I have imagined the reactions and thought processes of those people involved in the Good Friday and Easter narrative.
I hope that it will assist you to meditate on these events with fresh thoughts.
Well,
I thought initially that I was on to a good thing that would see my political
star ascend but then I realised that this trial was bad news. Somehow it all
seemed to go wrong.
I
received a deputation of the Jewish religious leaders with a prisoner called
Jesus of Nazareth. They explained that they wanted Him executed as only the
Romans could use capital punishment.
Somehow,
I knew that the charges were trumped up because they said that the prisoner had
been subverting the nation by opposing payment of taxes to Caesar and that
Jesus claimed to be a king. However, behind the guilty shuffling of their feet,
I got the impression that it was because He had spoilt their religious niceties.
Originally,
I had the thought that if I quashed a potential rebellion against the state,
the powers that be in Rome would be really impressed with me. However, the
first indication that it was going to be trouble was when my wife informed me
that she had a dream that I was not to have anything to do with this Man.
Try
as I might, I just couldn’t find anything to support the charges that had been
made by the leading religious men. So, as the next ploy, I sent Jesus to Herod
as the prisoner had originally come from his territory.
Herod
couldn’t discover any evidence against the accused either so, consequently,
sent Him back to me. I had another go by asking Jesus as to whether He was a
king. His response was that He was a king and that He had come to bring truth.
At
that point, my only reply was ‘What is truth?’ After all, us politicians deal
with half-truths all the time.
I had decided that enough was enough so I decided to shift the blame to the religious
leaders by asking them why they wanted to execute: the blameless Jesus or the
convicted murderer Barabbas. After they had opted for Barabbas, I washed my
hands in a bowl filled with water to signify that I had nothing to do with the
decision before ordering Jesus to be whipped harshly and then crucified.
Surely,
I can avoid dealing with the truth by somehow getting Jesus out of my life,
however strong the evidence is for His kingship.
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