Wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate...
Mark 15:12-14
Pilate was saying to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate was saying to them, “Why? What evil did He do?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”
The way of the cross (“via crucis”) begins with a difficult decision for Pilate.
The Roman military prefect had to have known of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Among the quarter million pilgrims who had swelled the city’s population during the Feast of Unleavened bread, there were likely thousands of followers of Jesus of Nazareth. He had heard rumors of this Man’s power over sickness, the weather, and evil spirits. There was one report that Jesus had raised someone from the dead.
The religious leaders were pushing for Jesus’ execution. They raised the specter of insurrection to Pilate: “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar and saying that He Himself is the Anointed One, a King” (Luke 23:2). The prefect’s job was to maintain order, extract taxes, and suppress insurrection by whatever means necessary. The Jewish leaders knew exactly which buttons they needed to push. They could not be seen as responsible for Jesus’ execution. They needed Pilate.
But Pilate knew in His gut that Jesus was innocent and no threat to Roman rule. “I have found no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:14). Credible witnesses could have told the prefect that they had never heard Jesus say anything against Rome. And Pilate doubtless had enough experience with the personalities of the Sanhedrin to sense their scheming and manipulation.
Finally, Pilate’s own wife had experienced nightmares about Jesus. She passed word to Pilate, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man, for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him” (Matthew 27:19).
The first step in the way of the cross was Pilate’s difficult decision.
By now there was a crowd of onlookers who sensed blood and who were stirred up by the chief priests to insist on Jesus’ death.
Pilate had options. He could have just delayed judgment, waited until the feast was over and the crowds of pilgrims had returned home. He could have just kept Jesus in prison and waited.
In general, the more important the decision is, the more time one should take in making it.
A person’s life is such an important decision, arguably the most important of all decisions.
Unless it isn’t.
Unless others’ lives don’t outweigh other factors in the minds of those making the decision: power, control, position, wealth, recognition and reputation.
“Wishing to satisfy the multitude… Pilate delivered Jesus over to be crucified” (Mark 15:15).
Pilate washed his hands of the decision (Matthew 27:24). History has not been so kind or forgetful.
The way of the cross began for Jesus as the victim of a hasty, cruel, uninformed decision.
In following the Savior, we may find it so for us.
