And straightway in the morning, the chief priests holding a consultation with the ancients and the scribes and the whole council, binding Jesus, led him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him: Art thou the king of the Jews? But he answering, saith to him: Thou sayest it. And the chief priests accused him in many things. And Pilate again asked him, saying: Answerest thou nothing? behold in how many things they accuse thee. But Jesus still answered nothing; so that Pilate wondered.
Now on the festival day he was wont to release unto them one of the prisoners, whomsoever they demanded. And there was one called Barabbas, who was put in prison with some seditious men, who in the sedition had committed murder. And when the multitude was come up, they began to desire that he would do, as he had ever done unto them. And Pilate answered them, and said: Will you that I release to you the king of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him up out of envy.
But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas to them. And Pilate again answering, saith to them: What will you then that I do to the king of the Jews? But they again cried out: Crucify him. And Pilate saith to them: Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more: Crucify him. And so Pilate being willing to satisfy the people, released to them Barabbas, and delivered up Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
(Mk 15:1-15, Douay-Rheims Version)
Pontius Pilate was not really historically significant. His significance comes from his sentencing of Jesus when he was governor of Judea. We recite in the Nicene Creed that Jesus “was crucified under Pontius Pilate.” In the Apostle’s Creed, we say Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” In the gospels, Pilate is described as a weak governor, who acted unjustly because he feared the Jews. He sentenced Jesus because he did not want to offend the people. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, he declared Jesus to be innocent and yet handed him over to be crucified. He even washed his hands to symbolise that he did not agree with the judgement of the people. The accounts show him anxious: on one hand, he did not want to kill an innocent man, on the other he had a possible riot happening. He had a dilemma and he made a decision. Although the gospels took pains to show that he did not find Jesus guilty, he was nevertheless the one who sentenced Jesus to death.
By sentencing Jesus, he still made a judgement. He was probably thinking about how he was to control the unruly crowd. Perhaps, as St. John implied, his standing with the Roman Emperor might be affected. Whatever it was, he made a judgement that Jesus’ life was not as valuable as his authority or reputation. Did he have the authority to do so?
In my life, I would probably not be put into a similar situation like Pilate. Yet, as a parish priest, I have to make decisions. I have bowed to public pressure just to make things easier on myself. I have also made judgements that put my interests above others. While not all these decisions were immoral, I have allowed my selfish motivations to cloud my judgements. This becomes even more urgent in these times when the sacraments are not celebrated as usual. I could argue that there is less of a need to listen to confessions as there is no public masses celebrated. Thus I might be tempted not to make myself available during the times scheduled for celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. However, that would be selfish. When I consider my own convenience as more important than that of the spiritual health of the parishioners, I act just like Pontius Pilate.
Nothing much else is known about Pilate for certain. There have been suggestions that he was anti Semitic. There are many varying apocryphal accounts of him. He was a Christian in one account, and a villian who uses the coat of Jesus to save his own life in another. Let us not judge Pilate the man. God is the only one able to do that. We can assess his behaviour and learn from it. Jesus died for all, including Pontius Pilate. Our understanding of this station where Pilate judges Jesus will help us realise the depth of God’s love for us. As St. Paul says: God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8, Revised Standard Version)
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