We are taught from a young age that we are to know our history or we are doomed to repeat it. We repeat it anyway when equal rights for the other threatens the advantage of the powerful. Jesus was a threat to the power, to empire, to the religious advantaged, and an unjust status quo. What was this threat? Hope.
Hope is a dangerous virtue to power. President Snow in the movie Hunger Games puts it this way, "Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, as long as it's contained." The problem with Jesus is that he brought a lots of hope to the other, the marginalized, the outcast, the rejected, the oppressed. Hope that is detrimental to the privileged crowd that gathers at the Capital steps shouting "Give us Barabbas." The kind of threat that needs to be extinguished. And Pilate washes his hands.
It was 1963 as the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum when fear stood its ground as George Wallace exclaimed, "I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." And Pilate washes his hands. As Grand Jurys continue to protect empire, Pilate washes his hands.
As Roy Moore, Alabama Supreme Court Justice, defies a higher court ruling and refuses marriage certificates, Pilate washes his hands.
Thankfully, Pilate does not have the last word. Wallace and Moore do not have the last word. Grand Jurys will not have the last word. For hope is stronger than fear. Love prevails. He is risen indeed.
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