Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? — John 18:33
There have been many instances in my life where I have been in a new and unique situation where I perhaps did not know everyone that was in the room. I’m not always the most social person, but I have found myself at times approaching these people and asking them “who are you?” Then at other times, my memory can be bad and I have to ask, “what was your name again?”
Some people are much better in those situations than I am, but the truth is that we are all known as something. When I was a child, I was more known as my parent’s son than I was as my own person. As I grew up and matured, I realized that I was developing a name for myself. It’s how the people that I interacted with knew me.
Some would know me as a co-worker, others would know me as a friend. We are all known as something, whether it be family, customer, boss, employee, representative, driver, coach, player, performer, etc. Each and every person that we interact with in our lives knows us as something.
By the time that Jesus reached Pilate’s hall, Pilate knew who Jesus was. It was no secret the work He was doing. In fact, the Bible tells us that Herod was excited to meet Jesus when he had the opportunity and wanted to see one of Jesus’ miracles. We find here in John that Pilate asks Jesus, “who are you?”
Pilate knew who He was. He knew all the things He had done. In fact, Pilate went as far as to try and release Jesus because he knew that Jesus had done nothing wrong. We find in the end, Pilate gave in to the angry mob that wanted Jesus to be crucified.
Even though Pilate knew who Jesus was, he never gave his life to Jesus. He never accepted Jesus for who He was or stood up for Jesus amid the cries of the world around him.
We find ourselves surrounded by people that want to get rid of Jesus as well. They want to remove Him from public spaces, remove Him from churches, and keep Him out of anywhere that the thought of Jesus may give them concern for their wicked actions. They know who Jesus is, but they refuse to acknowledge or accept Him for who He is.
But what about us individually? Who is Jesus to us? Is He our Savior, Redeemer, and our hope? Or is he something that just stands in our way when we want to do the things we want to do?
Do we stand and speak out on behalf of Jesus and the cause of Christ? Or, do we do the same thing that Pilate does and hide amid the cries of the world around us? Your actions all come back to one question. Who is Jesus to you?