More than any other name in history, Pilate's name is remembered and repeated. We don't, however, envy him, because in the creed his name is linked with the blood of God's own Son. There is the blood seeping through the cloak which was thrown over Christ's whip-torn back. There's the blood trickling down Christ's face from this thorn-crowned brow. There's the blood Pilate wouldn't wash from his hands. Is there any wonder why his name remains as odious memory?
Can any of us say Pilate's name without saying our own? Isn't the guilt of Jesus' blood also on our hands? Wasn't it for crimes that we had done that Christ groaned upon the tree? Thank God His innocent blood has paid for what our hands and feet, eyes and ears, mind and life have committed. Thank God Peter's words also apply to us. "You were redeemed...with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (1 Peter 1:18-19) Again, did you catch the why in Peter's words? The Son of Man humbled Himself and suffered under Pontius Pilate to redeem us.
No longer need we stand before the holy God with our consciences burning and our hope for an eternal future with Him shredded. God Himself came to earth and put aside the use of His power and glory to redeem us!
Richard Lauersdorf, "As Luther Taught the Word of Truth - Devotions on the Small Catechism," published by Northwestern Publishing House.
