God's mercy is incredible and makes all things possible.

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but rather, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."
John 19:19-22 (ESV)
 
Sometimes we say true things and do not realize how profound our statements are. Pilate was taking a jab at the Jews by writing something true. What did Pilate believe? We cannot know. We know that he refused to write that Jesus said He was God. We know He thought Jesus to be innocent and the Jews nothing more than an angry mob. We know his decision was based on his political comfort rather than on what he considered truth.
 
Pilates's decision-making process was probably normative in his day yet flawed at all times. He was a man of compromise who had no compromising option on this, so he perhaps compromised with this sign. Could it be that Pilate thought Jesus to be the King of the Jews? We do not know. I am confident that Pilate did not stop observing this process and knew of His death and that He was placed in a guarded tomb. Pilate must have been fascinated by this spectacle and perhaps was waiting until something happened to either make the phenomenon of Jesus disappear or make a final statement that He was indeed God.
At the end, when Jesus was reported missing from a guarded tomb, I think Pilate had enough. The Jews were proved to be that angry mob, and Jesus is who He claimed to be. I do not know what happened in Pilates's heart. Perhaps we will see him in eternity. God's mercy is incredible and makes all things possible.
 


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