God never promised us this life would be easy, but He does promise this: He is bigger than any storm we face in this world. This is a matter of His peace versus fear. And He’s always working for our good, even in the places where we can’t see, even in the circumstances that we don’t fully understand. He walks with us through every circumstance.
They way we respond to storms of life is tied to our walk with Jesus. Jesus stood before Pilate, a powerful Roman governor, the day He was crucified. The Roman Governor had many soldiers at his command to carry out his orders, yet he did not have peace.
John 19: 4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!” 6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” “Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.” 7 The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.[1]
Pilate and Peace Versus Fear
Pilate was a pagan and would have known stories of humanlike gods who came to judge humans. The Jews told him that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Perhaps Jesus’ demeanor throughout His trial led Pilate to suspect that Jesus was who He said He was. This is probably why Pilate asked Jesus, “Where do You come from?”
Pilate was also afraid of rioting and the news of rioting reaching Rome. Pilate had been cruel and insensitive toward the Jews and their temple. This resulted in several rebukes from Rome and he was afraid of another charge that would end his career.
The Irony of the Peace of Jesus
The frightened Pilate was standing by Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Did this encounter with Jesus eventually lead him to faith or did he die a frightened man? Scripture is silent on this. Humbling himself before Jesus would not have changed the angry crowd, but it would have changed his heart and his place in eternity.
Peace Today
We don’t know if Pilate ever had peace. What I do know is when we encounter Jesus and become a true believers, we have unexpected peace during the storms of life. As I write this as the world is gripped with fear about the pestilence, yet through this I have had great peace. Where does this peace come from? This peace comes from my personal relationship with Jesus as my Savior. This is the same peace that you can experience as a believer in Jesus no matter the situation.
Psalm 46:1God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. [2]
To learn more about peace versus fear, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/encountering-jesus-with-pilate
[1,2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.