The Befuddled Judge

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“Are you the King of the Jews?” I ask simply.

I don’t know what to make of this one. Could his accusers possibly be right?

“You have said so.” he replies.

What kind of answer is that? He seems to think HE is in charge here, even though I bear his life in my hands. I am the Governor of this land, the Prefect of Rome! I bear the signet ring of our Lord, Emperor Tiberius, himself!

They disturb me in the middle of the night with this matter! They want me to remove this man from the earth, and he seems oblivious to his situation. They say he is a criminal, yet are quite light on the evidence. They simply say that if he were not a criminal, that they would not have brought him to me. This is clearly no standard case.

“Is that the best that you can do? Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you? They say you are subverting the nation, that you oppose payment of taxes, that you claim to be a Meshiach, a King! You must reply to these charges if you hope to save your life!”

He says nothing! Amazing! Why won’t this man defend himself? Everyone else does… even when their guilt is obvious. His accusers are clearly compelled by self-interest, so a few words in reply could go a long way to secure his freedom. How hard could this be to handle and then get on with this wretched night?

“Answer me! Are you the King of the Jews?”

“Is that your own idea,” he asks, “or did others talk to you about me?”

 “Am I a Jew?” Why is HE questioning ME?  “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

 “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king, then!”

He actually thinks so! But is ‘thinking so’ actually breaking a law, and worthy of death?

 “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?”

What dribble! I can’t take any more of him. Truth is what I declare it to be!

How should I respond to his accusers?  I see they are waiting for me still. This walking back and forth seems so unnecessary, but they refuse to enter the palace as they try to avoid being ‘unclean’ for the feast. Now there’s a good one. Oh, and by the way, they ask, can you have this man killed and clean up the mess before the festival starts? Let’s talk about who is unclean. No! Don’t go there now. This sort of thing could cause a stir if word gets back to Rome. This is clearly an unnecessary annoyance. I owe this man nothing, though I prefer to deliver right judgement, as is in keeping with our Roman law and sense of justice, and if that means sticking it to these pious locals, so much the better.

But there are limits. I have only been in this position for a few years. I am hemmed in by my predecessor’s legacy and the expectations of these unruly people, who are all too willing to spread their negative reports all the way to Rome. I must tread gingerly here. Why should I risk standing up for him when he won’t even stand up for himself?

“Gentlemen, thank you for your patience. I have looked carefully into this matter, and I find no basis for a charge against him.”

“But he stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” one of them says.

“A Galilean you say? Then this man is under Herod’s jurisdiction. He just happens to be here in Jerusalem even now. Take this man to Herod!”

That takes care of that. Finally, time to get some sleep!

 

QUITE SOME TIME LATER

 

Ah, he returns with an elegant robe and a pointed crown. Herod has some sense of style I see, even if he does avoid his duty.

“Call together the chief priests, the rulers and the people!”

Perhaps they will now be more reasonable, as they see that Rome has put this man in his place.

“You brought this man to me as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

Enough said… or not… They are starting to grumble again.

“Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”

The lengths to which jealous and frightened people will go! Even those in leadership. Or maybe especially those in leadership. Yes, they are frightened, but of what? Clearly not me, at least not right now. Perhaps I should offer the people the one who really should frighten them. Yes, now there’s an idea!

Perhaps the crowd will resolve this without my having to take sides. It’s time to make my annual offer to release a prisoner for the festival. This should be a no-brainer. Among the rabble in my jail I hold that profane, violent murderer, and this docile, near-silent ‘king’. If I offer one of these to the crowd, common sense will take hold and the situation will resolve itself. This crowd will see through the power struggle between their rulers and this ‘king’. Time to make the offer.

“People of Jerusalem, it is our custom to release to you one prisoner at this time of the year. Which one do you want me to release to you: Yeshua, Son of the Father[i], the insurrectionist, or Yeshua a Mashiach[ii], your king?

What now? Another interruption! Oh, a note from my wife – strange that she would pick this moment…

Well, let’s see what she wrote: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” What am I to make of that? It’s too late to extricate myself. And why should her dream set the course of the future? I can steer these events by playing these people – I always have.

 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” 

“Give us Barabbas!” they answered.

That violent murderer! What are they thinking?

 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the ‘King of the Jews’?”

 “Crucify him!” they shout all the more!

How can they offer someone up in such an uninhibited way? What do they see in this man? What challenge does he represent to their leaders?

I know! If I have him flogged, that may satisfy their bloodlust, and he will look so pitiful that no one would think he could be a risk.

“Flog him!”

 

SOME TIME LATER

 

Oh he DOES look awful! They will all see that.

“Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him. Here is the man! See what has been done to him. Has he not suffered enough?”

 “Crucify! Crucify!” they chant.

They are not satisfied! This is ridiculous! Could this be anything other than a personal vendetta?

 “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

 “We have a law” they say – they just won’t let it go! “and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

The son of god? Well, around this empire the Emperor is our god. Could he actually believe that he is the son of the Emperor? Or is this an even grander claim – a REAL god? I must speak to him again!

 “Where do you come from?”

…Still he will give no answer…

“Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Finally he lifts his head to speak:

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

From above! Above where? This one gives me the chills! Why did I take this job? His accusers better have a stronger case than they have shared so far.

 “You who accuse him, tell me why! What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him punished and then release him.”

One steps forward to reply, yet again…

“If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

The impertinence of these people! They challenge MY loyalty! As if they themselves were more loyal than I, though I know that that is not true!

“Why? What crime has he committed?”

“Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

The booming, repetitive retort of this witless crowd. This one said that I have no power over him. Perhaps that is the truth.

Somehow I feel compelled to try once more:

“Shall I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar.”

Ah, the voice of these supposed followers of Yahweh. They deny their own, which they have claimed for centuries, and claim allegiance to the one that they have quietly opposed, and occasionally publicly opposed, for these many years!

This is going nowhere. And there is no benefit to upset such a crowd on this night before the festival. They are already beginning an uproar. No man is worth a riot, and least of all this sheepish man who is silent before his accusers. But what to do?

I know! I will NOT declare this man guilty. Their leaders have done that already. Looks like it’s time for some theatrics, and indeed I will extricate myself. I will not be associated with this man’s death, for ages to come, at the hands of this stubborn people.

“Bring me the water.”

I wash my hands of this entire affair, right in front of these many witnesses.

“I am innocent of this man’s blood. This is your responsibility!”

 “His blood is on us and on our children!” they shout.

Ah yes. They have the thirst, and they willingly accept responsibility. Scratch another life that you find a threat. Of course in this case the threat is not physical. It is his ideas, his words that they find so annoying. What is it with humans that they think that IF they can remove an irritant, they can remove ‘the problem’? Well, give them what they so desperately want. Satisfy these people and their leaders. Maybe that irritant can be washed away for me. At least it will not be me who is responsible for the death of this one, peculiar though he may be.

“Release Barabbas! As for this one, flog him and then hand him over to them.”

I must sign his death warrant to satisfy THEM, though I can see right through this situation.

Why do I not sense that the weight has been lifted? Will I be able to sleep tonight? Am I just an implement, unable even to save this singular man. I feel filthy! And so fragile in this moment! What can I do now to regain some of my dignity? And what will tomorrow bring? Will the world hold me responsible for killing ‘The King of The Jews’? As he said, those who handed him over are guilty of the greater sin… but is there a lesser sin? These people are a bitter taste in my mouth. This will be the last time that they best me! From now on, I will rule from a position of strength.

“Oh, what is it now?”

“Pilot, you wrote ‘Yeshua, King of the Jews’. WE would rather that you write ‘Yeshua, the man who SAID he was The King of the Jews’. Can you make that minor correction?”

“I have written what I have written! Now leave me.”

 

(c) 2017 Chuck Curtiss

To read other similar stories in this series see The Witness List.

Based on Matthew 27:11-26, Mark 15:1-15, Luke 23:1-25, John 18:28-19:16

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. http://www.zondervan.com.

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[i]Jesus Barabbas, most often referred to as just Barabbas – an insurrectionist (revolutionary anarchist), who had been in Pilot’s prison

[ii]Jesus, the one they call Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth, of whom Pilot had the sign made for his Cross which is translated into English as “Jesus, King of the Jews”