Who do you take pride in being friends with?
Who you identify yourself with holds a lot of significance, which is why you often hear sayings such as “guilty by association” and “bad company corrupts good character”. For whatever reasons we choose to be tied to another, these relationships tend to come to define us.
Ask Pontius Pilate.
Here was the Viceroy of Rome, tasked with being the embodiment of the will of Caesar in the Jewish nation. What should have been another routine day had just been interrupted early in the morning by a mob of hypocritical, religious fanatics who had brought a peculiar Person to him, demanding His death.
The conversation went a little like this:
‘What did He do?’ Pilate asked.
‘He is guilty! Guilty!’ they responded.
‘Deal with it yourselves, then.’
‘You’re in charge; you have to do it.’
Pilate went on to speak to Jesus to figure out exactly what He had done. His line of questioning makes us assume that he had some notion of who He was; ’Are you the King of the Jews?’ (John 18:33). When asked what He had done, Jesus remained silent on the matter. Even without Jesus defending Himself against His charges, Pilate concludes, “I find no fault in Him at all.” (John 18:38).
From here on out, Pilate sought to do what he could to prevent a gross injustice from taking place, and if that failed, at least find a way to keep his conscience clear.
He tried to reason with the mob by using one of their own conventions by acquitting a person found guilty. As he had declared that Jesus was innocent, he thought surely the mob would choose to let Jesus go. He thought wrong. They would rather see the known scoundrel Barabbas set free instead than let this innocent Man escape the jaws of death.
Pilate then thought maybe if he roughed Jesus up, they would look upon His pitiful frame and let the matter go and set this innocent Man free. So, for the sake of preventing an injustice, Pilate commits to committing an injustice in itself by punishing a man he had just declared to be innocent. All this did, however, was make more of a mess. He brought Jesus out, whipped and mocked, and declared once again, “…I find no fault in Him.” (John 19:4)
All of this backfired though, because the hateful mob’s bloodlust seemed only to intensify with this, and now they pleaded for His death.He knew that this all was happening as a result of the envy of the religious leaders (Matt. 27:18), and his own wife, though not a believer of Jesus, received divine revelation of the injustice that was about to take place (Matt. 27:19).
His conscience, his reason, his wife; they all told him to do the right thing and let this innocent Man go, but he was caught up in a tricky situation. It only got worse when he finally heard what charge they had brought against Him: ‘…“We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid…’ (John 19:7-8)
Whether he actually believed Jesus to be the son of a god or not, such a claim warranted his attention. He undoubtedly called to mind the words of his wife regarding the case: “…Have nothing to do with that righteous Man…” (Matt. 27:19)
What happened next, you ask? Pilate found himself at a fork in the road:
‘…Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”’ (John 19:12)
A riot was forming now; not only would an uprising in his jurisdiction make him lose favour with Rome, but he was further threatened with the spread of a deadly rumour: “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend.” Sure enough, he knew this Man before him was innocent and claimed to be the ‘Son of God’, but he could not risk social, political, and possibly physical death by releasing this man and bearing the consequences. And so he delivered Jesus over to be crucified…
Who do you take pride in being friends with?
Not all of us are burdened with the same responsibility that Pilate was, but we are all faced with a test of loyalty each and every day. The Apostle John puts it plainly in his letter: ‘Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’ (1 John 2:15)
In little or in much, we are called to show our loyalty to what we hold dear. It might look the same on the outside a lot of times, but sooner or later, like Pilate we come to a fork in the road and we have to make a decision. Yes, the world mocks God and He is folly in its eyes. Yes, those who believe that Jesus is Lord are mocked also and hated for their faith. So then, even if you were intrigued by this Person called Jesus, and were stricken by His claim of divinity, is it all really worth risking social, political and possibly physical death to follow Him? Jesus sounds like a cool guy, and you don’t see anything wrong with Him, but is it really worth all the hassle?
Ah reader, I tell you this, that the glorious thought is not to think of us becoming friends with Him, but rather that One such as Him would ever think to become friends with us! We are told of Abraham that he ‘…believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.’ (Jas. 2:23). Similarly, Jesus Himself assures us, ‘You are My friends if you do what I command you.’ (John 15:14)
Friendship with God requires placing Him as the top priority in your life, ahead of status, possessions, and even other relationships. This does not mean that you are called to despise these things, but rather that there should not even be a comparison between what He means to you and what these other things mean to you. It means all of your interactions with these things should take place with an understanding and acknowledgement of who God is.
There will come a day where we all have to give an account of our lives, and like Pilate no matter what we do we cannot wash our hands of this choice; we will be held accountable for our loyalties. But no matter how rough life might become from choosing to follow Christ, ‘…consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.’ (Rom. 8:18)
Is there anything else more wonderful than being called the friend of the One who created all things and to Whom all things belong?
‘What though my joys and comforts die?
I know my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night He giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that Refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?’ – Robert Lowry, ‘How Can I Keep From Singing?’
