Pilate knew the truth. But did he know the whole truth?
Pilate knew that Jesus was a
king, identifying him on the cross as “The King of the Jews”, much to
the dismay of the religious leaders. When they asked him to change the inscription
to read, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews’, Pilate famously
replied, “What I have written I have written.” (Read John 18:1-19:42)
Did Pilate know that this King
was the final offering for the sin? Did he know that the blood of the King would
create the opening in the curtain (‘that is, through Jesus’ flesh’)
which would allow us to approach with confidence the house of God? (Read Hebrews 10:16-25)
Did Pilate know that the torture
he ordered, the beatings which resulted from his sentence of this King, would
fulfill the prophetic words that his appearance would be ‘marred…beyond
human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals’? That this King’s crucifixion would fulfill
the promise that the servant ‘shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be
very high’? That this King’s Friday death would forever be marked because
in it ‘he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors?’
(Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
Did Pilate know that by sending
this King to his death he was writing the final scene in salvation’s story? Did
he know that this King is the one of whom ‘future generations will be
told…and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has
done it?’ (Read Psalm 22)
Did Pilate know the truth
that this King’s death was not a bad ending but a Good finish, because he was
not only King of the Jews but also King of the Universe?
Did he know that this is what
the cross’s inscription meant to the angels waiting and weeping, to the generations
of a people yet unborn?
Do you?
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