Podcast Summary: "Pilate, Who Condemned Him"

Podcast: Things Unseen with Sinclair B. Ferguson
Host: Ligonier Ministries
Date: April 16, 2025
Episode Theme: The enduring legacy of Pontius Pilate and the question each person must answer about Jesus Christ

Episode Overview

In this devotional reflection, Sinclair B. Ferguson explores why the name Pontius Pilate is recited by billions of Christians every week and what his fateful encounter with Jesus Christ reveals about decisions, conscience, and faith. Ferguson connects Pilate’s predicament as a “trapped politician” to timeless questions about truth, responsibility, and eternal consequences. Through Pilate’s story, listeners are urged to consider how they answer the question, "What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?"

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Enduring Infamy of Pontius Pilate

• [00:08] Ferguson opens with a quiz: “Next to the Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary, whose name is most frequently on the lips of Christians?” The answer: Pontius Pilate.
  • "Every Sunday, Pontius Pilate is remembered."
• Billions of Christians recall Pilate’s name each week through the Apostles’ Creed:

  "I believe in Jesus Christ, his Son, who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate."

Pilate as History’s Quintessential Trapped Politician

• Ferguson draws a parallel between news media’s fascination with trapped politicians and Pilate’s historic predicament.
  • "Pontius Pilate was the most famous trapped politician in human history." [01:00]
• Pilate’s role: Governor of Judea, a challenging post due to Jewish monotheism clashing with Roman pluralism.
  • "Jewish monotheism, like modern day genuine Christianity, can be a thorn in the flesh to a pluralistic society." [01:30]
  • Genuine faith can make Christians appear as "enemies of the state… they don’t fit in." [02:00]

The Real Fear: Pilate’s Career over Justice

• Pilate’s main concern was self-preservation and his political career—not justice or truth.
  • "The one thing Pilate feared most, however, was not the Jews, but what they could do to his career." [03:00]
• He sought a way out when pressured to decide Jesus’ fate.

The Defining Question

• Pilate asks:

  "What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?" [03:30]

  • Ferguson points out this was not just a crowd’s question, but Pilate's own—and, by extension, each listener's.

Mirrored in Our Own Lives

• The biblical account makes Pilate’s story like a “mirror” for us. Critical life moments come where the only answer that matters is our own decision about Christ.
  • "You read about Pilate and feel you’re watching scenes that reflect moments in your own life... moments that nothing can really prepare you for." [04:00]

Parallels with Hebrews 6

• Ferguson references Hebrews 6: "It is impossible... if they fall away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm."
  • Suggests Pilate had unique proximity to Jesus—conversation with the living Word, partial enlightenment.
  • "In Jesus’ presence, he must have been able to taste the goodness and sense the powers of the age to come. But when push came to shove, he turned away." [06:40]
• Pilate’s failure serves as a warning: exposure to Christ is not salvation unless it leads to faith.

A Warning and a Hope

• The story is a cautionary tale, urging listeners to respond to Christ in faith.
  • "Pilate is surely another warning to us to make sure we respond in faith to his own question, what shall I do with Christ?" [07:20]
• Ferguson closes with encouragement from Hebrews 6:

  "Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation." [07:40]

Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• On the legacy of Pilate:

  "A name that otherwise would probably have sunk into oblivion even in the Roman Empire is on many of our lips, Sunday by Sunday—Jesus Christ, God's Son, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified." [04:15]

• On the pressing question:

  "The only answer that mattered was his own." [03:40]

• On personal reflection:

  "You're faced with a question that will determine what happens to you in the future. There's no escape from it. It's clear who Jesus really is. And the question is, 'What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?'" [04:10]

• On hope for believers:

  "'Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation.'" [07:40]

Important Timestamps

• 00:08 – Introduction and quiz: why Pilate is so often named
• 01:00 – Pilate as the “trapped politician”
• 02:00 – Christians as “enemies of the state” in history and today
• 03:00 – Pilate’s true fear and the career dilemma
• 03:30–04:10 – The key question: "What shall I do with Jesus?"
• 06:00–07:20 – Insights from Hebrews 6, Pilate’s spiritual exposure, and final warning
• 07:40 – Affirmation of hope and salvation for listeners

Conclusion

Through Pilate’s story, Sinclair Ferguson calls listeners to personal reflection on faith, responsibility, and the singular importance of our response to Christ. Pilate stands in history as the man who had every opportunity but made the wrong decision—a “mirror” and a caution—and the challenge remains urgent for every generation: "What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?"