One of the most momentous meetings in the history of Christianity was that between Jesus and Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea.
Because Jesus’ teachings angered the Jewish priests, they had arrested him and falsely accused him of blasphemy. The penalty for this was death, but because the priests did not have the authority to execute anyone, they took Jesus to Pilate. They told Pilate that Jesus was a trouble maker and claimed to be King of the Jews.
If Jesus had claimed to be King, he would be guilty of subverting the authority of Rome.
“Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked Jesus.
“You have said that, not I,” replied Jesus. But Pilate repeated the question so Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, I would have men to fight for me and I would not be in the hands of the Jews.”
Pilate was impressed by Jesus.
He realised that Jesus had done nothing wrong, but he had aroused the hatred of the priests. According to the law Pilate could release one prisoner on the feast of Passover, which was then in progress. He therefore told the Jews that he would release Jesus. But the Jews demanded that he release Barabbas, a well-known bandit.
Pilate knew that he could now do nothing to stop the execution of Jesus without breaking the law. He therefore gave the orders for the crucifixion. Pilate then ritually washed his hands of the affair and sadly watched Jesus led away to his death.
Picture Credit : Google
