It is a sad state of affairs when a leader does things with only the short-term in mind. They are so focused on the present moment that they ignore the second and third order effects. When all they can see is the immediate they sacrifice the future.
That is the problem with being led by polls. We are a fickle bunch of creatures. We change our minds a lot. We aren’t guided by big principles, but by petty urges. Our finances get a little tight and we think the world is going to come to an end if we have to give up our 500 channel cable package! Let’s get some perspective. We wake up and don’t like the way we look and we go out and have surgery to change our appearance. Or we purchase a new truck, because we deserve it.
The worst influence on a leader is a crowd. A crowd can be stirred up to choose the worst possible outcomes. Crowds can be incited to bring harm on themselves. Crowds become almost mindless when they are whipped into a frenzy. It is almost as if the individual loses the ability to deviate from what the crowd is doing. It becomes very hard to opt out of the crowd action.
The crowd gathered to witness Pilate’s interactions with the religious leaders over the fate of Jesus is just such a crowd. It is being whipped by the religious leaders to carry out their evil plan. They haven’t been able to stop Jesus on their own, so they enlist Pilate in their game. To them, Pilate is just a piece in their puzzle. He is just a screwdriver in their toolkit.
The crowd is also just there for them to use for their purposes. They stir them up and direct their actions. They feed them the lines to chant. They were behind the scenes like a puppeteer pulling the strings. The pull, the crowd moves. And Pilate responds to the moves of the crowd.
I can see it from Pilate’s perspective. He doesn’t want a riot on his record. Riots can be unpredictable. He knows crowds can do things that are unforeseen. He wants to control the outcome, even if it is not the outcome he wants.
Remember, Pilate has tried to release Jesus. He hasn’t found any evidence that He is guilty of a crime deserving punishment under Roman law. He knows the religious leaders are motivated by jealousy and envy. He sees through their lies. But he is powerless in that moment to stand up against their plot. He probably even knows he is being used by them to accomplish their purpose, but he goes along with it.
I wonder what backroom deals were struck in that moment, what payoffs to Pilate’s Swiss bank account, hidden stock deals, exemptions writing into the fine print of a law. I wonder if a Rolex was passed to Pilate as a thank you gift. We will never know.
Watch out when you are being “used” by someone else for their purposes. Pilate does something in the process. He has Jesus flogged. Flogging was a terrible punishment. It ripped the flesh off the body of its victim. Jesus would have been extremely weakened in the process. We see this when He is unable to bear His own cross. This weakening probably actually makes Jesus crucifixion a little shorter. His weakened condition meant that He couldn’t sustain Himself alive on the cross as long as would otherwise been possible. Pilate did Jesus a favor.
The Arnold Journey 