11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus[b] Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
I’ve often marveled that the greatest victory ever…victory over sin…could only be accomplished through bad behavior, failure and incompetence. God might observe, “Well, look what I’m working with!”
Pilate represents possibly the greatest failure in leadership ever. How does that saying go? “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.” So goes the legacy of Pontius Pilate. Nearly any other reputation would be preferable for a senior military officer. It’s like saying the preacher doesn’t own a bible.
But, Pilate was confronted with a tricky situation. He knew the high cost of making the correct call so he needed to mitigate some of the blowback. He also knew the benefit of being able to blame the decision on somebody else. He decided to be shrewd.
Consensus…that’s the ticket! “When the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
Theory says the value of consensus is that when you have many bright minds working on a problem the results will always be superior to other methods.
In this case…the “best and the brightest” released Barabbas.
Brilliant!
We might pursue consensus if we are unsure of the right course of action. I understand that. But…is there any possibility Pilate didn’t know the proper decision? Exactly! It’s not very often that you and I don’t know the right answer either. It’s quite another thing to pay the price for the right answer.
The biggest price being…we might make the wrong decision when other people help us.
Here’s my thinking on this. God’s Holy Spirit has been given to us to ensure we know the right course of action…not to minimize the fallout. When our knees begin to feel wobbly we shouldn’t seek advice from our friends. We should seek the face of God. Therein is a majority of one.
The only consensus we need in the Body of Christ is that we all agree to seek the mind of Christ. If you’d like to do that with me I’d be grateful. The specifics are inconsequential.
Live boldly out there today…
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