19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Isn’t it interesting that when none of Christ’s friends would come to His defense, God made an enemy and a foreigner come forward to proclaim His innocence and speak in His favor? This was an honorable testimony towards our Lord Jesus witnessing to the fact that He was indeed an innocent man. How like God to act on the behalf of the righteous and Who also was and is able to turn a king’s heart (or a wife’s heart) like a watercourse anyway He wills – nothing is too hard for God:
1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. Prov 21:1 (NIV)
Pilate’s wife had sent word to him regarding a disturbing dream she had had about the Lord Jesus. God has many ways of sending checks to sinners on their sinful pursuits towards destruction and it is indeed a great mercy to receive such checks yet it remains an even greater duty to listen and heed them. In our verses for today God gives Pilate fair warning through his wife’s words. It is true love and compassion towards our friends and family to give them caution against sin. Nothing is worse than seeing someone you love in bondage to trespasses tentacles. Sin is a terrible master ever leaving destruction in its wake. Out of love, wave the red flag in front of their blinded eyes if we must – whatever it takes to rouse them from their death spiral. Sadly, most of us end up “loving” people into hell rather than risk ruffling feathers in compassionate confrontation. Truth will always be confrontational because it demands choice. Certainly, wounds from a friend can be trusted:
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. Prov 27:6 (NIV)
“The Christian’s compassion must be like God’s – unceasing.” William Barclay
We do not know what Mrs. Pilate’s dream was about and it is therefore silly to surmise yet what we do know was that she was confident of Jesus’ innocence – just as Pilate was. Yet what you do with Truth is just as important as knowing it. To Pilate’s wife’s credit, she did what she could to halt the injustice. Pilate, on the other hand, succumbed to the crowd’s chants of “Crucify him!”
Despicably, the priests and elders had used their influence to sway the people in favor of the release of Barabbas - as notorious as he was - and have Jesus crucified. They managed to turn the mob against our Lord who had before held Him in high esteem. As leaders, great power had been placed in their hands and yet they wretchedly abused it causing many to err. Pilate had hoped that Jesus would have been the One chosen to be released but to his surprise, Barabbas was the mob’s desire. In Acts we find Peter giving an account of this incident:
12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” Acts 3:12-15 (NIV)
How fickle is man! Just a short while prior, when Jesus rode in triumph into Jerusalem, the cries were of blessings and praise and now we hear outcries of enmity and crucifixion. It is no wonder Jesus never cared for the opinions of man for He knew what was in a man’s heart.
24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. John 2:24-25 (NIV)