Pilate’s Wife’s Dream
Our faith is rotten, all our rites defiled,
Our temples sullied, and, methinks, this man,
With his new ordinance, so wise and mild,
Is come, even as He says, the chaff to fan
And sever from the wheat; but will his faith
Survive the terrors of to-morrow’s death ?
From Charlotte Bronte’ “Pilate’s Wife’s Dream
Holy Week, which begins today, brings us face to face with the most decisive and important event in all of human history. We witness a trial which in every respect, from arrest of the accused to His execution, violates every law of equity, justice, and right. From that standpoint alone, it is a landmark case, amazing in every respect. Behind its facade, however, are the dynamics of higher justice, which are even more amazing, as they combine in the resolution of crime and conflict, debt and failure between man and God. All is centered in one person, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, who is talking the place of everyone who ever came into the world or shall come till the end of time. We are directly involved. It is the story of strange justice. Amazing justice, indeed-but more amazing is the fact that this whole trial occurred according to God’s eternal plan, combining divine justice and divine love. Jesus had chosen to take the place of Barabbas and all of sinful
mankind. God punished his Son for the sins of the world. God made Him to be sin for us so that His blood may cleanse us from all sin. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. Thus, the most amazing trial of all time was and is the most blessed for all who believe in the one accused in it. The blood is for those who believe a cleansing from all sin, but for those who do not believe a judgment.
