Scripture: While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” - Matthew 27:19
After reading this account inquiring minds want to know:
What was going on in the relationship between Pontius Pilate and Procula during Jesus’ trial? Why wouldn’t he listen to her? Had they been quarreling? Were they estranged or was this business as usual, more of the same? He never listened to her before, why should he start now? Or, was it the other way around? Was she always butting in, telling him what to do, but this time, he made up his mind to stand up and make his own decision regardless of what she thought!? Did he do it just to spite her? Or was he simply more afraid of the crowd than he was of her? No one knows for certain, but inquiring minds want to know!
Procula’s story, unlike the story of Queen Ester with its “happily ever after” ending, has quite a different outcome. Try as she might, her wise warning was not to be heeded. How frustrating this must have been for her! Her dream was vivid and her words sincere. Why would he not listen?!!! What is she going to do now? An innocent man was going to die! Would she redouble her efforts, try a different approach, give him the cold shoulder? What?!
We’ll never know for sure, but I wonder if she found a way to hold the tension between her fear, frustration, and anger as a result of her husband’s decision, with her need to remain in right relationship with him, a relationship which may or may not have been one of love and mutual respect but was surely one of responsibility and shared public image.
As we examine this story today, we can offer Procula all sorts of advice because we get it, we know how the story ends. We know that while Procula’s intuition about Jesus’ innocence was spot on, she was only one small player in a very large play. She could not have known, as we do now, the unjust sentencing of Jesus would in no way be the end of the story.
The “take away” in this story for me is a lesson of humility. We’ve all been in situations where we’ve been convinced that we’ve had the right answer, we’ve spoken truth to power and the power ignored us! But wisdom teaches us that God can work God’s purposes out even when all the players in the play don’t play well together. Humility comes in knowing that we are only one player, not the whole play.
