of justice or law condemned Him to death; He was the Victim of those who hated Him, and who savagely and imperiously demanded His death.
Who was guilty of our Lord's Sufferings and Death? — 1. Pilate bore a guilt which the washing of his hands could not wash away. He knew and testified that Jesus was innocent, and was not worthy of death — and yet he condemned Him to be crucified. By doing this he abused his power and violated the laws of justice. He sinned against the fifth commandment by condemning Jesus unjustly, and thereby causing His death. 2. The Jews, and especially the chief priests and ancients, were even more guilty than Pilate. They delivered their Messias to death, and killed Him with their sharp tongues, by means of false accusations. It is true that they did not quite know that Jesus was the Son of God, as St. Peter testified in his discourse after he had healed the man born lame: “Brethren, I know that you did it through ignorance” (Act. 3, 17). But their ignorance and unbelief were both wilful, because they let themselves be blinded by pride and envy, and shut their eyes to the light of faith which streamed on them from the life, words, and wonderful works of Jesus. 3. However, neither the malice of the Jews nor the weak compliance of Pilate could have caused our Lord’s death, had not the eternal counsel of God decreed that His Incarnate Son was to die to redeem us from sin and eternal punishment. It is, therefore, our sins which bear the real burden and guilt of our Blessed Lord’s sufferings and death, and cry out louder than His bitterest enemies: “Crucify Him I Crucify Him!” Let us, then, beat our breasts and say with S. Alphonsus: “Mercy and pardon, O eternal God, for by our sins we have nailed Thee to the Cross!”
Temporal authority is from God. “Thou shouldst not have any power against Me, unless it were given thee from above”, said our Lord to Pilate. God is the Lord of heaven and earth, and from Him comes all authority and power; so that all those whose duty it is to command others ought to exercise their authority in the name of God, and according to His will.
Fear of man led Pilate to condemn our Blessed Lord against his convictions, for he feared the displeasure of Caesar more than the displeasure and vengeance of heaven. It was fear of man which also caused St. Peter’s fall, and which is, every day, the cause of countless sins. The true fear of God drives out human fear, and bestows fortitude; and he who cares for the praise or blame of men more than for the praise or blame of God, acts in a cowardly manner and has no living faith. Our Lord warns us against human respect in the strongest terms: “Fear not them that kill the body and are not able to kill the soul”, He says (Mat. 10, 28), “but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”, i. e. the infinitely Holy and Just God.
Israel is no longer the people of God. With wilful blindness God’s chosen and highly-favoured people disowned and rejected the Anointed
