Lent II
February 28, 2018
“A Sermon Dialog with Pontius Pilate”
Rev. John Larson & Michael Zehnder
Ascension Lutheran Church, Littleton Colorado
Crossroads. They are there for all of us. We may move along from day to day easily, walking in the sunshine, enjoying the view, feeling at peace. And then it comes. A crossroad. A choice point. There we stand, frozen to the spot. Which way now? Right? Left? Straight? What waits down each of those choices? Which way does our heart call us to go? Which makes sense? Which is God’s way?
The answers aren’t easy. A crossroad can bring daunting spiritual pain. And it can bring us to our knees. It can even bring us to destruction.
Tonight we have an expert on a crossroad choice of judgment. His choice is notorious. His name echoes through the ages. Here is Pontius Pilate.
(Pilate enters. He is dressed well, either in biblical garb or modern dress. He has an air of arrogance about him.)
P Welcome, Pilate. We are honored to receive you.
R You should be honored. I have always been a man of authority. I am used to having people address me with deference. I was governor of Judea for many years, appointed by Caesar and rather successful in my years of rule.
P If that is true, why has you name become a symbol of weakness and dishonor, especially among Christians?
R (Irritated) That was because of that trouble with the trial of Jesus. I was put in an impossible position. I had no choice.
P No choice? The way we have read the story you had several points of choice during the time Jesus was on trial before you!
R Yes, I suppose it all appears easy to you when you look back at what happened. But I was the one there. I was the one who had to make the choice. I did what had to be done.
P Had to be done? Did you have to release a killer like Barabbas? Was anyone forcing you to make that strange choice?
R Strange to you, perhaps, but necessary for me. I was trying to find a way to release Jesus without causing trouble with the religious leaders, those devious and dangerous troublemakers who brought Jesus in the first place. I knew what they were doing. They were trying to use me to do their dirty work. They hated that Jesus. He stood up to them, condemned them to their face and threatened their place of authority—and their cash flow, I might add.
P So why bother with Barabbas? You could have made the choice to release Jesus. You had the power.
R And have them run to the emperor with the story? Have them attack me behind my back and threaten my place? To be truthful, they had reported me before and I was on a short leash with the emperor. I had to think of my place, my future. I couldn’t risk putting my position in their hands.
P But even your wife warned you about condemning Jesus.
R (Scornfully) My wife. What did she know? You don’t understand the pressure I was under. Sure I was at a choice point, but the choosing was not really open to me. What was I supposed to do, go against common sense and risk my future by releasing Jesus just because I thought he was innocent?
P Wouldn’t that have been the right thing to do?
R (Angry) And you all stand in judgment of me? Look at yourselves. How many times have you made a choice that would make life easier for you, even though you knew it was not the best choice, or even the right choice?
P You compare us with you?
R Of course. What about the businessman who cheats on his income tax, the woman who tells the story about someone even though she knows it will hurt, the youth who goes along and tries the drugs? Sure, they have pressure. They have to do what seems best in the moment. Of course a little shading here or lying there won’t hurt, they think.
P Is that the same as your choice?
R Certainly it is. And there are those who run others down to make themselves look better, those who lie to improve their standing in the community, and … Well, you know the sins as well as I do. What about them? Are they better than me?
P I guess if we are faithful to Jesus’ call to complete perfection, we have to admit that we are with you in the bad choices we make. We stand convicted.
R And you have a way out. I had to live with my bad choice. You don’t. The same Jesus who stood innocent before me, the same Jesus who went to the cross because of my choosing, the same Jesus who rose to give you life—he offers you forgiveness for the failed choices, for the pain your choices have caused. You are given a gift that I never had. You are forgiven and free in Jesus.
P You have said it better than any of us could. We are forgiven and free. We are made new by God’s grace each day. We know that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And we can rejoice.
R And I envy you that.
P Thank you for being with us today and for reminding us of the gift of hope.
