Where Do We Stand?
Sermon
SPECTATORS OR SENTINELS?
Sermons For Pentecost (Last Third)
This is the last Sunday of the church year. Who would expect to come face to face with Pontius Pilate? Doesn't his memory belong back in the Lenten season? What on earth is he doing here at the end of November? The answer is that this last Sunday of the church year has traditionally been called The Festival of Christ the King and the kingship of Christ is John's major theme in the 18th and 19th chapters of his gospel. Pilate ironically paid Jesus the highest tribute by placing on the cross an inscription written in three languages, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. In the act of defiance directed at the chief priests Pilate unwittingly extended the royalty of Jesus far beyond the borders of Judea.
It is Pilate that we are going to focus in on this morning. John has woven into his telling of the trial and passion of Jesus a profound study of Pilate. Since Pilate is prominent in our gospel lesson for this Sunday, it is quite appropriate to take a close look at him. And surprise, surprise, as we do this each one of us will find the royal claim of Jesus intruding into our conscience, the place where he really seeks enthronement.
What we know about Pilate can be quickly summed up. He was the Roman Procurator of the imperial province of Judea from 26 to 36 A.D. The volatile Middle East has never been an easy place to be assigned. Keeping order required a strong hand. Pilate showed he had such a hand when he spilled the blood of some Galilean zealots. Another time he took funds from the temple treasury to build a new aqueduct for Jerusalem. The act provoked a public uproar and Pilate had to clear the streets by sending out troops with cudgels to disperse the crowds by cracking heads. On another occasion he provoked a riot by having his troops parade through Jerusalem bearing the Imperial standards which displayed an image of the emperor. Pilate ought to have known that the display of the image of a man who claimed divinity would provoke Jewish sensitivities. Like all Roman administrators he was impatient with the religious particularities and disputes in this part of the world. It is also reported that he was finally recalled to Rome to answer for his mistaken slaughter of some Samaritans, a mistake that led to his banishment. Another report has it that he retired to Vienne in Gaul. He just seems to disappear into history. We do know that he was married and his wife, Procula, was with him in Jerusalem. Matthew reports that she had a bad dream and warned him to do nothing to the innocent Jesus.
Suffice it to say that Pilate had a tough job in a complicated part of the world. Given the way some of our own leaders and appointees have blundered in various places on this globe we can refrain from passing judgment on Pilate as the representative of Imperial Rome. In the gospels Pilate is not presented as a brutish person. John, as a matter of fact, gives us a rather human portrait of the man. He really did not want to be involved in a Jewish religious quarrel or even a criminal case that they could handle by their own laws. When the captors of Jesus mentioned that they desired the death penalty he had to interrogate Jesus.
"Are you the King of the Jews?" He had to have an answer to that question. Jesus puts him off balance. "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Jesus suddenly becomes the interrogator. He has confronted Pilate with the responsibility of making up his own mind. He cleverly implies that Pilate might have some interest in him. Hear Pilate's reply. "I am not a Jew, am I?" Does this mask a deeper question, "Are you my King also?" Pilate is inwardly off balance, but he has to determine the reason Jesus has been handed over to him. "What have you done?" Jesus does not answer directly, but speaks of a kingdom not of this world. His is not the way of violence. "So, you are a king?" Jesus reminds Pilate that he is the one who says Jesus is a king. Then Jesus states his mission. "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate is rattled. He asks a question. "What is truth?" Was this a cynical reply, or the beginning of interest, or simply a lack of comprehension? At any rate, Pilate does not wait for an answer. This portion of John's narrative ends with a question. It's just left dangling there. Maybe John wants us to reflect on who or what is truth.
As the narrative moves on you will recall how Pilate tried one way after another to release Jesus. Pilate succumbs to pressure until the enemies of Jesus play their trump card, reminding Pilate that Caesar would not want him to tolerate any other authority in Judea. During the Passover that marks their liberation, the enemies of Jesus embrace the Pharaoh, "We have no king but the emperor." In the end, Pilate acted to save his own skin. We are indebted to Raymond Brown for this astute comment on John's portrait of Jesus. "We would look on the Johannine Pilate not as a personification of the State but as another representative of a reaction to Jesus that is neither faith nor rejection. Pilate is typical not of the state that would remain neutral, but of the many honest, well disposed people who would try to adopt a middle position in a struggle that is total."1
Søren Kierkegaard called the Word of God a mirror in which we see our own reflection. Well, here we are face to face with Pilate. Or is that our own face staring back at us? Did you know that Pilate was canonized in the Ethiopian Church? There is a tradition that he was a secret Christian. We can doubt that, but there is no doubt that a lot of the folk who would read John's gospel were secret Christians within the establishment who feared public intimidation and so silenced their convictions. Many of those would see mirrored in Pilate their own tragic temporizing and indecision.
How about us? I cannot speak for you, but I know that on many issues I have learned to tolerate a dull ache in the region of conscience. Pilate caved in when his own self interest was at stake. Do we do the same thing in the office, in the ivied halls of academe, in the club, in the community, in the church? "But each day brings its petty dust, our soon filled souls to clog. And we forget because we may, and not because we must."
Suddenly now the focus is not on Pilate, but on us. The framers of our lectionary have done better than they knew. This gospel lesson brings the Kingship of Christ to us with uncomfortable questions. Where do we stand in terms of his Royal claim upon us who bear his name? Is he our King? If so, then, "Let every heart prepare him room." He is coming soon. For us, there are still days of grace. Who knows, we may yet make sainthood in someone's calendar.
1. Brown, Raymond E., The Gospel According to John, XIII-XXI. The Anchor Bible, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, p. 864.
It is Pilate that we are going to focus in on this morning. John has woven into his telling of the trial and passion of Jesus a profound study of Pilate. Since Pilate is prominent in our gospel lesson for this Sunday, it is quite appropriate to take a close look at him. And surprise, surprise, as we do this each one of us will find the royal claim of Jesus intruding into our conscience, the place where he really seeks enthronement.
What we know about Pilate can be quickly summed up. He was the Roman Procurator of the imperial province of Judea from 26 to 36 A.D. The volatile Middle East has never been an easy place to be assigned. Keeping order required a strong hand. Pilate showed he had such a hand when he spilled the blood of some Galilean zealots. Another time he took funds from the temple treasury to build a new aqueduct for Jerusalem. The act provoked a public uproar and Pilate had to clear the streets by sending out troops with cudgels to disperse the crowds by cracking heads. On another occasion he provoked a riot by having his troops parade through Jerusalem bearing the Imperial standards which displayed an image of the emperor. Pilate ought to have known that the display of the image of a man who claimed divinity would provoke Jewish sensitivities. Like all Roman administrators he was impatient with the religious particularities and disputes in this part of the world. It is also reported that he was finally recalled to Rome to answer for his mistaken slaughter of some Samaritans, a mistake that led to his banishment. Another report has it that he retired to Vienne in Gaul. He just seems to disappear into history. We do know that he was married and his wife, Procula, was with him in Jerusalem. Matthew reports that she had a bad dream and warned him to do nothing to the innocent Jesus.
Suffice it to say that Pilate had a tough job in a complicated part of the world. Given the way some of our own leaders and appointees have blundered in various places on this globe we can refrain from passing judgment on Pilate as the representative of Imperial Rome. In the gospels Pilate is not presented as a brutish person. John, as a matter of fact, gives us a rather human portrait of the man. He really did not want to be involved in a Jewish religious quarrel or even a criminal case that they could handle by their own laws. When the captors of Jesus mentioned that they desired the death penalty he had to interrogate Jesus.
"Are you the King of the Jews?" He had to have an answer to that question. Jesus puts him off balance. "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Jesus suddenly becomes the interrogator. He has confronted Pilate with the responsibility of making up his own mind. He cleverly implies that Pilate might have some interest in him. Hear Pilate's reply. "I am not a Jew, am I?" Does this mask a deeper question, "Are you my King also?" Pilate is inwardly off balance, but he has to determine the reason Jesus has been handed over to him. "What have you done?" Jesus does not answer directly, but speaks of a kingdom not of this world. His is not the way of violence. "So, you are a king?" Jesus reminds Pilate that he is the one who says Jesus is a king. Then Jesus states his mission. "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate is rattled. He asks a question. "What is truth?" Was this a cynical reply, or the beginning of interest, or simply a lack of comprehension? At any rate, Pilate does not wait for an answer. This portion of John's narrative ends with a question. It's just left dangling there. Maybe John wants us to reflect on who or what is truth.
As the narrative moves on you will recall how Pilate tried one way after another to release Jesus. Pilate succumbs to pressure until the enemies of Jesus play their trump card, reminding Pilate that Caesar would not want him to tolerate any other authority in Judea. During the Passover that marks their liberation, the enemies of Jesus embrace the Pharaoh, "We have no king but the emperor." In the end, Pilate acted to save his own skin. We are indebted to Raymond Brown for this astute comment on John's portrait of Jesus. "We would look on the Johannine Pilate not as a personification of the State but as another representative of a reaction to Jesus that is neither faith nor rejection. Pilate is typical not of the state that would remain neutral, but of the many honest, well disposed people who would try to adopt a middle position in a struggle that is total."1
Søren Kierkegaard called the Word of God a mirror in which we see our own reflection. Well, here we are face to face with Pilate. Or is that our own face staring back at us? Did you know that Pilate was canonized in the Ethiopian Church? There is a tradition that he was a secret Christian. We can doubt that, but there is no doubt that a lot of the folk who would read John's gospel were secret Christians within the establishment who feared public intimidation and so silenced their convictions. Many of those would see mirrored in Pilate their own tragic temporizing and indecision.
How about us? I cannot speak for you, but I know that on many issues I have learned to tolerate a dull ache in the region of conscience. Pilate caved in when his own self interest was at stake. Do we do the same thing in the office, in the ivied halls of academe, in the club, in the community, in the church? "But each day brings its petty dust, our soon filled souls to clog. And we forget because we may, and not because we must."
Suddenly now the focus is not on Pilate, but on us. The framers of our lectionary have done better than they knew. This gospel lesson brings the Kingship of Christ to us with uncomfortable questions. Where do we stand in terms of his Royal claim upon us who bear his name? Is he our King? If so, then, "Let every heart prepare him room." He is coming soon. For us, there are still days of grace. Who knows, we may yet make sainthood in someone's calendar.
1. Brown, Raymond E., The Gospel According to John, XIII-XXI. The Anchor Bible, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, p. 864.
