Recently, reading through the story of Jesus’ arrest and subsequent trials in the book of Matthew, something struck me in a way that had not resonated before. As I read the account of Jesus standing before Pilate, in particular, I spent a little more time studying the governor’s behavior.
While Jesus gave no rebuttal when asked about his station as King of the Jews by the elders, chief priests and Pilate himself – even as Jesus stared his own fate head-on – Pilate was clearly perplexed. Moreover, in Matthew 27:19, Pilate’s wife sent him a message originating from a dream, noting Jesus as of a man of nobility. Although it is not known if her petition was divinely inspired, she encouraged Pilate to exercise caution in his judgment over Jesus.
Despite what appears to be his intuition around Jesus’ innocence, Pilate even asks the crowd what crime Jesus had actually committed warranting punishment. When the crowd begins to grow louder in favor of crucifixion, did Pilate stand taller in his convictions? No. He withered to the noise and even cast responsibility to the agitated crowd to carry. And, with that, Jesus was surrendered to his fate on the cross.
Despite this narrative and Pilate’s decisions, each portion of this story appears necessary for the scriptures to be fulfilled. Even while, shortly before, Peter attempted to thwart Jesus’ arrest by striking with his sword the ear of the servant of the high priest, Jesus reminded Peter that God’s plan was in action all along.
But, what can we learn from Pilate’s role in this most important story in the history of our faith?
Nearly 2,000 years later, we are still faced with a many decisional crossroads in our lives and now, perhaps more than any time in history, we encounter a lot of noise. While we will never stand in Pilate’s particular seat of judgment, we are still responsible for how we live our lives, how we treat others, and what voices we allow to be the loudest in our story.
Each day, we can become easily overwhelmed with the voices we hear through the news, streaming entertainment, social media, and podcasts, just to name a few. Personally, podcasts have become one of my absolute favorite channels for information on topics of interest, so I’m not casting shade on the use of these mediums at all!
But, if the content we are allowing into our minds through these mediums becomes incongruent with our beliefs, we can know what’s right in our heart…but hear the cries of the crowd and become confused.
So, what are we to do? May I offer three suggestions for ways to ensure the voices in our lives point us back to Jesus?
- The first is to stay in the Word. While the allure of the information in the world is swirling around us at a feverish pace, we can open our Bibles and search for discernment on how to navigate this world in a posture consistent with Jesus’ teachings.
- Secondly, we can always pray for guidance. When Jesus departed this world, he left us with the most wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. In inviting the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we can allow ourselves to become guided and convicted for His will, not the world’s will, for our lives.
- Lastly, we can surround ourselves with those who will continue to steer and guide us towards Biblical truth. It can be truly beneficial to have at least a friend or two we can call on when we need to be reminded of God’s word.
In sum, we can read, pray, and commune.
On this very day, before we find sleep once again, we will hear so many voices. It is my prayer for you and myself that these are voices that continue to lead us in the direction of an eternal perspective. I also pray we use our very own voices to be a beacon of light and truth. But, I also pray if we are confronted with voices that attempt to lead us astray, we will have the wind in our backs as we fix our eyes on Jesus.
Rooted in Grace and Grit 