I recall a certain preacher being brought up before his church and accused of wrongdoing. He wanted to know what it was he had done wrong and his accusers could not, or else would not, specify what the alleged sins were. They just kept repeating the verdict of guilty. History is full of false accusers and the punishment of the innocent.

Occasionally those near the matter cannot see what is happening to the innocent person as readily as people farther away. In the context of our verse today we see the group who were close to Jesus were the ones who demanded his execution. Then we observe Pilate who was distanced from the situation and saw things clearly.

When push came to shove there were three issues that emerged as reasons for Jesus to be put to death. First He was accused of sedition or threat to the Roman government. Then they charged Jesus with “perverting the people”. Finally they came up with the accusation that Jesus threatened to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.

The last one about the temple was a capital offense to the Jews because of how sacred the house of God was to them. Pilate would merely laugh such a thing out of court as preposterous.

The matter of “perverting the people” was vague and lacked substance in any specific way. So that did not interest Pilate either.

However, the accusation about sedition was very important to Pilate because if Jesus was leading a military threat against the Roman occupational forces he needed to know. Jesus soon put the issue to rest (John 18:36-37) and Pilate realized that the Man before him was no threat to Rome’s authority.

Pilate proved to have some sense of justice and refused to accept the gossip and innuendo spoken against Jesus. Again and again Pilate said to the accusers that Jesus had not committed any crime worthy of death. His words fell on deaf ears. The people wanted a guilty verdict and nothing would deter them in their efforts.

Pilate did not see much worth in the Man before him so in order to gain peace with the crowd, he punished the One he knew to be innocent, not realizing that through his order many would  be made eternally righteous.

If your good reputation has been stolen from you by others, leave the matter with the One Who was hounded to death, He knows all that pain of yours and infinitely more. Leave your tattered reputation with Him, in His time you shall be vindicated. Jesus understands.