Whose Friend Are You?

John 19:12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

John spends an inordinate part of his Gospel on the final week of Jesus' ministry - about 40% of it. There is good reason for that, as His Passion tells a lot about His mission.  What is also interesting is how much time he spends on the interaction between Jesus and Pilate.  Pilate was the one who legally controlled whether Jesus was allowed to be put to death or not. As much as the religious leaders wanted to build their case and demand His death, the Roman official held the earthly authority to allow or forbid it.  All the evidence they had was insufficient, but the final card the leaders held was" Whose friend are you?" That is the ultimate question we all must answer: "Am I a friend of Caesar, or am I a friend of Christ?" The answer to that question will affect how we behave and misbehave.  Pilate proved whose friend he was.