I like to figure things out.  I want to know as much as possible about the how and why of things happening.  I drive by an accident scene and my analytical mind jumps into high gear.  I quickly survey the area for where the vehicles are at, what damage they have, and any other potential clues as to what really happened.  Someone did something wrong and I’m curious — almost compelled — to try to figure it out so that the scene makes sense in my mind.  Some people have said I would have made a good CSI agent.  There is a need to have the answers and the ability to look at a situation with a detailed and logical point of view.  It is fun, but somehow I think that passing out at the sight of blood would probably disqualify me from most crime scene investigator positions. 🙂

What is it like to be in a position where you determine fault?  . . . Where you decide guilt and innocence?   . . . Where you reveal the motives and hidden agendas of others?  . . . Where you must sort through the evidence and statements and come up with factual and orderly account of what really is or what really happened.  There are times it could be an overwhelming task.  Details and facts become sketchy and hard to find.  Opposing sides weigh in on the matter, each armed with convincing “evidence” designed to sway you to their side.  You may begin to wonder, to question, “Do I have all the evidence needed to make a fair and accurate judgment?  If you are not sure, how do you decide?  A decision must be made!

We see this dilemma in the life of Pilate as Jesus is brought to him by a crowd demanding that He be found guilty.  Pilate is forced to make a decision under very unusual circumstances.  Those bringing charges against Jesus come to Pilate with no credible evidence to support their accusations.  Pilate seems to recognize that and tries multiple times to make a ruling that would be against the accusers.  On the other hand, Jesus — the accused — seems to give little argument in defense of His innocence.  In fact, as the accusations get narrowed down to the core of their complaint, “he claimed to be the Son of God”, Jesus has no defense because He did claim to be — and was — the Son of God.

As you read the account of Jesus before Pilate in John 18:28 – 19:16, you see a man wishing he could do the right thing but feeling pressure from all sides.  Three times Pilate listens to the accusations and after talking to Jesus comes to the conclusion that there “is no basis for a charge against him.”  During one of the final exchanges between Jesus and Pilate, Pilate pleads for Jesus to explain Himself so that He would give Pilate reason to set Him free.  It is at this point that Jesus reveals His sovereign nature to Pilate as He states, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.  Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 

I think Pilate at least began to get it.  The recorded response is, “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting”.  Pilate had listened to the opening and closing arguments and to all the witnesses and evidence in between.  He had done the “crime scene investigation” and determined there was no fault in this man, Jesus.  Yet what do you do when the accusers are saying this man claims to be King of the Jews, the very Son of God, and the defendant seems to be agreeing that it is more than a claim –it is so?  Yet even if it is so, “I find no fault deserving of death.” 

We know how it ends.  The crowd finally brings up the name of Pilate’s boss.  In a public scene, they demand that Pilate choose.  The choice sounds a lot like a question Jesus would have asked if the crowd had not beaten him to it.  It all came down to the crowd’s statement to Pilate, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”  It forced Pilate to choose, right there on the spot.  The real question being asked that day was this, “Are you a friend of Caesar, or a friend of Jesus?”  Pilate’s decision was Caesar and he had Jesus handed over to be crucified.

How about you?  How about me?  It really is not that hard for many people to reach the point of finding no fault in Jesus.  We examine His life, His teachings, His claims — all He said, did, was, and is — and we agree with Pilate, “I find no fault in Him.”  Yet what do we do with the pressures in our life?  It’s not the same crowd, be we still have the crowds accusing Him of not being who He says He is.  The crowds are still screaming at us to “crucify Him”, to put Him out of existence in our life.  The question is still asked, by both the crowd and by Jesus, “Are you a friend of the world or a friend of Jesus?”  How will you answer?  Will you move beyond not finding fault and into submission to the sovereign God who calls you to choose to be a friend of Jesus?

I pray that we would not dismiss Jesus as some nice, faultless guy we read about and then end up crucifying Him in our life because we fail to see Him as sovereign.  I pray that we would examine our allegiance and realize that friendship with the world is not worth the cost. 

May you and I live as friends of Jesus on a daily basis — friends that acknowledge and submit to the sovereign nature of our God.