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From Heaven With Love
cision. If at first Pilate had stood firm, refusing to condemn a man
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whom he found guiltless, he would have broken the fatal chain that
was to bind him in remorse as long as he lived. Christ would have
been put to death, but the guilt would not have rested on Pilate. But
Pilate had taken step after step in violation of his conscience, and he
now found himself almost helpless in the hands of the priests and
rulers.
Pilate’s Last Chance
Even now Pilate was not left to act blindly. His wife had been
visited by an angel and in a dream had conversed with the Saviour.
Pilate’s wife was not a Jew, but as she looked on Jesus in her dream,
she knew Him to be the Prince of God. She saw Pilate give Jesus to
the scourging, after he had declared, “I find no fault in Him.” She
saw him give Christ up to His murderers. She saw the cross uplifted,
the earth wrapped in darkness, and heard the mysterious cry, “It is
finished.”
Still another scene met her gaze. She saw Christ seated on the
great white cloud and His murderers fleeing from the presence of
His glory. With a cry of horror she awoke and at once wrote to Pilate
words of warning.
A messenger pressed through the crowd and handed him the
letter from his wife, which read: “Have thou nothing to do with
that just Man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of Him.”
Pilate’s face grew pale. He was confused by his own conflicting
emotions. While he had been delaying to act, the priests and rulers
were inflaming the minds of the people. He now thought of a custom
which might serve to secure Christ’s release. It was customary at
this feast to release one prisoner whom the people might choose.
There was not a shadow of justice in this custom, but it was greatly
prized by the Jews. The Roman authorities at this time held a pris-
oner named Barabbas, who was under sentence of death. This man
claimed authority to establish a different order of things. Whatever
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he could obtain by theft and robbery was his own. He had gained
a following among the people and had excited sedition against the