SUFFERED UNDER PILATE
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank You for what You went through to purchase Your church.
Read MATTHEW 27:11–26
Jesus Before Pilate
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 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!”
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Most of us would not have made it past the flogging of Jesus.
Think Further
Pilate has discerned exactly why the religious leaders seek Jesus’ death, but, as the governor of a remote and unruly province, he has antagonized the people before and has no desire to attract the attention of his superiors in Rome again. Pilate struggles with his conscience and with complex personal issues, but Matthew pinpoints the deciding factor: he fears alienating the crowd (24). Pilate will be dismissed a few years later, following his seizure and execution of innocent people. Some ancient sources suggest he committed suicide, but others say he became a Christian and a missionary. Neither can be proven, but the ancient churches of North Africa remember him as a saint.
Jesus, already beaten, appears before Pilate. From here he is flogged or “scourged” (26, AV). Perhaps Pilate believes the crowd would accept this severe punishment as sufficient, but Matthew’s words link it with the crucifixion. Every ancient reader knows this brutal treatment is always part of the Roman method of execution. Modern evangelical Christians like me can focus so much on the theology of the sacrificial death of Jesus that we may lose the sense that Jesus was also punished for our sins and that, as our creeds affirm, this dreadful punishment happened before his crucifixion. My own research indicates that Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ was appallingly accurate. I found it almost impossible to watch, but it did help me regain my deep gratitude to Jesus, not only for dying for me, but also for suffering for me.
Isaiah’s prophecy must find its fulfillment. Pilate does not just hand Jesus over to be crucified; he hands him over to the most terrible death known to the ancient world.
Apply
Consider: “O sacred Head, now wounded, / with grief and shame weighed down, / now scornfully surrounded / with thorns, Thine only crown” (Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090–1153).
Closing prayer
Jesus of Nazareth, the promised Messiah, we believe that the blood that You shed is a payment for our sins. Thank You for suffering for us and for dying for us so that we could have life.
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