An Innocent Man

An Innocent Man

Pilate’s Wife

Read: Matthew 27:11-19

Jane waited in her car, her eyes focused on the gate. Her brother was finally getting out of prison. The nightmare had begun eight years earlier, when Larry was accused of shooting a coworker. Another man testified against him, but Larry maintained his innocence. Only Jane stood behind him as their family and friends turned away, one by one. As the years passed, Jane clung to her trust in her brother’s character and integrity. Now, new evidence had reopened the case and established his innocence.

Pilate’s wife is mentioned only once in the Bible, but she has the distinction of being the only person who testified to Jesus’ innocence during his trial. As the Roman governor sat in the judgment seat, she sent him a message urging him to “leave that innocent man alone.” The passage tells us that she was deeply troubled by a nightmare she had about Jesus. We aren’t given any details about the dream, and we don’t know how it affected her life later. All we know is that Pilate’s wife insisted on Jesus’ innocence when his enemies falsely testified against him and the crowd turned on him.

According to polls conducted in 2002 by the Barna Group, 40 percent of American adults believe that Jesus Christ committed sins while living on the earth. That directly contradicts what the Bible teaches. Although Jesus faced the same temptations that we do, he never sinned (see Hebrews 4:15). Only a perfect, unblemished animal was acceptable for the Israelites’ sacrifices, and only the perfect Son of God could bear the sins of the world. It’s only because of Jesus’ innocence that we can be freed from guilt. The Bible is the only evidence we need of that.

God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21