Sinclair B. Ferguson

Jewish monotheism, like modern-day genuine Christianity, can be a thorn in the flesh to a pluralistic society.

people who believe that God has revealed himself in space and time in very definite and particular ways and sovereignly instructs us in how to live for his glory and for our blessing, well, those people can be a real irritant.

Indeed, as in many parts of the world today and increasingly in the Western world, they're actually regarded as being enemies of the state.

They don't fit in.

But somehow Pontius Pilate was governing a territory occupied by Rome, inhabited by Abraham's descendants in the very days of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he had to find some modus operandi that would keep the peace.

Might was right.

Sometimes he tried to use it sparingly.

Although he could be naively insensitive, but at other times he used it to the full.

Remember Luke 13 verse 1, the occasion when some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices?

The one thing Pilate feared most, however, was not the Jews, but what they could do to his career.

And while there are legends about the rest of his life, including the possibility that he ended it badly at his own hand, there's one thing of which we can be sure.

Outwitted by the cunning maneuvering of the religious leaders, Pontius Pilate tried to find a way out by asking a question.

Then what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?

Perhaps the very moment the words were out of his mouth, he realized that whatever answer the crowd gave, the only answer that mattered was his own.

And so a name that otherwise would probably have sunk into oblivion, even in the Roman Empire, is on many of our lips Sunday by Sunday.

Jesus Christ, God's Son, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified.

The gospel writers tell Pilate's story in a way that makes you realize why the Bible is likened to a mirror.

You read about Pilate, and you feel you're watching scenes that reflect moments in your own life, moments that nothing can really prepare you for.

You're faced with a question that will determine what happens to you in the future.