Basic HTML Version
436
Humble Hero
say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this
cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the
truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ “ Christ wanted
Pilate to understand that only by receiving and assimilating truth
could his ruined nature be reconstructed.
Pilate’s mind was confused. His heart stirred with a great longing
to know what the truth really was and how he could obtain it. “What
is truth?” he asked. But he did not wait for an answer. The priests
were shouting for immediate action. Going out to the Jews, he
declared emphatically, “I find no fault in Him at all.”
As the priests and elders heard this from Pilate, their disappoint-
ment and rage knew no limits. As they saw that Pilate might release
Jesus, they seemed ready to tear Him in pieces. They denounced
Pilate loudly and threatened him with the disapproval of the Roman
government. They accused him of refusing to condemn Jesus who,
they claimed, had set Himself up against Caesar. Angry voices de-
clared that Jesus’ influence toward revolt was well known throughout
the country. “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea,
beginning from Galilee to this place.”
At this time Pilate had no thought of condemning Jesus. He
knew that the Jews had accused Him because of hatred and prejudice.
Justice demanded that he should release Christ. But if he refused to
give Jesus into the hands of the people, a riot would result, and this
he feared to meet. When he heard that Christ was from Galilee, he
decided to send Him to Herod, the ruler of that province, who was in
Jerusalem then. In this way Pilate thought to shift the responsibility
to Herod. He also thought this would be a good opportunity to heal
an old quarrel between himself and Herod. And so it proved to be.
The two magistrates made friends over the trial of the Savior.
Amid the insults of the mob, Jesus was hurried to Herod. “When
Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad.” He had “heard many
things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.”
This Herod was the one whose hands were stained with the blood of
John the Baptist. When Herod first heard of Jesus, he was filled with
[336]
terror and said, “This is John ... raised from the dead!”
Mark 6:16
.
Yet he wanted to see Jesus. Now he had an opportunity to save the
life of this Prophet, and the king hoped to banish forever from his
mind the memory of that bloody head brought to him on a platter.