Today’s readings came from only two Gospels: Matthew 27:24-26; and John 19:4-16. These readings focused on Pilate presenting Jesus to the Jews, in a half-hearted attempt to secure His release. In the end, of course, Pilate folded to pressure from the crowd, and delivered Jesus over to them to be crucified. The symbol represents Jesus as He was presented to the crowd, being mocked as a king, with a crown of thorns and a royal robe.

We could have read the account of Pilate in both Mark and Luke, as well, but I found the readings to be similar enough that I thought the story was covered well in Matthew and John. I do think that reading more of the context around these passages could be beneficial, especially the parts where Jesus is shipped between Herod and Pilate, and they try to figure out just what they should do, and who should make the decision. That really drives hom the point that no one with any authority really wanted to get in the middle of this situation, and yet, in the end, someone had to make a decision with an authoritative voice.