John 19:13
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.
I have on several occasions alluded to the movement that occurs in this scene. Not plot movement, mind you, or the metaphorical movement or development of particular themes. No, what I have in mind is the actual physical movement of the characters.
You see, I believe that John is through and through an artist of considerable depth, and in this scene he has scripted a tightly woven mini-drama unfolding within the larger story of Jesus he offers. And the key to understanding the import of his efforts rests in paying attention to Pilate and what we might call his first-century “shuttle diplomacy,” as he moves back and forth between the religious authorities and Jesus.
Let’s first set the stage…quite literally. For if we were to enact John’s drama as a play, we would first have to divide the stage in two. One side would represent the inner sanctum of Pilate’s headquarters, while the other would represent the portico, or patio, just outside his headquarters. With this in mind, we can note that John signals Pilate’s movement at seven distinct places, and a brief review of that will help us hear his confession aright.
1) Pilate first comes out of his headquarters to greet the religious authorities who will not go inside for fear of becoming ritually impure (18:19).
2) Pilate then goes back inside and summons Jesus to him (18:33).
3) After Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” he goes outside once more (18:38).
4) And after failing to find a way to release Jesus, Pilate returns inside and hands Jesus over to be flogged (19:1).
5) Pilate then returns to the religious authorities and presents a brutally beaten Jesus to them (19:4).
6) When the religious authorities again reject Pilate’s attempt to release Jesus, he goes inside his headquarters with Jesus to question him once again (19:8).
7) Finally, we arrive at these verses and the close of this scene, where Pilate brings Jesus outside once more, renders his judgment, and turns Jesus over to be crucified.
Seven times Pilate moves back and forth, inside and out, between the religious authorities and their unyielding demand and Pilate’s own recognition of the truth that Jesus is innocent.
Now, imagine we not only set this scene on the stage, but filmed it. And then sped up the replay. What would you see? That’s right. We’d see Pilate, the most powerful man in Palestine, wavering back and forth, wanting earnestly, even desperately, to sit this once out, to remain on the fence, but ultimately being forced to decide between justice and political expediency. Pilate wants off the hook, but he must finally decide, and he chooses the easier, but both tragic and cruel, option.
And perhaps that’s John’s point all along. That when encountered by Jesus, there is no sitting on the fence. You are either for him or against him. There is no neutrality.
We might extend that, of course, and suggest that each time we are confronted with a choice between doing what’s right and doing what’s easy we can neither evade nor avoid making a decision. In the end, it comes down to much the same thing, as again and again we have before us a choice. Will we choose truth, even when it is difficult? Or will we hide from the light because our deeds are evil and our conscience weak?
Prayer: Dear God, strengthen our resolve so that we will see the difference between right and wrong and choose what is right and good. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: “Christ Before Pilate,” Mihály Munkácsy (1881, detail). (You can see the full picture by clicking on the link above.)
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