[Pilate] handed [Jesus] over to be crucified.
—Matthew 27:26
Neither Pilate nor Herod found any basis for the charges against Jesus. “He has done nothing to deserve death,” they said. “What crime has he done?” Pilate asked his accusers. “Crucify him! Crucify him!” they shouted.
Here was their clincher: “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”
That did it! The threat of political suicide. So, Pilate handed him over to be crucified.
Pilate tried to escape the decision with evasion: “Washing his hands in front of the crowd, he said. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your responsibility.’”
Those who choose party above principle and politics above patriotism may win in the short term, but at the sacrifice of a legacy of courage in the long term.
Each of us must make a decision about Jesus.
Courage or compromise?