Wednesday, March 29, 2023 – Lent Six: Bystanders on the Way to the Cross

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.” (Matthew 27: 24, The Message Bible)                

[Starting this Sunday, Palm Sunday, I will be posting a blog each and every day throughout Holy Week, up to and including Easter Sunday.}

When we were children, how many times did our mothers nag us about washing our hands. Countless, I am sure.

Some say that cleanliness is next to Godliness.

“Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior.” (Psalm 24: 4 -5, New Living Translation)

The Roman Governor in Jerusalem, Pilate, certainly was not the poster child for Psalm 24. His idea of clean hands was to shirk his responsibility, pass the blame, avoid hard decisions and take flight from the issue at hand. His reputation in Rome depended on keeping the peace.  Riots would look bad on his resume.

Like many a politician, he was beholden to his constituents, even if this case they hadn’t elected him. Just the same, he needed the cooperation of the Jewish leaders. They could make his life miserable both there in Jerusalem and also back in Rome, depending on their reports.

Pilate was on the horns of a dilemma. From the Gospel accounts, it seems that Pilate, at first, tried to set Jesus free. In Luke’s Gospel, the leaders accuse Jesus of many crimes against the State “perverting our nation, forbidding is to pay taxes, and saying that he is the Messiah, a king.” How can the State ignore such “unpatriotic” behaviour? Pilate quickly dismissed the charges, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” (Luke 23:4, New Revised Standard Version) He even tried trading off Barabbas as a substitute sacrifice.

But there was no pleasing the people. So, he gave up.  He let the process unwind, uninfluenced by his authority any longer. He washed his hands of the whole business. Jesus was nothing to him, really; not worth the effort.  He had far more important matters of state to deal with. “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” (NLT)

There is a little Pilate in all of us, some of the time. We don’t want to get involved. We don’t want to get our hands dirty. We would ignore the bad news unfolding before our eyes. We argue that there is nothing that we can do about it. It’s not our fault. Blame others, be it the poor, the immigrant, the outsider, poor, the right wing, the left wing, the Church, the politicians.  We wash our hands of the whole mess, the wars, the pollution, the murders of children, the violence in the streets, the reluctance of politicians do the right thing. Let someone else deal with it. Then, no one can blame you or me when the you-know-what hits the fan.

Like Pilate, there are times when we are faced with difficult, even painful, decisions. The washing of his hands did nothing but make the matters worse.  He caved in to the popular demand for Jesus’ crucifixion, despite its injustice and unfairness. Jesus’ crucifixion was inevitable from the get-go, but he did nothing but try to get out of the way. Worse, once he realized that Jesus’ fate was sealed, he added to the suffering: “He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.” (Matthew 27:26, NLT) His hands were as bloody as anyone’s.

Perhaps there are times when we would like to wash our hands, too, of Jesus and his Way. He has left us with some hard sayings, love your enemies, forgive others, treat each other as we would be treated, be compassionate toward all, become as servants. Who needs this?

Jesus’ idea of cleanliness goes far deeper than clean hands. He understood that cleanliness can become a poor excuse for hypocrisy and evasion of our duty of discipleship. Jesus never washed his hands about us. Rather he knelt down, bowed his head and back, accepted his servitude and washed our feet as well. “So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do… If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.” (John 13: 12 -16, The Message)

Act like it! That’s impossible to ignore!

 Dale