Perspectives on the Crucifixion: Pilate

Pilate is another dude that we tend to blame for Jesus' crucifixion -and for good reason, he did issue the order. But as I mentioned in my previous post on Caiaphas, I don't think we are supposed to get too caught up in blaming people for Jesus' death. This leads to a lot of problems, including antisemitism and I think it is beside the point. The point is that Jesus willingly offered himself up for us, therefore, no one can really claim to have "taken" Jesus' life. Also, Jesus rose again, so we don't need to worry about pressing charges anyway. God orchestrated Jesus' death on our behalf and this is why we celebrate Easter.

Pilate
What is truth? How do you figure it out when there is so much manipulation going on? Is there some sort of sign that indicates you have found it or are you doomed to throw away priceless truth and continue a hopeless, endless search? I'm not stupid. I know that there is a lot more going on here with this Jesus fellow than the Pharisees are telling me. No one here likes us Romans and the Pharisees seem far too eager to destroy this man...before this point, I have only had resigned cooperation from the Pharisees and now they seem to be rallying behind the domination of the Roman Empire...suspicious. And then there's my wife, Julia...she just had an intense dream telling her that Jesus is an innocent man. I'm not a huge proponent of Dream Theory myself but Julia wouldn't have told me unless she really thought it was true and that makes me wonder....I just want these people to like me! Why do they have to make things so difficult? Is murdering an innocent man the only thing that will appease them? I am afraid...no, scratch that...I'm terrified! If these people riot...if I can't maintain control...if the Emperor hears about it...I'm a dead man. I have been told a lot of lies in my lifetime, a lot of lies today for that matter but Jesus said something true that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. He said that the only power I had was the power that I have been given from above. I don't really know about the powers above...I'm sure that there's something out there but I really don't know what to believe in...a lot of my family members still have faith in the gods like Jupiter and Venus, then there's the Stoics who believe in this impersonal "Logos" concept. Here in Jerusalem, I live among the Jewish people, they believe in God and I have to admit that I have been curious about Him. I wouldn't normally like to hear that my power is parcelled out by some bigger power than myself but today I felt more powerless than I ever have in my entire life...I need these people to like me and as a result I was forced to sentence an innocent man to death. I know what it looks like, but I was not really in charge of this situation. Something or someone else was.