So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ Matthew 27: 17
Wikipedia says “passing the buck is
the act of attributing to another person or group one's own responsibility. It
is often used to refer to a strategy in power politics whereby a state tries to get
another state to deter, or possibly fight, an aggressor state while it remains
on the sidelines”. What an appropriate description of the actions of Governor Pilate! Jesus was being tried by Pilate who was convinced
that Jesus was innocent of the charges. The Governor knew that the real
intention was the elimination of Jesus, because of jealousy (v. 18) and not justice. His wife’s warning, having herself been warned in a dream, made matters worse for the
Governor.
Giving a choice between the notorious criminal
named Jesus Barabbas and the compassionate and friendly but radical and
uncompromising Jesus of Nazareth was a cowardly act. It showed a lack of the
strength of his convictions and a refusal to make tough
decisions. Washing his hands and declaring his innocence of the blood of Jesus
(v 24) amounted to nothing. Was the
washing of his hand an attempt to invoke Jewish
symbolism? (See Deuteronomy 21:1-8). Gimmicks
will not ease our consciences if we refuse to do what we know is right. Was Pilate’s mantra “give the people what they want?”
Standing up for what we believe, even
when it is unpopular, can be costly but it is the correct thing to do. We should always listen to the views of
others but we must also stand up for what we believe. Ray Davies, the main singer and song writer of
the British rock band The Kinks wrote and released a song in 1981 entitled “Give
the People What they Want”. One stanza says:
The Roman promoters really did things right. They needed a show that would clearly excite. The attendance was sparse so they put on a fight Threw the Christians to the lions, sold out every night
For a crowd-pleaser it is always hard to
swim against the tide of public opinion. In order to satisfy public sentiments
we are often required to sacrifice personal convictions.
Passing the buck is as old as humanity. Adam and Eve tried it. Pilate tried it
by sending Jesus to Herod to be tried (see Luke 23: 1-7) and here he does it
again. This time he passed the buck to the crowds. One of the many unfortunate
things about “passing the buck” is that friends, families, neighbours and even
enemies suffer. Passing the buck is common in
families. Think about children who suffer
because a man passes the buck to another. Think of the senior citizens who
suffer as they go to their graves because children pass the buck. The crime
situation in Jamaica is what it is because police, family, neighbours and politicians are in a game of passing the
buck. It is common in the church when
the pulpit and the pew blame each other for lack of growth in the church.
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