What was in it for Pilate?

Matthew 27:1-2

“When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.”

As a person who made a living in sales, I always wanted to cut to the chase, it was always the bottom line, and so it was important to know if the person I was addressing could sign the order.  So was the case with the chief priests and the elders, they wanted to be rid of this Jesus, and they needed someone who could close the deal.  Pilate the governor was the man, and anyone in the sales profession knows it is the “man” you are looking for, he/she has the authority to close the deal.

Now the Arabs have a saying that I learned while in the Gulf area, “an enemy of my enemy is a friend.”  That is what is happening, though at this time Pilate was surely an enemy of the chief priests and elders, and the Jewish people as a whole, but not of Jesus.  So it is going to take some selling to get Pilate to do their bidding, and anyone who is in sales knows it’s the “WITFM,” what in it for me.  What was in it for Pilate; peace, to satisfy the crowd calling for Jesus to be crucified, and to make sure that a riot did not breakout, for Cesar would not be happy if that happen.  Now make no false assumptions, Pilate knew he was being conned, he understood that it was out of envy that they had delivered Jesus up to him.

So when did this envy come about?  It is somewhat easy to see with the history record, they were jealous of His ability to draw a crowd no matter where He went.  He had more followers than they did, He spoke with an authority they knew nothing about, and He had not spent years studying under someone they considered as a great teacher.  Not that uncommon from the world we live in, envy and jealousy is alive and well.  We all have seen the guy/gal who was good at conning the boss to get the promotion, but was a long way from being the best choice, that brings about envy, but make no assumption, Jesus Christ was the real thing and the chief priest knew it to be true.

Mark’s gospel has this to add, after Jesus has been delivered to Pilate, the first question he ask of Jesus is; “Are you the King of the Jews?”  And this was Jesus’ answer: “You have said so.”  You may be asking that same question, are you the King of the Jews, or maybe even a better question, are You God?  You will not find a better answer from Jesus than the one He gave to the woman of Samaria that Jesus addressed at the well, these were her words; “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ).  When he comes, he will tell us all things.”  Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:25-26)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice