Condemnation of Jesus:

Worst travesty of justice ever

Ajith Perera

“I have examined him here in your presence, and I have not found him guilty of any of the crimes you accuse him of. Nor did Herod find him guilty, because he sent him back to us. There is nothing this man has done to deserve death. I will have him whipped, then and let him go.” (Luke 23: 14 - 16) The words of Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor, emphasize the innocence of Jesus Christ who was condemned to a merciless death. Although Pontius Pilate knew full well that Jesus was meek like a lamb he was pressurized by the people.

He was a ruler who loved his position and he also wanted to please his people even without maintaining law and order. If he were a good governor of good governance the judgment would have been quite different. He knew that pleasing his people was the easiest way to remain in power and to enjoy its benefits. That is why he says ‘I will have him whipped.’ If Jesus were not guilty why did Pilate whip him? Leaders like Pilate were ready to do any dirty thing to make the subjects happy because they knew that the happiness of the people would let them assure of their status.

Not only Pilate but also the people who brought Jesus before Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent. They were the people whose sicknesses were cured.

They were the people who saw His miracles. They were the people whose hunger was satisfied. Pilate was not with them when Jesus was walking all over Judea. Pilate never came to Jesus to get himself cured but still he knew Jesus was not guilty. If Pilate knew that Jesus was not guilty why not those people whom Jesus lived with? Was it the lopsided ingratitude of human nature of people that blindfolded them before the truth?

Pilate had the power to set Jesus Christ free but he was frightened of his subjects’ political upheaval and as a result he would risk his position. For him, position and power were more important than anything else. Yet Pilate whose conscience was pricked by this unjust verdict made another attempt to save Jesus.

At each Passover Feast (Easter) Pilate had to set free one prisoner for them. He brought Barabbas who had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city and for murder. Pilate invited the people to choose either Jesus or Barabbas. The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to set Barabbas free and have Jesus put to death. So the whole crowd cried out “Kill Jesus! Set Barabbas free for us!”

Many people including those that shouted for the release of Barabbas welcomed Jesus to the temple like a king the previous Sunday. It was just a matter of time and after five days, people branded Jesus a criminal. Weren’t these the people who saw what exactly Jesus was doing during three years, walking all over the country? Weren’t there Jesus’ disciples and friends who could shout “Jesus” or “Set Jesus free.”? If we were there among the crowd what would be our reaction, our shouting?

Pilate who wanted to set Jesus free questioned the crowd again and again “What crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death!” Pilate who was frightened of the crowd granted the people’s wish.

He passed the sentence on Jesus that the people were asking for and set free the man they wanted. Pilate who was a typical political leader who did not want to burn his fingers unnecessarily, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!”

They wanted Barabbas, the criminal, set free. Was Jesus who made the people happy in life, worse than Barabbas? Or did the ungrateful nature of people instigate them to do so? Were they misled by the political and religious hierarchy? Why didn’t the political and religious hierarchy lead the people to respect and accept good motives? Killing on the cross was the most rigorous punishment during Jesus’ time. Only the notorious criminals were crucified.

Why did people want Jesus to be crucified? Why did people want Jesus to suffer and die like a criminal? Was it the sinfulness that blindfolded them or their political shortsightedness that deviated them from the truth? Was this culture of passing wrong judgments and claiming the lives of innocent over or are they still common in our society? History repeats itself. We were not there among the crowd to save Jesus. If we were there we the loving faithful would have saved Jesus and the history would have been changed.

When injustice takes place before our eyes even today what do we do? When innocent people like Jesus are given a wrong verdict what do we do? We become deaf, dumb and blind because we do not want to risk ourselves and they are not our family either. We are politically, socially and religiously blindfolded and we are not prepared to bear witness to the truth. In such instances we too wash our hands like Pilate.

Have you ever thought that Jesus is still suffering and dying on the cross? Do you know that Jesus is misjudged and given the wrong judgment even today? Jesus will suffer and die until the end of the human race on earth.

Jesus the Son of Man came to the earth in the form of a human once and He will not come again in the same form of man. But in people who have been created in the image of God, Jesus is suffering because of others.

When we rash judge others, we judge Jesus. We have no right to judge anyone. Judgment is not ours. Though we like passing judgments, we do not like to be judged. When we pass the wrong judgment on our neighbour, we always judge Jesus who suffer in them

We are not murderers. We know the danger of killing others but we create situations in life where others cannot survive.

Our thoughts, words and actions could weave the noose for others to hang. If we examine ourselves we have killed Jesus over and over again. Therefore, we naturally fall into to the category of people who screamed, “Kill Jesus! Set Barabbas free for us!”

Certain circumstances in life pave the way for us to be Pilate who was frightened of passing the correct judgment due to political reasons and again we play the role of the public who denied what we saw and experienced before our social and religious and political norms. Our conscience fails before our political, social and religious beliefs and acceptance.

We forget always that our conscience is the presence of God in us and He speaks to us through our conscience. When the conscience is dead, we become walking dead bodies. Death of our conscience is the root cause of any form of social evil in any society. Today unlike any other day in history Jesus invites us to bear witness to the truth and become His disciples who became martyrs for being truthful in life. “Does a man gain anything if, he wins the whole world but loses his life? of course not!” (Mark 8:36)