By: Larry Young
The Holy Spirit spoke through Pontius Pilate’s wife the night before his fateful decision to crucify Jesus, warning him that Jesus was an innocent man. Proverbs 14: 12 was also sounding a warning to Pilate… and to you and me today : “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” So let’s follow Pilate’s story beyond the crucifixion and how it led to his sad demise, but also to how different Pilate’s last days would have been if he acted upon the warnings of the Holy Spirit.
Ellen White wrote about Pontius Pilate after the crucifixion and the warning in Proverbs 14: 12: "Pilate yielded to the demands of the mob. Rather than risk losing his position, he delivered Jesus up to be crucified. But in spite of his precautions, the very thing he dreaded afterward came upon him. His honors were stripped from him, he was cast down from his high office, and, stung by remorse and wounded pride, not long after the crucifixion he ended his own life. So all who compromise with sin will gain only sorrow and ruin. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12." DA 738
The historical record recounts the details of Pontius Pilate’s final days: “When Tiberius Cæsar, the emperor of the Romans, was laboring under a grievous disease, and understanding that there was at Jerusalem a certain physician, Jesus by name, who by a single word cured all infirmities, he, not knowing that the Jews and Pilate had put Him to death, ordered a certain friend of his named Volusianus: Go as quickly as possible across the seas; and you shall tell Pilate, my servant and friend, to send me this physician, that he may restore me to my former health. And this Volusianus, having heard the emperor's command, immediately departed, and came to Pilate, as he had been commanded. And he related to the same Pilate what had been entrusted to him by Tiberius Cæsar, saying: Tiberius Cæsar, the emperor of the Romans, your master, having heard that in this city there is a physician who by his word alone heals infirmities, begs you earnestly to send him to him for the curing of his infirmity. Pilate, hearing this, was very much afraid, knowing that through envy he had caused Him (Jesus) to be put to death. Pilate answered the same messenger thus, saying: This man was a malefactor, and a man who drew to himself all the people; so a council of the wise men of the city was held, and I caused him to be crucified.... Pontius Pilate, therefore, by the command of Cæsar, was taken and brought through to Rome. Cæsar, hearing that Pilate had arrived at Rome, was filled with
exceeding fury against him, and caused him to be brought to him... Then the emperor ordered him to be kept in prison, until he should deliberate in a council of the wise men what ought to be done with him. And a few days after, sentence was therefore passed upon Pilate, that he should be condemned to the most disgraceful death. Pilate, hearing this, killed himself with his own knife, and by such a death ended his life. When Cæsar knew of the death of Pilate, he said: Truly he has died by a most disgraceful death, whom his own hand has not spared. He is therefore bound to a great mass and sunk into the river Tiber. “(Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxeow)
What If Pontius Pilate had, per chance, NOT given in to the mob at Jerusalem to crucify Jesus? Rome’s emperor Tiberius Caesar already ordered Pilate to bring Jesus to him in Rome, and that would have ended very differently. Jesus could then have healed Tiberius and brought great honor to Pilate… instead of death. Then Jesus could have personally spread the gospel throughout Rome and beyond. Instead, it was Paul who ended up going to Rome to spread the gospel there and beyond. Ultimately it was Paul who faced Tiberius Caesar and was brought to a martyr’s end.
The Holy Spirit warns us today as Pilate was warned back then to follow God’s plans at each step. God knows the end from the beginning. He knows the “chess game” of our lives, and what it will take for each of us to be successful and to glorify Him. There’s a way that seems right to us, but as Pilate learned the hard way, it only leads to death. Put your total trust in Jesus and the prodding of the Holy Spirit, because that brings peace and the path to eternal life, even when the world is being turned upside down all around you. God bless you every day and keep you safe.