Sunday 02 April 2023
So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ (vs 24-25)
Background
This is Holy Week – from Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to the Saturday of waiting and watching before the joy of Easter Day. This long passage from Matthew’s Gospel takes us through the complicated machinations of the Jewish hierarchy and the Roman authorities that bring Jesus to the Cross.
In Jesus’ final days and hours, we see around him the worst that human beings can be and do. The Jewish leaders are only too willing to work hand-in-glove with the hated Roman authorities to serve their own purposes of bringing this upstart rabbi to account. They also whip up the spineless, fickle crowd. Pilate ignores his own instincts and the warning of his wife and washes his hands publicly to try to exonerate himself as he hands Jesus over for crucifixion. Even the soldiers on duty at the crucifixion site have some fun at Jesus’ expense, mocking him and showing what Romans think of other people's kings.
Yet through all of this Jesus does not retaliate, rather he seeks to be a light in an evil world by taking the hatred and cruelty and gratuitous violence that is meted out to him.
In this passage we are reminded that in the Cross is gathered all of the raw anger, bitterness, hatred and violence of our world – as it was in Jesus’ time, has been throughout the ages and as we still see today. The Cross, which we have so easily made into an aesthetic piece of church furniture or gold jewellery, is all about the evil and horror of our world. It is also about Jesus’ new and distinctive kingdom which is not based on political or military power but on self-giving sacrificial love.
To Ponder:
- Can we recall any time when we, individually or as part of a Christian community have ‘washed our hands’ instead of taking a principled stance on an issue? What could have empowered us to act differently?
- The soldiers had their fun with Jesus and mocked him cruelly. Social media has opened up new avenues for people to mock and show hatred to others. Do we seek to address this in church and, if not, why not?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we pray for those places in our world today where conflict brings out the worst in humankind – in the horrors of the Ukraine war and in the land of Jesus, Israel/Palestine where scarcely a day goes by without killings. Amen.