Sermon Manuscript: Pilate

Text: Matthew 27:11-26

Main Thought: Pilate was caught between a rock and a hard place. Rome wanted him gone because he could not control the Jews. His own conscience told him that Jesus was innocent. His wife told him to leave Jesus alone. And the Jews told him to crucify. Why did he end up listening to the Jews instead of his own conscience and someone who had his best interest in mind? We live in the midst of heat and pressure. It either forms us into diamonds or turns us into dust. Jesus was a diamond. Pilate turned to dust.

I can almost feel sorry for Pilate. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. But as is often the case in my own life, he had place himself securely there by his past actions. Let's take a closer look at the forces weighing upon him as he dealt with Jesus' guilt of innocence.

First of all, his own conscience could not condemn Jesus. For he did not see where Jesus had done anything wrong except to offend the Jewish leadership. Jesus had consistently been undermining them throughout the past three years, and in particular these past few days. The crowds coronated him with a triumphal entry procession. Jesus then went promptly to the Temple courts and drove out the money changers. He struck deeply into the heart of the religious leaders, and they had enough. But all this was not Pilate's concern, his concern was ruling from the judgment seat on Jesus' guilt or innocence. And from his perspective, Jesus had done nothing wrong to deserve death.

In addition to his own conscience, Pilate's wife was also advocating Jesus' innocence. As a matter of fact, she referred to Jesus as righteous. Not merely innocent of these charges, but one who was living in a manner above any approach. He was clean in her view. She had suffered a terrible dream due directly to Jesus. We are led to believe by her urgency that this was some sort of preminition about Pilate's fate being swayed by how he dealt with Jesus. It was not merely a quick warning, but a warning that carried with it dire consequences.

On the other end of the spectrum were the Jewish leaders who obviously were advocating the execution of Jesus. Not just advocating, but actively pursuing Jesus and manipulating the system to kill him. In addition to his arrest, they had raised up a hostile crowd of people toward Jesus. This crowd was firmly under the leadership's thumb as evidenced by their participation in Jesus' arrest and now outside of Pilate's court demanding Jesus' execution.

What made matters worse was the pressure Rome was putting on Pilate. Pilate was having a difficult time governing the Jewish people and Rome was not amused. This was partly due to his stealing from the Temple treasury for various projects including a water canal. It was also due to the insensitive way he governed the region. He had tried to make amends throughout the years. As a matter of fact, Pilate instituted an annual release of one Jewish prisoner that the crowd could decide upon. Each year, one individual was released Pilate could ill afford a riot by the Jewish people at this point. That would have sealed his fate with Rome and guaranteed his removal from power. In order to keep his position, he needed to figure a way to appease the Jewish people on this matter.

And so Pilate began to carefully work his way through this minefield. After the initial charges were presented against Jesus, we know from Luke's gospel that Pilate takes this opportunity to send Jesus to Herod, the ruler of Galilee of which Jesus is a part. He does this for two reasons, in my view. The first is to show respect and deference to Herod who Pilate was at odds with. History shows that from this point forward, Herod and Pilate had a much better relationship. The second reason for sending Jesus to Herod is for help. Maybe Herod will pronounce him guilty and take this off his hands. But when Herod sends Jesus back with a judgment of "innocent", Pilate is not backed into a corner. Do I release this innocent man and incur a riot which will bring down Rome and destroy my position? Or do I follow through with this man against my own conscience and the dire warnings of my wife. What ensues is a showing of his true colors. Let someone else make this hard decision. I will position myself as a mere instrument following the direction of the masses. It lets me off the hook personally, and it satisfies the crowd. A win-win all the way around. Right? We know how this turns out. The crowd chooses Barabbas over Jesus. The crowd also chooses crucifixion over another form of punishment. Pilate washes his hands of Jesus' blood, and the crowd willingly accepts it in return. Jesus is scourged and then handed over for crucifixion. A win-win all the way around. Right?

Do you remember high school chemistry? Jon Ed Ingham was my HS chemistry teacher. I took his daughter to the Prom my sophomore year when she was a Junior. Not sure why you needed to know that, but there you go. Free with the price of admission. It was my first introduction to a crucible. Not the date, but the chemistry class! A crucible was used to heat elements up to very high temperatures in order to change or reduce them. What goes into a crucible is forever changed when the heat is applied.

It is the same principle that makes diamonds. When heat and pressure are added to carbon-bearing materials, they are transformed. Their property becomes shiny and extremely hard. Too much pressure, or too much heat, and you get something very different.

I think we would all agree that, like the elements in a crucible or carbon-bearing matter beneath the surface of the earth, our lives are lived under the influence of pressure and heat. Each of us faces a unique set of pressures and heat from our lives. For some of us here, our career is a huge pressure point. Will we get ahead? Will we have a job in this current economy? Or maybe its our family. Marriages struggles or struggles with children can bring us to a boiling point quickly. Some of us are faced with overwhelming health issues for us or those close to us. Maybe it is grief. Perhaps loneliness and depression. We are faced with decisions in our life that affect who we become and what the life around us looks like. And it is the sum total of these decisions that dictate whether our life is transformed into something worthwhile for us and those around us, or if we are smashed into dust and scattered by the wind. Hyperbole intended.

James 1:2-4 says it like this, "consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Jesus also ways in on this matter in Matthew 10:22 by saying, "…it is the one who had endured to the end who will be saved."

Let's complete Pilate's story for a moment. I do not believe that this event was the totality of his undoing, but it did lead to his eventual demise. In AD 36, history tells us that Pilate used extreme force to stop a Samaritan procession. It so offended the morality of that day, which is saying much, that he was summoned to Rome and never heard from again. The sum total of his decisions made under the heat and pressure of his life did not transform his life into something worthwhile for him and those around him. The weight crushed him.


Jesus on the other hand was completely transformed by the weight of his life and the decisions he made that aligned with God's will. His endurance allowed him to be in the place to accept the punishment of the world for all of humanity for all time. It allowed him to be the perfect and complete sacrifice that allows you and me the ability to relate to God.