Biblical Leaders: Pontius Pilate
At one time or another every leader has found himself or herself in a position of being criticized or even challenged by those around them. It’s often said that leadership is lonely and I think this is one of the examples of why. Today I want to look at leadership lessons from someone who isn’t talked about except for one part of scripture, Pontius Pilate.
Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor over the Roman occupied province of Judea serving under Emperor Tiberius. His job was to keep the order in the province and keep the taxes flowing to Rome. As long as he did these things his position was secure.
Where we see Pilate is during the arrest and trial of Jesus (John 18). The Jews, specifically the religious elite of the Jews, have conspired against Jesus and had Him arrested but due to customs and traditions they ultimately couldn’t accomplish what they hoped. They bring Jesus to the Praetorium, the governor’s headquarters, to implore him to do what they could not.
We don’t know exactly what time this occurred, it just says early morning (vs. 28). I can see Pilate sipping his morning coffee, looking over some scrolls of what was coming up on his calendar, when he begins to hear the rumbling of an approaching crowd. He sends a servant to investigate knowing his position is hinged on keeping the peace. His servant returns giving the details of the mob gathering just outside the gates. Pilate releases a small sigh, takes one more sip of coffee, makes sure he looks presentable, and heads for the door.
John 18:29-31 ESV, “So Pilate went outside to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ 30 They answered him, ‘If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.’ 31 Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.’ The Jews said to him, ‘It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.’”
Pilate then takes Jesus back inside to for further questioning, looking to get to the bottom of things. After a little bit of back and forth (vs. 33-37) Pilate says his infamous Quid est veritas, what is truth statement. After this he went back out to the crowd and informed them that he found no guilt in Jesus.
As leaders, I think more times than not we know what’s right for us, our teams, and our organizations. We know the truth, cognoscere verum. Much like Pilate, we sometimes feel pressure from others, especially those outside of our organizations. Carey Nieuwhof says it this way,
“no on will ever ask you to accomplish your top priorities, they will only ask you to accomplish theirs.”
There’s knowing what’s right and then there’s doing what’s right. As we know, Pilate gave into the pressure of the mob and gave them Barrabbas, a robber, (John 18:39-40) and handed Jesus over for crucifixion. He then both literally and figuratively washed his hands of his decision passing the buck and the blame beyond himself.
I know there’s been times in my life and leadership where I’ve made decisions based on the opinions of others. It didn’t go well. Fortunately I’ve been able to correct some of that and through tough conversations made it right. Pilate gave in to the pressure probably to keep order and keep his position of authority. Many give into the pressure because they worry about what others may think of them. That’s some of my own story. As leaders, we have to both know what’s right and then do what’s right.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash