Day 30

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” Matthew 27:24 (From the Fifth Gospel of Holy Thursday Evening)

Yesterday, in our reflection of Pilate’s question “What is truth?”, we wondered what might have happened had Pilate waited for Jesus to answer that question. Today, we wonder about what might have happened had Pilate not gave in to the will of those crying for the crucifixion of Jesus, if he’d had the courage and strength to stand up to them.

In the very first paragraph of Fr. Stavros’ reflection, he points out a truth that should resonate with each and every one of us. He states that Pilate knew what the right thing to do was (to release Jesus) and he even wanted to do the right thing, but he just couldn’t do it.

Think about this in light of our own spiritual life. Each and every day we are faced with choices. Obviously, the life of a Man, the Son of God, does not hang on our decisions. But, our spiritual life does hang on those decisions.

We know what the right things are in our life, how we are supposed to treat each other, how we should pray and worship, how we are to live our lives. And yet, we struggle. We struggle to make the right choices. Sometimes we just can’t make the right choices.

We could blame the world around us. Certainly there is some fault there. Society frowns on or looks down on many of the things that we are called to practice: humility, forgiveness, self sacrifice to name a few. Pilate also had things working against him: pressure, popularity and security from the chief priests and the crowd. Pilate gave in to that pressure.

As Christians, we are called to rise above the pressure of the world around us. We are called to stand up for that Truth that we talked about yesterday. We have an advantage…we know this Truth. It has been revealed to us in its fullest sense through the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

As we move through this Lenten season and through our entire lives, we must do our best to witness to the Truth of Jesus Christ. Every time we make a decision based on love, on humility or on self sacrifice, we witness to that Truth. We don’t stand and wash our hands as Pilate did. We witness to the Truth of Christ, salvation and the kingdom of Heaven.

Stand up for the Truth of Christ!

In Christ