Pilot's Wife

I shared a short story about Pontius Pilot’s wife for Good Friday. I wanted to look at Jesus’ trial through her eyes as a way of seeing the corruption and injustice of his trial and execution, as well as the innocence/righteousness of Jesus himself. Here is the manuscript of that message:

Pilot’s wife heard the uproar and watched the jews bring in a man that they were accusing of treason and blasphemy due to his claims to be king over the jews. She silently scoffed at this. He was no king… she had seen true royalty; she had been in the presence of caesar himself. 

But though this man was not like any king she had ever seen, he was also not like any prisoner she had ever seen. Prisoners either pleaded their innocence, desperately begged for pardon, or angrily dived deeper into defiance with shouts and shakes of their fist. But with Jesus there was no desperation and no anger

Something about this man was different, was striking. He didn’t beg, and he didn’t defy. He barely spoke and when he did, It seemed like he knew something they didn’t.

She couldn’t shake her thoughts of him and the uneasiness that came with them. The situation haunted her even in her dreams. She had an uncanny dream about him and was troubled all the more. The dream wasn’t like any she’d ever had before, It seemed foreign, like it came from somewhere else.

This whole affair seemed far more significant than a typical trial and execution; not only more significant, but more ..wrong. When the crowd cried for crucifixion it seemed like a ridiculous request to her. She knew about the horrors of crucifixion, being the wife of a roman governor, and it wasn’t something they ever took lightly; but still it happened and not infrequently. 

She’d been able to distance herself from it in the past; compartmentalize and not think about it, numbing herself to it by just not thinking about it or telling herself it’s just the way it is. But this was different. It felt closer. She felt like she shared in the bloodguilt of this man, who not only struck her as innocent, but even righteous. 

This humble and holy man was haunting her conscience. His patience and peace plagued her dreams. His innocence incited her to speak up.

She was so unsettled that she sent word to her husband pleading with him to have nothing to do with this righteous rabbi. If she felt guilty of his blood, how much more would Pilot be, who sat in the judgment seat. She was desperate to get through to him in time to spare him from this situation which she still wasn’t quite sure how to make sense of herself. She just knew, deep within her that this was not right, and that he should not go through with this, and not give into the pressure

She knew her husband well enough to know that he was burdened by this man’s innocence as well. Rarely had she seen him so shaken, so uncertain. She watched him frantically trying to release the man; sending him to Herod whom he had formerly despised, even offering to free a murderous insurrectionist or this holy man in hopes that they would make the sensible choice, which, of course, they did not.

So he Questioned Jesus multiple times explaining to him that he had the power to release him. He never explained himself to prisoners like this. And then the rabbi spoke again in that humble confidence of knowing better and bigger truth. Stating, not with antagonism, but with gravity that Pilot only had authority because it was given to him from above. And He wasn’t talking about Caesar, he wasn’t even talking about the roman gods. This man was connected with a greater reality, but Pilot was either too annoyed or too afraid to inquire further.

So he continued trying to release him. Offering to just punish him and then let him go. He did this multiple times. But the angry mob wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than murder. Pilot seemed to be jumping through hoops, trying everything to appease this violent crowd on the brink of riot. 

Well… everything short of simply defying their wishes. And exercising his authority as the roman governor to act as he saw fit. He was right when he said to Jesus, he had the power to release him, so Why would he go along with this? 

She saw her husband as weak for the first time. A cowardly push-over just trying to cover himself; doing what what was easy rather than what was just. Her heart sank as she watched her husband symbolically wash his hands and declare himself innocent as he handed Jesus over to be killed.

The irony made her draw drop: Pilot declaring himself innocent in front of one who was truly innocent; maybe the only person she’d ever encountered who seemed truly innocent. And she could see with fresh eyes how this political and religious system had become so corrupt that it was being used as an instrument of evil rather than justice in the world. 

Her ears perked up when she heard her husband shout to the mob “Behold your king!” before sending him off to be crucified. When she first heard the accusation of this man’s claim to be king she mocked in her mind and thought “what kind of ruler can be overcome so easily.” And now with sadness she looked at her husband and thought the very same thing.

Her initial perceptions of weakness and strength had been flipped. She saw weakness in the roman ruler and strength in this mangled messiah. He faced his impending doom with resolute dignity. Could he be more of a king than she ever thought possible..?