Sometimes specifics really matter. For example, telling you I live in Greene County won’t get you to my doorstep. You need much more detail than that. A street name is the bare minimum, but you’re probably expecting the specific house number too. Sometimes generalities aren’t good enough. We need specifics.
What’s true of direction is also true of creeds. Now, I know that you spend your nights thinking through each line of the Apostles Creed…right? Have you ever noticed how specific it gets? The middle of the creed is a series of statements about Jesus Christ and, when we get to his sufferings, it adds in a very specific detail.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
The creed doesn’t just say that Jesus suffered, though that’s true. After all, Isaiah 53:3 predicted that the Messiah would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But the Apostles Creed isn’t talking about that kind of general suffering. The creed draws our attention to how Jesus suffered specifically under Pontius Pilate. That detail is there to point us back to the Gospels.
Who was Pontius Pilate? Matthew 27 tells us that Pilate was the governor of Jerusalem. He was a politician with constituents and special interests to appease. That included the chief priests and elders, who dragged a man named Jesus into his court to be punished. Pilate was the man who got to make the call and, though he could find no guilt in Jesus (Matt. 27:24), the governor condemned him to be crucified anyway.
All of Christ’s sufferings matter. But when it comes to our faith, the suffering of the cross is the most important. Jesus died for sin. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) and all of us have accrued that debt (Rom. 3:23). Through both what we’ve done and what we’ve failed to do, we’ve all sinned. But on the cross, Jesus paid our debt. He died the death that we should have died so that, through faith in him, we can live. Pontius Pilate’s an important detail – because the sufferings that came at his hand are the sufferings that earned our salvation.
Jesus is more popular today than you might think. Ask around. I’ll bet your friends can all find something they like about him. Maybe it’s his moral character. Maybe it’s the way he talked about forgiveness. But Christianity isn’t just liking something about Jesus. Christianity’s about something specific. It’s about putting our trust in a Savior who suffered in our place so we could have new life. Everything hangs on that specific detail.