An Innocent Man

2

An Innocent Man

Matt. 27:15-23 March 26, 2017

I.  Setting the Stage

Pilate’s wife get’s one verse in the Bible, vs. 19. We know almost nothing about her, not what she looks like and not even her name. Good, you may be saying, this will be a really short sermon. Don’t you wish. Undoubtedly she was high-born of nobility and an aristocrat. We know she was the wife of the roman governor. Later in Christian history it is said that she became a believer and she was given the name Claudia Procula. She became a patron saint of the Greek Coptic Church.

But let’s set the scene before we get to her dream. Pilate was in the process of judging Jesus. Pilate asked him “Are you king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “So you say,” kind of enigmatic. Pilate is in a dilemma. If he lets Jesus go, the Jewish authorities will excoriate him and bring accusations of his ineptitude before Caesar. Pilate had already committed a couple of major faux pas and was looking at this curve ball through the “three strikes you’re out” lens. If he ordered Jesus killed, he would be capitulating because he seemed to know that Jesus did not deserve the death penalty. Pilate had just suggested they crucify Barabbas instead of Jesus. He had not yet made up his mind but his fears were leading him toward the shedding of innocent blood to save his own status.

II. The Providence of God

At the most crucial moment, his wife arrives and declares that she has had a terrible tormenting dream, one that caused her lots of suffering. “What is that dream, my dear?” asks Pilate. “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” “Ok, fine,” says Pilate. Not. Clearly, though, God was sending a warning to Pilate. If he condemns Jesus, he will do so clearly and with knowledge that he is innocent. The guilt will be on Pilate. God was giving Pilate a second chance, he still can pause, reflect, correct his thinking, do the right thing, maybe even save his soul. Yes, God is concerned even for this evil brutal cowardly ruler. God, after all, is longsuffering and patient, not willing for ANY to perish but that ALL should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

The Sovereign God does send warnings to us when we are contemplating wrong doing. It may be something you run across in media, or a word spoken by a friend, or simply through a troubled conscience. But all too often, we are blinded by our own intent and so miss this warning, or even if we do hear it, we do not heed it.

III. Dream a Little Dream for Me

How often we read in the Bible of God using dreams. In the book of Genesis, Joseph of course dreams of his brothers bowing before him. Both Joseph and Daniel receive dreams of God for interpretation. Jacob dreams of a ladder coming down from heaven. In the New Testament, Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, has several dreams and so marries Mary, flees to Egypt then returns, all because of dreams. Peter dreams of unclean food falling on his head from heaven, and so on. God can and does affect our dreams when they suit his purpose. Just the other night I dreamed of buying a new motorcycle and I just knew that was from God. But later He told me “Hey, Brad, that wasn’t Me… “

But this dream of Mrs. Pilate was no ordinary dream, it was powerful, unforgettable and it drove her to march right into this kangaroo court and in public announce this. Any of us here today ever have a dream that made us accost a sitting judge? “Judge, this man is innocent. How do I know? Because I dreamt it! Let him go.” “Take her away,” would say the judge to the bailiff. Now, to be sure, and so you don’t get me wrong, God does have sovereignty over our dreams, but that doesn’t mean all our dreams are messages from God. Dreams are no substitute for the revealed word of God and for a process of spiritual discernment. But he does act through dreams and visions. As I have mentioned before, maybe ¾ of my students in Seminary in Congo were there because God had spoken to them in a dream to rise and go.

Pilate’s wife had a sense of urgency to communicate this word to her husband. She could have waited until that night at supper. “Honey, I had this dream last night…” But no, with the dream came the drive to step in and speak immediately, to give voice, to not be silent, but to be one of those shouting stones.

She says to him, “have nothing to do with him.” This means, don’t touch him at all. Let him go. She didn’t suggest, “Why don’t you compromise, just scourge him and let him go…” No, leave the man alone. We cannot escape the fact that during this long drawn-out trial, or trials actually, no one pleaded for Jesus except her. She was the only one to come to his defense. She would not be an ignorant, stupid, naïve woman. She would know that releasing Jesus would probably bring ruin upon them both. But she also knew that shedding his blood would ultimately be far more ruinous than losing one’s job.

So, why her? God could have had Peter dash in and say something similar. Or Jesus’ mother, Mary, might have gained entrance and pleaded for her son’s life. Maybe even Judas instead of hanging himself, which he had just done, could have changed his mind and rushed into the court and spilled the beans. Why not, why her? Because none of these others would have been persuasive. To Pilate, their testimony would have been as suspect as those lying witnesses, because they too had a vested interest in an outcome. But not Pilate’s wife. She was arguably the only one who could possibly sway her husband on this matter.

God sends the right person with the right message to the right place and at the right time.

One commentator concluded, probably with tongue in cheek, something to the effect, “the moral of the story is this, men, listen to your wives.”

But even her and her plea was in vain. Even the message of God to Pilate through her could not break the hold that fearing the potential loss of job and status, finance and comfort had on him. He could not contemplate loss of power and so abused his power to condemn a just man. To do otherwise would just cost too much.

What is our price of integrity? What do we fear most, what hold does that have on us, on you and on me? Fear of being misunderstood, fear of being taken advantage of, or perhaps fears of isolation and abandonment? Many things cause us to remain silent, to choose the expedient, to close our eyes to injustice, even to participate in it.

Some years ago, a hundred and twenty five midshipmen at the US Naval academy were caught in a massive cheating scandal. What was the price of their integrity, what lies did they tell themselves to justify this fraud?

Just this month the CEO of the New England Compounding Center was charged with what could amount to mass murder, as the company knowingly and carelessly produced a steroid drug that resulted in many dying from meningitis, at least according to the charges.

Volkswagen just agreed to plead guilty and pay 4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties and many of the executives and employees are indicted in this conspiracy to cheat US emissions tests.

Of course the list can go on endlessly, about businesses, corporations, and individuals who trade integrity for the expedient. They and maybe we all do to some extent, figure that God is irrelevant, he either does not care or he will understand and accept our excuses. Yet the scriptures say that it is sin to know to do good and yet not do it (James 4:17).

Pilate knew that they had handed Jesus over because of their jealousy (vs. 18), he was amazed at the transparency of their false accusations (vs. 14). The fact that Pilate himself washed his hands and declared “ I am innocent of this man’s blood…” (vs. 24) means that he knew full well that Jesus was innocent yet with eyes wide shut he signed off on his death warrant. He cannot excuse himself by washing his hands. In some ways, that is the position of many even today. They have heard of Jesus, have opportunity to investigate fully, yet choose to turn away, yet the “grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people” (Titus 2:11). We all find ourselves in Pilate’s dilemma, what shall we do with this man, Jesus?

1)  Listen for God’s voice in whatever form it comes. He may speak to you through your conscience. Are you troubled? Take time to sort it out, seek counsel and wisdom, allow brothers and sisters in Christ to help you process a decision.

2)  God can use anybody, anytime, to get your attention. Not only did he use Balaam, a pagan prophet in the Old Testament, he used his donkey. He can make silent stones shout out. And so He can also use you, I know right, totally much.

3)  Like Pilate’s wife, God places us in certain positions at certain times for his purposes, which we may or may not ever know completely, or at all for that matter. Be he is with you…even through the valley of the shadow of death. Like Ester, she was there for “such a time as this.”

4)  Act when He speaks. Pilate’s wife gave voice to what she had heard. She did not delay. She might have considered that Pilate would be angry for her intrusion, she didn’t know that she was stepping in at the most crucial moment in the judicial proceedings, she just spoke. She didn’t weigh the court of popular opinion first. No focus groups or surveys.

5)  Leave results to God. She had no reason to think that Pilate would listen and capitulate to her. The results are in God’s hands, our obedience is in ours.

6)  That Jesus is indeed the Just One, the Messiah will eventually be known by all and every knee will bend and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Phil. 2:10). She will ultimately be vindicated. “You can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth” (II Cor. 4:8).