Evangelion: Pontius Pilate

Francis Newton Souza: "The Trial Christ and Pilate" (1984)

 The Gospel of John presents the Roman Governor as a man of this world who primarily concerned himself with the things of this world. Pontius Pilate is initially somewhat relieved to hear Jesus claim to be divine rather than the simply King of Judah, though Caesar formally lay claim to both titles:

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” Jesus said, “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!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “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?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (Jn 18:33–40)

Pilot cannily acquiesces to the release of Barabbas—“who had taken part in an uprising”—rather than insist on the releases of Jesus—against whom he finds “no basis for a charge against him”—when the Jewish leaders threaten to denounce Pilot as disloyal to Caesar:

The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “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 then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
(Jn 19:7–16)

And so Jesus is crucified between two violent insurrectionists, and in place of another, for claiming a Lordship both less threatening and more threatening than institutional power. We ourselves experience these same tensions when through fear or jealousy we seek to limit to the lordship of Christ in our lives. The only alternative is to ground our understanding in him alone, seeking him in the trustworthy testimony of those to whom he revealed himself:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 Jn 1.1–3)

The kingdom of God is not an earthly power but rather a community of faith—one that both spans and divides nations, peoples, and tribes—whose growth is as gradual and relentless as the effect of a small amount of yeast on a large amount of dough. Even the Roman Empire proved less powerful and enduring than the Kingdom of God, so why should we devote ourselves to the kingdoms and tribes of this world?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rm 12.1–2)

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Mt 13.33)

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mk 15:39)