11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus[b] Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. Matthew 27
Peer pressure’s legacy is found alive in today’s text. youth pastors have no Shortage of peer pressure lessons. I heard many as a child. No sermon or teaching can truly prepare us for the faith it takes to choose Jesus when others aren’t.
Pilate was no slouch in the Roman Empire. Historically, Pilate is known for much more than executing Jesus. You did not become a governor in the Roman Empire without achieving great goals. You also did not become a governor if you weren’t great at giving into peer pressure. I would be willing to stake my life that Pilate was pressured by his superiors many, many times. This leads us to
an interesting observation. Achieving worldly success many times involves giving into peer pressure.
Now before you get mad at me for saying this, let’s think about it. How often at your job now (or your first job) did you use a method that was just plain inefficient? I can not tell you how much I hated Car Max’s sales consultant training. It just didn’t make sense! The steps were redundant. The pressure from management is the only reason I jumped through those hoops. Pressure from others is real. We must admit that it is also powerful.
I understand that in the workplace you do not have the freedom to do everything the way you want to, and that’s fine! But when it comes to morality, you do. You have the choice for who you treat well today. You have a choice to listen to another perspective as opposed to combating.
This is where Pilate went wrong. Pilate became so accustom to pressure that he let an innocent man die. Everyone succumbs to pressure. Pressure sometimes is put on us even by God. Do not be afraid of pressure, but know that when it comes to handling people your faith leads the way. Don’t let your work quotas or goals remove the humanity of your co workers. Don’t let the rat race consume you and your ethics.
We see glimpses of a good man in Pilate, but no one remembers Pilate for being a good man. He will forever be the one who condemned an innocent man to die. Peer pressure can change your legacy. Faith in Jesus can restore it.