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"What is Truth?"


            What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. (John 18:38)
            From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” (John 19:12)
            “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
            They all answered, “Crucify him!”
            “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
            But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
            When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
           All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:22-25)
 

            Pilate is often portrayed as a villain in our Easter stories, and not without cause. He condemned Jesus to be crucified knowing that Jesus had done nothing to deserve it. Stop for a moment to consider things from his perspective. Jewish officials lead a mob of unknown size to Pilate to demand this crucifixion. Israel was crowded for the Passover, and known to be a troublesome nation. If word reached Rome that Pilate could not control these people, he would be banished to some miserable outpost, unemployed altogether or possibly killed. If the Jews reported that he had allowed someone claiming to be their king (AKA a rebel) to live, Pilate wouldn't be allowed to live. Truth was what Rome wanted to hear, even if that truth had nothing to do with reality. Truth was all about political power. Should Pilate of stood up to the mob? Yes. Should he have stood up for what he knew to be true? Yes. Should he have accepted the consequences of acting with honor? Yes. Should he have had his soldiers deal with the crowd seeking the death of Jesus? Yes.
           But... I have worked in places where one's job could depend on giving the "right" answer to questions that should not have been asked. I've worked in a place where we were told to lie to our customers and where "not entirely unethical" meant that it was OK. I have worked in a place where achieving statistics mattered more than doing good and appearance was more important than reality. You probably have, too. We live in a society that says you can believe whatever you want, as long as we either publically submit to (AKA agree with) said society or keep our mouths shut. We live in a society that says truth is whatever it says it is and the price for disagreeing could be the business we spent years building, our jobs, our freedom, our lives, for fortunes or our sacred honor. How much better than Pilate do we do?

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Good Friday

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