There was no love lost between Governor Pontius Pilate and the Jewish Sanhedrin. For the first several years of his reign as governor of Judaea, the Jewish religious leaders had no use for this Roman appointee, and clashed with him regularly. The religious leaders hated having a Roman presence in their sacred cities, and had a particular disdain for Pilate and his actions intended to Romanize the region of Judaea. One particular story emerging from that era had Pilate bringing images of Caesar into Jerusalem, only to have the Jewish religious leaders vigorously protest. They were willing to die at the end of a Roman sword to have the images of Caesar removed from their capital city. Pilate relented that day and had the images removed, but the friction between the Jews and their Roman Governor continued throughout the time of Jesus’ public ministry.
Given this contentious relationship, it is odd to see (in John 18:28-40) the Jews seeking Pilate’s help after their arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. They hated everything Roman, but Pilate had something they needed … the ability to order a public execution.
The Jewish leaders were not seeking a quiet disappearance of Jesus, or merely a silencing of His message. No, they were seeking a public humiliation of Jesus of Nazareth to create the appearance that He certainly was not the Messiah many believed Him to be. If the Jewish religious leaders had stoned Jesus (like they did Stephen in Acts 7), Jesus would have died, but they would have appeared to be responding only in a fit of anger and rage. The Jewish religious leaders wanted the Jesus movement to end in a public spectacle where Jesus would be hanging from a tree in crucifixion. This punishment was only carried out by the Romans, so they needed Pilate’s help. In the Old Testament text, it is written that “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” The Jewish leaders believed that a public execution, hanging Jesus from a tree, would let the world know that God was NOT with Jesus.
2,000 years later, and with billions of converts and counting, the Jesus movement has NOT been humiliated or stopped. In fact, the Jewish leaders insistence on the crucifixion of Christ actually helped demonstrate the curse Jesus removed from sinners like you and me! Galatians 3:10 says “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by the works of the law.” Since we have all fallen short of God’s glorious standard, we are under a curse. Galatians 3:13 continues, though, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”
The Jewish leaders were jealous of Jesus and wanted Him humiliated and killed. Pilate wanted to save face and hang on to political power. But our God is so sovereign that He can use the sinful, selfish decisions of others to accomplish His glorifying ends.
This Sunday, April 6 at Wildwood Community Church, we will be in part 4 of our “Trial to Triumph” sermon series as we look at John 18:28-40. In these verses we will see Jesus standing trial before Pilate, and what that means for you and for me. Hope to see you Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 services. We will worship, pray, read Scripture, share the Lord’s Supper, and even hear the update on our Deep + Wide capital campaign. Hope you see you there … and bring friends!