"So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying 'I am innocent of this man's blood, see to it yourselves.'"(Matthew 27:24)
There are many scenes in the Passion of Christ, the biblical accounts not the movie. Some are found in all the Gospels, but others are unique to in one of them. Pilate washing his hands of the whole affair is one.
We've all heard that expression "washing my hands of it." The idea being that even though we knew of it, we didn't participate. Don't come looking to me if it goes horribly wrong or you get in trouble.
The problem of course is that once you know of something that is going to happen and choose to do nothing to stop it, even though you know it is wrong, no symbolic gesture is going to matter.
Pilate if he had a spine could have stopped it, but chose the expediency of not having a riot to deal with. Yes as a Christian his inaction leads to my salvation, but it doesn't free him from guilt.
I'm sure there are many times that I've wished to just wash my hands of something. To make sure that I'm not associated with it. But what I've come to understand is that anything I know of becomes engrained in my memory, and unless I take some sort of action, my conscience probably won't get a lot of rest. Sometimes doing the right thing, might not always be the safest.
Blessings,
Ed
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