Sometimes it doesn’t take much to cause a human to compromise his beliefs.

I don’t know much about Pilate, particularly the private man, the real man. But in some ways, he seems a man with some sense of justice. And he certainly was a man capable of fear (John 19:8).

And yet he compromised justice and overcame some significant fears concerning Jesus’ identity because of a greater fear: being perceived as having the wrong friends.

“And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar” (John 19:12).

How important is it to me to have the “right” friends?

Whose friend am I ready to be?

And what kind of compromises would I make for that?

Let me never be as Pilate.

May I always stand for Jesus. And may I always stand with Jesus as a friend to those who, because of bigotry and bias, are despised by others.