Jesus is Bound (Mt. 27:2)

Anne Lastman

“And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pilate the governor”

Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate, bound- a lonely, vulnerable figure.  In this imagery we see both the human Jesus with hands bound so he could not escape and indeed we can see how in situations we tie the hands of Jesus (God)so that he cannot help because we have tied his hands because of our free will.

We see a figure of helplessness and pathos.

As we walk through life there are many instances which are painful and unexplainable.  They do not make sense and we ask the Lord why?  Why did you stand by and watch a child be violated? Watch a child starve when there is so much sustenance being wasted? Why did you stand by and watch an infant in the womb be slaughtered? Why did you stand by and watch a whole family perish in a frenzy of rage and murder? And so many more whys and we ask “Why Lord” why didn’t you intervene and stop the horrors from happening.

His response…. because of our free will his hands were tied as we have seen when he stood before Pilate.  An innocent violated, yet he remained silent why? Perhaps his silence is the answer to the “why” Because it was his reason for coming to earth.  To be with his creation and help them endure the suffering of the innocent which was theirs to endure because of the sin of the first parents. He remained silent and did not defend himself or call on his father to send an army of angels to help him because each human being does not have an army of angels to defend them and so they suffer alone.  Their body is assaulted…alone. Their dignity is assaulted…alone. Their emotions are assaulted…. alone. their spiritual assaulted…. alone 

 However, because he came and did not flee from his suffering, they have not been alone because he has stood there before the enemy, hands bound, whilst his own dignity is assaulted, his own humanity demeaned, his own physical is wounded, emotional and spiritual assaulted and this with each of his brothers and sisters.  As they were being assaulted, he took upon himself their pain and held on to it with utmost care and love and they would never be alone in their suffering.  He would suffer like them and with them.

For every child, man, woman, abused, deceived, euthanised, slaughtered, trafficked, for all of this cruelty brother against brother he would be there and he would accept the same pain.

As the divine son he could have passed through the suffering as he had asked his father to remove the cup from him but as His father’s human son, he was called to be obedient even to death, for this was his mission for the work of redemption.

It is interesting that in John 19:13 we find Pilate seat down “on the judgement seat.”  This is a false seat and in this we see “good called evil and evil called good” (Is. 5:20) because only Jesus sists on the judgement seat (2Cor5:9-11, Iss.25:7-8, Rms 14:1-12, 1Cor 3:10-4:5.)  Old Testament master of the house also sits on seat of judgement situated by the temple and makes/ gives/ passes judgement on all domestic affairs.  This seat was also called “seat of Judgement.” David is also known to have sat on the Judgement Seat by the Temple Wall. 

Pilate also sat on the same judgement seat having the same meaning as ancestral seats of judgement because it was a moment of decision for him. The requirement of the land to make the judgement was his to make, that is, to release the man before him or to release another.

It appears that Pilate was not sure what decision to make because of his need to ask the people which prisoner to release.  If he was sure of his judgement, he would have declared his decision and sentence passed.

It has been said by various Christian denominations that Jesus sits on his “judgement seat” and when we each come before him and we are to give account and testament of the life given to us (Mt 25:14-30) and from then on, Jesus will decide where to send that person.

This is difficult to understand because if he has stood before Pilate hands bound, silent, vulnerable, lonely, feeling the burden of the sin of the world and sins of the human creature, then he has assessed that this person standing before him in their suffering life story and he has stood intimately close to each in their great pain and helped carry this pain with them.  He was their Simon of Cyrene who by his silence and hands tied and self-non-defence he has helped to carry that life story with its pain.

The mystery remains, having stood with hands tied before a judge who decided on his death, does he then also judge a human being who experienced great pain and sins of his own and sins of others also get sentenced to death as he, Jesus, was?

“You have delivered my soul from death prevented my feet from falling; so that

I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living.

“He has saved me from death prevented my feet from falling” (Ps 56:13, Ps 116:8).