Pilate

I'll build a bit on what I wrote yesterday, in particular the relationship between a governed nation and the governing nation. In today's reading, again, all four Gospel writers reported on the same events, with John taking not as much a different view as one that supplements the other three. In particular, John 19:12 states:

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” 

When looking for a definition of "empire," this one from Wikipedia came closest to expressing the point I'm trying to make:

"An empire is a state with politico-military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the imperial (ruling) ethnic group and its culture." 

Not all people in the Roman Empire were Romans, and obviously this was the case regarding the people of Israel. Everything the Jews did differed from the Romans, and the only reasons the Romans were there in the first place was because of their military might. Since they had different customs, lifestyles and religions, one would expect no commonality between the Romans and Israel, and this is generally the case as we read the New Testament. The occasions where a Roman is portrayed positively, such as the faithful centurion described in Matthew 8:5-13, are given as exceptions to the general rule that the Romans were the enemy of the people of Israel. As an occupying army, this was most certainly true, to use a certain phrase.

Pilate tried to release Jesus FOUR times:

1. In exchange for Barabas (John 18:39-40)

2. After he was flogged (John 19:1-6)

3. After Pilate tried to talk with Jesus (John 19:7-12)

4. One last final plea to the Jews (John 19:13-16)

I'm not excusing Pilate, he did in the end bow to peer pressure as a ruler in a country where he was greatly outnumbered. If the people of Israel had been so inclined, they could have overrun Pilate and his armies, and it would have been a completely Pyhrric victory, since Tiberius, the Roman emperor at this time, would have sent an army that would have laid waste to Israel. Knowing all this, the Israelites implore Caesar's name to compel Pilate to act according to their wishes. They hated Jesus so much that they were willing to invoke the person who ruled over them.

A common complaint in days of old was that the Jews killed Jesus, but that conveniently overlooks that without Pilate's approval, nothing could have been done. It took a Gentile to allow the event to occur, so in the end, both Jew and Gentile are complicit in his death. And, as always, before we get too far in patting ourselves on the back in how WE didn't have a hand in this, he died for our sins also. 

I don't usually do this, but be sure to check back tomorrow--I'll have a picture in my post that I think will you'll find interesting and illuminating.

Scott