LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Pilate, the Politician
Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent, and that if the Jews want to kill him, it is out of envy. Pilate knows the pettiness of politics and the ambition of power, because he himself is immersed in them. The Jewish hierarchs do not want anyone to overshadow them in their dark religious leadership, so -to convince the governor- they accuse Jesus of disturbing the political order, thus disguising their real reasons.
Pilate knows of Jesus' innocence, and seeks to free him. There is in Pilate, as a good Roman, some sense of good justice. Six times he tries to set him free, claiming his innocence, and proposing in exchange for death some less severe punishments. However, the pressure became unbearable.
He was surrounded by a multiple crossroads: the Jews, who pressured him with the threat of accusing him to Caesar, his wife, who hammered his weak conscience by testifying to the innocence of Jesus, and the very words of the Lord about a higher kingdom that governs the destiny of men.
Pilate was a sinful and therefore fearful man. His past was marked by errors, and by serious disagreements with the Jews. Fears gripped his heart. He feared Caesar, he feared the existence of a higher kingdom, he feared the warnings of his wife. At that crossroads, he chose what was apparently best for himself, but ultimately the worst. Then, as if to try to erase it all, he washed his hands.
Pilate sought the decision that would bring him the least loss. Handing Jesus over would appease the Jews and keep him out of trouble with Caesar. His wife's warnings? He could quell them. The idea of a higher kingdom? He could replace it with other more plausible ones. But what about justice? Pilate could not say: "Fiat justitia, ruat caelum" (Let justice be done, though the heavens fall). And the truth? He was a skeptic, he did not believe that truth existed. And conscience? Washing his hands in public would soothe it. All these things -justice, truth, conscience- belonged to the realm of values, in which -according to his Greek philosophical training- there were no very clear demarcations.
Pilate was a "political animal". His political sense was stronger than his convictions. He never suspected that his obscure procedures would be exhibited to the centuries under the light of Christ, who reveals all. By clinging to earthly values, he lost eternal values; by holding a miserable political office, he lost the kingdom of heaven. Many today, like him, still wash their hands. They have taken some accounts, and it does not suit them to lose a real present glory for a future reward, according to them, so uncertain. However, they cannot escape this irrefutable fact: he who does not bear witness for Christ, crucifies him. He who does not defend the truth, kills it. And he who kills the truth, dies by its hand.
Pilate committed suicide.