LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Thursday 17th April 2025
PILATE’S VERDICT
Scripture Reading: Luke 23:1-12
Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.” Luke 23:3–4
Because the Jewish leaders were aiming at crucifying Jesus, they took their case to Pilate, the governor of Judea. The Jewish leaders presented three accusations against Jesus to Pilate. The first was that Christ was subverting the nation. The second was that Jesus was against paying taxes to Caesar, and the third was that Jesus had made Himself a king.
In our passage, Pilate seemed interested in the question of Jesus as king. In response to the three allegations that the Jews proffered against Jesus, Pilate should have been more interested in the one related to taxes. Yet, Pilate totally ignored the only accusation that directly offended Roman law. He also ignored the allegation that Jesus wanted to usurp Caesar’s authority. Probably Pilate knew of Jesus’ position on taxation and how he had instructed His followers to ‘give to Caesar, what is Caesars’. Could it be that Pilate also knew that Jesus taught that His kingdom was not of this world?
Pilate’s verdict on Jesus was prophetic, ‘I find no fault in this Man’. He pronounced Jesus, not guilty. That means that from the point of view of Roman Law, the Lord Jesus had not done anything offensive. This implied that no personal action of Christ could be punishable by crucifixion. If Pilate had found Jesus guilty, His death on the cross would have been justified. It would have been Jesus dying for His own sins. Since Pilate did not find Him guilty, Christ’s death by crucifixion was not for Himself.
Under the Old Testament, the Priest had to certify that the animal to be sacrificed was without blemish. The priests could not offer a guilty or blemished animal for the sins of others. In biblical typology, Pilate stood for the High Priest, and Jesus stood for the lamb that was slain as a propitiation for our sins.
In the crucifixion of Christ, the one without fault died for those who were at fault. When we make Jesus our Lord, He imparts His faultlessness to us. In Christ, God finds no fault in us.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, you sent your Holy Son to die for a sinful world. I receive the gift of righteousness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
