1 His Final Steps Led to Pilate There’s something different about this. There’s something different about this night. It is not unusual that we gather in the evening, but the sanctuary looks different tonight. What has been added to our space is there to cover up and conceal and darken rather than to emphasize or accentuate. There’s something different about this service. It has been quiet already and promises much more silent contemplation. The candles are in a different place with a different configuration. They speak silently and symbolically. There is something different about this night and about this service because there is something different about this person. There is something different about this Savior. When his final steps took him before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor noticed something different. How many trials had he overseen? How many accused criminals had stood before him? And how many of them acted like this one did? Here’s the answer: the governor was very surprised. Accusations and complaints were hurled at Jesus. The testimony was damning and brutal. And it was all made up. It was all false. Yet Jesus stood there quietly. I have been accused at times. I have heard charges and complaints. Unfortunately, at least as often as not, I have been guilty as charged. But I still push back. I get defensive. I fight. I refuse to accept someone else’s accusations. I stand up for my rights and my reputation and my character. But there is something different about Jesus. He is completely innocent of every charge, and yet he stands quietly. The only answer he gives is when asked directly, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Then he admits he is. His final steps will certainly bear this out. There is something different about him. Matthew 27:1–2, 11–14 (EHV) Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people reached the decision to put Jesus to death. 2They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pontius Pilate, the governor. 11When Jesus stood in the presence of the governor, the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” 12When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many things they are testifying against you?” 14But he did not answer him—not even one word, so that the governor was very surprised. Response We all have gone astray like sheep. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has charged all our guilt to him. (Isaiah 53:6) HYMN 425 “Go to Dark Gethsemane” The first candle is extinguished.
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