During Jesus trials before His death Herod sent Him back to Pilate. It is apparent that Pilate found no reason to pronounce a death sentence for Jesus. His wife had warned him not to do that and it appears he also had personal convictions that he should not grant the wishes of the Jewish community.At first he tried to convince the crowd they were wrong. They argued with him and he gave in to them. He went along with the crowd. From extra Biblical history we learn that because Pilate sacrificed his conscience for the will of the people he was recalled from his position and disgraced.
The primary lesson we should learn from this passage is that as we study God’s Word and allow the Spirit to develop convictions in our hearts and minds we should be careful to be faithful to those convictions. It is much easier to go along with the crowd as Pilate did but the consequences are often similar to Pilate’s fate. We lose our testimony and are ineffective in our lives.
There is tremendous pressure in the world to "go along to get along". The culture around us presses hard for us to live like everyone else. But as Christians we are called to be different. Jesus said in John 17:16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Paul exhorts Christians in Romans 12:2 "do not be conformed to this world…" One of the ways we share the testimony of our relationship with Jesus Christ is by being different than the world. People see that difference; the peace and contentment we have and desire that for themselves. Often because we are different we are given the opportunity to verbally share our faith. We should be bold in doing that.
I’m sure you feel much pressure to conform to the world and to go along with the world. I encourage you to stay true to your convictions.
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