Is something ever impossible to avoid or prevent from happening? I cannot stop the sun from shining or the rain from falling. Nor can I stop another from making a foolish and evil decision, though I can try. However, my question is, can I stop what seems to be an inevitable travesty?
Could Pilate have prevented a crime from being committed while maintaining civil peace? “I find no basis for a charge against this man” (4). “I have found no basis for your charges against him.” (14b) Pilate appealed to them again (20). But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (21). “For the third time since Jesus returned from Herod, Pilate spoke to them: “…I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty.” (22) He sincerely tried to stop them.
Pilate believed that if he released Jesus, the fervor in the court would turn into a riot and even a revolt, and thus, he would be derelict of his duty. Would he? I place myself in his situation, a pagan who, like most Romans, prided themself on their sense of justice and civil rule. Imagine being in his situation. What could I do to let an innocent live and go free, and keep civil peace with the religious authority, so consumed with violence? It seemed that either way I decided would bring a bad result.
Is there ever a way to avoid the inevitable? “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7)
