What In The World Will You Do With Jesus?
It was the question before Pilate that fateful night. He was the Roman Governor. It should have been an easy decision. After all, why would he have cared? He had spilled innocent blood before without a thought. He had nothing to do with the Jewish faith or their teachings of a Messiah. Still, there were the tortuous dreams of his wife who warned him “to have nothing to do with this innocent man.” Maybe, since Jesus was from Galilee, he could send him off to King Herod Antipas instead. “Let Herod determine the fate of Jesus” Pilate thought. Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great (the one who feared that Jesus was the awaited Messiah and had all the male babies slaughtered surrounding Bethlehem). Herod Antipas was the one who ordered the beheading of John the Baptist.
Herod was fascinated by Jesus and wanted to have Jesus perform a miracle for his own entertainment. When Jesus stood silent and did not “perform” for him, Herod cloaked him in robes and sent him back for the soldiers to beat, mock and torture. With that, he declared to Pilate that it would be Pilate’s problem. Herod saw Jesus as some powerless peasant, incapable of any significant problem. In fact, Herod thought it impossible that Jesus could be “guilty of what these foolish priests and scribes accused Him of.”
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