Monday 31st March
Read Mark 15:1
“Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.” (NIVUK)
The preliminary trial over, the official trials begin. First before the Sanhedrin, a foregone conclusion. But then before Pilate as the only one able to enforce capital punishment. Our bibles call this the ‘trial before Pilate’ but it is best described as the ‘trial of Pilate’.
Pilate is one of only three people mentioned in the Apostle’s creed. In the company of Jesus and Mary, Pilate rather stands out as the villain. The creed skips Jesus’ life and ministry completely and reads “He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” The decision he makes marks him in history forever.
Rory Shiner makes this observation at the end of an article on Pontius’ place in the creed. He finishes it with reference to Dorothy Sayers brilliant play about the Jesus, ‘A Man for All Seasons’. Dorothy Sayers ‘imagines Pilate’s wife coming to report the content of a dream to her ambitious husband. Pilate asks what the dream was about. She replies: All I can remember is a great crowd of people,” she said. “I don’t know who they were or where they were. All I remember is that they were speaking in a dozen or more languages. And they were all saying the same thing, over and over and over, ‘Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Suffered under Pontius Pilate.’”
Peter was tested and found wanting. The Jewish leaders failed the test long before this moment. Pilate is now also tested. As we will see this week, every opportunity is provided for him to do the right thing. But just as the weakness and mortality of humanity was revealed in the sleeping, fleeing and disowning disciples, so too the venality and cruelty and face-saving nature of the world is revealed in Pilate.
He may not have thought this decision was particularly significant, but it echoes through history like a bell. Integrity is hard to regain once lost.
