For a man who wielded considerable power, Pilate is one of the greatest cowards in history. It was not that he could have made a different decision if he had more information. He gave the priest several opportunities to present a compelling case against Jesus, and they couldn’t do it. Pilate told them as much when he said, “I find no fault in this man.” In an attempt to add more weight to his verdict, he told them that Herod had not found any fault in Him either. It was not that he could have responded differently if he had a better understanding of how things worked in Judea. He knew all too well how the Jewish system operated, and for the most part, he despised them. His wife even told him to be careful what he did with Jesus. The case before Pilate was not vague or unclear. He knew what to do, but he took the cowardly way out.

Pilate went so far as to interrogate Jesus personally. Perhaps he was hoping that something Jesus might say would prove incriminating, even if the priests’ evidence was not enough to convict. But, after all was said and done, Pilate reached the same conclusion each time. There had been no crime; there was no basis for charges, nor was there any reason for a sentence of any kind. The obvious legal outcome was to release the defendant.

Pilate said Jesus was not guilty, but still sentenced Him to death by crucifixion. Why? Pilate feared the priests more than doing what was right. Jesus meant nothing to Pilate, so he concluded that Jesus could be discarded and dispensed with. As a final act of absolution for himself, he washed his hands of the whole matter, as if to say, “This is not my responsibility; the consequences rest upon you.”

I suppose we could debate for hours whether Pilate had no choice in this matter, but that is not the purpose of this devotion. We know that Jesus was born to die. My concern with this devotion is how many take the cowardly approach of Pilate when it comes to knowing what to do with Jesus. They allow the pressures of an ungodly society to sway them into making a decision against Christ, and there’s not enough water in the oceans of the world that can wash away the blood from the rejection of Jesus.