A Woman's Courage

             Courage is displayed time and again in the Bible.  The very mention of the word brings to mind David and Goliath and Daniel and the Lion’s Den, but others also showed courage in the face of difficult situations.  One that will probably never come to mind is Pilate’s wife.

            The Scripture doesn’t tell us her name, and her story is found in only one verse in Matthew (27:19).  She lived in a culture where women were little more than slaves.  They were dependent on their fathers or husbands.  They had little or no rights and seldom had a say concerning their own household, much less current events. 

            It was that kind of world that Mrs. Pilate found herself in that Friday morning 2000 years ago.  Her husband was a public official with the power of life and death over his constituents.  That power and position probably elevated her somewhat in that society, but she was still a woman—a woman who the culture thought should be seen and not heard.  Yet, her courage that day could have marked a pivotal turn in the Crucifixion story, if only her husband had listened.

            As that fateful Friday morning dawned, almost everyone in Jerusalem had heard of Jesus.  Since the raising of Lazarus, many of them probably knew of the Pharisees' plot against Him.  However, it is unlikely that anyone other than the Sanhedrin’s inner circle knew that the plot was about to be put into action.  It was very early in the morning when the chief priests and their comrades took Jesus to Pilate’s palace for sentencing. 

Did Pilate expect them that day?  Was he already up when they arrived?  Had he had his first cup of coffee? Those are questions that the Scripture does not answer.  We do know that Pilate was surprised that Jesus refused to answer his accusers.  Pilate also appeared to be looking for a way out of the dilemma by following a custom of the Feast and releasing a prisoner.  Jesus seemed to be a perfect candidate for release, but the religious leaders and the crowd wanted no part of it.  Instead, they cried for the release of Barabbas, a noted insurrectionist and murderer.

It was at this point that Mrs. Pilate sent a note to her husband.  Imagine the courage it took to interrupt him while he faced a potential riot among his constituents.  Her note revealed several things about her assessment of the situation.  First, she knew that Jesus was innocent, and she had already experienced a sleepless night because of Him.  She did the only thing that she thought might spare her husband from the same suffering.

Pilate ultimately agreed with his wife.  He said, “I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him” (Luke 23: 14b NIV84). Still, he did not have the courage of his wife.  Faced with a potential riot, he weighed the value of one man’s life against his own potential loss of power and prestige.  In his cowardice, he chose to pass the blame to the crowd saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood, it is your responsibility” (Matthew 27:  24b NIV84).

We don’t know what kind of “suffering” Mrs. Pilate endured in her dream.  We do know that the suffering was great enough to give her the courage to speak out when doing so could not have been easy.  I’m sure that we’ve all had situations where we knew we should speak but didn’t dare to do so.  I know that I have.

 As we see sin and evil begin to reign in our society, it may be time for us to throw caution to the wind and find the courage to speak out.  Fortunately, we don’t have to wait for a nightmare to give us courage.  We have the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us.  He will also give us the power to speak up, even when it is not comfortable to do so.  We must have the courage of our convictions because staying silent accomplishes nothing.   

Matthew 27: 11 - 26