When Pilate allowed the trial of Jesus to get out of hand, he soon found himself overwhelmed and unable to turn the tide. It began simply enough... the Jewish religious leaders bothering him about some annoyance that Roman law forbade them to resolve themselves. Despite their political position, any respect he had for them had likely been whittled away by their self-righteousness and marked hypocrisy. We can take a warning from this... the world can often see more clearly than we do, the gaps between our profession and our faith.
As the scene wore on, the Jews became increasingly inflamed by Pilate's cool response. They were determined to convince him of the justice of their cause... and equally determined to have their way. He, on the other hand, found himself ever more concerned about the obvious innocence of their latest victim. It was one thing to avoid a riot and give them what they wanted, but quite another to condemn a clearly innocent man to a horrible death. A riot would cause trouble big for him with Caesar, but an unjust sentence would would ultimately make his job more difficult by further reducing his esteem with those he governed. In the end, his appeals for Jesus were drowned out by the now incensed crowd. He was left with little choice but to give them their way.
In my own life, how often have I too passively poked at sin that was dogging me? If a dog is pursuing, I'd better not just hope I can outrun it. I must turn and face it; rebuke it or ask it's owner to do so. The apostle Paul speaks many times about saying "NO!" to fleshly appetites; the first step must be a conscious, whole-hearted decision to do right. Then, Jude 9 gives the pattern for crying out to the Lord. When Michael the archangel was contending with Satan, he did not presume to rebuke the Prince of the power of the air himself, but said, "The Lord rebuke thee."
Humbling myself to make the Lord my refuge, pleading with Him to deliver me from the Enemy who is too strong for me... then alone will I find His victory.
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