Matthew 27:15-26 The Hands of the Passion Midweek Series “Hands of Self-Preservation (Pilate)”
Lent Midweek 6 Wednesday, March 24, 2021
How many times have you washed your hands? That kind of seems like a question fit perfectly to our one-yearinto-dealing-with-a-pandemic Lenten service. We’ve known for a long time that we need to wash our hands. We’ve been taught to do so after certain activities and before others, and that has been stressed to us quite a bit as a way of helping lower the risk of getting sick. Maybe you can relate to those who have washed their hands and applied sanitizer so much that their hands are chapped and raw—something I have definitely experienced. How many times have you washed your hands, though, in a metaphorical sense? Maybe you immediately know what I am asking, but maybe not. To wash one’s hands of something is an idiom, an expression with a different meaning that what is obvious. I wash my hands in a literal sense when there is dirt on them, or when I want to get germs and viruses off. I wash my hands in a different sense when I want to be done with something or make it clear that I don’t want to take responsibility for it. If you are familiar with the Passion History, the record of what happened to Jesus leading up to his death on the cross, you probably already know the event that our sermon is focusing on today. You obviously have some hints in front of you in the worship folder as well. This whole idea of washing my hands of someone or something seems to stem from Pilate’s public ritual that’s recorded in Matthew 27. He had a bowl of water brought out to him so that, in front of the crowd, he could wash his hands and make it clear that he was no longer responsible for what was going to happen. Let’s take a closer look today at Pilate’s actions and consider how he washed his “Hands of Self-Preservation.” Matthew 27:15–26 (EHV): 15At the time of the Festival the governor had a custom to release to the crowd any one prisoner they wanted. 16At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas. 17So when they were assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release to you? Barabbas—or Jesus, who is called Christ?” 18For Pilate knew that they had handed Jesus over to him because of envy. 19While
he was sitting on the judgment seat, Pilate’s wife sent him a message. “Have nothing to do with that righteous man,” she said, “since I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.” 20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death. 21The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” “Barabbas!” they said. 22Pilate
said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?”
They all said to him, “Crucify him!” 23But
the governor said, “Why? What has he done wrong?”
But they kept shouting even louder: “Crucify him!” 24When
Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing and that instead it was turning into a riot, he took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this righteous man’s blood. It is your responsibility.” 25And
all the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
26Then
he released Barabbas to them, but he had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.
Pontius Pilate obviously had a lot to do with Jesus and the history leading up to his crucifixion. All four Gospel writers tell us something about Pilate and how he, as governor of Judea, interacted with Jesus, the King of the Jews. Only Matthew, though, tells us this account of the washing of his hands. Let’s review what we know about Pilate and Jesus and their interactions.
First, the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate because they had decided that Jesus needed to be executed. He needed to be put to death. The Jews, however, had no authority to put someone to death because they were under the Romans. They could take care of a lot of their own matters and issues, but something as significant as the death penalty required Roman oversight. It required Pilate in this region of Judea. When Jesus was first bought to Pilate, Jesus said nothing. The chief priests and elders were throwing out accusation after accusation, and Jesus just stood there. He didn’t argue or protest or claim innocence or plead for mercy. He said nothing, and Pilate was amazed. When Jesus and Pilate were alone, Jesus did open up a bit. He amazed Pilate even more when he said, “My kingdom is not of this world…For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:36-37). Jesus amazed Pilate again when he said, “You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above” (John 19:11). No one spoke to Pilate like that. In fact, no one talked like that at all—no normal person at least. And so Pilate was realizing that Jesus was no ordinary human being. And it didn’t stop there. Pilate’s wife had a dream. It was not an ambiguous or unclear dream. She knew that it had a meaning, and she knew what the meaning was. She had suffered in her dream and sent word to Pilate that he needed to leave that innocent man alone. So that’s exactly what Pilate had in mind. He knew what was going on. He knew that the Jewish leaders were jealous and that they were trying to get rid of someone who had become a nuisance to them. He knew that there was no real evidence and that Jesus was most definitely not a criminal. Pilate himself said more than once that he was convinced Jesus was innocent. But that was still not the end of it. Pilate had gotten himself into a politically challenging position. It was not good enough to let the Jews judge Jesus by their own law. It didn’t work to have King Herod of Galilee try the case instead. And the crowd simply wouldn’t allow Pilate to declare Jesus innocent and let him go the way he should have. Pilate was running out of options. At least, he was running out of options that would allow him to protect an innocent man and protect his own position at the same time. So he made one last attempt. There was a Passover custom according to which Pilate would release a prisoner to the people, a prisoner chosen by them. Pilate had under his control a criminal named Barabbas, who was guilty of rebellion and murder. Next to Barabbas, anyone would look good. That’s what Pilate hoped, but it’s not what he got. He was shocked to find that the leaders had persuaded the crowd. They were willing to let a notorious criminal go if it was him or Jesus. Do you hear the desperation in Pilate’s voice, then, when he cries out, “Then what should I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?” And the answer for the crowd was clear: “Crucify him!” And there was no talking them down. “Crucify him!” And there was no reasoning with them. “Crucify him!” “Crucify him!” “Crucify him!” Pilate, who was responsible for keeping the peace, saw a riot starting in front of him. He needed to do something. He needed to decide whether to do what was right, no matter what the consequences were, or to do what was good for him at the moment. And so he sentenced the only truly innocent man in the world to die. And he tried to maintain his own innocence in spite of this. [H]e took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this righteous man’s blood. It is your responsibility.” It was bad enough that Pilate had condemned an innocent man. It was even worse that he had in reality condemned the sinless Son of God. It was bad enough that Pilate was a judge who had disregarded justice. It was even worse that he was too much of a coward to even admit to his own cowardice. It’s hard to imagine much worse. But we need to keep this in mind: Pilate was not a Christian; he was a pagan. His actions proved that he felt protecting his power and authority was more important than anything else. He was an unbeliever acting like an unbeliever. What should really trouble us is when people who do know better, who do know Jesus, people who even call themselves Christians, follow Pilate’s example.
Here in church among believers it is easy to sing God’s praises. Out in the world it can be a different story. There we can be surrounded with coworkers and classmates and neighbors and friends who aren’t Christian. Some of them may be quite outspoken about it. And maybe they know that you attend church or that you are a Christian or that you believe something different than they do. And maybe they question it. And maybe they make fun of it. Have you ever found yourself in a position where you knew you should say something or you knew you should do something? And did you “wash your hands” and simply say nothing or do nothing instead? Do you look back on a situation like that and try to explain away your inaction? It wasn’t the right time. I didn’t want to start an argument. I don’t want to upset my friends or maybe lose my friends. I can’t lose my job. On the Last Day, Pilate will have to answer for choosing himself over Jesus, but we need to remember that he didn’t believe in Jesus. I suppose that’s his excuse. We are Christians. We claim to be followers of Jesus. We have no excuse. Jesus is talking to people like us when he warns, “whoever denies me before others, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). So as much as we rightly note that Pilate didn’t do what he could have and should have done on Good Friday, we should also note that he wasn’t the only person who could have taken action. Jesus could have defended himself. He could have called down legions of angels to destroy his enemies. He had the divine power to do everything that Pilate failed to do, but he chose not to use it. We certainly ought to thank Jesus and praise our Savior for everything he has done for us. But let’s also think about it this way: let’s thank him and praise him for what he did not do for our sake. He did not stop his enemies from arresting him. He did not prevent the soldiers from mistreating him and beating him. He did not keep the crooked court from condemning him or a weak judge from washing his hands of him. He did not avoid being numbered with sinners to fulfill prophecy and to pay for the world’s sins. He didn’t even stop short of offering his own life on our behalf, so that we might live in his presence forever. We have been saying a lot about hands over the past several weeks, and will continue to do so during Holy Week as well, and likely we’re also going to continue to wash our hands a lot, even if they are a little beaten up and chapped. But let’s use these opportunities to remind ourselves that we don’t want to wash our hands of our responsibilities, our opportunities to do what is good, and our chances to serve our Savior. The reality is that a bowl of water could never wash away the guilt on Pilate’s hands. The reality is our excuses can never wash the sinful stains off of our hands. But Jesus our Savior died for those sins and washed those stains for us. He allows us to use our hands and our everything to serve him instead of ourselves. Thank God for what our Savior has done, and for what he hasn’t done for us.