Jesus Before Pilate Series

LUKE 23: 1–5-7

JESUS BEFORE PILATE [JESUS’ LAST DAY SERIES]

[Mark 15:1–5; Mt. 5:10-12]

Jesus’ last day begins with Him being rejected and condemned by the Jewish ruling counsel and then being hauled before Pilate. The irony of their judgement is that Jesus will be crucified for being who He is. Who is Jesus? The answer came from His own lips (22:71) and is clearly understood by the Sanhedrin. Yet He is more than “the Christ.” He is “the Son of Man” who will share divine rule (22:69). And He is even more. He is the very Son of God Himself.

The trials on Jesus’ last earthly day picture the religious and political world’s rejection of Jesus and His claims. He came unto His own and they did not receive Him. Sin’s blindness leads to Jesus’ dying because of who He is, God in human flesh. Though Pilate may believe that Jesus is innocent of the charges brought against Him, he cannot rid himself of his responsibility to take sides. Neither can we. Do we rejected Him as being our Messiah as the Jewish council, Pilate and Herod did, or will we bow before Him as our Lord and God as His disciples did?

[The sequence of events which occurred during the last hours of Jesus’ earthy life and ministry may be arranged as follows: (1) the Last Supper (vv. 17–20); (2) Gethsemane (vv. 39–46); (3) the betrayal and arrest(vv. 47- 53); (4) the preliminary trial in the house of Annas (John 18:19–23); (5) the illegal Sanhedrin trial (Mt. 26:57–68; Mk 14:53-55); (6) the morning Sanhedrin trial (vv. 66–71); [See my ‘Jesus’ Last Night’ Series] (7) the first appearance before Pilate (Lk. 23:1-7; John 18:28–38); (8) the referral to Herod (23:6–12); (9) the second appearance before Pilate (23:13–25); (10) the scourging and mockery (Mt. 27:26); and (11) the crucifixion (23:26–33).]

I. THE SANHEDRIN’S TREACHERY, 1-2.

II. PILATE’S ASSESSMENT, 3-4.

III. THE SANHEDRIN’S DETERMINATION, 5.

Verse 1 links the Jewish and Roman trials. “Then the whole company of them arose and brought Him before Pilate.”

Pilate, the Roman governor (procurator) of the province of Palestine from A.D. 26–36, was in Jerusalem for the Passover feast. His name appears in an inscription found in 1961 at Caesarea, his official residence. Caesarea was a large, magnificent city boasting Roman culture, where Pilate would no doubt have preferred to be at the time of Jesus’ trial, were it not the Passover season, when special precautions were needed in Jerusalem against civil disturbances.

The “whole assembly” is the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin brings Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, because only imperial authorities could impose the death sentence (Jn. 18:31).

After manipulating the Jewish high court, its leaders waste no time bringing Jesus before the Roman court authority.

In verse 2 the religious leaders make three charges against Jesus. ‘And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a king.”

On arriving before Pilate, governor of Judea (3:1; 13:1), the Jewish authorities charge Jesus falsely. “This man” is emphatic and derogatory. The charges brought by the Sanhedrin against Jesus were transferred from the religious grounds for which they condemned Jesus to political ones for which Pilate might condemn Him. A Roman governor would not listen to ‘questions about words and names and your own [Jewish] law’ (Acts 18:14–15), nor sentence a man to death merely on the basis of a theological issue, so the Jews had to furnish trumped-up charges that Rome would condemn.

The Sanhedrin’s accusation contains three distinct charges. The first, subverting the Jewish nation, would have been of concern to Pilate, who wanted no internal strife among the Jewish people. But it was not a matter for Roman jurisprudence. The second, the opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and third, claiming to be king, were more potent. Luke has already shown (20:20–26) that the second charge was untrue. Had Jesus forbidden His followers to pay taxes? No. He did just the opposite (Matthew 22:21).

The third one, worded to sound as if Jesus was an insurrectionist, became the key issue. The title Christ, or Messiah, was deliberately used to imply to Pilate that Jesus was a political activist or rebel. The word “king,” put in apposition to Messiah, implies a threat of sedition against Roman sovereignty to the point where Pilate would have to take action. [In v. 5 the Sanhedrin summarized all this by insisting that Jesus was guilty of sedition.] The Sanhedrin wanted the Roman governor to believe that Jesus is a political rival and threat to Caesar’s authority. Jesus though did nothing to encourage seditious action. He did nothing to advocate governmental change. His kingdom is far above and beyond the kingdoms of this world. His glory is to be realized at the time of the Fathers good pleasure. [Butler, Trent. Luke. Holman NT Com. Nashville. 2000. P 388.]