A couple of day ago I saw an interview with Mel Gibson about his movie "The Passion", depicting the last twelve hours of Christ's life. During the interview the subject of Pontius Pilate came up and the interviewer, who was obviously skeptical about the accuracy of the Biblical account, asked why Pilate was so hesitant to execute Christ when he had a reputation for being brutal in his dealings with insurrectionists and others. Luke makes mention of one such account as he records Christ's example of Jews whose blood Pilate had "mingled with their sacrifices" (Luke 13.2). The interviewer asked why Pilate was so hesitant about this and Mel did not have an answer for Pilate's attempt to appease the Jews. The answer to this question, however, may lie in the account of what happened that day.
The Romans, like the Greeks and the rest of the pagan world, were very superstitious. They believed that their gods held sway over human actions, earthly events and the course of their lives as well as judging their morality, or lack thereof. This superstitious nature led the Romans to look for signs, or omens, of what to do, or fortune in a variety of undertakings from such things as "reading" the entrails of animals, interpreting the movement of the stars and even what foods they ate at specific times. Dreams were also powerful forces in their lives interpreting them to tell of future events and other things. So powerful were these "omens" that they based their actions on these interpretations and their emotions that resulted from them.
As Pilate stood in judgment over Christ, he received a message from his wife. "When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." (Matt 27.19). Pilate had already seen that the priests had delivered Christ up out of envy for him (Matt 27.18) and while having the reputation for not sparing those who opposed Roman power, or committed crimes, he evidently realized that Christ was neither of these and saw no need to execute him. Pilate offered to have Christ scourged and released (Luke 23.16). The crowd however would have none of this and insisted on Christ's execution.
The message from his wife was apparently strong enough for Pilate to question this course of action. As a Roman he probably did not accept the view of the Jews that there was only one God. In his mind perhaps he saw this message as being from the his own pagan gods to avoid this decision. To make matters more serious was the fact that his wife stated that she had "suffered many things" because of this "just man". The hesitation in Pilate's mind can be understood not as a character weakness, nor was he afraid of the mob, he was now in a struggle between the will of his own gods and that of the crowd.
As Pilate perhaps sought a way to avoid the wrath of the gods, those who had gathered aimed another accusation at him, one that would have enough weight to cause Pilate to do as they asked. Those who had gathered stated, "...If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." (John 19.12). In response to this Pilate then washed his hands as a sign to the people, and more importantly, to his own gods, that he was innocent of the blood of Christ (Matt 27.24).
There are occasions when God used dreams to accomplish his purposes. Joseph dreamed in such a way that his brothers sold him as a slave and were eventually preserved from death by Jospeph's actions in Egypt. Later Joseph interpreted a dream of Pharaoh that led to the final accomplishment of this. Nebuchandnezzar dreamed of a great image. Daniel was then given the revelation that told of a great kingdom that would never pass away (Daniel 2.1-45). In this instance, the dream that Pilate's wife had, served to cause Pilate to hesitate, and in that hesitation the fury of those who wanted Christ dead was increased and led to the death of the savior. The final result of that death was that Christ was raised from the grave, ascended into heaven and opened the door for all who will answer the call to believe, repent, confess and be baptized for the remission of their sins. God does work in ways that defy human reasoning and always is able to accomplish his purpose. It is through Christ's death that all of mankind now has the opportunity to be reconciled to God.
TLC