Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man)

The Bible Study we've used for the Youth this Lent is: 24 Hours that Changed the World by Adam Hamilton. The workbook is written with Youth in mind but I have borrowed the suggestion to use a painting to encourage discussion each week from the adult study. Although I have no experience with interpreting works of art, there have been some exciting insights that jumped out to us, uninitiated as we are.

Ciseri's Ecce Homo is one such painting. It shows Pontius Pilate leaning out toward the crowd, arm stretched back dramatically, as if trying to will the crowd into changing their minds about the crucifixion. I can almost hear him saying "Behold the man, this King of the Jews, what has he done to deserve death?" Although I'm sure he understood that the root cause of the Sanhedrin's request was jealousy, I truly believe (as evil as he was), he couldn't fathom why the crowd took up the chant. Pilate had the power to turn Jesus loose, but he was unwilling to go against the mob and was unable to change their mind.

Jesus, of course, stands mute with head bowed. But what of the others standing behind Pilate? The guard behind Jesus leans back as if to stay out of the view of the crowd. The man on the far right (with his back to us), looks as if he is leaning against the pillar for support. Perhaps he heard Jesus speak and His words had changed the man's heart. Is he disgusted that he cannot find a way to speak to Pilate now? Maybe he's asking himself, "What do you say to the most powerful person you know to change his mind?" Especially with the crowd against you? The woman facing us must have been Pilate's wife. We see her hand on the shoulder of the other woman, it's as if the wife is saying, "I've done all I can, I just wish he would listen!" The young lady is there to comfort her but even she seems anguished. Can you hear her thoughts? "Why doesn't Pilate just change the verdict? Can't he see how this is upsetting my mistress?" Finally, what of the man on the left? With hand on hip, he surveys the entire scene...Is he oblivious to what's going on? Is he hoping for a change of  verdict? Or is he just wishing it was all over?

I mentioned Pilate's inability to change the verdict. It wasn't that he couldn't, he most certainly had the power and jurisdiction to do so! But, he would be seen as going against a fractious population that hated the Romans. At what point do you do what is right regardless of how unpopular your decision makes you? Did washing his hands of the matter truly make him innocent? Only in his mind...

Spend a few moments contemplating the painting. Which character "speaks" to you? 
For me, it is Pilate's wife:

We can relate to her agony by inserting how our own sins have caused the suffering of Jesus. The brilliance of the perspective of Pilate's wife is that she, apparently, had no idea that Jesus was God or that he was dying for ours sins. If she had so much sorrow simply because she sensed that something was unjust, imagine how great her sorrow could have been had she known the sublime and grim reality of what was happening before her eyes.

Had you been in this group, who would you have been?