Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

No doubt this quite confidence and authority on the part of Christ deeply impressed Pilate. He had never seen this kind of calm and control in the face of such hatred, injustice and suffering. So we read: “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free.”  But when the Jewish leaders saw this resolve on Pilate’s part to free Jesus, they began to shout: “If you let this man go you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” For Pilate this was the final straw. Now that Caesar was invoked, Pilate’s fears took over his reason and sense of justice. And so we read: “Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified” (John 19:1-16).

We can see then from the cumulative testimonies of the Four Gospel writers that Jesus was clearly innocent, and yet unjustly condemned to die. But before we leave this chapter, we must at least list the other references to Pilate in the rest of the New Testament.  They further amplify Pilate’s role in the Passion of the Christ.

• This is the testimony of Peter after God used him to heal a cripple beggar:

“The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over to be killed, and you disowned Him before Pilate, though He had decided to let Him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this” (Acts 3:1315).

• In their prayer and praise to God after their release from the Sanhedrin, Peter and the disciples prayed:

“The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One. Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:26-28).

• Paul preached about Pilate at Pisidian Antioch on his First Missionary journey: 

“Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. When they carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead…” (Acts 13:26-30).

• Finally, Paul spoke of Pilate in his letter to Timothy:

“In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made a good confession…keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (I Tim. 6:13-14).

Since Jesus then, gave a “good confession” when He was being interrogated by Pontius Pilate, may we also give a good and Godly confession when we are “on trial” in our lives – as we will all be from time to time.  And as the hostile crowds and lesser Pilates of this world examine us, may we too be found “without spot or blame” as we await the “appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”