The trial before Pilate John 18:28-40
A lady was so lonely she decided to go to the local pet store and see if she could find some little animal to keep her company. The owner of the store convinced her that what she needed was a parrot. He said, “They’re very expensive but they’re also very talkative, so you’ll never feel like you’re alone again.” And he assured her that once the bird felt at home, she would have a friend for life, considering that parrots live to be about seventy-five years old. So, she paid for the bird and then also bought a large cage to keep it in.
A week later she went back to the store and the owner said, “Is he talking yet?” “Not one word” she said. “He hasn’t said a thing.” So, the owner asked, “Did you buy him a mirror? You know, they say when parrots see themselves the words just start to flow.” And hoping that might help she bought the parrot a little mirror and stuck it in his cage. A couple of weeks went by and he still hadn’t say a thing so she went back to the store to complain. The storekeeper said, “Did you get him a ladder? You know, parrots need to feel comfortable and once he walks up and down the ladder a few times I’m sure he’ll begin to talk freely.” She decided it was worth the extra expense so she bought the ladder and put that in the cage beside the mirror.
The end of the next week found her back at the pet shop again, grim faced and disappointed with the same complaint. It’s been over a month now and he still hasn’t said a word. “Well,” the man said, “Did you buy a swing for the cage?” “No, she said, but I did get a mirror and a ladder.” Well, he talked her into the swing which she took home and attached to the cage with everything else.
And then three days later she came storming in, slammed the door and demanded to talk to the manager. I mean, she was really mad. When he saw her he asked about the parrot and she said, “He’s dead. He died this afternoon.” “Died” he said. “Why they’re supposed to live for seventy-five years. I just don’t understand. Did he ever say anything at all?” “Yes” she said, “He said a few words as he breathed his last.” “Well, what did he say” the owner asked? And she said, he just asked a simple question, “Don’t they sell any pet food at that store?”
I listen to sermons on my IPod every day and I download about a hundred at a time from churches all over Canada and the United States and many of the messages that I listen to are nothing more than mirrors, ladders and swings. And they’re given at churches which intend to appease the hungry souls who come but all these people are really given is empty promises as they’re told not to worry because things will get better tomorrow. Aren’t you glad that you go to a church where the Bible is believed and taught? Where we hear messages that not only prepare us face life but death as well?
Today, I want to begin by going back and wrapping up the section I was dealing with last day and then I hope I that I can finish this particular portion that deals with Pilate.
Now, the words, “while this was happening,” in verse 19 are significant because as I told you last week John is telling us about two events that are both happening at the same time and these are the questioning of Peter by the various people who are gathered around the fire and Jesus’ interrogation by Annas which took place across the courtyard. And John alternates between one scene and the other in order to compare Jesus’ response to the questions He faces to those which are asked of Peter. And we all know that Jesus not only refuses to answer Annas’ questions but He refers Him to those who heard Him but on the other hand Peter can’t seem to keep him mouth shut and he blabs all over the courtyard that he never met Jesus and hasn’t got a clue about who this Jesus is.
And so, we’ll begin with Jesus before Annas and the very nature of the questions that were asked by Annas show us what he was really concerned about because in verse 19 it says, “The high priest therefore questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching.” And so it was obvious that the real issue behind the trial of Jesus was one of jealousy. The Jewish religious leaders were jealous of His prestige, His popularity, and no doubt even of His miraculous power. And so Annas asked Him first about His disciples because I think he was more concerned about the number of people who were following Jesus than what He was actually teaching.
And we notice that Jesus carefully avoids any reference to His disciples probably because He wants to protect them from this crowd and then He said there was no need to question Him about His teaching because He had spoken publicly, and so, if they really wanted to know what He had to say, all they had to do was to ask those who heard Him. After all, He only had one message and it was for whoever wanted to listen.
There is an important legal issue here because this hearing was actually illegal. William Barclay writes, “One curious feature of legal procedure in the Sanhedrin was that the man involved was held to be absolutely innocent, and, indeed, not even on trial, until the evidence of the witnesses had been stated and confirmed. The argument about the case could only begin when the testimony of the witnesses was given and confirmed.” Now, that’s the whole point of what Jesus was saying to Annas in verses 19-21 because He was reminding Annas that he had no right to ask him anything until the evidence of witnesses had been taken and found to agree.
And it was because this interrogation was illegal that Jesus said in verse 21, “Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; behold these know what I said.” You see, the Jewish justice system was like ours in that nobody can be forced to testify against himself and that was exactly what Annas was trying to get Jesus to do. And when He refused to respond to this kind of questioning one of the officers who stood by struck Him and this man was probably just acting out of habit because as far as he was concerned the high priest was the law.
John records Jesus’ response to Annas because Annas was the most powerful religious leader in Jerusalem at the time and Annas thinks that by using and abusing his authority, he could force Jesus to testify against Himself and then he would have made the case for Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin but Annas got absolutely nothing from Jesus because He refused to answer any of his questions to assist him in making an illegal case. And as this interview comes to a conclusion, we find that while Annas hasn’t been able to indict Jesus for anything that Jesus has indicted him, not only for wrongfully conducting this trial but also for allowing the guard to strike Him.
I think Annas wanted everyone to see how smart he was but all he got out of Jesus was a rebuke for his abuse of power and for breaking Jewish law in the way he handled the case.
And then we see Peter’s second and third denials in verses 25-27. “Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” Peter denied it and said, “I am not!” One of the high priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the orchard with him?” So Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.”
Now, the spotlight shifts from Jesus back to Peter and it’s obvious that Peter is not doing so well. His first denial in verse 17 doesn’t seem to have alarmed him too much and then we see where John takes us back to where he left us in verse 18 which is to the fire, where everybody’s standing around either trying to get or stay warm. And we notice that as everyone was thinking about what happened earlier that night, they asked Peter the same question and they asked it in the same way they asked the first time and that tells us they expected a negative answer. In other words, they expected him to say no. And let’s face it, who would ever think that one of Jesus’ disciples would be warming himself around a fire with a bunch of guys who were involved in Jesus’ arrest.
Well, Peter already said that he wasn’t one of Jesus’ disciples and then he found it necessary to repeat his denial. And so when he was asked about his relationship with Jesus the first two times, the question is phrased in a way that assumes it wasn’t him but when he denies it things begin to escalate because then we are told that one of the high priest’s slaves who was a relative of Malchus thinks differently.
Now, he might have been standing close to Malchus when Peter drew his sword and cut off his ear because he says, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” So, he was there when the arrest was made and he says he knew that Peter was there, too. He was sure of it and we know this because his question changes and unlike the first two times where Peter was expected to answer no, this guy asks in a way that he expects him to answer yes but Peter decides to stick to his story, and he denies any relationship with Jesus for the third time and then immediately, a rooster crows.
There are a couple of important lessons I want you to see from Peter’s experience. And the first thing is that Peter’s failure is very similar to the other disciples. Don’t forget that he and John were in the courtyard while the rest of the disciples were no where to be found. And so, in a sense, we could say that Peter and John may have been the “best of a bad bunch.” And just like Peter who was a miserable testimony in this situation we all need to ask ourselves, how many opportunities have you or I had to share our testimony or to defend the word of God and we thought, here’s a really good chance to keep quiet? And when it comes right down to it, we may not be all that different from Peter.
And then second, we also notice that Peter’s failure was progressive. He failed by degrees over a period of time because each step in his failure led to the next one and each step, in and of itself, didn’t seem to be so bad. First, he bragged he wouldn’t do it, then he did it in front of a servant girl and then he did in front of a crowd at the fire and then he did by cursing and swearing.
This tells us that sin never keeps still. The thing that felt so good yesterday won’t be satisfied unless we add to it today. And let’s face it, there’s no such thing as a feeling of contentment when it comes to sin. There’s what’s known as the law of diminishing return. The more we get the more we need to feel half as good as we did the first time. And what it all comes down to is this, we can no more satisfy ourselves with sin than we can satisfy a fire because the more you give a fire the more it wants. The only answer to dealing with a fire is to put it out and the only answer to dealing with sin is to repent. We have to turn from sin before sin turns us away from God.
And now, I want to turn your attention to the passage I read that records Jesus appearance before Pilate and just before He was sent to Pilate verse 24 says, “Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.” And then in 28 it says, “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover.” And the interesting thing to see here, is that John spends time talking about Annas but he ignores Caiaphas altogether. And it may have been that he assumed that since the other gospel writers had all spoken about Caiaphas then he didn’t need to or he might have come to the conclusion that since Caiaphas was just a puppet in the hand of Annas then what he had to say didn’t really make that much of a difference anyway because Jesus was going before Pilate because that’s what Annas had intended Him to do in the first place.
And yet, it’s interesting to see that Caiaphas was just as wicked as Annas who as I told you last week was his father-in-law but Caiaphas seems to be more religious in the sense that he needed to come up with a reason to convince himself that what he was doing was the right thing to do.
John doesn’t actually say anything about what happened when Jesus appeared before Caiaphas but the other gospels tell us that the sentence of death had already been passed on Jesus before He was even brought to trial and so this examination before Caiaphas was really nothing more than a horrible farce.
In Matthew 26:57 we are told that Caiaphas was assembled with the "scribes and elders" and in addition to these men were the "chief priests and all the council." And their first act was to get a couple of witnesses against the Lord and this shows how corrupt they were because they knew that the average person would have nothing but good to say, so, they had to find a couple or two people who would say what they wanted to hear.
Now, these religious leaders didn’t have the power to execute the death-penalty, so they had to come up with a charge against Jesus for when they brought Him before Pilate and that’s why they were looking for these two witnesses.
And for all they tried their efforts were useless, it says, "though many false witnesses came, yet found they none." But "at the last came two false witnesses" which was the minimum number required by the Mosaic law. And these two said that Jesus had said, "I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days." And when all this was going on Jesus stood by in silence as these guys were perjuring themselves.
Well, it seems as though Caiaphas wasn’t happy with the way things were going and so he stood up "and said unto Him, answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee?" (It’s almost like he’s saying, give us a hand here, we have nothing.) And Jesus didn’t respond and then Caiaphas said, "I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God."
Now, making this statement was the method that was used among the Israelites to demand the truth. It was an appeal to God with the formula of a curse as the penalty for lying. So, he said, “I adjure Thee by the living God.”
And then for the first time, Jesus spoke before Caiaphas because as an obedient Israelite, it was His duty to answer a ruling power and He was submissive even though the law was being twisted against Him. And Jesus not only answered him but He added, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Listen, He says, you’ll see Me sitting but you’ll be standing before Me which was just the opposite of what was happening there. And then He says He’ll be coming in power as compared to the weakness He was displaying before them there and then He also said He’ll be coming in the clouds of heaven as compared to going to the cross of Calvary.
Caiaphas’ response was to rend or tear his official robes and then he said, "What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now we have heard His blasphemy. What think ye?" and the answer came back from the crowd, "He is guilty of death."
And then Matthew 27 tells us, “When the morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: and when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor." And all this fills in the bits and pieces of what happened and it brings us back to John 18. And in verse 28 it says, “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early." And most writers assume that the reason it was early was this religious crowd wanted to avoid having to face any of Jesus’ followers and that’s why all this was going on before anybody was even up and around.
But then in verse 28 it says, “And they themselves went not into the judgment-hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover." The judgment-hall they’re referring to was Gentile property and to have entered it the Jews would have considered themselves to be ceremonially defiled, and as far as they were concerned, there was no time for them to be cleansed before the Passover feast and so they were only willing to go as far as the entrance of what’s known as the praetorian.
It’s interesting to see that they didn’t hesitate to deliver Jesus to be killed by the Gentiles while at the same time they were being very careful to make sure that they wouldn’t be disqualified from eating the Passover. It’s like someone who was planning on killing someone saying to a friend, “We have to do this quick because I have to be in church at six and it’s a really special service because tonight we’re having communion.” I mean, it doesn’t make sense but that’s the way these men were thinking.
So, since they couldn’t execute Jesus themselves they had to bring Him to Pilate because only the Romans could do what the Jews wanted done but couldn’t.
In verse 29 it says, “Pilate then went out unto them." Even though it was early in the morning and no doubt inconvenient, Pilate figured he had better go out and see what these Jews wanted. I don’t think he was surprised to see them because the night before, they had gotten the band of Roman soldiers and this could only have been done with his permission. So, it was clear to him, then, that they had some criminal they wanted to execute and they also wanted it done before the Feast began.
Now, let me just back up a little bit and take a look at Pilate because even though he’s one of the more popular people in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion there’s not an awful lot we know about him. We do know that he was a governor who answered directly to the Emperor and because of his position he had to be at least 27 years old. He would have been a skilled administrator and a soldier and that tells us he was also a man of discipline and education. History records that he became governor in 26 AD and his rule lasted about ten years after which he was sent back to Rome. He just didn’t make it in Palestine, so Rome recalled him. Some historians say he committed suicide on the way back, some say he was killed by the Romans, and others say he simply faded away. The scripture also indicates that he was also a married man and that his wife had warned him not to have anything to do with the condemnation of Jesus because of a dream she had.
So, Pilate was a very important person in that he could govern the people, yet he couldn’t raise taxes and he couldn’t accept bribes. He was not to be some kind of a demigod or tyrant but was to rule fairly and justly...and he was to rule for the Roman emperor. But right from the start, Pilate’s term in Israel didn’t go right.
For instance, there were three times that he really locked horns with the Jews and the first time was when he made his initial visit to Jerusalem. Pilate had come to set up his office and when he arrived he came with a lot of pomp and ceremony with his soldiers carrying the standards and flags of Rome. And the problem was, on all of the Roman standards there was a sculptured image of the emperor. And as far as the Romans were concerned the emperor was not only the ruler, but he was also god because they believed in emperor worship. So, in actuality, the image of their god was on their standards.
In all of the years before Pilate, the Roman rulers didn’t put these images on their poles because they knew they’d offend the Jews. And the Jews were really strong on the idea that they should have no false idols but Pilate had it in his mind that he was the one in charge and they weren’t going to tell him what to do. So, he came storming into Jerusalem with these images on these poles and the Jews immediately told him to remove them, and then they begged him to remove them but he let them know that he wasn’t going to give in.
Then we are told that he finished his business in Jerusalem and he left for Caesarea but a whole mob of Jews followed him and they bugged him for five days to remove these images. Well, Pilate was so angry that he ordered them all to meet him in the amphitheater and then he had them all surrounded by his soldiers and he told them that if they didn’t go back to Jerusalem and stop bugging him that he would have them all killed on the spot. And they all just exposed their necks and said, "Go ahead. Kill us all."
Well, he was stuck because he knew that he couldn’t begin his rule by killing everyone he was supposed to be in charge of and basically, the Jews won. He removed the images from the standards and started his rule over Israel as a beaten man. And from then on in, the Jews had him under their thumb.
And then to make things worse, there was a time during the first few years that he was there that Jerusalem needed more drinking water and Pilate decided to build a new aqueduct, but he didn’t have any money to do the job. And since the Jews also drank the water he simply robbed the Temple treasury, which didn’t go over real big with the Jews. Apparently there was millions in the treasury and he found all that he needed but then the people began rioting in the streets. And in reaction to them Pilate infiltrated the people with plain clothes Roman soldiers, and at a given signal, the soldiers either clubbed or stabbed many of the people to death, and that broke up the riot but you can well imagine what that did for his public image.
And then a little later there was another conflict over idols because Pilate had made a temporary place to live in Herod’s palace in Jerusalem and he hung shields on the walls with the name of Emperor Tiberius inscribed on them. Again the Jews complained and asked Pilate to remove them, but he refused. And although he got away with this, there was always this feeling that he was nothing more than an idolater because he dared to flaunt it right in front of them.
Now, during this period of history, Rome had built into the system what was known as the Pax Romana or the Roman peace and this was the right of any of their subjects to appeal their case to the emperor. And when Pilate wouldn’t go along with the Jews, they simply sent word to the emperor that Pilate wasn’t even trying to get along with them. As a result, Emperor Tiberius sent back word that Pilate was to take all of his shields down and comply with the Jews’ request. And again, Pilate was a beaten man.
So, the Jews had Pilate right where they wanted him because they knew that at any time there was a problem, all they had to do was to report him to Rome and they knew that he could lose his job. And as far as he was concerned he felt like he was always walking on thin ice.
So, when the Jews came to Pilate and presented him with their request to have Jesus executed, they were actually blackmailing him. They were saying, in effect, "You had better go along with us, or we’ll tell Caesar." In John 19:12 it says, "And from then on Pilate sought to release Him; but the Jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend...." In other words, they were saying, "Do you want to keep your job?" And that was Pilate’s problem. He had to decide whether it was more important for him to do the right thing or just make them happy and keep his job and in the end Pilate sets the standard for all time as the model of the ultimate coward.
So, we’ve seen that the trial of Jesus was nothing more than a plot that was carried out by the religious crowd because as far as they were concerned He had stepped on their toes by ignoring their rules and by flipping over the tables in the court of the gentiles. We saw that the religious trial was phony because there weren’t even any valid accusations. The supposed indictment before Annas was no indictment at all because there was nothing to charge Him with. And the trial in the middle of the night before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin was a joke because it wasn’t even legal to hold court after dark. And all this tells us that there wasn’t the slightest hint of justice connected with this whole situation.
And here we see the hearing before Pilate begins with him saying, "I don’t know what the accusation is" and he ends by telling them, "There’s no fault in this Man." And all the way through the trial he kept trying to get himself out of the situation because he knew Jesus was innocent and he finally told them that he didn’t want the blood of this just man on his hands. And by the time we come to the end of this account what we see is the magnificence of Jesus and the absolute stupidity and cowardice of Pilate.
He began by asking them, “What accusation bring ye against this man?" in verse 29 and his question was in line with Roman law which required three things; first, there had to be a specific charge, second, the accusers had to be brought before the accused, and then third, the accused had the right to answer for himself and so Pilate was doing the right thing by demanding to know the nature of the crime to find out what Jesus was supposedly charged with.
And then it says, "They answered and said unto him, if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee" It seems as though the Jews were annoyed that Pilate would even ask them what He did because they didn’t want to state a charge because they knew they had no evidence to establish it. And here we can see that they hoped that Pilate would just take their word for it, especially since they had obtained the soldiers from him so easily the night before and now they wanted him to condemn their prisoner even though there was no crime to charge Him with.
And so, what they did was to act like they were insulted that he would even believe that they would have arrested an innocent man. They said, "if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee" and this is the same as saying, "Look at us, this is nothing less than the sacred Sanhedrin: we have already tried the case, and our judgment is beyond question and now all we want you to do is to take Him and put Him to death." And Luke tells us "they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king."
"Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?" And here Bishop Ryle says, “On the whole, the question seems a mixture of curiosity and contempt." And here we see another example of gross injustice because Roman law required that the accused and the accusers should be brought face to face and that the accused should have the opportunity of answering to the charges that his accusers were bringing against him but Pilate ignored the law in the same way that Annas and Caiaphas had done.
And yet, Pilate must have wondered, who was this strange character who attracted the multitudes, but was so hated by their leaders? Who is this man who has power to heal the sick and yet He doesn’t even own a home? Who is this person was able to raise the dead and yet stands here tied up, waiting to die?
And when he asked Jesus, “Art thou the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?" And here I think Jesus was speaking to Pilate’s conscience because He asked him if he wanted to do the right thing or was he just going to be the tool in the hands of the Jews.
And in the end of their conversation Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” And yet, even though he asked this question, he really didn’t want to know what it was or even do it if it was going to be an inconvenience to him. So, even though he found no basis for a charge against Jesus, he told the people he was willing to release a prisoner which he did every year and gave them a choice between Barabas who was a well known terrorist or Jesus and the people chose Barabas and called for Jesus’ crucifixion.
And that was over 2000 years ago. And what’s really changed? If anything, people are even more confused and disillusioned with the basic questions of life because they’re no longer asking, ‘What is truth?’ but the big question today is, ‘Does it even matter?’
And so Pilate tries to use logic with the people but he’s wasting his time. He might have been convinced that Jesus had done something wrong but now he realized that He was innocent. And so as he goes out to face the crowd and convince them they were doing the wrong thing they wouldn’t listen but said to him, “If you release Jesus, then that proves that you’re no friend of Caesar” and what they’re saying is, when Caesar hears about you turning Jesus free and He claimed to be a king then you’re really going to be in trouble.
So Pilate brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat called Gabbatha, to render his verdict. And then he said to the Jews, “Look, here is your king!”? Their response was predictable. They shouted out, “Away with him! Crucify him!” And then Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your king?” And in response to his question, they said, “We have no king except Caesar!”
And by that statement the Jewish people made one final act of rebellion against God, and they did away with any hope for a Messiah when they placed their faith in Caesar, rather than in Jesus. They have exchanged Barabbas for Jesus and what a horrible bargain that was. And just like anyone who rejects Jesus Christ today, there is no other way for any of them to be saved and that leaves them lost and condemned to hell for all of eternity.
Someone said, “Pilate condemned Him, the crowd accused Him, Herod mocked Him, Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him and now, the question is, what are we going to do with Him. What ever you do, don’t ignore Him because ignoring someone is the greatest insult you can perform. Ignoring someone is saying, you aren’t worth thinking about. And there are many who won’t think about God now but they’ll have to face Him in time to come and then it will simply be too late to do anything about it.
There are two great disappointments that can happen to anyone. One is to want something so bad and never get it and the other is to finally get what you want only to find out that it wasn’t worth getting in the first place. And that’s why it’s important to want the right things in life and given the choice it’s better to be the poorest person in heaven than the richest person in hell. And in the eternal sense there’s just no comparing the two.
