The Dilemma

         The Roman governor of Judea Pontius Pilate was in a fix. Standing before him for trial was a so-called King of the Jews, a man whom they called Jesus of Nazareth. Yet the man bore no resemblance of a king. Yet he had been charged with the great crime of treason, the punishment for which was the great penalty of crucifixion. Indeed he thought that Judea was a troubled province as rebellion there was always in the ranks with the Jewish people defiling statues of Roman Gods and even those of the emperor. The crucifixion of their king would serve as a good deterrent against these acts. But this king had done nothing except preach forgiveness and love and Roman law and jurisprudence had always taught him to deal each case on its merits and provide everyone with a fair trial. 

    Yet something had to be done about Judea, the emperor had sent him with special orders to discipline the province and he had done everything but please him. Order had not been restored in the province, there were prophets all around the countryside spreading anti-Roman propaganda and the streets of Jerusalem, the capital of the province were bursting with rebellion. Therefore something had to be done to please the emperor. But the question was what? Romans knew that massacring innocent Jews would only increase their hatred and it was also not a viable solution. Because what the Romans were fighting was an idea and an idea cannot be fought with swords. Yet even the governor knew that to keep his honour in Roman society, something had to be done. He wanted to send a message to the people of Judea that their resistance to Rome will not be tolerated and for that he was prepared to do as much as he could. But the question was what could he do that would destroy an idea?

    As the trial began, Pontius Pilate was lost in his thoughts. Indeed the man in front of him was an influential man in Judea with an enormous number of followers but that man had done nothing except preach forgiveness and love, there could be no charges of riots against him. The riots that were said to be orchestrated by him could have actually been based on the rhetoric of other rabble-rousers, after all, hatred towards Rome and Romans was a very common thing in Judea. So the question in front of the governor was that, was this man responsible for so many riots when the Roman soldiers had themselves heard that all the so-called King of the Jews did was to preach kindness and forgiveness. Indeed preaching something like that cannot be a crime. But the governor realized that this case was not a simple one as there were other issues at stake. In fact, the Jews had to be taught a lesson that not only was their resistance to Rome futile but also dangerous. He realized that by crucifying this man, Rome would be sending a strong statement of deterrence to the Jews. But somewhere deep in his heart, he knew that Jesus of Nazareth was not guilty of treason and neither was a king who posed a challenge to Roman rule. But he knew that politics and practicality must always transcend morality so that order can be restored.

    At last, the trial ended and the hour of sentencing was at hand. As Pontius Pilate rose to give the sentence, he knew what he must do and he knew that he must restore order in Judea. Therefore he found the man guilty of treason and sentenced him to death by crucifixion.