Today’s blog is brought to you by Sarah’s daughter, Isabell, who is excited to share with you what God put on her heart!
Whenever I think about Jesus’ impact on the world in His time in a human body, I like to look at the people He ministered to who were not Jewish. We often talk about the Samaritan woman at the well, and the various Greek folks He interacted with, but let’s look at Pontius Pilate today!
First of all, who was Pilate? Great question. Here is a brief historical background: Pilate’s job was to be a representative to the people who were assigned to him by Rome. He was supposed to oversee the city state for Rome, and he was specifically assigned to the Jerusalem area.
Pontius Pilate was not a godly man. It’s recorded that when he first stepped into his place, he set up a bunch of shields with the face of the emperor on them, and the Jewish leaders were super mad. They thought it went against the commandment to not have any graven images, or idols. Word of Pilate’s decoration style reached the emperor, and he told Pilate to move the shields out of Jerusalem. His job wasn’t to change the Jewish culture; it was to keep the peace.
All this to say that he was not a Jew, but he still had one of the most important conversations in the Bible with Jesus. Picture this: it is one of the most significant days in all of history. Pilate gets up, has breakfast, and goes to work. While he’s there, the Jewish leaders bring him Jesus, bound in chains. The priests won’t go into the Praetorium because they want to stay clean, so it’s just Pilate and Jesus.
In John 18:33-40, we read their conversation. The nitty-gritty details are recorded in Luke, as well, but there’s a moment in the John discord where Pilate says something incredibly significant. He’s having a conversation with Jesus and asks Him if He is truly the King. In verse 37, Jesus says, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
I love what Pilate says next in verse 38: “What is truth?”
John doesn’t record what Jesus says, but Pilate has just met Truth face-to-face. Pilate is searching, and He has a personal experience with Jesus Christ, who offers him a brief look into what it means to be a follower of Christ.
When we look at good leaders, they are always teachable, always seeking truth. Pilate was a good leader. He wanted to know truth, and he got to have a conversation with Him. In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE.”
It is the mark of a good leader to always seek truth, and also not to be afraid of it. Jesus is the Truth; when we go searching for it, we find Him. I want to encourage you today: If you are looking for truth anywhere other than in Jesus, you will not find it. Seek Him. Or maybe you have people around you who are far from God. Maybe they won’t even hear the name of Jesus without getting mad at you. Encourage them to SEEK TRUTH. Jesus is the Truth. Pilate was not a godly leader, yet he got to have a conversation with Jesus—with Truth.
There are multiple accounts of what happened to Pilate after this conversation. We know that he was eventually removed from his place in Jerusalem. There are a few sources that claim that he and his wife became Christians. The Eastern Orthodox Church even claims that both Pilate and his wife died martyr’s deaths after attempting to convert the Roman senate to Christianity. There is no way of knowing if this is 100% true, but I have to believe that if Pilate was truly seeking truth, and he found Jesus, he was changed forever.
Seek Truth, and find Jesus.
