Before Pilate, Jesus stood: unbowed, unbroken, unafraid.
“Are you king?” Pilate cried.
“I am,” Jesus replied.
“We have no king but Caesar.
Crucify him. Crucify him.”
Then Pilate stood before Jesus: bowed, broken, afraid.
He handed him over first to be scourged and then to be crucified.
Jesus, our brother, we stand in silence and observe your confrontation with the powers of those who ruled your world. We stand in silence as you are condemned. Standing in silence is not something new to us. We have stood silent in the face of overwhelming poverty. We have stood silent in the face of countless victims of terrorism, disaster, and war. We have stood silent in the face of those who are powerless and who seek refuge in our own communities. Like Pilate, we often stand in silence, bowed, broken, and afraid. Break the chains of our silence! Give us a holy courage, a stirring passion for the way of justice and peace, and grace to walk in the truth of who we really are.
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