What Shall I Do with Jesus the Christ?
“Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him let Him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath He done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let Him be crucified.” Matthew 27:22-23
When Jesus was brought to Pilate, the Roman governor over Judea at the time of Christ, he asked the one question that everyone will have to answer sooner or later: What shall I do with Jesus the Christ? Pilate was in a quandary. After His arrest, Jesus stood before Pilate after standing first before Annas, the high priest (John 18:13), his son-in-law who co-ruled with him, Caiaphas (John 18:24), Pilate, who sent Jesus to Herod, the ruler over Galilee, and then finally back to Pilate. This is what you call “passing the buck”. From all indications, none of these rulers wanted to be the one responsible for sentencing Jesus to death, particularly Annas, Caiaphas, and Herod, who were all Jews, but Pilate was a Gentile. Since the Jews hated the Gentiles, who better to make this life-or-death sentence than Pilate? The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus eliminated. Besides, the Roman authorities were the only ones who could carry out an execution.
As the angry crowd brought Jesus before Pilate, they accused Him of influencing the Jews to turn against the Roman authorities by not paying their taxes to Caesar and by proclaiming Himself to be Christ the King, implying a planned takeover of Jerusalem (Luke 23:2). The Jews couldn’t accuse Him of blasphemy because the Romans would not consider that worthy of a civil trial. In order for the Romans to cooperate, Jesus’ presence in Israel would have to affect them in some way. Pilate had gone out to the crowd because they wouldn’t come into his Gentile palace for fear of defiling themselves. He told the crowd to take Jesus back and judge Him according to their own law, but they replied that it was against their law to put Him to death. Pilate was trying to find a way out of his dilemma.
Pilate went back into the judgment hall and began to question Jesus. He was seeking to keep this a religious matter so that he would not be forced to intervene. That is why he asked Jesus if He was King of the Jews rather than if He was planning an insurrection. Jesus answered Pilate in a way that confirmed that Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews. Did Pilate really care one way or the other? I doubt it. He just wanted this problem over. Pilate was caught in the middle between his superiors in Rome and the Jews. What was he to do? He then questioned Jesus as to what He had done to be in this position. Jesus stated that His kingdom was not of this world, that everything that was happening was the reason that He was born into this world, and that everyone that understands His mission of truth hears His voice. Pilate replied by asking, “What is truth?” Pilate then went back outside and told the crowd that he could not find any fault with Jesus (John 18:31-38).
Pilate couldn’t just leave it at that. Someone had to die that day. The crowd was bloodthirsty. Had he not done something, his superiors in Rome would have heard about a possible insurrection by the people. Thus, Pilate gave the crowd a choice: either Jesus, the sinless Son of God or Barabbas, a murderer. It was the custom during feast days to release a prisoner. Whether this was an actual Jewish custom or one that Pilate made up to take the blame from him is unknown. Pilate asked the people, “Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?” Pilate was a weak, fearful, and selfish man. He knew the underlying motive for the Jews’ desire to be rid of Jesus was envy. He knew Jesus was innocent. He returned inside, and his wife told him to have nothing to do with Jesus, a just Man because she had a dream that caused her great anxiety.
Word was passed among the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas. When Pilate asked them to make their decision, he said, “Shall I crucify your King?, but the chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). The crowd called for the release of Barabbas. Pilate asked, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” The crowd said, “Let Him be crucified”. At that point, Pilate was resigned to allow Barabbas, a murderer, to go free and for Jesus, whom Pilate knew was innocent, to be crucified. In an effort to cleanse himself from the guilt that he felt, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person: see ye to it”. After he said that, the people replied, “His blood be upon us, and on our children”. They had no idea the results that would come from that statement.
What happens when folks have an encounter with Jesus Christ today? Do they act like Pilate who felt that there was something special about Jesus, but was not willing to embrace Him as Lord, did not have the courage to do what was right, or thought he could just wash his hands of the whole matter, and everything would be OK? Do they act like Pilate’s wife who believed that Jesus was a just Man, but thought that ignoring Him would relieve she and Pilate of any responsibility to Him? Do they act like the crowd that day that wanted to do away with Jesus, as they displayed their hatred for Him in calling for His execution? Or do they eagerly receive Him as Lord and Savior, committing their lives to Him, and receiving forgiveness of their sins and eternal life in heaven? There are only two kinds of people in the world: those who have given their lives to Christ, letting Him live through them, and all those who have rejected Him, letting Satan rule and reign in their souls. One’s eternity is determined with what he or she does with Christ, and everyone will decide one way or the other. To not decide is to decide.