24 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” 25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.
Betrayal escalated. First Judas, then Peter, now all the Jews betray one of their own, who preached peace and grace and restoration to the God of Israel. Now, worked up into a frenzy, they say, “His blood be on us and on our children.” They were now on record as accepting full, knowing responsibility for the condemnation of Jesus. Pilate had given up trying to defend Jesus, symbolically washing his hands of the deal, but not without one last comment about Jesus’ legal state of innocence in Roman eyes.
His decision was complicated by many factors, but at the core was his fear of a riot. If word got back to Rome of his inability to control the unruly Jews, his tenuous relationship with his Caesar would be jeopardized. Political expedience prevented the hand of justice, but not the hand of God.
However Pilate’s shallow concern for Jesus may have been, the response of the people is completely surprising. To be sure the religious leaders had over time hardened their hearts against Jesus. But how is it that the crowd was so easily ignited against the one who healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and made the lame to walk? Their insanity against Christ was so inflamed that death not only seemed justified, it was demanded. And in pursuing it, they cut off all hope for later excuse, should they be found out to be wrong in their estimation.
Pilate gave the Jews full latitude to take the law into their own hands (capital punishment was usually not allowed except by Roman decree). As the story unfolds, we discover that Roman soldiers were provided for the actual execution. So Pilate evidently turned a blind eye to the Jews manipulating the Romans to take out their vengeance on Jesus.
The action of the Jewish leaders and the populace strains the depths of absurdity. Jesus had come in fulfillment of Messianic prophecy and even the leaders knew Him to be a teacher from God (John 3:1-2). Yet, their working of their own rebellious hearts against God was fully realized in their actions here. Crucifixion, the punishment reserved for the worst rebels against imperial Rome, was wielded in the hands of rebels against the Lord’s anointed!
Lord, let not my heart be rebellious because of any expedience of life. I want Christ to be my all in all. Please, keep me close to You.
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