In Pilate’s Judgment Hall
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afraid and silenced. Herod was convicted. The last rays of merciful
light were shining upon his sin-hardened heart. He felt that this was
no common man; for divinity had flashed through humanity. At the
very time when Christ was encompassed by mockers, adulterers, and
murderers, Herod felt that he was beholding a God upon His throne.
Hardened as he was, Herod dared not ratify the condemnation of
Christ. He wished to relieve himself of the terrible responsibility, and
he sent Jesus back to the Roman judgment hall.
Pilate was disappointed and much displeased. When the Jews
returned with their prisoner, he asked impatiently what they would have
him do. He reminded them that he had already examined Jesus, and
found no fault in Him; he told them that they had brought complaints
against Him, but they had not been able to prove a single charge. He
had sent Jesus to Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, and one of their own
nation, but he also had found in Him nothing worthy of death. “I will
therefore chastise Him,” Pilate said, “and release Him.”
Here Pilate showed his weakness. He had declared that Jesus
was innocent, yet he was willing for Him to be scourged to pacify
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His accusers. He would sacrifice justice and principle in order to
compromise with the mob. This placed him at a disadvantage. The
crowd presumed upon his indecision, and clamored the more for the
life of the prisoner. If at the first Pilate had stood firm, refusing to
condemn a man whom he found guiltless, he would have broken the
fatal chain that was to bind him in remorse and guilt as long as he
lived. Had he carried out his convictions of right, the Jews would
not have presumed to dictate to him. Christ would have been put
to death, but the guilt would not have rested upon Pilate. But Pilate
had taken step after step in the violation of his conscience. He had
excused himself from judging with justice and equity, and he now
found himself almost helpless in the hands of the priests and rulers.
His wavering and indecision proved his ruin.
Even now Pilate was not left to act blindly. A message from God
warned him from the deed he was about to commit. In answer to
Christ’s prayer, the wife of Pilate had been visited by an angel from
heaven, and in a dream she had beheld the Saviour and conversed with
Him. Pilate’s wife was not a Jew, but as she looked upon Jesus in her
dream, she had no doubt of His character or mission. She knew Him
to be the Prince of God. She saw Him on trial in the judgment hall.